girlknowsfootball

With 2017 signees, 2018 commits and prospects, 2019 prospects and 2020 prospects it's looking like we could end up with 60-70 football players plus their families for this game. Right now an accumulation of various recruiting sites have confirmed the following say they have made travel arrangements to be there, this does not include guys from the 2017 signing class: - 2 QB's - 9-10 WR's - 3-4 RB's (don't know if Pledger is still coming with recent commitment to OU) - 2 TE's - 3 OL's - 1 DE - 3-4 DT's - 3 LB's - 8 DB's - 4 ATH's

Our starting running back will be the guy who is best at these things: - knows the offense (smart) - pass protection - good hands to catch the ball - ball security (doesn't fumble) - elusiveness in space - not afraid to hit the inside hole hard and gain extra yards after contact Right now: Ozigbo lacks in his pass protection, his elusiveness in space, and his hands to catch in open space. His skill set is best for a power offense with a dual threat QB he doesn't have to protect well. Wilbon has struggled to learn the offense. Mentally the college game is hard for him. He also needed to make improvements in pass protection and his ability to run inside. Bryant is the most even at the things being asked. He has had some ball security issues and is still learning the offense. He also needs to run harder inside and gain muscle to pound the inside hole. The reason we can't find a great back is because we have 3 backs who are all great at different things and who all have different weaknesses. Thus Reggie gets pass protection from Bryant but he fumbles, he gets great play on the check downs and in space from Wilbon, but he can't pass protect and doesn't know the whole offense well, he gets great power inside game from Ozigbo but he's a little slow outside and can't pass protect. So we need a guy who is more versitile and can do all that is asked with a great grasp of the offense.

This is a great get for Nebraska for several reasons. 1) he has a very high football IQ and is highly advanced in his knowledge of the game and routes with his dad's training. He gets the pro offense and has the advantage of catching passes from an NFL QB whenever he wants. 2) he is a high character kid who will sacrifice for the team, be a leader, make great grades, do everything that is asked of him, and go above and beyond with his work ethic. He is a Rex Burkhead type of character. 3) he has really good hands, a great feel for the field, runs good routes, and seems to hold up well to contact. hudl says he already squats 425 and benches 245, which are great numbers for an 18yr old. He also has some size we failed to get in our scholarship class at WR. The only knock I see on this kid is he seems to be a bit slow and takes a minute after he starts running to get into his speed. That could be why schools didn't offer. His Hudl says 4.5 but he looks much slower. If he could grow an inch or two and get up to 240ish while keeping the speed he has he would be a solid tight end prospect. If he can make some speed and agility gains in our S&C program, he might turn out to be a really solid WR as well.

I was specifically talking about the secondary.Oh. Yeah, I don't hate that idea. Problem is we might not have another take at a different position of need.Better to be safe than sorry, especially with the potential of a kid like this. The body frame there too and ability to catch and do something with it after isn't something overly common either in a guy that we would put strictly on defense. It's hard to see him not in red unless he just picks another school instead of us. If we let him walk we better have Blades, Lenoir, and Johnson in the fold. In that case, it'd be hard for me to be too upset with our outcome haFeel like they might be holding the spot open for Lenoir. Risky to slow play this guy, but I feel like it's probably worth it. We'll see on Wednesday.No way! You take a commit from this kid! About a 20% chance or worse we get Blades and Lenoir and probably 50% chance we get neither!!Pretty sure we're solid on Blades, where are you getting this info from? I like this kid, we've just put a lot of work in on Lenoir for a while now, gotta leave the door open. And he's one of the best corners in the country.Blades is NGetting Blades and Onyemaobi would give us 21 commits, with Daniels that puts up to 22, IIRC that's the golden number correct?Agreed but we run a chance at losing guy the deI was thinking that same thing unfortunately, looking at the bright, it would be great to get all three DB recruits. If faced with the choice, I would take Demo over Guy. Although the DL depth will be lacking. Guy Thomas would be an OLB for us. It would be rough because he's talented but we'd be fine since he's not a candidate up front anyway. Here's a thought. We want to take 5 at WR. So we need one more there. It is widely speculated that Joseph Lewis and Randal Grimes are locks to USC. Bryan Thompson has been on he record saying Utah leads. That leaves us with Jeremiah Hawkins. I think Michael Onyemaobi has a little bit more size we need at the WR position that Hawkins and has pretty good film at that position too. Why not take Onyemaobi as our last WR?

This is why I had Robinson higher on my board. I felt he was a TE prospect but a fall back kid if we didn't land a possession type receiver. All I can assume is the staff knows the need and has the info to make the best decision. Someone on the board (don't remember who) speculated he is an academic casuality, which is why he chose Memphis. Can sit out a year to get grades without having to go the juco route. Wouldn't qualify for the other schools.

