Yesterday was a busy news day in Nebraska recruiting. On a normal day, news of the possible No. 1 linebacker in the 2019 class including Nebraska in his top three would be front page news all over the place. That’s exactly what happened when 4-star linebacker Owen Pappoe from Grayson, Georgia, released his list via Twitter that also included the home state school Georgia and Clemson
Pappoe is one of the top prospects overall for the 2019 class. He started getting offers when he was in middle school and has his pick of any school in the country. He attends Grayson High School, which is the same school as current Nebraska linebacker Mo Barry. In fact, when Pappoe visited for Friday Night Lights back in June, Barry (pictured above, left) hosted him and Pappoe was able to spend a couple nights in Lincoln where he really took to Lincoln.
I caught up with Pappoe Wednesday and he had this to say about what stood out about Nebraska enough to include them in his top three.
“The relationship I have with Coach Bray is very strong and the way I was treated when I went up there gave me a different feeling that I haven’t had with another school," Pappoe said. "They are really treating me like family”
Owen’s high school currently runs a 3-3-5 defense and when I asked him where Bray plans to use him on defense he said that he’s being recruited to play inside linebacker at Nebraska. He has very similar size (6-1 205) to his former high school teammate Barry who currently plays inside linebacker in Bob Diaco’s 3-4. When asked about the possibility of playing with Barry in college he said, “That’s my dawg, I would love to play with him.”
Pappoe’s decision timeline has been a big topic of discussion and he has hinted many times that he would like to get the process over with sooner than later so he can enjoy the rest of his days in high school. I asked him if he was nearing a decision but he told me that he wants to take his officials to each of his finalists before making an announcement.
https://www.hudl.com/video/3/5506400/59ecb0e1478e390c0cdcf49f