“Some need to help right away,” he said, “and we really feel like we got the right guys.”
Although the seven offensive signees in coach Mike Riley’s first recruiting class may turn out to be quite successful — especially those three offensive linemen — Nebraska needs a good number of the 12 defensive signees to pan out. Call them Banker’s Dozen, a mix of Bo Pelini recruits and late adds by Banker and his staff. Ideally, if you ask me, eight of the 12 become solid contributors by their senior year. And preferably six of 12 are doing so by the 2016 midseason.
That’s ambitious, but a good goal. Here’s why: Out of the 32 defensive players Nebraska signed to scholarships in the 2011, 2012 and 2013 classes, 15 are left. Four of the 17 departures are junior college players who exhausted their eligibility, and a fifth is Randy Gregory, who wisely declared for the NFL draft after two seasons at NU. The other 12 are just guys who are, well, gone for one reason or another.
So there are 12 more signees in this class, and while attrition is a constant in college football, Banker could really use a solid contributing core from the 2015 group, since the three best defensive players from the 2013 class — Maliek Collins, Nate Gerry and Josh Banderas — will already be juniors. Banker likes that trio, by the way, tabbing Collins and Gerry as leaders of the defense. Collins is a particular favorite.
“I love guys who are experts at something but don’t have to announce it to the whole room,” Banker said. “And that’s the kind of person he is.”
