Originally posted on Corn Nation.
Nebraska has been active on the portal market, with 16 players locked and loaded for Matt Rhule’s pivotal third season. Rhule has said from the start that he wants to be in a developmental program, and his recruitment of athletic traits over stars has been evident.
College football is such a competitive, dynamic sport that one has to adjust plans on the fly to get results. Nebraska is no different in winning the games that matter, and this change in the portal philosophy will help Nebraska win sooner.
Talent gaps have been identified
Nebraska has some glaring deficiencies that need to be addressed in the off-season. The portal allows a team to cherry-pick ready-made players that fit a program without preparing them for college football’s rigors. Difference makers like Williams Nwaneri and Dasan McCullough on the defensive can change the trajectory of a season by winning those key moments in a game.
The wide receivers group has talented young players who may become great, but that remains to be seen. Experienced players like Dane Key and Nyziah Hunter will give Dana Holgorsen some tantalizing chess pieces to scheme up for Dylan Raiola to throw to. Marques Trent-Watson has an incredible stat sheet with 363 tackles in a dominant career in the Sun Belt and will plug up the middle of the linebacker corp.
Special teams addressed
Ed Foley is no longer with the program, and as a close confidant of Matt Rhule, this must have been a very tough decision but one that needed to happen. Special teams were an unmitigated disaster with small pockets of decent play between game-losing gaffs that made Nebraska a laughing stock.
Long snapping was abysmal, and adding Kevin Gallic will go a long way toward shoring up that position. I would love to know where he ranks on the national NIL list for long snappers, as I imagine he would be near the top, considering Nebraska’s dire need. Jack McCallister is a solid punter who has delivered at the top college level, and Andrew Marshall is a legitimate return man.
The rest
Nebraska has padded the rest of the roster with talented depth pieces vital to the long-term sustainability of any Power 5 program. The defensive back group has been identified as a need, with multiple players coming in and a large group already on the roster. The strategy is quantity-over-quality to see if the cream rises to the top. It will be interesting to see how this position group pans out, especially with the 105 roster limit looming.
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