Wallace would be on the defensive side of the ball I believe. Unfortunately I think Lewis is our only shot at one of those big receivers unless they have some that we don't know about. Grimes sounds firm on USC and Thompson likely to Utah. Yeah I know. Just saying we seem to struggle closing the bigger guys far from home. The only reason we got KJJ is because his dad played for Riley and they have to financial ability to come to his games. Jaevon was a player close to home. You look at the big guys we have gone after and they are all making family decisions. I think the big physical guy with speed is maybe a little more in demand and has a bit better options. Grimes - stay close to home Lewis - stay close to home Thompson - Mormon kid who wants to play in or near Utah Peoples Jones - stayed close to home at Michigan Isaiah Hodgins - stayed closer to home and went to Oregon st Terrell Bynum - stayed closer to home and went to Cal Gebbias parents also have the finanaicla ability to go to his games.

My concern right now is that we're going to get stuck with a whole bunch of tiny guys on signing Day. Lindsey - 5.8 1/2 180 Calvin - 5'10" 165 Hawkins - 5'9" 165 Wallace - 5'10" 180 Verdell - 5'9" 185 We don't need this many small guys. They are prone to injury at the next level and will be playing against huge guys that will be more of a challenge. You take a couple but not 5-6. Verdell is strong and low to the ground Lindsey is a beast, and then you take Calvin or Wallace. 3 at most. If we fill out the rest of our class with tiny receivers what good does that do? We have spielman and Pierson el, do we really need another 3 5'9ish 180lb guys at WR? We need the 6'2"-6'4" physical guy. Lewis, Grimes, Thompson, etc. if we lose out on these 3, we don't just go and find a tiny guy to replace them with. An ideal finish would look like this: -DLine: keep Deiontre and Deiontae and get Daimion Daniels - LB: hold onto Guy, Andrew makes his grades - DB: get Lenoir and Blades or one with Onyemaobi - RB: flip from Verdell from Oregon - WR: Get Calvin and a guy 6'0 or taller. - TE: get Rafdal That gives us 7 more on signing Day which puts us at 24 (two over in case of attrition or last minute academic casualties).

My concern right now is that we're going to get stuck with a whole bunch of tiny guys on signing Day. Lindsey - 5.8 1/2 180 Calvin - 5'10" 165 Hawkins - 5'9" 165 Wallace - 5'10" 180 Verdell - 5'9" 185 We don't need this many small guys. They are prone to injury at the next level and will be playing against huge guys that will be more of a challenge. You take a couple but not 5-6. Verdell is strong and low to the ground Lindsey is a beast, and then you take Calvin or Wallace. 3 at most. If we fill out the rest of our class with tiny receivers what good does that do? We have spielman and Pierson el, do we really need another 3 5'9ish 180lb guys? We need the 6'2"-6'4" physical guy. Lewis, Grimes, Thompson, etc. if we lose out on these 3, we don't just go and find a tiny guy to replace them with.

Is he gonna qualify?He's going to have to finish strong. But it is possible. Could be a late summer arrival as well. (Retaking a few classes). This guy would be a good NT candidate for us. He's over 300 lbs. still think Daniels is 1a at that spot though as he is just a natural run eater.

I'm ready to receive the backlash on this but... I don't think Greg Johnson is a cornerback. He is too stiff in his hips and doesn't turn quick enough. He didn't impress me as anything special in his army all American tape. He strikes me as more of a RB with his build and the way his hips move. He has lateral quickness and a shake and bake to him on offense. On defense he just looks to lack the agility and flexibility. Blades has that, bookie has that, Lenoir has that. This guy has a bigger boned frame and looks more like an ox than a cheetah. If you put him on defense he needs to be at safety to come up to hit and also to run stop. Just my observations.

Does anyone else find it odd that he is visiting central Michigan and Memphis when he has offers from major schools and is so highly rated? Have to wonder if he is an academic risk for him to have not OV'd to these major schools. He is very athletic and seems like a cethan carter type if he puts on some weight and plays TE. To me this kid has hands down better upside than Rafdal. This whole situation seems fishy that his top three are basically Memphis, Central Michigan and Nebraska (his scheduled visits).

Does anyone else find it odd that he is visiting central Michigan and Memphis when he has offers from major schools and is so highly rated? Have to wonder if he is an academic risk for him to have not OV'd to these major schools. He is very athletic and seems like a cethan carter type if he puts on some weight and plays TE. To me this kid has hands down better upside than Rafdal. This whole situation seems fishy that his top three are basically Memphis, Central Michigan and Nebraska (his scheduled visits).

