Arguably the most impressive overhaul that’s been done to a position group at Nebraska this offseason comes from Travis Fisher’s secondary. It needed to happen.
The team loses multi-year starters Cam Taylor-Britt, Deontai Williams and Marquel Dismuke. The room has also suffered attrition throughout this staffs time at Nebraska. They lost a pair of four-star safeties from their initial 2018 class (Cam’ron Jones and CJ Smith). Then in 2020, the pandemic lent a hand in them losing four-star defensive backs Henry Gray and Jaiden Francois, along with Ronald Delancy III. In mid-December, 2021 defensive back Malik Williams put his name in the transfer portal.
These losses have poked holes in the roster and created some depth issues. To combat that, Nebraska went out and added two really nice pieces from the transfer portal with Omar Brown (Northern Iowa) and Tommi Hill (Arizona State). The team also added five guys from the high school and junior college ranks in their 2022 class. Heading into the upcoming season, seven of the 17 scholarship defensive backs will be in their first seasons with the Cornhusker program. Six of those seven additions came after Dec. 1.
Travis Fisher needs to find a new starting safety tandem and figure out who’s going to start at corner opposite incumbent Quinton Newsome. Omar Brown should be considered the favorite to earn the other cornerback job as an FCS All-American. Myles Farmer seems like a safe bet for one safety spot, but he struggled in 2021 after a promising 2020 season was cut short by a season-ending knee injury. Braxton Clark is a guy the staff has liked for a while and seemed poised for a prominent role in 2020, before he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in fall camp. He played sparingly last season and is at risk of being passed over by some guys at corner. Does he get a look at safety?
This is a big offseason for guys like Tamon Lynum, who will be entering his third season, and Noa Pola-Gates, who will be entering his fourth. With this influx of new talent, it’s approaching now or never territory for those two. Where does Javin Wright fit in? Can he stay healthy? Are his blood clot issues behind him? The staff likes Isaac Gifford at JoJo Domann’s hybrid role. Does he earn a starting safety spot in the teams base defense? Is Koby Bretz ready to push for significant playing time after redshirting his first year? The staff really likes Marques Buford Jr., who played in every game as a true freshman last season and was a standout special teams player. Do they move him from corner to safety to get him on the field? Five of the seven new additions are already on campus, so spring ball should be heated. The competition this offseason in the secondary will be one of my favorite story lines to follow.
The infusion of so many guys shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the factors I laid out. But the pace at which they were added so late in the cycle is what grabbed my attention. Nebraska wasn’t really publicly linked to very many defensive backs coming out of the summer. Their top target at the position early on was Husker legacy James Monds III, nephew of former Husker All-American Wonder Monds. They brought James in for an official visit June 18-20 and felt really good about landing him for several months, but ultimately lost him to Indiana. His recruitment felt a lot like Tiawan Mullen’s from the 2019 class. The Huskers were considered heavy favorites for the majority of the recruitment of both Floridians, before Tom Allen seemingly stole them away.
There were several targets the team lost traction with after welcoming them to campus. Jaden Mangham (Franklin, MI) took an official visit to Lincoln June 25-27 but ended up with Michigan State. Markeith Williams (Orlando, FL) was in town for an official visit June 11-13 but signed with Miami. Nathan Vail (Kennesaw, GA) took an official visit June 18-20 but signed with Duke. London Hall (Clearwater, FL) took a visit to Nebraska Oct. 2-4 but signed with Temple.
Then there’s the interesting case of Avery Powell out of Jersey City, New Jersey. He was on campus for a visit June 11-13. Despite momentum from both sides prior to his visit that felt like a commitment was immanent, the Huskers lost interest soon after the visit. Depending on who you ask, it either involved his lack of size (listed at 5-foot-9, but the staff was seeing him in-person for the first time) or his grades (he ended up signing with Holy Cross, an FCS school).
