Early Offers May Reveal Recruiting Priorities
2 comments so far
May 11, 2007 by
The Huskers have gotten off to a good start in recruiting with commits from 6 players (though one being a “soft” commitment). Still, most of the work lay ahead for the Nebraska coaches to round out the class of 2008. The Huskers have made at least 55 scholarship offers according to Scout.com. The breakdown of where the offers have been made gives a sense of where the Huskers feel they need the most help in the upcoming class:
Offers by Position:
Quarterback - 5
Running Back - 5
Fullback - 0
Wide Receiver - 11
Tight End - 3
Offensive Tackle - 7
Offensive Guard - 5
Center - 0
Defensive Tackle - 1
Defensive End - 6
Middle Linebacker - 2
Strongside Linebacker - 4
Weakside Linebacker - 2
Safety - 2
Cornerback - 2
Many of the offensive line offers were likely made before the four commitments were received. But the Huskers could certainly add one or two o-lineman without it being too many. They also need to hold the commitments they have which may be hard to do with so many top lineman committed. No centers have been offered, but offensive line coach Dennis Wagner seems to see lineman as interchangeable, so the Huskers have avoided smallish lineman.
It’s a bit surprising that the Huskers have only offered a single defensive tackle and only three tight ends. Both would seem to be positions of need, but perhaps some of the defensive ends or offensive lineman might actually be used at defensive tackle or tight end. Only four offers have been made to defensive backs which is reasonable considered the large number recruited in the past two seasons. Still, you’d like to see more and perhaps some of the wide receivers might become defenders.
With so many offers made to wide receivers thus far, you’d imagine the Huskers will add at least three to the next recruiting class. The Huskers lose a lot to graduation in 2007, so it will likely be necessary to keep the overall position numbers balanced. With five quarterbacks already having been offered, it seems likely that Callahan hopes to add at least one quarterback to the class of 2008.
No fullbacks have gotten an early offer and it would not be surprising to see no offer made to a fullback in 2008. The fullback spot seems one that Callahan and company are content to man with walk-ons. That may also be the plan for the blocking tight ends.
There’s still plenty to be discovered about the upcoming class but there’s little doubt that it will be a good one.
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darren May 11 07
Great thoughts, Steve. You really can get a sense of NU's "Game plan" for this season's recruiting.
I do think they will take a QB, and maybe even two. Speaking of which, I'm hearing a lot of good "chatter" (to borrow a homeland security term) that Blaine Gabbert - a 5 star QB - is about to pull the trigger and choose NU.
Now that would get the momentum going even faster.
'sa blang thang May 13 07
At a glance I was similarly scratching my head at the dirth of TE and DL offers. We NEED a breakout TE or two.
T. Lawson is looking like he'll be a good fullback and Castille will be one of these HB/FB hybrids, I imagine. Still, another stout back could be in order.
Like the sound of this Gabbert guy, especially since he's homegrown; when's the last time a legit passing QB came out of NE? The QB position is still going to be a bit of a cluster'f' over the next few years as we will be constantly breaking in someone new to gametime reality(though Keller does have experience in that regard) and will have 2-3 qualified guys at the spot at any one time. It worries me some....
WR is another key position and I'm glad to see so many offers. Wish we could get some of the current up and comers, already on the team-- on the field; wish one of them would breakout; don't know what the deal is there w Holt, Brooks, Henry--maybe not as good as advertised. W the exception of MO, the rest of our receiving corps is merely adequate, functional, not stellar though; they can't seem to get open vs good teams nor stretch the field against any team. However, I do think, more and more, we will be seing highly talented receivers flocking to NE and Calli's system, just as we're witnessing with QBs.