The final steps in building the 2022 roster begin

We discuss the final steps of building Nebraska’s 2022 roster and more in this week’s 3-2-1 column.

1 – Portal visits begin this week for Nebraska

The final steps of building the 2022 football roster for Nebraska begin this weekend when the Huskers host a pair of Alabama players from the transfer portal.

Defensive lineman Stephon Wynn and defensive back Kaine Williams will be in Lincoln for their official visits starting Friday HuskerOnline has confirmed.

Would the Huskers be able to take both players based on their current needs and numbers situation?

Today, there still needs to be some roster maintenance that takes place in order to add any new players for 2022.

NU technically sits at 85 players on scholarship, meaning additional players would have to move on or be placed on medical scholarship in order to make any new additions.

Also, what is the number? How many transfer portal players might Nebraska add in the next month?

I think the safe bet is between three and five. The only way I see them going higher than three is if it’s a no-brainer addition.

I think we are also learning there are not very many “sure things” in the portal at this point, particularly on the offensive line.

2 – Huskers wisely offered Ainsworth’s Carter Nelson

The window to offer 2024 Ainsworth tight end Carter Nelson was closing quickly.

Iowa State already made Nelon’s first offer in April. Kansas made the second offer on Wednesday before the Huskers came in.

This is the right move. Nelson is a specimen. Is he a tight end? A defensive edge player? I don’t know.

But what I do know is there are very few 6-foot-4, 205 sophomores in high school that run 11.0, throw the discus 175-0, high jump 7-0 and pole vault 13-8.

It is probably only a matter of time before Iowa comes in with an offer as well.

District track wrapped up this week. On Tuesday, Class A districts took place. There were several notable marks put up by 2022, 2023 and 2024 football recruits/prosepcts. Here’s a few that jumped off the page.

1 – What do you make of the new NIL rules put down this week?

The NCAA wants to clamp down on NIL and boosters getting involved in the recruiting process. So what does it mean for collectives going forward?

The big thing I think is you are no longer going to see collectives talking to recruits before they sign.

Can collectives still be involved with teams going forward? Absolutely. I think they will still have a big role once players are on campus, but my sense is the NCAA is trying to shut down prospects meeting with multiple collectives fishing out what school has the best situation for them financially.

2 – What was your take on Dylan Raiola’s commitment to Ohio State?

2024 Chandler (Ariz.) quarterback Dylan Raiola committing to Ohio State is a blow for Nebraska. Not very often is arguably the nation’s top HS recruit going to be a Husker legacy.

However, nobody should be surprised. I always thought the only chance NU had was if Raiola chose to wait until after the 2022 college football season. If the Huskers have a good season, that would have been their chance to be in the discussion.

With that said, nobody can fault him for having schools like Ohio State, USC and Georgia ahead of Nebraska in May of 2022.

Call it the Vince Guinta effect. Nebraska seems much more organized with its recruiting plan for the month of June than in years past under Frost.

I’ve already been able to confirm several official visitors coming in this month. Today, I predict you will see over 30 official visitors between the months of May and June. The Huskers will host prospects the next seven out of eight weekends.

Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and he can be heard each day at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall and each week he appears on NET’s Big Red Wrap-Tuesday’s at 7 pm.