There was a time when the staff felt really good about their chances with Quantaves Gaskins (Atlanta, GA) and Mumu Bin-Wahad (Loganville, GA), but lost out to Vanderbilt and West Virginia, respectively. They also couldn’t gain ground on other early targets like Ryland Gandy (Buford, GA – signed with Pitt), Benjamin Morrison (Phoenix, AZ – signed with Notre Dame), Keionte Scott (Snow Community College – signed with Auburn), JaCorey Thomas (Orlando, FL – signed with Georgia) or Malik Spencer (Buford, GA – signed with Michigan State).
Jalil Martin
Nebraska Athletics via Twitter
One guy they were in on early and stayed heavily in the mix with was Jalil Martin. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Martin is a great example of how valuable the personal workouts were this past June. Hopefully those are something the NCAA keeps around moving forward.
Martin was part of a quartet of Chicago-area recruits who attended Nebraska’s June 18 Friday Night Lights camp/Big Red BBQ. Martin wasn’t on Nebraska’s radar heading into that visit, but he sure turned heads when he got there. After mingling with other attendees and enjoying the festivities of the BBQ, Martin worked out for Nebraska’s coaching staff for the camp portion of the event. He caught Travis Fisher’s eye immediately and was separated into a smaller, select group that received more individual attention. Not long after, Fisher went and found Erik Chinander and brought him over. The two then spent one-on-one time with Martin, working on things like footwork and hand placement. Eventually Scott Frost was fetched to pay attention to Martin as well.
After drill instructions, Martin was among several campers who spent the end of the day getting one-on-one reps, going against the camps receivers. Among them were 2023 Husker tight end commit Ben Brahmer out of Pierce High School and 2024 four-star receiver Daevonn Hall, a priority target out of Bellevue West. Martin more than held his own and received a scholarship offer that day.
Chicago is an under-recruited area and somewhere I’ve always felt Nebraska should try and create a bigger presence. The staff also offered 2023 wide receivers Logan Lester and Malik Elzy, as well as 2024 athlete I’Marion Stewart at the same Husker camp. Since then, they’ve also extended offers to a few of Martin’s teammates at Kenwood Academy; 2023 cornerback Kahlil Tate, 2023 linebacker K’Vion Thunderbird and 2024 edge rusher Marquise Lightfoot. I like those moves.
Jalil Martin could turn out to be one of the steals of this class. He fell under the radar a bit because he transferred to Kenwood Academy from Lindblom Math and Science Academy after his freshman year. He was stuck behind Dante Reynolds and Lewis Bond, a pair of 2021 receivers who signed with Boston College. In order to get reps, it was decided he would spend his sophomore season on the JV squad.
Heading into his junior year, he became one of many who had their recruitment stunted by the coronavirus. Summer camps were taken away, and then the state of Illinois moved the 2020 football season to the spring of 2021. Even then, Kenwood was relegated to a five-game season from March 27 to April 24. It wasn’t until things opened back up in June when Martin would see his recruitment take off. Nebraska was lucky to be on the ground floor of that.
Martin was primarily a wide receiver early on in his career, but he also dabbled at quarterback and played every position in the secondary. As a senior, Martin was selected to the Class 6A all-state team by the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association. He finished with 27 tackles, one interception and six passes defended. Offensively, he caught 12 passes for 263 yards and four touchdowns. Martin helped lead the Broncos to a city title and playoff appearance this past fall.
Over the course of the season, he collected over a dozen offers, including Boston College, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan State, Missouri, Ole Miss, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Washington State.
Jalil came to Lincoln for his official visit Nov. 5-7 for the Huskers’ game against Ohio State. At the time, he had a final four that also included Illinois, Ole Miss and Colorado, with the hometown Fighting Illini considered by most to be his leader. He had planned on visiting his other finalists in the coming weeks, but after a strong visit with his parents along, Martin decided to call an audible. He committed to Nebraska on the field at Memorial Stadium prior to the game’s kickoff.
