Reiff Comes Aboard

2 comments so far October 8, 2007 by Steve Hanway

Perhaps lost in all the excitement/heartbreak of the Missouri contest was the commitment by prep defensive end Riley Reiff to Nebraska. His 6’6”frame means he can add a lot of weight to become a prototypical defensive end. You’d expect him to redshirt and perhaps need an additional year to round out into the form of an every down player. He could probably contribute as a pass-rusher even sooner.

The three-star prospect also received offers from Iowa and Minnesota. He also helps the Huskers fill out the roster with another young pass rusher to go with Cameron Meredith, Josh Williams, and Eric Harper. Most fans would probably agree at this point that help is needed in that area.

With twenty-three commitments already, Nebraska’s recruiting class ranks seventh nationally at this point. That’s likely to drop as other programs add players, but it still keeps the Huskers third in the Big 12 behind only Oklahoma and Texas in terms of the average number of stars assigned to each player. Which means that if the remaining players added to each school’s class are on par with what they’ve gathered so far, Nebraska will still have a class that’s better than all of the Big 12 North schools and most of the Big 12 South schools.

So while this year isn’t off to the best start, there are some reasons for optimism in the future. A frequent commenter to the Big Red Network has pointed out we don’t want to catch a case of the “next year’s”. But it’s clear recruiting still matters in college football. Player like Vince Young or Johnny Rodgers are born, not made. If the Huskers keep grabbing guys that are high on every program’s shopping lists, the results will eventually show up on the field.

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