Green Alert: Huskers Land a QB
12 comments so far
July 9, 2008 by
Five-star rated quarterback prospect Cody Green verbally committed to the University of Nebraska today. Green, a 6’4’’ 220 lb prospect out of Dayton Texas chose the Huskers over Texas A&M and a slew of other skills. While not binding, this verbal commitment should give a shot of momentum to NU’s recruiting class for 2009. And, based solely on past experiences, fans shouldn’t rule out the Huskers possibly adding another signal caller.
The Prospect
In evaluating prospects, I try to not get too enamored with star-ratings, especially relatively early in the process. I try to consider some fairly simple things – physical ability, production on the field, competition the player faced, and the schools Nebraska beat for his services. In this case, Green looks like a big “get� for NU.
The kid certainly passes the eyeball test, and reports a 33 inch vertical jump and a 4.6 forty yard dash time. He’s a legitimate dual-threat player who has generated yards and touchdowns with his feet. It’s hard to get a sense of his production last year, as he was hampered by injury. But as a sophomore, he ran for 689 yards and threw for more than 1,400. His high school plays in Class 4A, the second largest classification in Texas. And, they have been playoff qualifiers. So, he has played against a good level of competition. Green was wanted by many programs, but Nebraska won out over Texas A&M, Alabama, LSU and others.
Recruiting Momentum
Nebraska has had a solid though not spectacular start to recruiting for the 2009 season, grabbing five early commitments from players that look capable, though largely overlooked by recruiting services and ratings at this point. It left NU fans more accustomed to big recruiting splashes a bit worried. Green changes that.
This is a prospect that NU can build the class – or at least perception of their class – around. He’s a big-time prospect, and a quarterback. He’s the most likely to become the face of the 2009 class. His commitment will be noticed by other players around the country. As you might guess, peer pressure plays a part in many teenage decisions. Players beget more players. But where have we seen this before?
Don’t Rule Out Another QB
Nebraska’s highly rated quarterback troubles are pretty well documented. I’m not about to lump this young man in with Harrison Beck, Josh Freeman or Blaine Gabbert. That isn’t fair. But, I also think coaches (and fans) learn from past history. I wouldn’t rule out Coach Pelini and his staff picking up another quarterback, for very good reason.
For starters, quarterbacks are valuable. They are arguably the most important position on the field and many programs (NU included) have been known to take more than one per class. And, frankly, it might be nice to have another safe prospect locked up, just to hedge bets a little bit. Some might recall a relative recruiting afterthought named Zac Taylor. That guy turned out alright, to say the least.
There are plenty of interesting prospects on the board for NU’s other possible signal caller in 2009. Frankly, I’m keeping an eye on Omaha Westside quarterback Ron Kellog Jr., who was named the MVP of NU’s quarterback camp.
But for right now, it’s a day for fans to celebrate. The Huskers landed a quarterback.
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DT Jul 09 08
This is great news for the Huskers and great news for Bo! I hereby renounce any implied hesitation I've made as to progress on the recruiting front. Great first "big get" for Bo...here's to many more to come!
ze bop Jul 09 08
Happy days are here again!
ze bop Jul 09 08
Cody Green="CODE RED"!(you heard it here 1st).
HuskerFan4Life Jul 09 08
Glad the Cody Green saga is finally over!!! I am thrilled that CG picked Nebraska as his school!!! I only hope that he signs in February, and this guy really seems like a guy true to his word. I personally think that this announcement will finally put an end to all the doom and gloom posters talking about how Bo can't recruit. In this day and age in CFB recruiting, great athletes talk to other great athletes about what school is best for them. I am sure that CG will be on the phone with some other big time prospects that are still undecided about their college plans.
I would ask all the negative recruiting posters to back off a little and let the recruiting process play out (you know who you are) and enjoy the ride. Let's all get behind this staff and team and support them as one entire Husker Nation!!!
James Moore Jul 09 08
Not to gloat, pound my chest, or say that people like myself who kept saying "be patient, we're going to be OK" were right, but to all skeptics I do have one question to ask. Do you really think that WE are THAT hard a sell? That a high school kid would show up at the Spring Game, or tour the facilities, or not want to have the opportunity to write the next chapter in the re-emergence of one of the 5 most storied programs in all of college football?
I beg all to look at the film of Robinson and Bodtmann. Take a good, hard look at Bodtmann. Not as a IB but as a Sam or Will. Look at the speed he has hitting the hole running the ball. Now imagine this speed meeting an opposing TB/QB in the hole or out in space on the edge, as a Sam or Will. Look at the tremendously athletic plays he makes on picks as a LB and watch for the hands, especially since he's catching with his EYES. Tremendous closing speed, and great tackling technique. Once he gets to 230-235 this guy could be a very, very good LB. . .
As for our incoming DT's please bear in mind that Oklahoma State, Missouri, Kansas, Texas Tech, and to a degree Texas (the Longhorns have occasionally shown elements of the spread in the past and with Chiles will show a lot more of this year) run a spread attack. A 300-lb gap tackle loses effectiveness against this type of attack because the offense does not need to establish a presence in the gap early on, like an offense with a traditional under center attack. What you need are DE's that can get upfield quickly, and for extended periods without rest, while being able to make athletic plays in space on zone blitzes or on the edge against runs, and without the luxury of substitutions upon demand (no huddle adds this burden). Twists and stunts are more necessary, and again the 300-lb goliath doesn't always specialize in this. If you can get a 300-lb DT that can run, then by all means grab him up and turn him loose. But look at the DT prospects/commits in this light. LB's must be able to run on slot routes until level 3, while being able to handle TB's in space on the edge, and get upfield quickly on blitz calls. . .