Martin could turn into a really nice chess piece for this defense. He has cornerback skills but is likely to outgrow that position. He started primarily at free safety for Kenwood, and for now the plan is to play him back there. With his frame and growth potential, however, I could easily see him playing JoJo Domann’s hybrid spot or even growing into a weakside outside linebacker. Martin has a reported 81-inch wingspan and coupled with his ball skills will be a valuable defender who can match up well against tight ends. He has the size, length and athleticism to eventually be a multi-position guy who can play in coverage, help out against the run and even be used as a pass rusher. That’s why I think he ends up playing a similar role to Domann down the line.
Malcolm Hartzog
Nebraska Athletics via Twitter
College football recruiting is filled with fascinating stories of how some players find their way onto a coaches’ radar. Hands-down the winner of that award this class belongs to Malcolm Hartzog. This recruitment reminded me of former Husker Alfonzo Dennard. Both are from talent-rich areas of the country, but isolated from typical recruiting areas generally frequented by college coaches. Both were big fish in extremely small ponds. Dennard was from Rochelle, Georgia (population 1,173) in Wilcox County. That’s a virtual metropolis compared to the estimated 202 people who live in Hartzog’s hometown of Silver Creek in Mississippi’s Lawrence County.
Nebraska defensive coordinator Erik Chinander lucked into finding Hartzog. He was in Mississippi during Nebraska’s November bye week scouting high school kids for the 2023 class. He was also in town to take a look at Coahoma Community College defensive back Reginald Johnson. At every stop he made, coaches would ask him if he knew about Hartzog. Local coaches were unanimous in their opinion that Malcolm was hands-down the best high school player in the area. They all advised Chinander not to leave the area until he checked out Hartzog.
Eventually, Chinander called to let the recruiting staff know he would need to bypass visiting some of the 2023 prospects so he could see what the hype was all about. Chinander was able to watch Malcolm practice for an upcoming playoff game and meet with his family and coach. Jefferson Davis County head coach Lance Mancuso, who has coached high school football in Mississippi for 25-years, told Chinander that Hartzog was one of the best pure athletes ever to come out of Jefferson Davis and one of the best athletes in the entire state. Mancuso has five former players currently in the NFL and three who are defensive backs. He told Chinander that Hartzog is a better athlete than all of them and that he had that sort of (NFL) potential.
Chinander returned to Lincoln to let Frost and the rest of the staff know about what he saw in Malcolm. The Huskers extended an offer on Nov. 30 and lined Hartzog up for an official visit Dec. 3-5. The same day he traveled to Lincoln, Hartzog was helping the Jaguars win the Class 3A state championship. In the 42-10 win over Amory High School, Hartzog ran for 131 yards and two touchdowns on offense, and had an interception and a pass breakup on defense.
Hartzog was accompanied on his visit by his mother and hosted by Husker freshman linebacker Mikai Gbayor. He spent most of his time around Scott Frost and Travis Fisher. They told him they planned to play him at cornerback and also let him compete for the kick and punt return jobs. Malcolm and his mother were impressed by what they saw on the visit and what Nebraska had to offer. Malcolm decided to commit a day after his visit ended, Dec. 6.
At the time, Hartzog had additional offers from Ole Miss, South Alabama, Southern Miss and Marshall. But after getting his offer from Nebraska, several schools began inquiring, including several in the SEC. The increased interest continued through his official visit and commitment, but Hartzog and Mancuso told other suitors he was going to be loyal to Chinander and Nebraska for believing in him and taking a chance when others waited.
The weekend after his commitment, Hartzog played in the Mississippi/Alabama All-Star game on Dec. 11. The game featured over 20 four-star recruits and players who eventually signed with schools like Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Florida, Texas, Auburn, Miami, Ole Miss, Florida State, Tennessee, Mississippi State, West Virginia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Texas Tech, Northwestern and Arizona State. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound Hartzog was named MVP of the game after a strong defensive performance that included nine tackles and an interception.
