Roster and recruiting review: Taking stock at Nebraska as July arrives

it's July Nebraska's got additions and they also have a lack of additions we'll talk about it today on the [Music] show you are locked on Nebraska your daily Nebraska Corn Huskers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day good morning and thanks for making lockdown Nebraska your first listen every day we are freed available wherever you get your podcast and we're on YouTube as well part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day and today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more and as we head into the doldrums of the summer the uh Sports Stop sportsing like we want them to but this summer FanDuel is hooking all customers up with a bonus or a boost daily that's right there's something for everyone every day all summer long head to fanduel.com locked on to get started okay it's July Connor can you believe it we made it July 1st June is gone the big recruiting push of June is is is over happy conference realignment day everybody's in a different conference today it is it is I think the I think the Big 10 additions actually come at the end of the month but um yeah we got the we got the Texas and Oklahoma celebrations on uh on Sunday and today um in Austin and Norman like big big moments as the SEC gets bigger and batter nastier and and well I'm sure that there was huge celebrations on the campuses of Cal Stanford and SMU today as they moved to the ACC um so yeah I didn't I didn't see anything yet but you know the day is long hasn't popped into my social feeds at this point but that quite yeah for sure for sure Stanford I mean what a day for them I mean just think about the frequent flyer miles that that are coming their way so nothing changes at Nebraska the Huskers are sticking in the 10 for now and they've got a roster to figure out for both 2024 and 2025 and we figured as we got to July first and we come out of June which was expected to be such a big month with change as far as recruiting went and roster editions and and actually turned out to be um some some of that that we would get into the weeds a bit and and look at some of the things that Nebraska's added for this team and and for its recruiting class um we'll get into that throughout the show today we'll look at the offense line we'll look at the at the the secondary which has both of which have have changed in the present and the future somewhat here in the last week um to start Nebraska finished June with five recruiting editions for its 2025 class that is less than half of what it gathered a year ago at this time for the 2024 class in the month of June we we asked the question on Friday a as to whether this June l in recruiting was a concern and I I will say this after after pondering it some more over the weekend and and seeing Nebraska add a couple of commitments at the very end of of the month of June I'm gonna say it's not a big deal if this is a big if Nebraska is able to start the season well and get to Bull eligibility by November 1st that's the eighth game of the season when UCLA comes into town I think if that's the case then recruiting heading down the stretch whatever is left if there's anything left or if there's anything that needs to be refined is going to take care of itself totally gota win yeah I I I completely agree and you know I I think they they set themselves up like they set the seeds this summer even though they didn't end up with with a bunch of a commitments but they did recruit a lot of high-profile guys I mean they they really shot their shots at at you know highly ranked players whether they were on the offensive line or or elsewhere we're talking high fourar and like borderline five star players reer you know yeah receiver as well so you know you don't get any points for getting second place or third place in a recruitment but um you know in this in this day and age you can always stay in it you we talking about a year two and three years down the line when we're talking about the transfer portal or you know the class doesn't sign until December so if Nebraska can pick some momentum up by starting off their season well we've talked about their their light start a whole bunch on the show show you know it could it could really get the ball rolling downhill for them in in recruiting as well I would expect that to happen now it's it's you know the the later you go the later you are into the process so it doesn't you know it doesn't always come together like seamlessly but I'm with you it's it's not the it's not a gigantic concern I still think the staff is going to be able to recruit really well it's just they don't have like they don't have what the other schools have that they're recruiting against at this point which is the per performance and so um you know you can only do that by playing the games and then you figure it out as you go they're at they're at 13 which is a good number to be at um it's fine um when you're not going to sign a huge class on July 1st after The Pledge on Sunday from Houston kah Torres I hope that I got the the the middle part of that right so that's double A twice in kahaa kaha kahaa kah kah I don't know if we're going with the full double a sound on both instances in that name I don't either I don't know either we'll find out we'll find out when when he makes it to to Lincoln he's out of Honolulu St Louis which is a football Factory um and you know this is reminiscent of like 25 years ago when Nebraska was mining the state of Hawaii for the likes of uh Dominic riola and Tony fenot and and others those two in particular stand out because of the their greatness on the o line and as it stands um there's a little bit of a connection to just a small connection to uh to that that um collection of people that I just mentioned again with um you may have heard uh Dominic's son taking over um as the premier quarterback in the Nebraska program this season and his brother coaching the offensive line so uh Houston we'll go first name here Houston from Honolulu uh and then Brian tapoo from um Salt Lake City were were the two latest commits for Nebraska and the 25 class both play the offensive