Late Tuesday night, it was announced via Twitter that 2018 offensive tackle signee Willie Canty would not be enrolling at Nebraska but instead will head to Garden City Community College. Canty, a 3-star recruit from Glades Central High School in Belle Glade, Florida, was one of two offensive line recruits signed by Nebraska in last year’s class along with Will Farniok.
Now that the Huskers have lost Canty, what does it mean moving forward for the class of 2019 and beyond? The lineman (6-6, 290) was the only tackle prospect that Nebraska signed last year when he chose the Huskers over Louisville, USF and Western Kentucky on Signing Day in February.
In the 2019 recruiting class, Nebraska already has junior college lineman Desmond Bland and prep lineman Matthew Anderson verbally committed. In my latest edition of Big Red Recon, I have Nebraska needing to sign an additional three offensive lineman. Could the loss of Canty push that number to four?
Yes, it could but I actually don’t think the pure numbers are the most pressing issue. Since Nebraska is losing a year of developing Canty under Greg Austin and Zach Duval, I think it becomes imperative that Nebraska land another lineman that can be an instant impact player. They have one already in Bland who projects to potentially play center at the Division I level. Adding another junior college player to the line that could truly start right away would be a huge boost.
If we are looking for potential candidates to now have a path to being an additional prep lineman if the number of lineman needed does grow, I would keep an eye on 3-star Colorado lineman Michael Lynn. He has a great frame (6-7, 280), was in Lincoln for the spring game and loved what he saw.
There is certainly a strong connection between Canty’s new school, Garden City, and the Huskers. The head coach there, Jeff Sims, coached former Huskers Lavonte David, Stanley Jean-Baptiste and Yoshi Hardrick. He also coached cornerback Mike Hughes before he starred at UCF before he was a first-round pick in last year’s NFL Draft.
If you remember back to the spring game, Sims brought a group of players to Lincoln. Among those in attendance were offensive lineman Kadeem Telfort (6-6, 300) and Bamidele Olaseni (6-8, 320) who are both true tackles. Olaseni is surely towards the top of Nebraska’s recruiting board for 2019 and having Canty playing with him can’t hurt their chances of getting a visit.
As long as he develops while at Garden City, I’d expect Canty to be a strong candidate to rejoin the Huskers once he is eligible to leave JUCO. He is in good hands with Sims who has a good working relationship with the staff.
Greg is the Recruiting Analyst for Hail Varsity and has covered Husker athletics since 2013. He has always had a passion for sports while growing up in the Chicago area. As he got older and had to hang up his cleats and sneakers, he realized his passion for sports went beyond just watching and attending games. He has covered many events from the Rose Bowl to championship boxing matches. If he’s not talking sports, he’s hovering over his grill. He is married to an amazing woman, Kim, and they have a dog that barks when Greg yells at the TV during games.
