After all the de-commits in the month of December, Nebraska’s new staff hit the ground running and in a little over a month’s time, showed the promise of what recruiting will be next year.  The addition of Tim Beck really helped in Texas, as his connections helped to secure Steven and Courtney Osborne and bring back Josh Williams to the Husker’s class.  Combine him with Shawn Watson and next year, Texas will be very good to the Huskers.  Linebacker’s coach Mike Ekeler became famous for putting on his “Will Compton” tattoo and showed he will pull out all the stops to get the players we want.  Thinking outside the box is key in recruiting and this showed what kind of a recruiter he will be.  In only his first coaching gig, Coach Ekeler pulled one of the biggest surprises out of his bag of tricks.  Marvin Sanders showed he can pull some speed all the way out of Georgia just by talking to him and looking at pictures online.  Alfonso Dennard, a cornerback from rural Georgia, committed to NU after talking to Sanders and then looking on NU’s homepage for recruiting.  Sanders is all energy all the time, and if he can sell this university without ever showing it, just think what will happen when recruits have the ability to come and check out the campus.  Ron Brown didn’t miss a beat after being out of coaching for 5 years, with landing Khiry Cooper, a talented WR/baseball prospect out of Louisiana.  Brown went head to head with Arkansas and new coach Bobby Petrino, and showed that sometimes, honesty wins in the end.  One thing I was impressed with was how every recruit said how much they thought of all the coaches.  How much they appreciated their honesty.  They said they felt they could believe what the coaches were saying and just weren’t telling them what they wanted to hear.

Here I will break down offensive players who signed and  I will rank them as I think they  are.  It will be height. weight. and 40 time.

OFFENSE:

reed.jpg Kyler Reed

  1. Kyler Reed- (6′3″/215lbs/ 4.5) Reed will grow into an H-Back for NU and will certainly cause some mismatches with  his running back speed.  He has great hands and some very nifty moves in the open field, but shows to be very strong after he makes a catch, often punishing the defenders who take him on.
  2. Steven Osborne- (6′4″/182lbs/ 4.5) A tall and rangy receiver who shows great hands and  his ability to be a dominant blocker.  As a senior he tallied 38 catches for 601 yard and 10 TD’s in one of Texas’s most dominant classes.  According to his coach, he is the best blocking receiver he has ever had in High School and praised Osborne for the amount of pancake blocks he got last season.
  3. Khiry Cooper-(6′2″/175lbs/4.45)  Cooper is an outstanding prospect not only in football but baseball as well.  Ron Brown developed a strong relationship with Cooper, who caught 110 balls for 1,800 yards the past 2 seasons in Louisiana, while scroring 31 TD’s.
  4. Ben Cotton- (6′6″/217lbs/4.7) Coach Barney Cotton’s son, this elusive TE with WR moves is grounds for a redshirt, but after remembering Matt Herian’s FR year, this kid could be the second coming of Matt.  A definite field stretching TE,  the majority of this staff was present to witness what Herian brought to the game, and I expect Ben to be used exactly the same way.
  5. Brandon Thompson- (6′6″/280lbs/–)  Talented tackle prospect who was out with a staph infection for most of his senior year, but still garnered 3 stars from Rivals.  On film, this guy is non-stop and pulverizes whoever is in front of him.  Richie Incognito in a tackles frame comes to mind when watching Brandon play.
  6. Kody Spano- (6′2″/200lbs/4.7)  Kody was once committed to Oklahoma State, but after over signing on JUCO’s a scholarship was not available until the fall.  Kody, a spring enrollee, quickly made a visit to NU and committed shortly after.  Shows a strong arm and good pocket presence.  Deceptively quick and Shawn Watson’s main QB target after Gabbert left the class.
  7. Antonio Bell- (6′2”/175lbs/4.5)  Bell, from Florida, possesses all the moves and speed in a wide receiver you would want on your team.  Once committed to Tennessee, Bell fell off the radar his senior year because of an injury.  Many teams came in late on him, but NU is where he wanted to be. 
  8. Tyson Hetzer-  (6′7″/265lbs/4.75)  Does the name Jeremy Shockey ring a bell?  Well, he is not him, but with his combination of size and speed,  Tyson should make an immediate impact on the edge of the line next year for the Huskers. 
  9. Lester Ward- (6′3″/186lbs/4.45)  Another player who’s senior year was short due to an injury.  Lester showed much promise after his junior campaign and will come in as a RB who has the ability to catch passes as a WR also.  Is NU’s second straight recruit from Brenham, Texas, joining Shawn Sullivan from the 2007 class.
  10. Collins Okafor- (6′1″/210lbs/4.54)  North/south runner who after break-out JR year backed it up with a great SR campaign.  Averaged almost 8 yards a carry his last year in HS, but needs to improve on speed and vision.  Could be offensive sleeper in this class if developed into classic NU I-Back.
  11. Ricky Henry- (6′4″/300lbs/5.2)  Ricky, after signing with the Huskers after the 2005 season, attended North Dakota State College of Science the past two years.  Is a very aggressive guard or center prospect that will bring some physicality with him to Lincoln.  Candidate for some early playing time, as guard is one of the thinnest positions on the roster. 
  12. David Grant- (6′6″/278lbs/5.0)  A for sure redshirt candidate, David has only played football for 2 years, but according to his high school coach Sam Jones, he could definitely see him playing on Sundays. “Get him to the training table and in the weight room, the sky is really the limit.  I think he’s probably improved the most of any player we’ve had from the time he came in to now. He’s grown by leaps and bounds and he’s one of our top weight lifters. He’s really raw but we’re talking about a kid who has jumped tremendously in how he plays. He’s got a chance to play on Sundays. It’s a long way off, but with the same kind of progress over the next four or five years as he’s had the last two, he could be there.”
  13. Tim Marlowe- (5′9″/165lbs/4.5)  Marlowe, a relative of Bo Pelini, did it all for Cardinal Mooney High School in Youngstown, OH.  He played some receiver, running back, and even QB for his team, but NU is looking at him as a slot receiver and return man.

After watching film on all of these prospects, this is the ranking I come to.  This is only my opinion, and might not be indicative of anything to come in the future. Up next will be the defense highlighted by Nebraska’s first five star player, Baker Steinkuhler.