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 new official offers, Georgia recruiting and betting on Red.
A few official offers to note
It was a fairly uneventful around the official offer graphics the other day. All of the commits seemed to be flying them high, but there were also three recruits who have not visited Nebraska and who no one has really talked about until now.
Hall is a player who was originally classified as a wide receiver and is now listed as an athlete. The 6-foot-2 and 187-pound Hall seems to fit the mold that coach Travis Fisher has been talking about with the other recruits so far this year. Hall has that length and is a wide receiver who understands the route tree and tendencies of a wide receiver. When I put on the film this looks like a guy that plays the game a lot like James Monds III.
If there was an official offer that, on the surface, I don’t understand it’s James. James is a talented player. Need convincing? Put on his film. I am wondering, though, how and where does he fit? Is this a third wide receiver for the class, is James similar to Jaden Mangham or Hall in that he plays offense but really projects to defense? There are no stories on James and getting in touch with him could prove to be challenging, but I like seeing that Penn State had offered and that LSU was showing interest.
Nebraska has some strong ties to Georgia and in particular Buford HS. However, I think the most surprising of the official offer graphics was when Spencer retweeted his after being a Michigan State commitment for the past four and a half months. Spencer looks a little like Vail on film, but has more versatility. I am hoping to catch up with Spencer this week to see how serious he is about taking visits to other schools.
Summing up
These are some guys that I would keep an eye on. They could show up on the official visitor list for Nebraska in the month of September, but there is another thought that I am having about the 2022 class all together that I will tackle in my next segment of Three and Out.
– Bryan Munson
Georgia recruiting
UCF only signed one player from Georgia in Scott Frost‘s two recruiting classes in Orlando, but Nebraska has signed at least one player from the Peach State in each of Frost’s first four classes in Lincoln.
Most years, NU his signed more than one Georgia prospect, and they have averaged over two signees from the state each cycle.
[* left program]
2018
OLB Caleb Tannor
* TE Katerian LeGrone
2019
* RB Ronald Thompkins
2020
2021
RB Gabe Ervin
The Huskers, though, are still looking for their first Georgia commit for this 2022 class, and there are several remaining possibilities.
Nebraska stands the best chance to land the above four recruits from Georgia at this time.
Defensive back Nathan Vail already took his official to Lincoln in June. Defensive back Quantaves “Gumbo” Gaskins has his official visit to Nebraska locked in for September 3, and four-star defensive end Joshua White said he will be officially visiting the Huskers as well this season.
Though he is verbally pledged to Michigan State, defensive back Malik Spencer could be still in the picture as well since he hails from Buford, Georgia where Gabe Ervin and Malik Williams both played their high school football.
Hopefully, the Husker coaches can keep the Georgia recruiting pipeline flowing to Lincoln for another cycle by signing at least one of the above four players, or someone else from the state we’re not aware of yet.
– Mike Matya
Is Nebraska getting ready to bet on themselves?
The articles I have been reading and all of the Big Ten talk I have been listening to do not expect too much from the ol’ Big Red this fall. I suspect that there are some pretty eager folks in the North Stadium ready to prove them wrong this season, though.
There is some optimism around this team right now. Where they are depth-wise, and experience from last season that is elevating where this team is coming into this fall camp in comparison to years past. And another solid recruiting class could yield some more players that we can expect to see on the field this fall.
So what could all of that mean to the recruiting class for 2022?
I believe that Nebraska is ready to start betting on red this fall. There could be a bit of a pause button that Nebraska hits here, being at nine commits going into fall camp and banking on having a successful month of September.
If Nebraska goes out and starts the season 3-0, there could be some recruits around the nation the Huskers were unable to get onto campus in June that may be a little more receptive with that start. There is something Nebraska can control, and that is winning and proving some of the naysayers wrong.
What has helped Nebraska get to this point, besides there not being great expectations for the team this fall, were key commitments from Hayden Schwartz and Valen Erickson. Those two gets for the 2022 class really take some pressure off of the staff and allows them now to go forward with the current commits and see if some better results in the win column attract another recruit or two.
This theory is somewhat supported by a lack of official offer graphics. It’s an inexact science to measure recruiting that way, but as much as there were three out of left field, there were two or three that I thought weren’t promoted by the recruits (or if Nebraska actually extended them an official offer).
This is an obvious gamble for Nebraska to make, but one that could have a significant payoff if they can go 3-0 and really put up a challenge to Oklahoma in Norman. The Huskers need some juice to get recruiting pointed in the right direction with this class.
– Bryan Munson
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