Two former Huskers were selected in the sixth round of this weekend’s NFL Draft. Outside of 2019, at least one Nebraska football player has been drafted in every NFL Draft since 1962. However, both Trey Palmer and Ochaun Mathis transferred to Lincoln for only one season before entering the draft pool.
Nebraska Athletic Director Trev Alberts noted the program’s stray from its player development roots. He hired new head coach Matt Rhule at least partially because of his focus on development. So now is a good time to look at Nebraska standouts who have been drafted in the last 10 years and their development.
“The University of Nebraska has been and always will be the premier development program in the country,” Alberts said at Rhule’s introductory press conference. “That’s our DNA and that’s who we are. For those of you who drove up and you saw the Go Big Project, you can see the investment of our donors into that project. That’s the brick and mortar behind the greatest development program in college football.”
Since the 2014 NFL Draft, 21 Huskers have been drafted. Of those 21, 18 played more than one season and finished their development at Nebraska. Those three not included are Palmer, Mathis and Samori Touré (he played collegiately at Montana entirely before only one season at Nebraska). It is worth noting Tanner Lee is among that group, who played in 12 games over two seasons at Nebraska after 19 games and three seasons at Tulane. Also worth noting are Randy Gregory and Stanley Jean-Baptiste, who started at junior colleges and finished their college careers with two or more seasons at Nebraska.
Of those 21, 19 received 3-or-less star evaluations out of high school. Among the two outliers is Gregory, who did not receive a star rating out of high school but was a 4-star recruit out of Arizona Western College. The other was Cam Jurgens, who was 4-star tight end recruit out of Beatrice. Touré signed with Montana as a 2-star recruit and arrived in Lincoln as a 3-star transfer. Jean-Baptiste hovered between 1 and 0 stars out of Fort Scott College. Gretna native Andy Janovich and Elkhorn native Spencer Long both walked on at Nebraska as 0-star recruits and developed into NFL Draft picks.
Three-star recruits who were drafted after their Nebraska careers in this decade stretch includes: Cam Taylor-Britt, Brendan Jaimes, Kahlil Davis, Carlos Davis, Nathan Gerry, Maliek Collins, Vincent Valentine, Alex Lewis, Ameer Abdullah, Kenny Bell and Quincy Enunwa.
Another oddity of this last year’s NFL Draft came transfers from Nebraska. Jordan Riley played in 16 games in two seasons at Nebraska. He transferred to Oregon ahead of the 2022 and started all three games on the defensive line. The New York Giants drafted him with the 243rd pick on Saturday. Former Husker quarterback Adrian Martinez set records across four seasons in Lincoln but transferred to Kansas State for a final year. He and fellow transfer to Kansas State, Kade Warner, signed undrafted free agent deals this weekend.
Recruit Watch
Oakland-Craig senior Grant Seagren, who will join Nebraska’s line as a walk-on in the fall, set a new school and conference record at the East Husker Conference Meet this weekend in North Bend Central. Seagren snagged gold with a discus toss of 172 feet, 8 inches, which surpassed his brother, Wyatt’s, record of 159-10 in 2019.
Nebraska offered a few scholarships recently. Tory Blaylock, a 4-star running back from Atascocita, Texas, earned an offer. The 2025 back is the son of former NFL running back Derrick Blaylock and brother to two Division I safeties. 2024 4-star recruit Myles Davis from Judson High in Converse, Texas, received an offer from Nebraska. The standout sprinter had 38 tackles, six PBUs and four INTs last season. Nebraska also offered 3-star 2024 receiver Ernest Campbell out of Refugio, Texas. He’s a champion sprinter who recently impressed at an Under Armour Camp.
Excited to share that i have just received my 1st offer from the University of Nebraska #GBR @CoachMattRhule @CoachEJbarthel @Omeezi_ @DonovanRaiola @MikeWakins @Ludovickashindi pic.twitter.com/IjlOVJV23k
— Sidney Rouleau (@RouleauSidney) April 27, 2023
The Huskers also offered 2027 offensive lineman Sidney Rouleau. The 6-foot-6, 300-pound standout from Quebec already benches 225 pounds for 10 reps. He’s gained attention from Syracuse and Miami but Nebraska gave him his first offer. Nebraska offered another lineman, 4-star 2025 offensive tackle Taren Hedrick from Battle High in Columbia, Missouri. Hedrick is 6-foot-5, 305 pounds. He played left tackle as a sophomore and gained a handful of Big 12 and Big Ten offers already.
ICYMI
>> Nebraska volleyball fans converged on Central City and cheered on the Huskers’ sweep of Wichita State on Saturday. Check out our bullet points and photo gallery from the exhibition. You can also check out player and coach post-game interviews on the Hail Varsity YouTube channel.
>> Basketball coaches at Nebraska are still finalizing their respective squads for the upcoming season. You can keep track of the latest regarding Fred Hoiberg’s team and Amy Williams’ team with our offseason trackers.
>> The Nebraska baseball team broke out of a rut with a lopsided 18-0 win over Minnesota on Saturday. The Huskers’ bats returned on Sunday with a 11-5 win to take the home series from the Gophers.