line both are of Polynesian descent so uh Nebraska appears to be opening up that poly pipeline um yet again which is which is good news maybe the future of the offensive line we'll talk about that a little bit more the offensive line in the second segment but I do want to spend a minute here Connor and get your thoughts on the player that Nebraska missed over the weekend Millard South tied end Chase Lofton fourstar Prospect big-time Target from the state of Nebraska he was um along with Christian Jones the uh the apple of Nebraska's eye in state committed to Florida State um this weekend on the heels of his uh His official visit to Nebraska last week what uh what's your what's your thought there um so you know and once again we're still still relatively you know early kind of in the in the cycle like I I guess it's getting later so you you never know exactly how it's going to turn out um but he was a you know he was a sought-after recruit in the state probably one of the top you know two or three guys um from the state and you know just kind of went away from Nebraska over the last three or four weeks here as he looked toward Florida State and some others that he kind of got it down to I don't know even know that Nebraska was kind of in the final two from what it what it seemed like that um but you know let let's use this as an opportunity to talk about what what Nebraska the state of Nebraska has produced at that position tight end over the last like decade basically I I went back and I looked through the recruiting databases this morning I counted like more than 15 guys um who have been either you know I we're talking about FBS tight ends and most of them are power five tight ends over the last like seven or eight classes here which is pretty unbelievable and some of these guys have ended up being really really good um yeah yeah just added another one in there you got Ben bramer who ended up I I'm not going to name all the guys because there's just so many of them I don't know probably a quarter or a third of them have ended up on Nebraska's roster I'm not saying that they're a diamond dozen obviously you want to get guys that are really good from from the borders of your state I'm not trying to minimize it but man that position I I don't know what has happened there at in the Nebraska we're talking about big kids who who are really athletic and boom they end up going you know power five and and playing tight end so um there there there's there's a lot of options there at that position from within the borders of your own State it's like the state of Nebraska is two states it's like it's one state for players who play every position except tight end and you know it's it's it's difficult to churn out running backs and quarterbacks and corners and linebackers and and defensive ends all those positions you know when you get one wow you if you're Nebraska you better you better find a way to get that guy on campus and and it's just really special if there's a great quarterback in the state of Nebraska or or you know a safety and then there's another state that's also Nebraska and it's it's the state that produces tight ends and I don't know if it's just that like there's a lot of kids of that size who all instead of being power forwards in basketball or defensive ends or you know whatever you might do athletically they all play the tight end position because of the way that High School offenses are constructed or or I don't know what it is but going back to like Noah Fant and then you put you know cam Jurgens on this list those guys are in the NFL and then it's like two three four five a year who were going to power five schools um and Nebraska's missed its share of these players and we're not even including Thomas fedoni who is basically a Nebraska kid he grew up grew up around Omaha and went to school in counts of Bluffs you know a Nebraska fan growing up you got Carter Nelson coming in in this class this freshman class this summer um and then in the 20 in the 25 class that's that's currently being recruited um there's a Stanford commit in Ryman zebert from plat viiew high school and now there's a Florida State commit um in in Chase Lofton and there's still some others out there and then 26 is full of is full of tight ends again it's uh yeah it's like NE produces tight ends like a state with like six times its population should produce tight ends I wonder like this would be way too deep of a research project but maybe something we have time for in July like you could actually now not all the recruiting databases are like 100% accurate in terms of which players are going to play what position but like Nebraska per capita has to be number one in in tight ends like with with compared to its population has to be number one so you know like like we said the and the position has you know changed a lot over the years as well um I think it's a loss you know for Nebraska and um that's a guy whose stock you know kind of continues to be on the rise going into his senior year now playing at Millard South so it'll continue to kind of go up from there but with that being said Nebraska's tight end position right now as it stands on its roster is you know in really good shape and it's not like there's going to be a shortage coming up so you can you can lose one at that position if that's the position where you lose one and in a footnote to what I was talking about cam Jurgens I I recognize was recruited as a tight end and is no longer playing that position that's why iisten yeah right but I mean the guy's on the Nebraska roster until Scott Frost is like I think he's gonna be like a Hall of Fame Center and then the the best Personnel move that Scott Frost made in his career I mean in addition to fedon on the Nebraska roster guys who did decide to to come to Nebraska even the Walk-Ons who come to Nebraska turn out to be um hits like Nate borer and Luke Linden Meer and the Nebraska of course has added Eric ingerson um out of pilion in addition to to Carter Nelson who you know is expected to be um maybe an All-American I don't know let's not put too much on Carter before he takes his first uh his first rep in Lincoln but um he's a