Three & Out: Iowa battleground, early B1G 2023 commits, and NIL disparity

This is HuskerOnline.com’s feature in which recruiting analysts Mike Matya and Bryan Munson give their weekly takes on topical issues concerning Nebraska football, baseball and recruiting.

Today in our next installment of “Three and Out” we hit on Iowa battleground, early B1G 2023 commits, and NIL disparity.

Recruiting isn’t a popular topic in football right now, but I am going to kick off “3NO” this week with it anyway because one thing is incredibly clear for next year…there is a lot of talent in the state of Iowa. The Huskers will need to be successful like they were with the 2021 class with the 2023 to really put a hurt on the Hawkeyes, as well as other Big Ten and national programs.

It seems like there is always a cycle that comes through for states like Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, etc. that don’t have the population of other states to be considered a hotbed for recruiting. But, every now and then, there is a spike and that spike means top talent and quantity.

There are 11 prospects from Iowa in the 2023 class who are holding, offers with one of them already committed to Iowa. The Huskers have offered five of the remaining ten uncommitted players from Iowa which includes two, four-star R100 players for 2023.

First the bad news. The crown jewel in Iowa next year is Kadyn Proctor. Legitimately, he could be the top offensive lineman in the 2023 class and, besides having visited Iowa, he’s also been to Notre Dame and Alabama. It also seems that Ohio State could be towards the top of his list of favorite schools.

But here is the good news: the Huskers do have a shot at the other four players from the state in the 2023 class, including another four-star, Rivals100 player in Andrew DePaepe. The defensive end told HuskerOnline recently that he is “wide open” and, since he is not from the state of Iowa originally, this could keep the door open for the Huskers.

There are others beyond DePaep, ones who don’t have the 30 offers or the ranking that he currently has, who are very interesting prospects for Nebraska, too. First is Asa Newsome who is the younger brother of Mosai Newsome. Asa has done some big-time work to his frame and has emerged as a legit DI prospect after cutting some weight and working on his athleticism.

In addition to Newsom is OL/DL David Borchers. Borchers was very excited to pick up the offer from the Huskers, and a little more than a month after getting the offer he took his first trip to Nebraska to see the spring game. Borchers is likely a DL recruit for NU now, but he wants a larger role on the OL this fall which is keeping the door open to him possibly playing on that side of the football.

Lastly, there is Watts McBride. The Huskers were the first to offer the talented safety after their FNL camp on June 18th. McBride is a two-sport standout in high school. He was an all-state selection as a junior for football and was also the Iowa High School rugby player of the year.

If there is a neighboring state that Nebraska has had some success in it’s Iowa and that bodes well. There is going to be a need to be successful again for the Huskers to have a great recruiting class for the 2022-23 group.

– Bryan Munson

It’s still very early in the recruiting process for the Class of 2023, which are the upcoming juniors-to-be, but several Big Ten teams have already acquired commitments for that cycle.

Six B1G programs, to be exact, are already on the board with early verbal pledges from 2023 prospects.

Somewhat surprisingly, Nebraska leads the way with a pair of in-state commits, which is a welcome sign after losing out on the top four in-state recruits for the 2022 class.

Pierce, Neb., tight end Ben Brahmer pulled the trigger for the Huskers on April 2, and Lincoln Southeast offensive tackle Gunnar Gottula followed suit on June 26.

Both are important pickups for NU, and they should help the Cornhusker coaches in their attempt to land the other in-state recruits they have offered or targeted.

Below is an early look at how other conference teams are faring with verbal pledges for the next cycle:

As I said, it’s very early for the 2023 cycle to be garnering commitments, and only six BIG schools have current verbal pledges. All the other five, except for Nebraska, only have a single commit.

Most of the 2023 recruits have also not been rated yet by Rivals and, to a certain extent, a prospect committing this early in the cycle prevents them from acquiring more scholarship offers.

All of the early junior-to-be conference commitments are of the in-state variety, except for those from Penn State and Maryland. The Nittany Lions’ and the Hoosiers’ commits are four-star prospects, with Penn State’s being a Rivals100 designee.

The above two additional in-state players who could “pop” for Nebraska at any time. Both have family connections to the program, which makes it probable for them to end up in Lincoln.

We will revisit this topic periodically in future Three & Outs.

– Mike Matya

I haven’t had a chance to poll all of the collegiate athletes, but I think that it’s safe to say the majority are in favor of earning some extra cash when it comes to NIL. I mean, having a fast-food hamburger, making a tweet and cashing your $50 check was never something that I thought could kill college football. But I think that I know what can kill it now.

Nick Saban was recently quoted saying that Bryce Young was earning seven figure NIL deals already at Alabama. This is a player that has never started a game for the Crimson Tide.

I just don’t see where this is going as being better for the game. I already had a major issue with players deciding they were giving up on their teams to sit out games to avoid injury to prepare for their professional careers.

The bottom line is NIL is going to be good for some and not for all. Not everyone will get a million-dollar deal. Some will be lucky to get hundreds. How does this not get in the wheelhouse of a team and affect cohesiveness?

I have seen poor college kids make bad decisions with far less in their pockets. Now with essentially unlimited resources at such a young age, can this become a distraction or worse pave a path to some sort of disastrous behavior?

What is the message that is being sent when a player like Young, having never started a game in college, has a million dollars in the bank? How does a teammate feel when it gets tossed out in their face in the locker room, at a party or in the media?

This is not what I thought the NIL would lead to. I thought the stipend and Cost of Attending (CoA) money that these players receive would still be comparative to anything monetarily that they could make from NIL. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

And while I was wrong, I also don’t see the trajectory and current situation for the “haves” making thousands if not millions as sustainable either. There are just too many bad paths to let my mind roam and list them out for you.

If colleges were upset before when it came to a couple of personal jets and a lobster or two that Willie Williams was enjoying on the recruiting trail, I can only imagine what the lower end Power Five and the Group of Five schools are thinking now.

– Bryan Munson