Recruiting never stops and it’s easy to miss the top stories day-to-day. Recruiting analyst Greg Smith recaps all things Nebraska recruiting news, analysis and more so you never miss a thing.
Earlier this week, I focused on the topic of which players from the 2020 recruiting class would be least likely to redshirt. It’s always a fun exercise to think about the players who will make an immediate impact on the team. We spend so much time covering and talking about star recruits that it makes sense that fans want to see some of them on the field right away.
But what about the other side of that coin? The players who were not four-star prospects but we could end up hearing from sooner than later? Every recruiting cycle produces those types of players no matter how many highly-rated prospects are in the class.
Let’s take a look at a few candidates.
Defensive Back Tamon Lynum
Lynum’s mentality since committing to Nebraska has always stood out to me. He was prepared to work even before he arrived on campus as a January enrollee.
“It’s just been me trying to get bigger faster and stronger so when I get there I can compete in the spring,” Lynum said. “When I get there, I’m going to put on some more weight. I’m trying to get there with something that they can work with.”
By all accounts Lynum got to Lincoln for winter conditioning and hit the ground running. Coach Scott Frost has mentioned that Lynum added 15 pounds during the winter. The defensive back room is talented but it might not be more than a season before we hear from the Orlando native.
Wide Receiver Will Nixon
Nebraska’s wide receiver haul in the 2020 cycle was among the best in the country. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Omar Manning, Zavier Betts, Alante Brown or Marcus Fleming contributed early. All four were 4-star prospects.
What about the potential Duck-R from Texas though? Nixon is a high IQ football player that have a good grasp of the playbook from day one of camp. He has a great football background with his dad being a coach with the Carolina Panthers.
Nixon is the least talked about of the incoming wideouts but his versatility will help him crack the lineup sooner than later for the Huskers.
Nose Tackle Nash Hutmacher
It’s pretty hard to make an early contributor type of list playing on the line of scrimmage. If there is going to be an exception to the rule, it’ll be the South Dakota native better known as “the polar bear.” There’s going to be an adjustment for Hutmacher going from a small school to Big Ten play. But once that switch is flipped it will be hard to keep him off the field. We know that he will be one of the strongest players on the team at some point which will allow him to hold up at the point of attack. The future is bright for the important new Husker.
Recruit Watch
>> Huskers defensive line prospect Ru’Quan Buckley continues to get offers during quarantine with Arkansas being his latest.
I’am very blessed and thankful during this quarantine all my hard work I have done and I want to say that I’m very excited to say I have received another Offer in this quarantine from the University of Arkansas SEC thank you sooo much @DLTough #Razorbacks #GoHogs #WPS pic.twitter.com/j4mB4CvT3E
— Ru'Quan Buckley (@Darealruquan) July 1, 2020
>> Nebraska quarterback commit Heinrich Haarberg put out a cool video of the work he has been putting in this offseason.
Some people only see the tip of the iceberg… I like to be around people who see the whole thing🌽@jenkins_elite @Jsports_media @mrwashingten pic.twitter.com/iGvZvtMFzR
— Heinrich Haarberg (@HKHaarberg10) July 1, 2020
>> Huskers 2022 lineman target Connor Jones has also been getting work in on his technique in Colorado.
Love the grind! @SixZeroAcademy @PalmerRidgeFB @LouieAddazio @CoachLenz @CoachLMeadows @BarrettRuud @OLINEPRIDE @CoachTimIowa @Coach_Henson @4Warinner @CoachTrautFB @CoachDeVan @SSearels @Coach__Myers @mrodrigue70 @KevinMawae @CoachCKap @CoachCRiles pic.twitter.com/g31M1B5ILZ
— Connor Jones (@77ConnorJones) July 1, 2020
ICYMI
>> Jacob Padilla took a look at super prospect Emoni Bates, NIL and the future of college basketball in his latest Padding the Stats.
>> The latest edition of the Hail Varsity mailbag featured a lot of questions about the effects that COVID-19 could have on college football in the fall.