Hartzog was truly a man among boys at Jefferson Davis County. He put up incredible numbers as a senior. As a starting running back on offense, Hartzog finished with 1,231 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns on just 71 carries (17.3 avg). He also had 7 catches for 163 yards (23.3 avg) and three touchdowns. As a starting cornerback on defense, he had 23 tackles (seven for loss), more than 10 passes defended, three interceptions and a fumble return for a touchdown. He had 11 kick returns for 403 yards (36.6 avg), with six of those going for touchdowns. He also returned five punts for touchdowns. For his efforts, he was named Mr. Football in Mississippi’s Class 3A.
Jaeden Gould
Nebraska Athletics via Twitter
There was speculation over Scott Frost’s job for most of the 2021 season. So it’s with a bit of irony that the Huskers added arguably their best player in the class after a coaching change. Jaeden Gould was one of the most highly sought-after defensive backs on the East Coast. His father, Scott, played linebacker for Rutgers in the early 1990s. Jaeden accumulated over 40 offers from every Power Five conference, including Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Wisconsin and many others.
Nebraska had been recruiting him since he was finishing up his freshman academic year. The staff offered Gould on June 22, 2019, and the Bergen Catholic star had even traveled to Lincoln that summer for an unofficial visit.
The Huskers weren’t a major factor in his recruitment, initially, however. Over the next two years, Gould would narrow his focus to a group that included USC, Penn State, Michigan, Clemson, Notre Dame and Rutgers. The Trojans and Nittany Lions were his finalists when he committed to USC on June 20, 2021. Gould never reconsidered his commitment or seriously looked at other options until the Trojans fired Clay Helton in mid-September. Former Husker cornerbacks coach Donté Williams, who recruited Gould to USC, was named the Trojans interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Their relationship is what kept Gould committed to USC for as long as he was.
Schools like Penn State, Florida, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Missouri, Cal and Northwestern were quick to reach out to Gould after Helton’s firing, but at the time, Jaeden was still solid to the Trojans. As time wore on, though, he began considering his options and then two days after USC hired Lincoln Riley as their head coach, Gould officially decommitted on Dec. 1.
The day after his decommitment, Husker coaches were at his school. Travis Fisher never lost contact with Gould and along with Mike Dawson, those long-standing relationships played into Nebraska’s favor. The Huskers set up an official visit for the following day, Dec. 3.
Thanks to several connections to his school, there was a family-type atmosphere on Gould’s visit. Jaeden was hosted by Rahmir Johnson, his former teammate at Bergen Catholic. Mike Dawson is a known commodity in New Jersey and was college roommates with Gould’s coach, Vito Campanile. Nebraska graduate assistant Jonathan Germano also helped with the familiarity. He was on the staff at Bergen Catholic before coming to Nebraska prior to this season.
Gould loved his visit and elevated the Huskers into a final group that also included Penn State. Husker coaches kept the pressure on, with Scott Frost and Mike Dawson visiting Gould at his home in New Jersey two days after he took his official visit to Lincoln. Jaeden ended up committing to Nebraska on Dec. 14 and signed with the Huskers the following day.
Bergen Catholic is a powerhouse program that’s perennially among the best teams in the country. Jaeden Gould is one of the few players in its history to be a four-year starter. Gould’s reputation grew quickly in the area and after a strong sophomore season, he became a national name. Gould was named MaxPreps Preseason Junior Second-Team All-American heading into the 2020 season. The pandemic shortened his junior season to just six games, where he finished with 13 tackles and four pass breakups, as teams continued to avoid him.
As a senior, Gould helped Bergen Catholic to its 15th state championship with a 28-7 win over Don Bosco Prep in a game played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. The Crusaders finished 12-0, becoming the first team in their league to finish undefeated since 2011. They also earned a No. 4 national ranking by MaxPreps. Gould was a key cog in a defense that only allowed 94 points (7.8 avg) all year while posting four shutouts.
Jaeden had a team-best four interceptions to go along with 27 tackles and two pass deflections. He was named first-team all-state, as well as first-team all-county. He was also honored as MaxPreps New Jersey High School Football Player of the Year. Gould is rated a four-star recruit by Rivals, 247Sports and ESPN, who ranks him the No. 225 recruit in the country.
