The 3-2-1: The state of Nebraska’s run of tight ends continues
The state of Nebraska continues its run of producing Power Five tight ends.
We hit on that and more in this week’s 3-2-1 column with three things we learned, we ask two questions and make one prediction.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED THIS WEEK
1 – Nebraska HS football has produced 17 Power Five TEs since 2016
The state of Nebraska is on quite a run of tight ends. With Ainsworth’s Carter Nelson and Cross County’s Tanner Hollinger commitments to Nebraska and Illinois this past week, the state will have four Power Five tight ends alone in the class of 2024, and five will sign with FBS schools.
To give you some more perspective on those numbers, California and Florida have just four Power Five tight end recruits for the class of 2024. Texas has five, and one of them is committed to Nebraska – Ian Flynt.
To take it a step further, since the class of 2016 to 2024, the state has produced 17 Power Five tight end recruits, and that doesn’t include Brayden Loftin, who played his high school football in Nebraska before moving to Council Bluffs after Omaha Public Schools canceled its season in 2020.
Loftin’s younger brother Chase Loftin already has things rolling in the class of 2025, with six Power Five offers as a tight end.
25 tight ends from the classes of 2016 to 2024 have signed as Division I FBS or FCS tight end recruits from Nebraska. That is one of the more remarkable recruiting stats I’ve seen out of this state since Omaha Central’s stretch of running backs.
From 1967 to 2002, Omaha Central took on the nickname of “Nebraska’s I-back High.”
During that period, the Eagles had nine different running backs sign with the Huskers, including a span from 1986 to 1997 where all but one year (1994), a Central running back either started or played heavy snaps in head coach Tom Osborne’s backfield. There was even a period in the early 90s when three Omaha Central running backs started for different Big Eight teams simultaneously.
From 1986 to 1997, former Eagle running backs Keith Jones, Leodis Flowers, Calvin Jones and Ahman Green rushed for 11,116 yards and scored 132 total touchdowns for the Huskers.
2 – Illinois’s move into Nebraska in 2024 is notable
Here’s another in-state recruiting stat from the class of 2024 that will blow your mind.
Omaha Central offensive linemen Caleb Pyfrom and Hollinger committed to Illinois this past week. I was curious, being the recruiting junkie that I am, when the last time a Nebraska native played for the Illini. I could not recall any.
After looking at the letter-winner history for Illinois football, there’s a good reason why I can’t remember any. The last Nebraskan to letter for the Illini was Leo Klein (Omaha) from 1915-1917. He played his football at Illinois well before the great Red Grange (1923-1925).
3 – There are a couple of big offensive line names to keep tabs on
As we sit in the recruiting dead period, there are at least two four-star offensive linemen names Husker fans are keeping close tabs on.
Logan-Magnolia (Iowa) standout Grant Brix and Aei (Hawaii) lineman Preston Taumua. Both took their officials to Lincoln the on the final week before the dead period.
You can argue that the Huskers are in their final two and have a decent chance to land at least one of the two players. We don’t know the specific timeline for when either player plans to announce.
TWO QUESTIONS THIS WEEK
1 – What freshman will make the biggest impact for Nebraska this year?
We’ve reached the time of year when we begin to talk about what freshmen will make the biggest impact for Nebraska in 2023. The easy answer is kicker Tristan Alvano, who many think will win the starting job this August.
If you take Alvano out of the discussion, defensive lineman Princewill Umanmielen is probably where I lean today. The Huskers have a shortage of quality defensive line bodies and pass rushers up front.
Umanmielen is a special athlete that should get an opportunity to make plenty of plays as a true freshman this fall.
2 – Is Jacory Barney the biggest surprise commit thus far?
Nebraska has added 16 new commits over the last month. Is wide receiver Jacory Barney the biggest surprise of that group?
He has to rank right up there because so many people were projecting him to Miami. The other real surprise for me was punter Kamdyn Koch. He was a surprise because he wasn’t on the radar, and not only did he get an offer, but he committed right away.
Not one recruiting service even had a profile built for Koch when he committed to the Huskers.
ONE PREDICTION: Nebraska will carry five quarterbacks on its Fall Camp roster
We know Nebraska has three scholarship quarterbacks already on its 2023 roster. They added walk-on Jack Woche this past January.
In June, they added Sioux City (Iowa) native Luke Longval from Iowa Western C.C. I predict all five quarterbacks, including Longval, will be a part of the Fall Camp 110-man roster. That means three of NU’s five quarterbacks on the camp roster will be new faces in 2023.
Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and can be heard daily at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall and each week he appears on Nebraska Public Media’s Big Red Wrap-Tuesday’s at 7 pm.
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