Three & Out: QB commit ramifications, in-state momentum, Sledge key pickup

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 William Watson iii commit ramifications, in-state RECRUITING momentum, and Sam Sledge a key pickup.

There was some huge news for Husker Nation yesterday as the NU picked up their fifth commitment in the class of 2023. This commitment was different, much like it is every time a quarterback picks a school.

And even though William Watson is good, and he is really good, this commitment is so much more.

First, this commitment demonstrates the pull that Mark Whipple has with quarterback recruits. Prior to Whipple joining Nebraska there weren’t any Nebraska fans who knew or were talking about Watson.

I am assuming a similar story here to Bryan Applewhite and Ajay Allen. Meaning: Nebraska wouldn’t have known about Watson had Whipple not come to Lincoln.Second, there is a completely different system in place than there was eight months ago. In June, Nebraska had 18 official visitors. Of those 18, visitors the Huskers landed just five.

Three of those four, Valen Erickson, Hayden Schwartz and Ashton Hayes, ended in decommitment. One of those four, Jake Appleget, is an in-state product. The other was Richard Torres.

But the real story was how Nebraska went from being in the thick of it, if not the early leader, with every one of those recruits, but then everyone saw them come off the board to other schools, one after another.

Watson, like Sam Sledge, was part of two junior day weekends. During those weekends they both picked up an offer, and less than a month later they were closed on and became part of thhis class.

Visit weekends seem to be getting a lot more follow-up, which should have Nebraska fans optimistic about the changes being made. They aren’t just on the field alone, but also with recruiting. I expect things to continue to get better as this staff hits their stride.

Maybe most importantly is that the class now has some direction. The quarterback commitment is like a compass. It reveals things in their film that draws a parallel to the offense they are going to play in college.

Additionally, when you have your quarterback, it makes it easier to find other skill position players when you have that north star. Particularly when you have an active recruiter working to fill those skill position spots around him.

To end this point, there was a real issue here and it’s the elephant in the room with me. We have seen it before. The board is there and full of good-looking prospects and then it dries up right in front of your face.

That is tough to recover from. One would argue that, before the coaching changes and without the portal transfers, last year’s recruiting class wouldn’t have been, well, very good.

Nebraska gets their quarterback in the boat and now can set their direction on filling the rest of the seats. A great start under the new direction of this staff.

– Bryan Munson

A year ago at this time it was becoming more evident that Nebraska was not going to land any of the top four recruits in the state for the Class of 2022. All four of them were from the Omaha/Bellevue metro area and they had each, for their own reasons, already eliminated the Huskers from serious consideration as a college destination.

Fast forward a year later, and the lay of the land looks much different when it comes to in-state recruiting.

With the Sunday announcement from Sam Sledge that he will be following in his father’s footsteps in playing on Nebraska’s offensive line, the Huskers have already secured verbal commits from three of the top five Class of 2023 in-state prospects.

It’s also a huge benefit that two of these native son commits play on the offensive line, which are positions of the highest need for Nebraska this cycle.

During his commitment interview with HOL, Sledge said he’s looking forward to teaming up with fellow commit Gunnar Gottula on future NU offensive lines.

“Yeah, we already have a pretty good relationship,” Sledge relayed. “So, we talk a lot and it’s going to be exciting to see what we can do.”

All three of Nebraska’s in-state 2023 commitments are high school coaches’ sons, so they will have that in common when they get to Lincoln.

The other two high school in-state players who round out the top five are No. 1 receiver/athlete Malachi Coleman from Lincoln East, and No. 4 outside linebacker Maverick Noonan from Elkhorn South.

Presently, Coleman has nine offers to his name, and Noonan possesses 10 scholarship tenders. Noonan is a Husker legacy, but he is not a slam dunk to end up in Lincoln. Coleman is not giving any new interviews until March, but Nebraska has made him a priority target and has designated new assistant coach Mickey Joseph as his primary recruiter for NU.