For whatever reason a majority of experts think we can flip this kid after his OV this weekend. Deonte Williams is a large part of that.

He was all Nebraska but got annoyed by the fans always sending him GBR messages and who wouldn't leave him alone on social media. On top of that his mom started telling him she wanted him to stay home and needed him to stay home. USC started coming on strong late and it looked like several of his friends are going to end up there. You also have to realize his mom never got to visit Nebraska on his OV. Riley is saving his in home visit to try to sell mom late, and leave an impact that will last until signing Day.... but he will be coming off 2 fresh USC visits in his backyard with friends there, and a mom to make happy. It's an uphill climb for us right now. I feel we willl finish in 2nd place with him and Greg.

Matt Bomer

I dunno who the silent commit Keyshawn referred to was, but Tyjon Lindsay said he is bringing 2 guys with him yet to be announced. Thinking it's Jamire Calvin and Bookie Radley-Hiles but there's no way to tell for sure.

Just for fun, let's hypothetically try to figure out a potential position assignment for our team based on this defense. (People familiar with the 3-4 please comment and help me get this right). I've looked at college and NFL depth charts to try to get this right. DE - Carlos Davis 6-2, 295, Khalil Davis 6-2, 290, Deontae Thomas 6-2, 260 NT - Deiontae Watts 6-3, 305, Daimion Daniels 6-2, 310, (what about moving Jaylin Barnett here? 6-4, 320) Masry Mapieu will play this spot in 2018. DE - Daishon Neal 6-7, 270, Mick Stoltenberg 6-5, 290 Jack - Freedom Akinmoladun 6-4, 255, Alex Davis 6-5, 255, Sedrick King 6-4, 250, Ben Stille 6-5, 240, Collin Miller 6-3, 235 Sam - Marcus Newby 6-1, 235, Tyrin Ferguson 6-2, 225, Pernell Jefferson 6-2, 225, Luke Gifford 6-3, 230 Mike - Chris Webber 6-3, 230, Quayshon Alexander 6-3, 235, Greg Simmons 6-2, 240 Will - Dedrick Young 6-1, 220, Mohammed Barry 6-1, 220, Avery Roberts 6-1, 220, Willie Hampton 6-2, 220, Andrew Ward 6-1, 220 CB - Josh Kalu, Lamar Jackson, DiCaprio Bootle CB - Chris Jones, Eric Lee, Marquel Dismuke, Boaz Joseph S - Aaron Williams, Avery Anderson, Jojo domann S - Kieron Williams, Antonio Reed, Tony Butler I'm curious to hear our thoughts on moving Barnett to NT. He has supposedly gotten huge fat and isn't going to crack the two deep at OG. What if we put him in the middle and just let him eat up run space?

Nebraska has a few key problems and have for over a decade. Under Pelini there were consistently fumble problems, penalties, and mental breakdowns every time he would go on a tirade. The team played emotional and their attitude reflected his leadership. They were up and down just as he was. Part of the team felt he played favorites. There were arguments made that he mismanaged personnel. Mike has cleaned up the fumbles, reduced the penalties, but he seems to have reduced the physicality in practice. They seem to practice a little more like an NFL team. Not tackling to the ground, babying players to some extent. I wonder if we have lost the mental toughness with the change in coaching staffs. Pelini was not right for the university. But Riley seems to have struggles of his own. He could possibly be too nice. Does the team have any consequences for penalties, dropped balls, lack of effort, missed tackles, etc? Like running till you throw up, up downs, etc? The players like Riley, but is he more of a friend than a respected, feared leader? Does he correctly use personnel? Many have asked why Newby is playing when Ozigbo seems to get way more yards per carry when he gets the ball. Newby is more consistent with the small details like pass protecting, running precise routes, etc. but why is Newby used as a between the tackles runner when he gets no yards after contact? Ozigbo can pick up yards carrying 3-4 defenders with him. He is much bigger and more powerful. Why does Dylan Utter start when he regularly gets pushed off balance and carried into the backfield by DT's? Now on to the defense. Has Banker ever had good defenses? Last year he loaded the box to play the run and we stopped it. But we became vulnerable in the passing game and made Kalu and Jones look like a joke. This year we had tackling problems that became more and more problematic as the season wore on. We are in position to make plays, we just take awful angles, time it wrong, and then if we get someone wrapped up they slip through like butter. At the beginning of the season we showed great aggression and swarmed to the ball. I believe the Ohio state game killed our confidence. The dip started then. It's like our players realized they weren't as good and put forth less effort from that point forward. We see them try... experience some failure and then believe they are outmatched. Ohio State, Iowa, Tennessee. When Tommy was playing at 30% with an artificial hamstring and we had no one else, the team knew they had no shot. And they slacked in their playing. Right now we significantly need depth and more talent. We have talent... but it's sprinkled in. We need much more thank sprinkles of it. Having 5-6 guys come in a year is not enough. If we want a two deep without drop off we need to sign 15 highly regarded and coveted prospects a year. With attrition and misses that's what it will take. That's the difference between a 9 win season and a 12 win season. The other issue is QB play. We have not had a QB with a legit passing threat since Callahan was here. We have been one dimensional for a decade. Our passing game with Martinez was within 20 yards. No one had to cover deep. Our passing game with Armstrong was not developed enough or consistent enough to break through. His injuries and bad mechanics resulted in sailed balls, misfires, and a low completion rate. We escaped sacks because both could scramble like a running back. Now we are getting the QB's who can throw, but if we don't have an offensive line that can pass protect, we will take a step backward, because these guys can't pick up first downs with their feet on broken plays. We can recruit WR all long but they will never been seen if they don't have a chance for the play to develop. And defense... it doesn't help to recruit defensive backs if we can't get defensive ends to get the QB. We can have depth at DB but if our DE's can't pressure and contain teams will just run all over us. We are unbalanced. Stockpiled on one end and skinny at the other. so all that to say... the next year for this team fully relies on who they close in this recruiting class. We must land some key players in our skinny areas... DE, LB with speed, OT, and TE