special kid so um all right when we come back we are gonna get more into what's been going on on the offensive line we mentioned the um the Polynesian pipeline that's uh that's forming and we will talk about that and what that potentially means for Nebraska in uh in 2025 and Beyond um want to let you know first to follow us on Twitter or X at lockon neb email us talk to us about what you want to hear on the show um and make sure to to uh download our show subscribe to our show rate our show do whatever you do with podcasts on Apple and Spotify um if you're listening right now check us out on YouTube um we're uh we're up there um you can see us as we uh as we talk to each other um during this uh during this fun time so um we will be back after the break all right a tap here for the FanDuel sports book uh we love we love sports here at the lock on Nebraska podcast we never want them to stop but unfortunately they slow down in the month of in the month of July as the NBA Playoffs have come to an end and the NHL playoffs have come to the end we're past the NBA draft now but here's what happens the FanDuel sports book is is here you because the Sports keep going all summer long I'm looking at it right now we're talking about international soccer matches tennis matches Major League Baseball of course every day we're getting closer to the MLB All-Star Game WNBA right now the PGA Tour there's plenty of stuff and a favorite of course of the locked on Nebraska podcast college football win totals they are all there for you on the FanDuel Sportsbook so go there fanduel's hooking all customers up with a boost or a bonus daily that's right there's something for everyone every day all summer long head over to fanduel.com lockon and make the most out of your summer with FanDuel official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball all right welcome back um we are in July it's conference realignment day of course uh it's also Bobby Bonia day if anybody is interested in that got paid over a million dollars um today which is great for him he'll get paid that for another like 10 more years uh from the New York Mets so thank you to the New York Mets for paying does seem like that happens three times a year why why do I I mean these years just go by so fast like Bobby Bonia day it seems to me like if You' to ask me in November said yeah I think that happens in March and that here we are it's like every month he he's he's worked this thing so that he gets his million dollars nine times a year it's amazing and well he he works it so it's like the only Sports topic that happens on July 1st which is true which is really incredible uh but let's talk some offensive line here for Nebraska as we mentioned so the Polynesian pipeline potentially everybody loves to bring up the Polynesian pipeline so they got Brian Brian tapoo um out of Utah which was kind of an odd recruiting situation where he was kind of a lean to Nebraska uh then visited Oregan State committed on that visit and then within like 72 hours decommitted and then committed to Nebraska so that was sort of odd and then it was Kena Torres uh as we talked about in the first segment as well Nebraska got big official visits in June from highly tatted offensive lineman one from Bishop Gorman then another Polynesian offensive lineman as well from the state of Hawaii so Nebraska's got a little history here as we talked about Mitch um how do how do we look into Nebraska kind of you know having having some pretty good success here with um Polynesian offensive lineman this is a good development and it's a good time for it to happen I think um one it certainly helps to have Dylan Rola uh there when and Dominic Rola there who who likes to come into town on on weekends when Nebraska's hosting official visitors you know he's got his name on The Stadium he played 14 years in the NFL those kids you know uh play at high schools that that um you know he has knowledge of or or played at or against himself so um Dominic certainly has some sway in that Community it's a tight-knit community that's that's that's the thing that that you'll you'll find about the Polynesians um if you uh you know you look into it and I I I talked with the rolas about this um a year and a half or so ago and the Polynesian culture um within football is one where they just value the Brotherhood so much so generally if you start to get one or two of these guys the next thing you know you might have eight of them on your roster and that's a very good sign for Nebraska when you consider what's happened over the past month because they didn't just get um some of these players to visit now they've got two of them on the offensive line to commit um this is in large part how programs like I would say Oregon Washington um and Utah have built great offensive lines is by developing these kind of connections and it's part of what nebra made Nebraska's offensive line great um 20 or so years ago so this is very encouraging and the timing seems to be matching up in the sense that you've got a riola um at the quarterback position and then another one who coaches the offensive line and is going to be able to have that um that Vibe with these players from the moment that they connect as a coach and Prospect in that relationship so we talked about it earlier just kind of with the the lack of proof or performance for Nebraska just in terms of the the the wi column and what they can really recruit to Nebraska has got some proof of performance with this this type of player at that position just in its in its history kind of in its DNA like that that matters so much in recruiting especially from you know from a group of players that you know traditionally lives you know quite far away from Nebraska and that they they all come from this sort of family environment and you say hey look why should I trust you if my kid's moving 3,000 miles away 5,000 miles away across a sea whatever it might be and Nebraska's got some history there they got some performance and they have the rolas in their Camp so like it can be a place where Nebraska can build that a little bit I don't I you know like what is that what does that mean just because Nebraska