girlknowsfootball

There's no doubt he is a soft commit at this point. What I see with a lot of these kids is they start to worry about going far from home. It's like the closer to signing day we get the more a reality it becomes for them and they start to get a little bit scared. You also wonder if when Porcher was solidly committed and guys like Lashawn Paulino and Robert Beal showed some interest, if Parella realized Thomas was a project and backed off a bit so Thomas was making sure he had options. Word on the street is Thomas is not an immediate contributor and will need a couple of years before he will be ready to see the field. He needs to gain weight and is very raw in his skill set.

This is about as good of a recruit at the QB position as we could have had this cycle. He is smart, hungry to learn, humble, well liked by others, and has a great/accurate arm. His one down side is his lean frame. He is not ready to be an immediate contributor due to his weight. With a redshirt year to learn the base offense, get use to tighter throwing windows, taking snaps under center, and gaining good weight/strength, I really see this kid blossoming and making a run on the starting job by his Sophomore year.

Here is a little about this man you may or may not know. - He prays for wisdom each morning for how to best do his job and handle the challenges that come his way. - He prays for each coach by name and prays God will help him best serve them. - He prays for his struggling players by name, and genuinely cares for each situation and also keeps each private. He calls players into his office to check on each and do what he can to help. - When he recruits players in their homes he often does the dishes for the family, takes out the trash, and clears the table. When the staff ran satelite camps last summer, he was seen pushing trash cans off the field. - He remembers each recruit and player by name, including their family members. - He lives in a small condo with his wife and has an extremely humble lifestyle. - He comes into work extra early and leaves extra late, combing through details in an effort to learn more and improve. - He is always looking for ways to improve and learn more, often singling out experts and bringing them in. - He makes the tough choices to fire his close friends if he feels it is best for the team. - He has no ego and takes advice from others willingly. - He is recruiting the best class Nebraska has had since Bill Callahan came off of his Super Bowl appearance with the Oakland Raiders and was a hit with recruits. - In 2015 he rallied a divided team with animosity and lack of buy in to beat the #5 team in the country and to go into defeat a good UCLA team. This year he took a team with a drop off in talent from prior year, and a huge lack of upper classmen at key positions to 9-3. They exceeded expectations in many ways at several positions and in areas where they failed, he made needed staff changes and is targeting necessary players to fill the gap for 2017. - Since he began with NU, he has taken steps to upgrade recruiting and coaching at the WR, DB, DL, LB, and QB positions. Cav has done a great job building from the bottom up with the OL and the hires of John Parella & Donte Williams seem to be good moves for the school.

One of the recruiting service people said it on TBL radio show in Omaha. Was listening through the app.

I have memberships to all the recruiting sites. Also read all the Nebraska papers and follow all the writers following recruiting on twitter. So I just read a lot and then piece info together... a lot of these guys end up being wrong though. they are making guesses off of reading vocal tones/body language/etc.

I think at this point it will be a shock to many if he doesn't choose us.

It appears he was not a fit with our program and we have cooled on him. This kid may have some character issues and doesn't seem to be a solid fit for us. Not sure if it's academic, personality, or what but Nebraska has moved on.

Let's just hope he doesn't pull a Pelini and convert our 5* offensive tackle to a DT. 😂😂

Michigan and UCLA are rumored to be his front runners. Not sure why we are out but something happened because he took so many visits here and had loved it here. I'm guessing it is non football related. Girlfriend is a year younger and stuck at calibasas one more year before college. He is a homebody and really close to his parents/pro way. He wants a really strong academic school...with a big reputation. He wants to be his own man and do his own thing. He doesn't want people saying he followed Tristan and Keyshawn. All those could be factors... we also have a lot of talent and depth in our secondary right now which is deterring a lot of these DB's. I still think darnay is good enough to start right away though. It's just a weird deal. I'm guessing a lot more will come out about all this after signing day.

The only threat right now is Alabama. But all the major recruiting services are aligned in thinking he ends up here. The in-home visit where his mom gets to meet our staff will seal the deal and he will announce at the Army All American Game OR on signing day.

