The Great JUCO DE-bate 2015

But Pelini’s classes should annually include three to five juco players. Nebraska’s done so well scouting that level of football it doesn’t need to be a court of last resort. It needs to be built into the plan. Especially at wide receiver and defensive line, positions where the Huskers can get in the living room of top prospects, but don’t always land them. (Or, in the case of Monte Harrison, they choose professional baseball.)


Why do junior college guys fit so snugly into NU’s system? Probably because they’re hungry, and thus self-starters. Examining Pelini’s program over seven years, this much is clear: He and his staff tend to reject coddling. He’s not a micromanager, outside of being a stickler for academics. So junior college players — who have already learned to fend for themselves in the cattle-call system of juco ball, where facilities can be sketchy and the meal plan can be fast food — come in ready to lift, ready to learn the playbook, ready to adjust to college life, arriving with a little extra maturity and humility. Those components matter to NU coaches.

The Huskers continued the trend this spring when Byerson Cockrell, a two-star cornerback prospect from East Mississippi Community College, had a strong enough camp that he’ll compete for a starting job in the fall. At end, Joe Keels had a tougher transition — his road to Nebraska had a few more turns in it anyway — but he’ll still be counted on as a key backup this fall.

Cockrell’s alma mater has two top juco defensive ends — Dante Sawyer and Austin Roberts — available for the 2015 class. At wide receiver, Iowa Western — which just placed 2014 Husker signee Larenzo Stewart in its program — has 6-foot-4, 205-pound Paul Harris. He’d be the big frame NU lost when Harrison headed to pro baseball and Damore’ea Stringfellow flipped to Ole Miss.
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Sounds like Nebraska is weighing their options with at least one JUCO DE, Austin Roberts. Roberts was at the same JUCO Byerson Cockrell was at in Mississippi, but I think he is now at Northeastern Oklahoma in Miami, OK. He does not have a Nebraska offer but has said Nebraska is turning up the heat in recruiting him. Right now, he has Miami #1 and Texas #2, according to CanesInSight. Another board has a top five of Huskers, Sooners, Miami, Kentucky, and Texas.

Roberts is originally from Georgia, so I would imagine Coach Warren will lend a hand here.

Here is his high school Hudl

 
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Bump since the Huskers finally offered a JUCO DE, Takkarist McKinley. This was one of the guys we brought up back in April. He has garnered lots of attention since then, so we will have to wait to see how it turns out.

However, with this offer and the reports that another JUCO DE, Austin Roberts, has been hearing from the staff, it is safe to say we want a JUCO DE in this class.

 
Great job, Tom. You called it!

Also, good to see it happening. Our DE recruiting has been light on ROI lately. This can only help.

 
With a couple more early exits (opening up a couple more schollys) added to our lack of depth at DE, I'd be pretty shocked if we don't got after two or three guys pretty hard trying to get one.

 
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