Huskers Land Another Newby

In July, Husker recruitniks were delighted to see NU land standout East Coast linebacking prospect Marcus Newby.  Yesterday, they landed a standout running back from the West Coast - Terrell Newby.  Both are four-star prospects.  Terrell might be more likely to see the field in 2013.  Each player seems likely to be major contributors for Nebraska over the next four to five years.

Terrell has been obscenely productive as a running back at the high school level in California.  Husker commit Adam Taylor managed to exceed Newby's production as a high school senior in Texas, but you give the edge to Newby early because his high school offense looks a lot more similar to Nebraska's.  Newby ran a lot of zone read while Taylor took a lot more traditional handoffs.   

If you watch Newby's highlight reels there's a lot to like.  He's deceptively fast, like Taylor Martinez.  He's got track speed yet somehow makes it look like he's just jogging.  He's extremely efficient, not wasting any time or motion when he gets the ball with hesitation or dancing around.  He can run inside or outside and is good at running North and South even though he does show the ability to make opponents miss.   He doesn't shy away from contact.  You also have to like a highlight of a block he throws to spring his quarterback on a run.  Knowing and executing his blocking assignments will earn him playing time early.  If he can catch punts, then there's no way you can't play him as a freshman.

Both Newby and Taylor will need some coaching though.  They both run a bit more upright than you'd like to see.   You don't see them carry the ball as high and tight as you want to see at the college level.  For that matter though, Ameer Abdullah (the player Newby most closely resembles) still doesn't carry the ball high and tight enough.  

Hopefully, this wealth of talent that Nebraska is building in the backfield will allow the Huskers to show more of the diamond formation that NU fans have grown to love.  Newby will likely be the one recruit Husker fans will hear most about.  In truth he is just part of what is shaping up to be an outstanding class.