If you look closely, Tommy's production began dropping and the running game really began struggling at the same time our offensive linemen began getting injured. Farmer has a high ankle sprain, the same injury Taylor Martinez had that hampered him a half of season. David Knevel has the same. Gates is playing on a bad ankle. Utter is the only starting offensive lineman we have healthy. We are starting 3 walkons. Utter, Conrad, Hahn. Out of our projected starting 5 offensive linemen going into the season, we have lost 4 to injury. Gates, Foster, Farmer, Knevel. If you watch the offensive line in the Ohio state game, their mobility and lower body strength is significantly limited. They are consistently beat and often times even take the wrong direction to block. They are slower getting up (ankles). Conrad, a walk on, is a significant drop off from the starters in athletic ability. Whitaker is a drop off as well. He hardly saw the field until now. Behind those 8 (gates, foster, utter, farmer, knevel, Hahn, Whittaker, Conrad) we have no guys Cav feels are well equipped enough to play right now. The question becomes, why? Why do we not have depth? Why are highly touted 4star guys like Barnett not even mentioned? The fans see that the offensive line is not blocking for the running backs to have holes. They aren't pass protecting long enough for Tommy to have time to go through his reads. Langsdorf can call any play he wants but our o-line can not protect or open up holes right now. This is why you see our backs looking so bad and Tommy's production dropping. Not to mention, Cethan Carter's injury has set the tight end spot back. Yes Knevel is playing, but he's not healthy. We are desperate on the o-line right now. So desperate we play the injured guys over the healthy ones because even with limited mobility they are better options than the other guys on the team. What we see is this... Barney Cotton missed in his recruiting on our Junior and Senior classes. Zack Hannon, Dwayne Johnson haven't seen the field. Paul Thurston transferred. Corey Whittaker and Davis Knevel are the only recruited scholarship upperclassmen we have that have played. Utter, Conrad, & Hahn were Walkons and many felt neither had the athletic ability to play against the top of the big 10. So Cav walked into a mess. Alex Lewis was brought in as a transfer because Cotton had missed on earlier classes as well. Think about it. Cab walks In and the cubbard was bare. Cav has a lot of young talent on the team. Sophomores - Foster, Farmer, and Gates are all great players when healthy. They seem to be panning out and developing well. Redshirt Freshmen - Gaylord is going to be good. He needs to get tougher and needs this year to grow. He's too young right now and still learning the system. Barnett - has all the talent in the world, but the dude loves to eat and can't get his weight down to play. He's gotta get in playing shape or he's going to get pushed around out there. Decker - he was coming on strong and then missed the whole summer. It set him back tremendously. It is said he has some personal reasons for missing and needs to catch up. The coaches think he has a bright future but he's still a little young and this year he isn't quite ready. Freshmen - Brokop, Farnoik, Raridon, and Wilson. The experts think Raridon will be a starting center within 2 years and is That good. Wilson is a good guard, good enough to be considered as a true freshman contender. Farniok is expected to beat out Knevel for the RT spot next year, because Knevel just isn't that good. He consistently gets beat. Brokop is the only one I haven't heard much about yet. He may need a couple years. So what we're seeing right now is a beat up o-line, with very few upperclassmen contribution, playing injured because we have no soph/junior/senior depth due to the previous staff's recruiting misses/lack of development. That's not on Cav. Next year we should have LT - Gates, Gaylord LG - Foster, Wilson C - Raridon, Decker RG - Farmer, Barnett RT - Farniok, Knevel Not to mention if we land a Foster Sarrell he could start immediately at tackle or guard. Some of these other highly regarded west coast tackles we're going after could be immediate contributors as well. So all this to say. We can't blame Danny Langsdorf for play calling when there's no blocking for plays. We can't blame the Running backs or Reggie Davis when the RB is hit as he gets the handoff, before he can even look for a hole. He has no chance to do his job. We can't blame Tommy when he has to flee the pocket 1 second after the snap and has 3 guys in his face while he's trying to see the field. We literally have to play compromised players on the O-Line because there's no one else to play. All we have are freshmen and redshirt freshmen, who aren't ready yet.

I think he stays home and goes to UCLA. He has this serious girlfriend he is in love with. She's only a junior. He lost his dad when he was young and feels proway is his family. Even though he loves Nebraska, this decision will come down to personal stuff outside of football stuff. It will be made based on family stuff. Nebraska can have every football, life skills, and academic it wants, but this is an 18yr old who wants to be a rock for his family and who has already found who he thinks is going to be his wife. He's going to stay home and pick UCLA. I thought he might pick Michigan as he's shown the most interest in them lately and his whole proway family visited recently, but I think in the end the distance from home... not being able to be with his family who needs him, and his GF who he wants to marry... is what this decision is going to come down to. He's got his head on straight and he's not going to choose just for football.