Gould played every position in the secondary during his four-years at Bergen Catholic and excelled at all of them. At 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, he has an intriguing frame. With his athleticism and skill set, he could end up as a boundary cornerback or move out to safety. He looks like he could even get up to around 215-220 pounds and move to a hybrid linebacker/safety position. That’s where I think he could maximize his potential. Gould has fluid hips and really good change of direction ability, but he also plays physical and aggressive, with a nice competitive edginess to his game. It’s a really nice combo. He doesn’t appear to have elite top-end speed, but he’s fast enough. He could use work on his backpedal, but he has good lateral quickness and closes really well. Gould is exceptionally strong for a defensive back and is really disruptive in press-man coverage. He anticipates the ball well and uses his length and ball skills to be an active ball-disruptor.
You can realistically project Gould to four or five different positions at Nebraska; boundary corner, free or strong safety, nickel, safety/linebacker hybrid. He should be a valuable asset to the defense wherever he ends up. He graduated early and is already on campus. Can he make enough noise this spring to set the stage for early playing time?
Earlier, I mentioned the attrition the secondary has experienced through the years. It caused a disruption in the natural progression of the room. Several guys who were recruited with the idea they’d be in line to take over for guys like Taylor-Britt, Williams and Dismuke are no longer here. The staff added a trio of high schoolers to help replenish the ranks, but they also wanted to supplement the class with junior college talent with the hopes of finding a couple guys who could push the competition.
DeShon Singleton
Nebraska Athletics via Twitter
Having to replace both starters, the safety position is a question mark heading into next season. The staff thinks they’ve added a guy who will push for immediate playing time. DeShon Singleton was a full qualifier coming out of St. Helena College and Career Academy in Greensburg, Louisiana. He turned down a handful of Group of Five and FCS offers to go the junior college route. Singleton wanted to bet on himself. He was confident he could go out and prove he belonged at a Power Five school. The gamble paid off.
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Singleton was a do-everything player in high school. He played quarterback, wide receiver, cornerback and strong safety for St. Helena. He was also a very good basketball player, earning first-team all-district as a senior. Singleton ran track his last year of high school as well. His recruiting was effected by the fact St. Helena is a small town school that played at the 2A level. Singleton’s graduating class was around 30 to give you an idea. It also didn’t help that the pandemic shutdown recruiting and didn’t allow him to do the camp circuit or visit campuses to get exposure.
Instead of settling, Singleton decided to enroll at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. He played in nine games this year as a freshman and helped lead Hutchinson to a 9-2 record, a conference championship and a 66-34 victory over Hinds Community College in the Salt City Bowl. The Blue Dragons finished No. 3 in the final national rankings. Singleton finished with 21 tackles (2.5 for loss), two interceptions and two pass breakups. He played cornerback and safety, but really stood out in the backend where he was one of the top defensive backs in the Kansas Jayhawk Conference.
Singleton had been on Nebraska’s radar since the fall, but the relationship grew quickly during Thanksgiving week when the Huskers ramped up their efforts. The following week, on Dec. 4, Travis Fisher drove down to watch the Salt City Bowl at Gowans Stadium in Hutchinson. Fisher liked what he saw and ended up offering Singleton a scholarship after the game. The two sides then set up a midweek visit for Dec. 8-9, where he was hosted by Myles Farmer.
Singleton’s decision came down to the three Power Five schools that had offered him; Nebraska, Kansas and Kansas State. He visited all three. DeShon had additional offers from Louisiana-Lafayette, Tulane, Hawai’i, Buffalo, Toledo and Akron, while other schools like Colorado, Tulsa, Utah and Fresno State were pushing for him to visit. He ended up choosing Nebraska over Kansas on Dec. 14 and signed the following day. He enrolled a month later and will take part in spring ball. Singleton will have three more seasons of eligibility remaining and an available redshirt if needed.
