Nebraska on Tuesday evening landed a verbal commitment from class of 2023 quarterback William Watson III out of Springfield, Massachusetts.
Here are three observations following Watson’s pledge to the Huskers.
1. NU offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mark Whipple hasn’t wasted any time making his mark on the room he’s coaching.
Not just in his coaching methods, terminology and all of that, but literally in terms of the room itself. Whipple, the former Pitt offensive coordinator and 40-plus-year coaching veteran, had a long-standing relationship with Florida State transfer Chubba Purdy and also with Watson.
Whipple clearly knows what he likes in quarterbacks, and he explained his approach to identifying good ones back in December.
“Be a leader, a winner, tough. Work at it,” Whipple said. “… Talent, it’s always nice to coach talent.”
And another thing: “I’ve never really seen a winner at the quarterback position be a nice guy,” he added. “That’s really what it comes down to. It goes back to competitive nature that they can instill.”
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The Huskers were able to visit with and host Ankeny, Iowa four-star JJ Kohl in January and were set to host four-star Avery Johnson (Maize, Kanas) in the coming weeks when spring ball starts. Never say never in recruiting, but Whipple appears confident enough in Watson that he’ll likely be the Huskers’ quarterback for the 2023 class.
2. It’s difficult to think about NU’s 2023 quarterback recruiting without also looking ahead to 2024.
The Huskers will take a big swing for Dylan Raiola (Chandler, Arizona), the No. 3 quarterback and No. 45 player overall in the country for the class, according to 247Sports. The connections are clear — Raiola’s dad, Dominic, is one of the best offensive linemen in Nebraska history and his uncle, Donovan, is NU’s new offensive line coach — but the competition is also sky high. Raiola is being heavily pursued by defending national champion Georgia and has most of college football’s best programs in pursuit as well.
Dylan Raiola and his dad were in Lincoln this summer for a Friday Night Lights camp, and 6-foot-3, 215-pounder put on a show, giving a glimpse of why he’s one of the most coveted quarterback recruits in the country for his recruiting class.
Then he went out and threw for 3,341 yards and 32 touchdowns against just five interceptions on 65.1% completions for Burleson High in Texas before his family moved to Arizona this offseason.
A lot has to go right for Nebraska to come away with the 2024 signal-caller at the end of his recruitment. Most pertinently, the Huskers almost certainly have to win this fall to have any chance against the who’s who of schools that would love to land the younger Raiola.
If — and it’s a big if — all goes according to plan for NU, though, he’d be the next high school guy that commits to the Huskers now that Watson has made his decision.
3. The class of 2023 is off to a much different start for the Huskers than the last recruiting cycle.
NU didn’t land its fifth member of the 2022 class until Lincoln Southeast athlete Jake Appleget pulled the trigger on June 20 and then didn’t add No. 6 until mid-October. In fact, the Huskers didn’t have a player who actually ended up signing with the program in the 2022 class until Ernest Hausmann committed on March 4.
Now, NU has five in the boat before the window for 2023 official visits has even opened. With more junior days on the horizon in March and perhaps the first batch of official visitors either during that month or for the Red-White Spring Game on April 9, this class is already substantially different than the last one.
Where the size ultimately ends up remains to be seen, but it once again looks early on like a smaller group of high school players is likely. In 2022, the Huskers signed 15 high schoolers and three junior college transfers, and have added 10 Division I transfers so far.
The 8 highest-ranked Husker recruits of all time, and how they fared at Nebraska
𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙤𝙣 𝙇𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙮
Position: I-back
247 Ranking: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Composite score: 0.9950
Years at Nebraska: 2005-08
How did it go? Lucky was a do-it-all playmaker for the Huskers, as he carried the ball 515 times and also had 135 receptions, the eighth-most in program hsitory. He dealt with massive expectations and almost transferred at the end of the 2016 season before deciding to stay after a meeting with then-head coach Bill Callahan.
𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨 𝙎𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙖𝙠
Position: Tight end
247 Ranking: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Composite score: 0.9833
Years at Nebraska: 2000-04
How did it go? Septak, a Millard West product, struggled with injuries and never gained much momentum at the college level.
𝘼𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙣 𝙂𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙣
Position: I-back
247 Ranking: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Composite score: 0.9815
Years at Nebraska: 2011
How did it go? Green appeared in 12 games as a true freshman and finished fifth on the team in rushing yards (105). A San Antonio, Texas, native, Green chose to move closer to home by transferring to TCU in 2012.
𝘽𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙪𝙝𝙡𝙚𝙧
Position: Defensive tackle
247 Ranking: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Composite score: 0.9812
Years at Nebraska: 2008-12
How did it go? Steinkuhler was a productive anchor on the Blackshirts’ line. He amassed 150 career tackles and was a second-team Big Ten (coaches) selection in 2012, when he was also a team captain.
𝙉𝙙𝙖𝙢𝙪𝙠𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙎𝙪𝙝
Position: Defensive lineman
247 Ranking: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Composite score: 0.9797
Years at Nebraska: 2005-09
How did it go? Well, you know this turned out. Suh is one of the program’s all-time best players, and his challenge for the Heisman Trophy as an unstoppable force in 2009 is still talked about around these parts.
𝘾𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙮 𝙂𝙧𝙞𝙭𝙗𝙮
Position: Cornerback
247 Ranking: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Composite score: 0.9773
Years at Nebraska: 2004-07
How did it go? Grixby was a reliable piece of Nebraska’s secondary, starting 37 games for the Huskers. In 2007, he became the first Nebraska player to run a kick back for a touchdown in nine years.
𝙏𝙮𝙟𝙤𝙣 𝙇𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨𝙚𝙮
Position: Wide receiver
247 Ranking: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Composite score: 0.9769
Years at Nebraska: 2017-18
How did it go? Lindsey appeared in all 12 games as a true freshman — catching 12 passes for 76 yards — before transferring to Oregon State four games into his sophomore season.
𝙏𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝘾𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙣
Position: Offensive tackle
247 Ranking: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Composite score: 0.9748
Years at Nebraska: 2020-present
How is it going? Corcoran experienced the highs and lows of being an 11-game starter as a freshman in the Big Ten. The Huskers are no doubt excited to have him as a key cog in the “Pipeline” moving forward.
Contact the writer at pgabriel@journalstar.com or 402-473-7439. On Twitter @HuskerExtraPG.
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