We have had several five stars already visit. 1) Foster Sarrell, the #1 Offensive Tackle in the nation. 2) Darnay Holmes, the #3 Cornerback in the nation. 3) Donovan People's-Jones, the #2 WIde Receiver in the nation (according to some rankings). 4) Joseph Lewis, the #3 Wide Receiver in the nation. Tyler Shelvin, the #2 Defensive Tackle in the nation has consistently and repeatedly stated Nebraska is in his top 3 and he wants to visit. He hasn't taken any Official visits yet. We have a good shot of hosting him, especially with the uncertainties at LSU. The more of these guys we get on campus, the higher the chance we land one. We'be never hosted 4-5 five stars for game days, ever. This is historical for Nebraska.

He actually played some (albeit meaningless) snaps this season. But you're probably right. He'll look for opportunities elsewhere. When? I don't think so. Didn't make the fall camp initial roster or travel for away games. Spotted him late in the game vs. Wyoming. He's played a few min on special teams but has never seen time on the line.

Dwayne Johnson is set to graduate in Dec. He has never seen a snap on the field. I think this will open up another spot for us. I don't anticipate him coming back for a 5th year when he's never contributed and has his degree. Here's my source http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=206288265

Joseph Lewis - 75%. He has visited 3x. Wants to come back for a 4th. He loves coach Dubb. Loved every trip he took as he learned more and more. He has several friends coming to Nebraska and POB is already here. USC is unstable. Their coaching staff will most likely get fired after this season or next. Recruits don't want to play for schools that may fire the coach they have a relationship with. That's why I think we get him. Foster Sarrell - 50% I think he is torn between Stanford & Nebraska right now, with Washington in 3rd place and everyone else eliminated from consideration. He loved Nebraska, has a special relationship with Coach Cav, his mom loved Nebraska. He talks about it with "oh man I love that place" kind of discussion. BUT will he have the guts to pull the trigger? He'a 18. Stanford is a lot closer to home. They have a stable program with a good education and a lot of NFL linemen. There is a pride in saying "I went to Stanford" and a ton of job opportunities due to the respect of the education. It's a top 5 US institution for academics across the board. That's what concerns me. Washington has had a phenomenal season. Their coach is the real deal. He proved it at Boise St and is proving it now. Washington is also a very good academic institution with a solid reputation. If Foster wants to raise his kids where he grew up after his football career is over, a degree from Washington in that area speaks volumes. Most universities have stronger networking and more clout locally than nationally. Unless it's a high academic institution. Darnay Holmes - 30%. He was very high on us for a while. But this is a guy who doesn't want to do what everyone else does. He wants to make a decision for himself based on his needs. He's not just going to follow friends or give into peer pressure. He has a lot of things to think about. If he leaves home I see him at Michigan. If he stays home I see him at UCLA. His decision will come down to a lot more than football. He will chose based on his family's guidance, pro way mentor guidance, girlfriends influence, and where he feels will set him up best and simultaneously allow him to take care of those who need him most. Donovan People's Jones - 0% - I see him ending up at Michigan. He's had ties there for a long time. It's a great academic institution with a great staff and playing good football. He wants to be pre-med. He's already been shadowing doctors through Michigan as a high schooler. He's comfortable, he'a familiar, he ends up there. Ohio St would be my dark horse here. If he wants to be the 3rd 5* guy this year at WR and buys into that hype they have, then he goes there. Austin Jackson - 10% - until he visits I think we have slim chance to land him. He may be 3rd or 4th on our board, which may be why we haven't pushed him to visit, or maybe we have and he just isn't drinking the Nebraska koolaid yet. Also consider, over half of these kids end up picking a school close to home if they have options for good ones.

Loved his visit. Going to go on his other visits before deciding.

This appears to be a case of: - he likes Parella but doesn't believe Nebraska is as big and nice as it is (much like most the Cali guys until they visit). - sees SEC as the best conference and wants to play for the best. May not want to go to a cold school or go far from home. We need to get him and mom up for a visit if we want a chance.

Also hearing we are slow playing him a bit because he is a plan c to Tyler Shelvin and Damion Daniels.

Someone stated Iowa fans were throwing bottles and trash onto the field when they got mad at the refs. Apparently Iowa looked kinda bad and fans showed bad sportsmanship

Thought we were full for 2017 TE's with Allen and Leitao. Ben Miles is our H Back commit.

Absolutely loved his visit. His mom came. Going to visit more 4-5 schools before making a decision.

Rumor has it he may have some academic qualifying issues.

They won't take cotton if he wants N. He is a plan B and is waiting to see what our plan A's do. Our DB recruiting is so good this year that guys we use to be glad to get are plan B's.