People we have some great coaches, who believe in what they are doing, and don't want to be anywhere else. They will teach, coach, and spend their time with everyone from the walk-on to the 5-star diamond. We've got an up & comer in Coach Watson, and Coach Pelini to get these guys EXCITED about running through a brick wall and asking for more. Really are we THAT hard a sell?
JBLING22 Jul 09 08
I find it very funny how just weeks ago, Nebraska was in such horrible trouble recruiting according to most on here ( although some were saying theres time)... And now one recruit and all is well...lol .. Don't get me wrong this kid looks amazing and Im glad as hell he's committed to the Huskers as of now, but until February Im gonna act like hes not on board.. We've had those let downs before... Hopefully it all works out well, and were looking at the next Tommy F......... Good Luck Kid!!!
Mase Jul 09 08
Brad...where are you? Here's to a great recruiting class for '09!
ze bop Jul 09 08
Well, I guess I haven't been worried about recruiting mainly because I have faith in Bo & Co.'s ability to select and coach up the players--in short, I am a 'Bo-liever'.
On this subject I like to think of Hester on LSU last year: average talent starting on an NC team. I.E., it's MORE about the team than the individually RATED talent. I mean, you have to have some difference makers to have a championship team, but I think you have to have just alot of solid 'role player'/'blue collar' type guys too. On the other hand, I guess it wouldnt be a bad thing if you had a 5 star guy at every position, as long as they didnt each have the 5 star ego to go along with it. But this is the 'weakness' of the rating system: there're only going to be a relatively few guys rated as 5 stars, or what's the point of having a rating system? I don't think there is necessarily a huge difference between a 3 star and 5 star guy.
It's team attitude, chemistry, coaching in the end.
I didnt figure 4-5 star recruits were going to start lining up at the beginning but now they have snagged a blue chip verbal as the 5th(6th) commit. The others are 3 star recruits which is not a bad thing, the majority of players on good teams fall in the 3 star range, unless you are USC I guess.
What's nice though with Green is that we may now see some more 4 star guys follow his lead for the '09 class--who knows, maybe another 5 star or two.
But it ultimately boils down to the coaches ability to coach the guys they have. At NE I think this will always be the case because I doubt we will ever have the recruiting advantages as the other elite schools. Doesnt mean we can't get talent, just not such a high concentration as USC, FL, TX, OU(?).
But I think the success BO will bring to the program will attract a healthy share of top talent to Big Red.
There's alot of talent out there though, looks like LSU has maybe even a better dual threat guy going there...
tom Jul 10 08
Let's not get too crazy about one guy. He's the first of many good players to commit, that's all. It's still way too early. We're going to have someone de-commit or go against their word between now and Feb. '09 almost guaranteed.
ze bop Jul 10 08
Well, Green seems very solid, at least from the way he was talking on 'The Zone' last night. He said that in his family they have been taught that once they make a decision they stick with it no matter what, even if it means being in Lincoln in December in the freezing cold.
bnahusker Jul 10 08
Welcome to the Power of Red Cody! Try to have some fun while all of this is happening. Some of us can only wish that we could don the Scarlet & Cream of Nebraska. You are in a special place, take advantage of every minute!
P.S. 12:43 on July 10, 2008 and still no Trolls?
I guess that sometimes the sky just looks like it is falling.
GBR
Bob
DT Jul 10 08
I just wanted to add that I'm relieved to see this instance of the coaches actually agreeing with basically every recruiting service on the planet as to who is to be considered as having talent. Perhaps we can put that debate to rest now?
And bnahusker...not to come off like a troll, but all I ever made point to mention was that, until yesterday, we hadn't received a commitment from any highly-sought recruits and seemed to be in quite a rut of not receiving any commitments at all. That was a fact--no more, no less. While I never said "the sky is falling"...I'm sort of taking the wait and see approach this time around. You see, I've sort of run out of blind faith over the last 10 years. "Oh, Solich will be OK...TO's a genius and he wouldn't steer us wrong!" All that blind faith resulted in (for this fan, at least) was the crushing reality of the original 7-loss season. "Hey, Pete Carroll's a failed NFL coach and he never even coached his team to the Super bowl--and he seems to be doing OK. This Callahan is going to work out great!" I think the resulting anguish of that blind faith is pretty evident to us all.
I love Bo and am thrilled he's our coach...when there was talk of Grobe/Gill, I was wishing for Bo all along. Since I saw a yahoo article quoting Bo about his experience at Nebraska 6 weeks before Callahan got the axe, I was holding out hope that he'd be our next coach...so I wouldn't have felt that way if I didn't have some degree of hopefulness/faith (whatever you want to call it) that he'd fill what was lacking in the cases of the two NU coaches who preceded him. But I guess it boils down to something about "fool me once, shame on you...fool me twice, shame on me."
The proof is in the pudding and this time I'm willing wait until there's some hard evidence in before I just make that leap off the cliff thinking "everything's gonna be OK...the coaches know what they're doing." I've been down that road before...but no thanks this time. If that makes me a troll in the minds of some folks...so be it.
But that said, I am hopeful that history will also repeat itself in the form of this high-profile recruit (in the highest-profile of positions) signaling more of the same type of commitment news in the weeks and months to come...ala Beck, Freeman, Gabbert, etc. Although, I see no reason that he'd bail on his commitment this time around...and from everything being reported, he just doesn't seem the sort.