Thought I would bring some updates to the recruiting table. I was putting this off as I had already started the Us-Army All-America thread, but news is traveling fast and not all of it fits under that title. So I will stay away from all-star games and stick to who the favorites are, some new prospects and current ones looking to make a decision. (all rankings Rivals)
First Current Commits (in order of Rivals Ranking):
Mohammed Seisay 4-Star JUCO DB (12/20/11) Signed LOI
Zaire Anderson 4-Star JUCO LB (10/20/11)
Greg McMullen 4-Star DE (6/23/11)
Paul Thurston 4-Star OL (6/24/11)
Jordan Westerkamp 4-Star WR (5/6/11) Soft Verbal
Jared Afalava 3-Star LB (1/3/12)
Tommy Armstrong 3-Star QB (9/19/11)
Avery Moss 3-Star DE (1/3/12)
Michael Rose 3-Star LB (7/5/10)
Thomas Brown 3-Star LB (12/8/11)
Sam Cotton 3-Star TE (6/20/11)
Next: Top 5Prospects (ranked according to what I believe to be Nebraska's Big Board):
Andrus Peat (5-Star OL) [Schools: Nebraska, FSU, Stanford and USC] Interest: High (Andrus Peat has been quoted as saying he will wait until signing day to make his final announcement official. Avery Moss (current husker commit) is Peat's cousin and he is the brother of Todd Peat Jr. (a current DT at UNL). He is definitely number one on Nebraska's board right now and continues to get the full court press from Pelini. Sources say it is between Nebraska and Stanford.)
Jordan Westerkamp (4-Star WR) [Schools: Nebraska and Notre Dame] Interest: Soft Verbal (Westerkamp's situation is intrigueing. He is a catholic boy from a catholic family and played at a catholic school. So naturally ND seems like a natural fit... oh year, and ND passes more. The chips seem stacked against the Huskers BUT Nebraska has been more than faithful in their recruiting and continue to impress both Jordan and his parents. Apparently the Westerkamps will be hosting both Nebraska and ND's coaching staffs soon and will make a final decision shortly after that. This will most likely not go on through signing day as Westerkamp really wants it to be hammered down. If he doesn't flip this week, i would say he is "N.")
Devin Fuller (4-Star ATH) [Schools: Nebraska, Notre Dame, and Rutgers] Interest: High (Fuller is the gem of this class that we have been covetting for quite some time. Notre Dame is making a late push on him and Rutgers is in his home town. Fuller will make his decision on signing day between the three schools. However, as with Westerkamp it is really down to ND and NU as to where he will go. ND lost out on Kiel so they really want him.)
Amos Legett (4-Star DB) [Schools: Florida State and Nebraska] Interest: High (Legett is close to making a decision and it seems to be leaning in Nebraska's favor. The 10th ranked DB prospect in the nation visits the Huskers on 1/20/12 and will make his decision most likely on signing day.)
Brandon Beaver (4-Star DB) [Schools: Washington, Nebraska and Oklahoma] (Until recently it seemed like it would be between Nebraska and Washington for this standout player. Then, suddenly, Oklahoma made a late offer. It's given Brandon pause and he has since postponed his decision date so he can take a visit to OU on the 20th. This doesn't look good for Nebraska.
Other Prospects:
Quanzell Lambert (4-Star LB) [Schools: Iowa and Nebraska] (Lambert will make his final decision tomorrow around 1 or 2pm between the two schools. He has been number one on Nebraska's LB board ever since Torshiro Davis solidified his commitment to LSU. If Lambert does commit that would give NU an unprecidented LB class with 4 HS LBs and one JUCO. But Pelini really likes him and will make room for him. I wouldn't worried about the amount of LB commits swaying his decision, Lambert is confident that he could get on the field no matter the competition. I wouldn't be surprised to see him become commit number 12 for this class.)
Brian Nance (4-Star LB) just removed Nebraska from his top list. He is down to Arkansas and Baylor.
Ladarrell McNeil (4-Star DB) Just reported that even though he is committed to Tennessee, their recent staff changes have given him doubt. He will visit Arkansas on 1-20 and make his decision between Nebraska, Arkansas and Tennessee from then.
Anthony Alford (4-Star QB) Seems to have cooled on the Huskers a bit because he wants to stay close to home. Looks like he will be deciding between LSU, Ole Miss, Nebraska and Southern Miss on signing day.
Jordan Diggs (4-Star S) Will announced during the Army All-America game. Nebraska has an outside shot here but my gut says it will be South Carolina.
I will keep you updated as the recruits come rolling in on this page until signing day. I'll start a new thread on signing day as the LOI's come piling in. Hope you find this intrigueing and beneficial!