has a really um you know good you know clean Polynesian pipeline like what do that mean for its success I don't know you know good players still still are good players but with that being said like if Nebraska kind of Open That Thing Up it it opens the door to more possibilities down the line to get more good players and that's kind of what we're talking about you could end up finding a quarterback as a result of that there have been some quarterbacks from the state of Hawaii um as Scott Frost who who uh who have uh made a huge impact on college football if you want to talk about like MacKenzie Milton Milton um yeah so it's all good it's all uh it's all yeah these are all he won a Heisman there are all these are all things that can help Nebraska over the short term and and and long term and the other thing with this and the timing of it what else happens today on July 1 with the the the conference restructuring the Pack 12 is gone so there it ceases to exist as of today and that has been a comfortable spot for players from Hawaii and Utah and California um with the Polynesian background to to just land in the Pack 12 and they play their football on the west coast in Arizona Utah as far as they have to go East um well that's no longer an option because if you you know you go to Utah um you're going to be playing games in Texas and West Virginia um and if you go to uh Oregon or Washington you're going to be playing games in the same places that Nebraska plays games y uh so um some of that natural advantage that pack 12 schools had in recruiting the state of Hawaii or recruiting Polynesians um out of California um is no longer there um and and Nebraska seems to be intent to be one of the schools that benefits from that interesting yeah it's it's I I totally agree and then I was looking at a you know what just one more thing before we take a break here on that I was looking at like a map of you know the closest counties and they're all highlighted to to whatever you know power five school or FBS school now there's this there's this pocket in the middle of California and in Northern California that has the ACC that's in there too but the rest of the West Coast it's big 10 like it's it's big 10 country now I don't know if it'll ever feel that way or or how those West Coast Schools will kind of like assimilate into to the Big 10 but I I do think that's important and it it can stretch out especially a school like Nebraska's recruiting ground who's you know the the Western most um you know Big 10 School prior to those West Coast Schools so like it you know there there is something there and it it's it changes the game and the landscape quite a bit this is also an opportunity for Donovan riola to really carve his niche as a recruiter um you know he's been he's renowned as an offensive line coach I don't think that's too strong of a word um if if you base that on the opinions of the the linemen who were in the program they love playing for him and you know one place that he's been um you know slow to develop um as what now going into his third year as a full-time assistant coach in college football is making his mark on the recruiting Trail and this is an opportunity absolutely for him to to to be able to separate himself as a recruiter and the other thing final thing that you can that that where this can you know be um of service to Nebraska and we talked about this on the show on Friday with the the elimination of Staff size limits um look and see who Nebraska might add who might Nebraska add um as a um an assistant offensive line coach they already have an assistant offensive line coach and Aaron coing but maybe you need a second assistant offensive line coach or you need someone on campus who can who can help facilitate this pipeline or another pipeline if it's a Florida pipeline or a Texas pipeline or a Pennsylvania pipeline um the the the the reduction in staff limit or redu I'm sorry the elimination of Staff limit size um is something that that that should not be underestimated um in in importance when you look at how Nebraska is going to attack recruiting over the uh the months and years to come so yeah there's there's literally nothing stopping them from from adding as many as they can from whatever area of the country so yeah yeah all right coming back after the break we're going to talk about another addition that Nebraska had this one in the short term in the secondary and how that can help the Huskers in 2024 um but first if you're watching Fox Sports or ESPN on your TV all day and you have to turn down the volume with all the shouting then make the switch to locked on sports today it's a free 247 sports streaming Channel programmed for you to bring you the biggest stories without all that screaming locked on sports today delivers can't miss analysis opinions and news streaming 247 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day all right final segment of the show on this Monday to kick off the month of July Nebraska got a commitment Connor on Friday uh from sier Wright this was like a a Friday uh afternoon um news dump it's like usually when the contracts and financial details are released by universities like foyes get fulfilled but this was this was not that this was sier Wright Sayer Wright gosh we got another one to uh to figure out um he played LeBron James son in Space Jam a new Legacy um also was was a was a uh uh appeared in has appeared in multiple TV shows and movies over his time went to lyola high school in Los Angeles I think this is the headline here that Nebraska now has a an accomplished actor on it on its roster I I think that's important just as important as anything no I obviously the thing that like you know you're like SE right you know and you don't list his football bonafides before you're like oh he was in Space Jam too that's that's just as interesting of a fact as anything else so like they've they've added some players now this summer and we we've talked about before on this show how how kind of loaded um their their classes are on the front side so they have I mean I think it's 70 plus freshman and red shirt freshman at this point but they've also been able to kind of