Huskers in the 2023 NFL Draft

chamrocck said:
I disagree on Nelson. He was getting older but another year and he would have been drafted.  He was on a bad football team and still somewhat shined and flashed at times. He would have absolutely been the face of the defense this season. If they play better he would have benefited. Some of the guys taken ahead of him this draft don’t seem as good as him. Good luck to him on the Dolphins. 
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If you honestly believe this let's talk over a DM. I have some beautiful ocean front property in Wakanda, SD that I'd sell you at a great price.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  If Nelson came here from anywhere else other than small town Nebraska, he wouldn't be nearly as loved.

I'm betting the new staff met with Nelson and told him he wasn't guaranteed squat, and he wasn't a fit for the new defense. He had a choice to declare for the draft, transfer or sit and watch from the sidelines. He made his choice. 

 
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Where’s the eye roll emoji when it’s needed? Lots of Nelson hate on this thread. I never said he was going to crush it and move his draft stock way up. But stop the complete BS that Rhule wouldn’t have liked him back and likely would have helped his pro prospects. If heathy he would have been a significant contributor on the defense and garnered more attention.  That’s it, why so hard to understand as that is what would have happened barring any injury.
 

No doubt he had to make a tough decision. Does he learn one more year under a completely new college staff or since he is going to go through a change anyway just try to make the jump. My bet is he made the jump because someone was telling him he’d get drafted.  I doubt it was well I guess am going to have to sit at NU or transfer to play college, I guess I’ll try the pros instead.   :laughpound

 
chamrocck said:
Where’s the eye roll emoji when it’s needed? Lots of Nelson hate on this thread. I never said he was going to crush it and move his draft stock way up. But stop the complete BS that Rhule wouldn’t have liked him back and likely would have helped his pro prospects. If heathy he would have been a significant contributor on the defense and garnered more attention.  That’s it, why so hard to understand as that is what would have happened barring any injury.
 

No doubt he had to make a tough decision. Does he learn one more year under a completely new college staff or since he is going to go through a change anyway just try to make the jump. My bet is he made the jump because someone was telling him he’d get drafted.  I doubt it was well I guess am going to have to sit at NU or transfer to play college, I guess I’ll try the pros instead.   :laughpound
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I think most people on here haven’t been hating on Nelson, they have been defending his decision to not use a gift, 5th year of eligibility and give it a shot at the NFL. I think that Nelson understands he isn’t going to get bigger, stronger, or faster at age 23, while playing college football, so he is giving the pros a shot. Nelson’s career at NU was solid, not spectacular, and he ended on a high note with a win over Iowa in his final game and being named to an All Big Ten team. That’s a good way to go out, especially since the team sucked for his 4 years of playing at NU. 

I don’t think Rhule forced him out, but I also don’t think Nelson would have shot up the 2024 draft boards by coming back for another year at NU.

 
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chamrocck said:
Where’s the eye roll emoji when it’s needed? Lots of Nelson hate on this thread. I never said he was going to crush it and move his draft stock way up. But stop the complete BS that Rhule wouldn’t have liked him back and likely would have helped his pro prospects. If heathy he would have been a significant contributor on the defense and garnered more attention.  That’s it, why so hard to understand as that is what would have happened barring any injury.
 

No doubt he had to make a tough decision. Does he learn one more year under a completely new college staff or since he is going to go through a change anyway just try to make the jump. My bet is he made the jump because someone was telling him he’d get drafted.  I doubt it was well I guess am going to have to sit at NU or transfer to play college, I guess I’ll try the pros instead.   :laughpound
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I’m sure you’ve convinced a couple of your buddies at your local tavern that Nelson could have been drafted and has all the potential in the world. All 60 something power 5 schools have a fan base that believe they have an athlete or two that are special but didn’t get drafted. The fact that you can’t comprehend a difference between him being a contributor in Rhule’s defense and still not getting drafted is curious. Nelson is a DE/OLB tweener that isn’t overly athletic. 
No one is trashing Nelson’s 4 year contribution at NU. If all 85 scholarship athletes had his heart, Nebraska football would be in a good place. Sadly, heart doesn’t equal potential. 

 
I think the S&C did a big disservice to Nelson. He is/was definitely more athletic than what someone earlier said. He was class b heavyweight wrestling champion his junior year and likely would have repeated his senior year if he hadn’t enrolled early. He moved well enough to play in the offensive backfield in high school. Not fast by any means, but adequate. It seems the extreme powerlifting/body building philosophy at the expense of speed and agility was really detrimental to him. He seemed to just use the brute force method as opposed to any kind of attempt to get off and around people. 
 

I always thought with a little bit of work to get some of that mobility back he might have been able to play at ILB. 

 
The Dude said:
Obviously he left because he thought he would.  It's easy to pretend you knew it all along after the fact.
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I don't think that's true - he left because he wasn't going to improve his NFL chances with another year, not because he thought he would get drafted. I'm sure he hoped he would, but he was always more likely to be a UDFA. He's 23 though and you're not a better prospect at 24.

 
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Husker in WI said:
I don't think that's true - he left because he wasn't going to improve his NFL chances with another year, not because he thought he would get drafted. I'm sure he hoped he would, but he was always more likely to be a UDFA. He's 23 though and you're not a better prospect at 24.
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Very few people leave college to enter the draft while expecting not to get drafted.  Possible, just not very likely.

 
The Dude said:
Very few people leave college to enter the draft while expecting not to get drafted.  Possible, just not very likely.
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It's a lot more common with the Covid year, gotta weigh any potential improvements against being a year older and it's unlikely you improve drastically after 4 years of playing. I'm sure there are teams telling kids they have a 6th round grade on them etc, but a lot of them know there's a good chance they go undrafted. You're right it's very easy to say it now that he wasn't drafted, but it's not that surprising to most people and I don't think it was surprising to Nelson. Disappointing sure, surprising no.

 
Husker in WI said:
It's a lot more common with the Covid year, gotta weigh any potential improvements against being a year older and it's unlikely you improve drastically after 4 years of playing. I'm sure there are teams telling kids they have a 6th round grade on them etc, but a lot of them know there's a good chance they go undrafted. You're right it's very easy to say it now that he wasn't drafted, but it's not that surprising to most people and I don't think it was surprising to Nelson. Disappointing sure, surprising no.
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Even if you don't make the 53 man roster, you can still make $11k/week as a NFL practice squad player. If Nelson can make a practice squad (which I think is very reasonable) and stick for the season, he'll make a shade above $200k. Now, I have zero idea what Nebraska's NIL situation looks like but I'm guessing (and probably wrong) that while he's leaving some financial security on the table at Nebraska, I doubt he was walking away from a $500k bag or anything like that. If I had to speculate, his NIL package was probably close to what he could make on a practice squad and Nelson elected to bet on himself versus coming back for another year. As others have mentioned, Nelson went out on a high note and even though we think he would've been a contributor there is no guarantee he would thrive in this new system. 

 
The Dude said:
Obviously he left because he thought he would.  It's easy to pretend you knew it all along after the fact.
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Well of course he thought and hoped that.  

Every mock draft and lack of draft combine invite made it pretty clear that he was not going to get drafted. 

 
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