Nut if we had title on the Nebraska blog site your title would be head of recruiting news. Your always on point and usually beat me to the punch update wise. I will say this Nebraska really needs to nab majority of these recruits. If we do tha I can start to feel good about the futures esp since 2013 should be are year with an easy schedule and no wisky or osu. The only way were gonna get back is recruit recuit recruit
This recruiting season continues to go full bore...
Jordan Diggs (4-Star S) Announced that he has eliminated Nebraska from his top choices. Can't say I didn't see this coming, early on I thought we had a great shot with him but he now wants to stay in the SEC and my money is on South Carolina.
As a result Nebraska continues to scramble for defensive backs... (Brandon Beaver, Amos Legett and Ladarrell McNeil are still solid options) so they are hosting 3-star Indiana decommit Sebastian Smith (6'3" 175 lbs) Big kid and fast (4.4 forty) but needs to put on a bit more weight and he is very raw. Indiana is his only offer according to Rivals.
An LSU decommit Davante Bourque (4-Star ATH according to Rivals 3-Star RB Scout.com) 6'3" 200 lbs. He will host Ron Brown in his home this weekend, I would guess that means they are thinking running back. I wouldn't be surprised if they would want him at WR though just in case Westerkamp is gone to ND.
Nebraska obviously has a better shot at Smith... and it seems Borque is thinking more about Tennessee or Miami (FL) than NU but we will see. I'll keep you updated tomorrow with the announcement of Quanzell Lambert.
Heard corey Raymond complained about the talent in the secondary.........well you may have a point but his coaching has been iffy. But we need these talented players I'm still laughing how tmart thinks Nebraska will play for the national title game next year. ....lol lets working on not taking bad sacks or completing passes.
Some breaking news a couple hours before Lambert's announcement.
3-Star TE Brent Wilkerson 6'4" 245lbs (4.8 forty) (soft commit to PSU) will be visiting Nebraska this weekend.
It's no secret that Nebraska wanted two TEs in this class but I think Wilkerson is their last ditch effort to get that second TE. They tried with Pharoah Brown but lost him to Oregon. I'm thinking they would rather have a receiving tight end in with Sam Cotton already committed but they like Wilkerson, his blocking ability, size and strength. He won't stretch the field but he can go over the middle and beat most linebackers in the B1G. We'll see if we have a shot with him, it sounds like OU has offered him as well. I would say this is a slim chance and probably the last we hear of a potential TE recruit. Even though we want two we won't take a TE for the sake of getting one. The coaches want the right types of guys and will look to add a couple more next year if they have to.
Sad news... Quanzell Lambert has committed to his hometown team in Rutgers. Some might not understand his want to play in the Big East, but Schiano is a good coach and Rutgers is his hometown school. Could have used another high profile recruit like this but we will still have a good LB class.
Watching the Under-Armour All-American game on ESPN right now... Andrus Peat is playing along with Michael Rose... so far Peat has looked brilliant, owning his side of the line in both pass-pro and run blocking. I look at him and think he could start at either tackle position as a freshman for sure.
Michael Rose isn't in the game yet (he is number 30 for the white team).
Andrus Peat has been playing beyond well in this game. He has owned his side of the field both in run and pass plays. Also, any time his back up comes in there is a noticable drop off in pass-pro.
Michael Rose looks fast and physical. He looks like a 4-star prospect (he is by ESPN and 247 Sports) perhaps that might push him into that level on Rivals and Scout. He has great potential, once he gains a bit more weight he might be a star.
I tell you what, after watching both Andrus Peat and Michael Rose play last night in the Under-Armour bowl I sure am glad that Rose is going to be on our team, the kids is a play maker both against the run and pass. Peat, if he commits, could start right away on the offensive line. I don't think I've ever seen a senior in high school with that impeccable of technique coupled with the ammount of power he brings to the table. He OWNED the #1 ranked DE prospect in the nation last night from the opening whistle until the end of the game.
IMO Michael Rose should be a 4-star player on Rivals, perhaps he will get there when they do their final rankings. To me, Peat is the best O-Lineman in this year's class, especially given what he showed last night. Let's hope Rose did some recruiting of Peat while he was there. Also, Peat's brother and now his cousin are both at Nebraska... He doesn't have to worry about being too far away from family if he comes!
Here's the problem and huskernc5 said it on another post. Bo doesn't like playing freshman, IMO all these new recruits should get a fair chance to compete and possibly start esp on defense. I'm liking the talent were getting but we have several talented players not seeing the field while the players that are have been average. We have Jackson Corey cooper SJB faded Santos will be like a bigger Eric hagg courtney oz?? We need help now esp for Bo sake this year 5 coming up and were having hear 1-2 type questions. I know it sounds negative but I watch tech shut down d-rob. Yes they had over a month but Clemson showed them up twice tech isnt that fast on defense and they handled Robinson very well
I see what you're saying... it is true that Bo hasn't liked playing True-Frosh since he's been here. He did play Ciante Evans last year after Dennard got hurt so I don't think he is necessarily against it. I think the easiest position to come in and play as a TF in Pelini's defense has to be Corner. I honestly think if Charles Jackson had qualified he might have been starting opposite Dennard this season.