As HuskerOnline’s Sean Callahan noted last week, there are eight current high school players in Nebraska who have been rated three-stars by Rivals in this 2023 class, which is the most in nearly two decades. If Teitum Tuioti was still in the state of Nebraska, there would be nine – which would be the most ever in the Rivals internet era.

Gretna quarterback Zane Flores, Mitchell offensive lineman Brock Knutson, and Lincoln High receiver Beni Ngoyi have not been offered by Nebraska yet, but each of them has already acquired Power Five offers. One suspects their performance at the upcoming Big Red summer camps will determine if any or all of them are offered by the Husker staff. With the latest commitment of quarterback William Watson on Tuesday, it appears the Huskers though are now done at signal-caller for 2023.

And there is the possibility that other in-state recruits could stand out at the Cornhusker summer camps and also earn Nebraska scholarship offers. The talent level for football recruits in the state has been on an upswing, and it’s imperative for NU to capitalize on this trend.

Cornhusker assistant coaches Mickey Joseph and Barrett Ruud will be tag-teaming on all the in-state recruits going forward, and head Coach Scott Frost will undoubtedly be putting a lot of his own time and effort on the recruiting trail into keeping these top prospects at home in Lincoln.

Westside’s Caleb Benning and Burke’s Christian Jones are also Cornhusker legacies, so keeping them in the fold takes on added importance.

Bellevue West receiverr Dae’vonn Hall is a special talent, the latest in a long line to come out of the Thunderbirds’ program; and Tyson Terry just became the first in-state wrestler to capture a state title in the heavyweight division as a freshman since 1971.

Nebraska clearly has some recruiting momentum building within the borders of the state and they are working hard to flip the script of what happened in the state recruiting-wise last cycle.

Hopefully, they can keep building on that positive trend throughout the spring and summer months when they are able to host these important native Nebraskan prospects during various recruiting events.

– Mike Matya

There aren’t many things as satisfying doing this job as Nebraska picking up a commitment from an in-state recruit. Covid and the Internet has made looking at players from areas that a school typically wouldn’t look a lot easier to do.

For example, take the offers that were made to in-state players a year ago. There were the usual suspects like Iowa, Kansas State and Wyoming. Then there is Oklahoma, Auburn, Oregon, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Virginia, Boston College, Ole Miss and Texas A&M to name a few.

These additional schools are reaching out to in-state Nebraska kids, giving them another avenue out. There are those who are destined to leave. There are those who are challenged to leave.Then you have the other side to that coin. The lifelong Husker fan who really couldn’t see himself going anywhere else once he picked up the offer from Nebraska.

And just because Sledge isn’t holding an offer from Oregon or Auburn doesn’t make him any less of a get for Nebraska. Personally, from the film that I have watched on Sledge, he was worthy before the Huskers finally did offer him.

There are so many things going for Sledge that the staff must be fired up about. Being a legacy and the son of a coach are two of the biggest ones. You simply have something instilled in you by being either of those two things that makes you a little more “college ready”.

Don’t even get me started on being a wrestler as a lineman. If I had one piece of advice to give to any family who has a son growing up playing line it would be for their son to get into wrestling. Understand leverage. Push your body harder than you ever have before. Watch what you eat. Control your weight.

But add to it that Sledge has played basketball and baseball. That’s a big guy out there doing those things. You must be a real athlete and light on your feet. It lends itself again as to why getting Sledge is such a great pickup for Nebraska.

What I love about Sledge is that he is going to come to Nebraska and do exactly what they tell him to do. That, of course, will be somewhere on the interior line more than likely and probably will include getting comfortable at playing center.

Nebraska is also slamming the door shut on the players that they want to keep home and it may not be over. There are at least two 2023 players that I think people need to keep their eyes on with Beni Ngoyi and Brock Knutson. The upcoming junior day visits and evaluation period could be very beneficial to both, and I would expect Nebraska to be right there keeping tabs on both of them.

– Bryan Munson