The plan is to cross-train Singleton, which is status quo for Travis Fisher, but you can expect him to end up competing for immediate playing time at safety. At Hutchinson, he played physical and aggressive, a style that will suit him well in the Big Ten. DeShon also has really good ball skills from his time playing quarterback and receiver at St. Helena. Singleton is ranked the No. 3 junior college safety and No. 17 overall player by ESPN, and the No. 3 safety and No. 23 player overall by 247Sports.
There are typically three different kinds of kids playing at the junior college level. There are those like Singleton who had limited options coming out of high school and needed additional exposure at the junior college level to get bigger offers. Then there are D1 bouncebacks like Anthony Grant who played at a prominent program and used junior college to get another opportunity. Then there are guys who were highly recruited coming out of high school but had issues qualifying. That’s where Javier Morton fits in.
Javier Morton
Nebraska Athletics via Twitter
Morton had over 30 offers as a high school recruit in the 2020 class including Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Cal, Colorado, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M and others.
Rated as a four-star recruit and the No. 266 player overall by ESPN, at one point Morton was one of the country’s most sought-after defensive backs coming out of Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Morton originally committed to Alabama in December 2017 as the first member of their 2020 class. He continued to see his stock rise over the next two years as he routinely stood out during 7-v-7 tournaments and on the camp circuit.
In August 2019, Javier and Alabama had a mutual parting of ways. As he moved forward with his recruitment, Javier focused on LSU, Miami, South Carolina, Auburn and Georgia Tech. In the end, however, Morton didn’t sign with an FBS school in February 2020 because of academic concerns. He didn’t play anywhere in 2020 because of the pandemic, and ultimately decided to take online classes in order to get qualified. After a semester working with The USA Academy based in Alabama, Morton reclassified to the 2021 class. After a brief stint at Fort Scott Community College, Morton ended up enrolling at Garden City Community College in July 2021.
Last fall at Garden City, Morton played in nine games as a part-time starter and finished with 20 tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery and two pass breakups. He helped the Broncbusters to an 8-3 record and No. 9 finish in the national rankings. Morton was getting attention from smaller schools as his recruitment slowly picked up steam throughout the season. The Huskers contacted him right around New Year’s.
Morton had just returned from visiting UTEP when Travis Fisher reached out and asked if he’d be willing to take an official visit to Lincoln. Luckily, Fisher had a prior relationship with Javier. He had begun recruiting him when Javier was in the 10th grade and offered him a Husker scholarship on Jan. 23, 2018, less than two months after he’d followed Frost to Lincoln.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Morton was in town with his parents Jan. 14-16. His host was fellow Georgia native Quinton Newsome, who he had already been acquainted with. The pair also hung out with another Georgian, Myles Farmer, who Morton already knew as well. Fisher spent a lot of time showing Javier film of the defensive backs he’s worked with in the past. In particular, Fisher made sure to show Morton plenty of Mike Hughes clips. Hughes, who was a first-round pick of the Vikings in 2018, played for Fisher at UCF after transferring from Garden City.
Nebraska extended an offer to Morton on Jan. 17, the day after he completed his official visit. Morton announced his commitment the following day and signed with the Huskers. A week later, he was enrolling in classes. Like Singleton, Javier Morton will have three seasons of eligibility remaining and an available redshirt if needed.
Morton played both corner and safety in high school but was mainly looked at as a safety prospect coming out of Stephenson. He’s been told by Fisher that he is being recruited primarily to play boundary cornerback for the Huskers. Morton ran track in high school, participating in the 100m, 200m, 400m, long jump and triple jump. He has the length and athleticism Fisher likes in his corners. Morton is ranked the No. 5 junior college cornerback and No. 18 overall player by Rivals, the No. 9 cornerback and No. 39 player overall by ESPN, while 247Sports ranks him the No. 6 junior college safety and the No. 44 overall player.
Morton will jump into the fray this spring, but with the addition of cornerbacks Omar Brown and Tommi Hill from the transfer portal, his immediate path to the two-deep seems more difficult than Singleton’s. With multiple seasons available, he might spend his first season as a special teams fixture before making noise on defense.
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