As for playing freshman at other positions on defense:
Safety: This might be the most complicated position on the field in Bo's system. You have to know how to blitz, how to cover over the top and in the middle and how to run support without becoming suspect to the play-action. All that thinking is why Corey Cooper hasn't panned out yet and is why JUCO players can jump in right away, they have more practice at making those quick decisions.
LB: Has to analyze the defense and make play call changes and make right run fits and turn their hips in coverage. We saw what Bo could get LBs to do if they had the skill set, with Lavonte David but again mentally and physically it is difficult for a Freshman to pull off.
D-Line: Tackle's two-gap system takes skill and strength to perfect... Rome's done well as a Redshirt and I actually think we will see plenty of Todd Peat Jr. next season as he redshirted this year. At DE, we just haven't recruited the type of talent that can start right off the bat.
Like you, I would love to see Freshman come in and make an immediate impact but they have to learn the system, acclimate to college and to the speed of the game all at the same time. Nebraska is not the only team that struggles with putting Freshman on the field.
Recruiting Update:
Jordan Westerkamp hosted both ND and NU coaches this week and will most likely make a final decision next week (or so he says).
Nebraska has two visitors this weekend:
3-Star TE Brent Wilkerson (PSU soft commit) 3-Star DB Corey Thompson (T-A&M soft commit)
Corey Thompson is a 4-Star OLB according to Scout. I'm assuming they are recruiting him as a Safety to take the spot of Jordan Diggs. 247 Sports has him as a 4-Star Safety. Only Rivals has him as a 3-star and that's because they think he is a corner. If they switched him to safety I would guess their analysis would lead them to 4-star as well. Rivals should be coming out with new rankings after the Army-All American game... don't be surprised if Sam Cotton goes down to 2-Star and Michael Rose, Jared Afalava and Tommy Armstrong jump to 4-star.
Honestly it's on the coaching staff yes bo defense is complicated but it has huge holes as we have Seen. First the two gap system should be scrap till we get talent to make it work. It look great in 2009 becaus we had crick suh turner n Allen and we had lbs of Dillard eric hagg n Gomes. The problem is two gap works if you have great dline and lbs which we don't. We tell our DE to contain and not attack the qb so essential which our lack of talent were playing patty cake with lineman till our secondary fails or qb runs loose. We have no speed on the DE and no powerful interior lineman to make the two gap work. And only lb that is legit is David..... So until we get top talent were only screwing ourselves up on defense. We need speed lll take undersized defense players with speed, talent and smarts then the slow defensive guys we have . I'm not dissing or calling out bo defense but he should know what players he needs or else we will be tapping the juco well every year looking for instant replacements. We need help fast n now and If bo system needs two years to understand recruit top guns that can get it one or stock pile talent. Also for heaven sake can we please learn to figure out dual threat qbs.... Spy and put DE contain if you have to but were gonna face several next year in Robinson colter/Persa miller bolden. If our defense is like 09 defense doesn't matter who plays qb we will dominate and get to the championship game.
An update on Jordan Westerkamp Brian Kelly made a personal in home visit with him this week, John Garrison and Rich Fisher visited him as well but his status remains unchanged. This is a minor win for Nebraska as Kelly couldn't get him to flip on the spot. the longer this goes the better chance Nebraska has at retaining the kid.
Anthony Alford just committed to Southern Miss... Ironically enough we play them our first game of the season next year. Seem like a good kid. I'm glad he didn't go to the SEC
3-Star TE Brent Wilkerson [6'4" 245lbs] (soft commit to PSU) 3-Star DB Corey Thompson [6'2" 205lbs] {4.58 40yrd} (soft commit to Texas A&M)
It's no secret that Nebraska would love a second tight end in this class but I would guess that Wilkerson is the last guy they will try to get. If they can't get him they will try to get two next year and open up a spot for another defensive player this season. Wilkerson enjoyed his visit and will be visiting PSU this coming weekend. Nebraska's chances are pretty good. He's more like Ben Cotton than Kyler Reed and could be used as an H-Back or fullback as well.
Safety is one of the biggest needs for this class and Pelini has lost out on his favorite recruit (Jordan Diggs) but continues to try to get big names from other schools. Corey Thompson is a 4-Star S on 247Sports and a 4-Star OLB according to Scout. Rivals will be reviewing their rankings this week for the last time before signing day and could move him up to 4-star. He said that his Nebraska visit was amazing and that they "set the bar high" for his remaining visits. His father came away impressed with both Nebraska's academics and coach Bo Pelini.
Sounds like we have a more than realistic shot with poth these guys.
Also, I would expect Michael Rose and Tommy Armstrong to both be elevated to 4-star recruits by Rivals this week.
