The Weekly Rundown: Putting a wrap on a home run weekend for Nebraska
It was a home run weekend for Matt Rhule and the Nebraska football program as the Huskers wrapped up the spring.
We hit on that and more as we start your Monday with The Weekly Rundown column.
Sure bets
You have to feel good about these things right now:
Another summer filled with hope and optimism: Many Nebraska fans are in the “see it to believe it” camp. However, it’s hard not to leave Saturday’s Red-White spring game optimistic about the upcoming season.
Quarterback Dylan Raiola’s performance and what NU returns on defense give Husker fans plenty of reasons to be optimistic. Then, you add a schedule built for early success. It’s all there right now for Matt Rhule as he enters year two at Nebraska, and you can bet that will be the talk of the summer around the state.
The new spring roster additions: It is not easy to get new players to blend into a football team during the spring.
Between the 23 newcomers from the high school ranks and the transfer portal, there are plenty of “early hits” in that group. Raiola and the additions at wide receiver have already improved this football team.
Offensive lineman Micah Mazzcua remains a wildcard, but if all goes right, he has a great chance to win a starting job. Evan freshman linebacker Vincent Shavers has been a pleasant surprise in what he’s provided.
The Draft results don’t lie: Before 2019, Nebraska had a streak of 56 years where they had a player picked in the NFL Draft. Over the last 62 years, the Huskers have only had two without an NFL Draft pick – 2019 and 2024.
This past weekend’s NFL draft was a sobering reality of Nebraska’s fall since 2017. Since 2017, Nebraska has had just 11 players drafted. In the previous eight years before that, they had 29 draft picks. The eight years before that, the Big Red had 35 players drafted. So, over three eight-year spans, we’ve seen the draft numbers go from 35 (2001-2008) to 29 (2009-2016) to 11 (2017-2024).
You can analyze all the numbers of Nebraska’s struggles over the last few years, but you need to look no further than the draft data.
Matt Rhule’s spring plan: I loved Rhule’s plan for spring football. I’m unsure if it was intentional, but not playing the eight to 10 most experienced players on the roster in key scrimmages opened the door to working more players with the first and second units.
In a world dominated by the transfer portal, how do you keep your second and third-string players engaged? Feed them with reps and playing time. Rhule’s spring plan did exactly that.
Nebraska AD Troy Dannen. (Photo credit: Casey Fritton/HuskerOnline)
Surprises
These were my surprises of the week:
Nothing has changed with the Memorial Stadium project: We heard from Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen this week on his monthly radio show. Perhaps the most surprising thing Dannen said is that the $450 million Memorial Stadium project remains unchanged at this time.
If anything, it says something will still happen to Memorial Stadium in the coming months. NU officials have been working on this project for three years, hashing out all the numbers and what makes the most sense. What we still don’t know is how much of the $225 million they have been able to raise from private donations.
Jacory Barney’s immediate impact: Over the last few years at Nebraska, we’ve seen many incoming wide receivers not pan out. The factors involved have been everything from lack of offensive identity, development and inconsistent quarterback play.
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen an incoming freshman have an impact like Jacory Barney did this spring. I’m not sure anyone could’ve predicted this when he signed.
No NFL Draft picks from Nebraska: This past weekend, players from 40 different states, England, Australia, and Canada were drafted. However, no players were picked in the 2024 NFL Draft from Nebraska.
Florida (28), Texas (24), Georgia (23), and California (18) led the way in overall draft picks. Iowa and South Dakota each had two draft picks. Wisconsin and Missouri each had four, while Colorado had two. There are 14 states in the new Big Ten footprint, and Nebraska was the only one that did not produce a homegrown draft pick.
Think about that for a minute. It really puts into perspective the job Tom Osborne and Bob Devaney did to win at Nebraska, and the challenge Rhule and his staff face daily to meet the overall expectation level. People in Nebraska expect championships, but the state they reside in was the only one in the Big Ten that failed to produce an NFL draft pick.
WR Demitrius Bell leaves the field at the 2024 Nebraska spring game. (Photo credit: Ken Juszyk)
The jury is still out
Questions still surround these things:
What portal movement will happen this week?: The transfer portal will remain open until Wednesday. Players will meet with Rhule starting this week.
What will those player exit meetings bring, and how many transfer portal entries will ultimately happen?
The status of Demitrius Bell and Blye Hill: The early reports on wide receiver Demitrius Bell and cornerback Blye Hill, who both left the Red-White spring game with significant knee injuries, don’t appear to be good.
What will the status of those players be moving forward for the 2024 season?
Where Malachi Coleman and the other injured wide-outs will factor in: We saw so many players step up and make plays at wide receiver this spring. However, what about the players that were out in Malachi Coleman and Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda? How will they come back into the mix this summer?
Also, what about Jaidyn Doss, who took snaps at both wide receiver and cornerback in the spring game? Could the Hill injury open the door for Doss to now move to corner?
Kicker Tristan Alvano: How much should we overreact to sophomore kicker Tristan Alvano’s bad misses in the spring game? Did the timing of the snap and the hold have any impact on the misses?
Regardless, in a league where the point spreads are between 3 to 7 points each week, field goals matter.
2025 Omaha Westside LB Christian Jones and Matt Rhule talk at the 2024 Nebraska Red-White spring game. (Photo credit: Casey Fritton/HuskerOnline)
This has my attention
Moving forward, this has my attention:
Recruiting buzz from the big visitor weekend: It was a major recruiting weekend for Nebraska. What will the buzz that ultimately comes out of it be? I’m particularly interested in where things are with four-star quarterback T.J. Lateef.
NU made major strides with four-star edge Dawson Merritt out of Kansas City.
LB Luke Reimer: Only one notable Husker remains unsigned after NFL Draft weekend. Linebacker Luke Reimer was the only notable Husker not to officially get picked up under an undrafted free agent deal or a rookie mini-camp tryout.
On Sunday, a source close to Reimer told me he’s weighing tryout opportunities from both the New York Giants and the Indianapolis Colts. The big thing I’m told is Reimer didn’t run great at Pro Day, and teams want to evaluate his physical status after his injury history at Nebraska.
$9 million upgrades to Nebraska’s track stadium: One interesting thing Dannen said this past week is that Nebrsaka’s track stadium is in line for $9 million in work to add seating. When the new track was built on the Innovation Campus, seating was supposed to go with it. For some reason, the project was paused, meaning Nebraska cannot host any meets in Lincoln. They have to be one of the only top schools in the country right now that can’t host a track meet.
Dannen said they are seeking construction bids as we speak to build seating and outdoor locker room space around the track. I’m also told NU is in line to potentially host the Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships in 2026. Getting seating built by 2026 is a must if Nebraska wants to make that happen.
Coaches on the road: Rhule’s 10 assistant coaches will officially hit the road for spring recruiting today. Over the next four weeks, coaches can be out 140 days, which breaks down to 3.5 days per week per coach over the next four weeks.
Something else new is coaches can only visit a prospect one time in the spring, instead of twice. Look for things to get really busy right away this week on the recruiting trail. Coaches can also now meet in person with prospects for the first time ever during the spring.
Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and is 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-Up Tuesdays at 7 pm.
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