Where do the Huskers stand?

Today, we begin the last dead period of the Recruiting year. Contact periods? Quiet periods? Dead periods? What does football have to do with menstruation? Here’s an SBNation article explaining the nuts and bolts. If you have questions about changes to your body, I recommend this article.

The early Signing Period is upon us! A new wrinkle in recruiting this year, the early signing period gives coaches a chance to build the bulk of their class early, then concentrate on the few outliers needed to fill any holes in January. The Husker recruiting corps is working hard to start the transition to the tempo spread on day one. How are the Huskers doing at restocking the cabinets? Let’s take a look at positions of need and how the class is shaping up.

Quarterback:

With the commitment of Adrian Martinez, the Huskers have their guy. QB coach Mario Verduzco is also recruiting athlete and Louisville commit Marcus Riley. There has been some smoke about a grad transfer by Ohio State’s Joe Burrow due to him being passed over on the roster. The Burrows have ties to Frost at multiple prior coaching stops, but we won’t see anything happen with this until after Spring Ball. The QB battle in the spring will be interesting viewing for all.

Running Back:

Coach Frost looks to add #speed to the backfield through all-purpose backs that combine speed with pass-catching ability. The Huskers are in on Jeremy Banks, Javian Hawkins, Greg Bell, and Joshua Fleeks. The staff wants one of these, possibly two.

Tight End:

Frost and company like tall, Athletic Tight Ends. It is really tempting to make an inappropriate comment about athletic tight ends, but I will refrain in the name of journalistic integrity. Don’t let me down in the comments, though!

Nebraska native Cameron Jurgens has been a solid commit, although he did waver slightly when the staff changes were announced. With his frame, he may be a candidate to slide inside to OT, or move to DE if he isn’t a perfect fit for the Frost offense.

The staff isn’t looking hard, but would take another tight end if it’s the right fit. Messiah Swinson and Katerian Legrone have offers and have made visits.

Wide Receiver:

This is an area of need for the Huskers. The prior regime had some last minute recruiting misses which left the roster short of receivers. Tall, home run threat receivers are the biggest need on the offensive side of the ball. We’ll talk about the offensive line in a minute, hold on! The staff has been very aggressive here, putting out several offers.

There are three commits at this time: Cameron Brown, Jaron Woodyard and Justin McGriff. Brown is just waiting for a thumbs up from Urban Meyer to jump ship to OSU. Many recruiting analysts believe he is gone. He has a signing ceremony (typically the death knell to any Husker hopes) on Dec 20. This situation will be interesting to watch. There is room for one or two more receivers here, depending on what Brown does. Top prospects include Jeshaun Jones, Dominick Watt, and Miles Jones, and also have an outside chance on Baylor lean Tommy Bush.

Offensive Line:

I don’t like to swear, but last season the offensive line play was a shit show. There’s just no way to sugar coat it. The hows and whys have been discussed to death in the game thread comments, no need to recap folks. Originally this was our number one area of need. However, discussion with our technical expert Hoss Reuter gave me hope. There are some talented players coming up that should be available in the near future. Some coaching up should pay dividends here, and it is my opinion that the product on the field will be measurably improved in the immediate future. Yes, I’m an unabashed member of #teamsunshine. What we do need is one or two JUCO offensive tackles. Jahmir Johnson and Lavar Livingston are JUCO OTs that the staff are working on, but neither of them are returning much interest. Iowa Western CC’s Noah Banks is headed south. Hamilton Hall is a Georgia native with a visit set up in February right before signing day, and has serious interest. He would enter as a freshman, and need development before he could contribute. Ryan Winkel has been offered. There’s work to be done to rebuild the #pipeline, for sure. Center Will Farniok’s commitment has been reaffirmed.

Defensive Line:

Coach Chinander uses an attacking 3-4 (Put down the torches. Put DOWN the torches!) that is more multiple than pure 3-4. The front seven lacked a pure pass rusher and the ability to set the edge last season. Significant effort was expended for in-state defensive tackle Bryson Williams, but he stuck with the Badgers. York’s Masry Mapieu is still solid to the Huskers, but appears to have academic issues, and has not been visited by the new staff. Offers have went out to many pass rushing defensive ends, pushing hardest for JUCO Jordan Allen and Daniel Carson. Allen appears headed to Tennessee. David Alston and Tate Wildeman are both expected to sign on Dec 20.

Linebacker:

The Linebacking corps is mainly looking for a middle linebacker to replace departing Chris Weber. David Alston is committed and should sign early. The primary targets are OLB Javontae Jean-Baptiste (no relation to Stanley) and JUCO ILB Will Honas.

Cornerback:

Cover corners are desperately needed. The computer bolded that on its own, and I figured it knew what it was talking about. Further cause for concern: cornerback offers didn’t really start going out until Wednesday. This will be the big push for the staff before the final signing period in February. All the DB commits left after the termination of Donte Williams. Room could be made for up to four players. Last weekend a commitment was received from hard-hitting corner/nickel prospect Deontai Williams. Main targets are Jeremy Webb who just committed to Virginia Tech, potential Vandy flip Taiyon Palmer, and current UCF commit JUCO Elijah Jones.

Safety:

Safety recruiting has progressed well. Four star free safety C.J. Smith is committed. Top additional prospects are Cam’ron Jones and John Huggins. Huggins committed to Florida this weekend.

Kicker:

Alabamian Barret Pickering has been visited and remains solid to the Huskers. Kickering Pickering. heh. heh heh. I need coffee.

And that, folks, is how it’s going down, as far as you know. My finger-in-the-wind projection puts us in the low 30’s when it’s all said and done. With the coaching changes this year, recruiting has been a turducken of a landslide, in a tornado, in a hurricane. Stay tuned for changes as they occur.