backfill it a little bit as well we've talked extensively about Jaylen gramstad before um and you know John Hull who was added uh who was a former linoln Southwest kicker that was that was committed to Coastal Carolina and then mcki Nelson who was originally from Pennsylvania and then did a prep school year or was going to do a prep school year in Connecticut and now he's ending up at Nebraska um and so Nebraska's added these players in really interesting you know kind of ways they all have these kind of interesting stories behind them as well as far as you know where they were going to go where they were going to end up um and they kind of have different paths to getting to Nebraska all you know who knows you know we'll see if they end up helping Nebraska this year a lot of them are kind of depth pieces I wonder Mitch I mean at that position it was clearly somewhere where Nebraska felt like they had to add a body and so I I wonder what the impact of Wright could be if you have told me coming out of the spring when we saw blah Hill go down um with that unfortunate injury in the in the spring game um if you'd have told me that Nebraska between now in July 1 is going to add a potential starter at corner um a seemingly perfect depth piece fit at quarterback a kicker um who is of division one caliber to come in and compete with the players who were back and a running back to this room who was a somewhat highly recruited player and was is still available in in late June um I would have said wow like that's that these are all for 2024 um they could not have scripted it out any better now we'll see if from a position of need standpoint they have done well um over the last two to three months to add these pieces and probably none more important than Sayer Wright who started 11 games at corner for USC in 2022 and then had just an odd year in 23 where he started at the beginning of the season and we remember USC's defense was a mess um was playing for former Nebraska secondary coach Dante Williams out there in LA and things kind of fell apart on on CER wri where he was a reserve and then he wasn't on the team um as the season ended and wasn't on the spring roster which I imagine played somewhat into the um predicament that he found himself in here in June where he was stuck in the portal um and Nebraska takes him on an OV they like what they see um clearly whatever concerns there were about what happened in 2023 with him have been answered and now you have a player who if he steps up and realizes the potential that he had as a recruit when he was a top 100 guy and as a young Corner in La um you may have a guy who can just like uh walk in and start um in place of uh in place of the injured blah Hill well I just think getting experience at that at that it's just something you didn't have you know even if even if BL Hill's healthy um you know he's he's played a lot of games but not necessarily at this you know kind of level so I thought I think they found kind of the right guy from the right sort of area to to fill a spot there I wonder I think it's proven to be a little bit difficult for guys to come in and especially join Nebraska's program this late in the summer um and then walk right in and be a starter walk right in and be a valuable player for them so we'll see where where they end up with that um compared to guys who have who have been here but it is experience and that is important so I I I think that is um a really really nice ad for Nebraska especially after the injury like you said the spring game so um is that probably it I mean you never say never but it's July now I mean you're you're probably turning the calendar you're getting close to turning it over to all right we gotta prep for the season rather than we're in kind of this like development mode yeah I think so I mean is is there one more out there I forgot to mention David hofkin um he's not he's not uh in the fold yet as far as like physically being on the ground he's he's I believe back in Germany um after he made his official visit to Nebraska a couple of weeks ago trying to get his Visa figured out but he's another guy a fifth player an offensive tackle of all things unless unless he goes over to the defensive side which um from the looks of him he could doep um so a big lineman up front on the edge one on one side or the other which is another place where you can always use another player so um that that that that stretches back to that conversation about who Nebraska's added for 2024 since the end of the spring but but yeah I'm with you on on the importance of of right and I I think he can say right I think he can uh he can step in corner is a spot where you know it's not an easy position but hey cover this guy and you know know the scheme you're G to be asked to do some different things um Evan Cooper has as much as any coach on the Nebraska roster had shown an ability in his one year to be able to take players who were know maybe not living up to their potential like a Tommy Hill um and turning them into into um important pieces key pieces parts of the Nebraska defense that that it can rely on DeShaun Singleton is another guy in the secondary who was languishing and then there he goes step stepping up um Omar Brown last year same kind of thing so he did it with numerous players in year one and that that's what Nebraska will be looking to get from him with uh with CER W the USC transfer here this fall all right Mitch that'll wrap it up uh um we'll we'll be back with a couple more episodes this week as we send you into your long your long Fourth of July weekend and um you know we're getting close to I believe it's nine Saturdays nine Saturdays from from this Saturday so Fant until Nebraska kicks off their season but first we want to remind you that locked on has launched the first ever National Sports 247 streaming Channel on YouTube and it's available on Amazon Fire TV in the free Fire TV channels app lock on sports today is here for you 247 covering the top sports stories of the day with the local Experts of locked on like us plus our national shows that cover every League find locked on sports today now available on the free Fire TV channels app