He says his top factors in his decision are: 1) who can get him to the NFL the fastest 2) relationship with his position coach 3) if it feels like home 4) if his parents see it as a good place for him 5) if he sees it as a good fit for him I really don't see him going all the way to North Carolina. I also don't see him at Ole Miss. I think this comes down to a re-commit to Oregon/USC where he can play with Nick Pickett and some of his best friends and stay in the PAC 12, or Nebraska because he knows Keyshawn and the Cali guys there and is really bonded with coach Williams.

Even though it appears the sky is falling, we could still realistically land Lenoir and Johnson and that would be a really good class. Blades could switch from Florida, Holmes could surprise us all. We still have a light at the end of the tunnel for some of these top guys and we only need 1-2!

He lacked a motor, work ethic, and gained a bunch of weight. Stopped growing and ended up as a DT prospect instead of an end which is one reason we cooled on him.

There's too many high profile dark horses this year... the stress levels are through the roof. We could end up with 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️'s and a top 10 class or we could miss on all of them, settle for some plan C's and end up with a bunch of ⭐️⭐️⭐️'S and a top 30 class. A lot of our next few years rides on us locking up some talent. We can recruit skill players all day long but if we don't get pass rush or pass protection with the lines then it won't matter. IMO these OT's and WR's are the most vital for our offense. OT's because that frees us to rotate and protect our new non scrambling QB's. WR's because we are so thin there and need some immediate contributors. On Defense we NEED DE's. We need quick, pass rushing, pressure guys who are big and fast enough to play in 2017. We are 1-2 injuries away from being screwed at this position. The DB's we are in on is a bonus... we have depth and talent already here and the same with LB, although we could use a really quick, sure tackling OLB in space.

Possibly, if either of those guys were realistic options....but I'd say they aren't. Beal has shown no interest other than hosting Parella on a in-home but no talk of visiting or legit interest. Paulino supposedly was going to schedule a visit, but no news there for 2 months now. ...that we know of. There could be stuff going on behind the scene.

Well we can agree. Situations like these are the ones that make people completely flabbergasted about recruiting. How can a DB commit to a team without a D.C. Or DB Coach!?!?!? It's just mind blowing. So we will see what he does Friday. My guess is that he likes the West Coast and would like to play in the Pac 12. The location probably outweighs the positives that ND and Nebraska have to offer. Also, a new coach can sell their vision and sell what he is looking for in his players. Oregon is horrible on Defense and you can guarantee a kid a chance to play as a Freshman much easier than we can with Jones and Kalu both coming back to be 3 year starters. I hope the experts are wrong and he chooses N, but it seems like a longshot even though Oregon is replacing their HC. Exactly - we've had a few high profile guys make OV's and comment that they loved Nebraska but we have so much depth at DB they didn't think they could play early. The guy that committed to Utah was one who said it and I believe a couple others had as well. I just wish we could use this in our favor to land some top DE's. An immediate contributor could literally come in and start day 1.

Many believe this is between Ohio State and Michigan if he leaves home, or USC and UCLA if he stays home. His dad seems to be heavily involved in the decision making for him. Nebraska was completely out of it until we hired Donte Williams. But I get the feeling he is not really making this decision, but being heavily influenced by his parents. It's between 1) go far from home because you think you can win a championship and get an awesome education (or) 2) stay home and get a good education and still play good football with NFL exposure.