The Weekly Rundown: Wrapping up Nebraska’s big visit weekend and RB Anthony Grant is back
Nebraska’s big recruiting weekend is in the books, and running back Anthony Grant is back on the practice field.
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:
The Nebraska visit matters: We saw it again play out this weekend. A recruiting visit to Nebraska matters. It still carries as much impact as anything.
Give Matt Rhule and his coaching staff a lot of credit. They put together one of the largest recruiting weekends we’ve ever seen in program history. The foundation for the 2024 recruiting class has been started. The only question now is, who will come back for another visit?
Anthony Grant was back at practice: Good news. Running back Anthony Grant was back out at Husker practice on Saturday, according to multiple former Huskers I talked to that attended. Grant had been serving an internal suspension for the start of the spring.
It will be interesting now where Grant is in the overall running back pecking order.
Moving the needle with Brandon Baker and Nate Frazier: There were so many promising things that came out of the recruiting weekend for Nebraska. For me, the biggest was the impact the visit had on Mater Dei (Calif.) running back Nate Frazier and offensive lineman Brandon Baker.
A return visit to Lincoln seems likely for both. Could it be as early as the spring game on Apr. 22, or might they hold off until official visits heat up in June? Either way, this weekend got their attention. It debunked a lot of stereotypes people label the state of Nebraska with. They both saw and understood the history and potential this football program has.
Matt Rhule: So much about Nebraska’s first-year head coach jumps out early on. If you are AD Trev Alberts, you have to feel very good about the trajectory the program is heading under Rhule.
Someone that spoke with Rhule this weekend told me he used the show “House Hunters” as an example to explain Nebraska. The program sits in a prestigious neighborhood, but things haven’t been kept up to a necessary level over the years.
If they put the right amount of work in, they can make this house as nice or nicer as any in the neighborhood again. Everyone on his staff recognizes that.
Surprises
These were my surprises of the week:
Gabe Ervin Jr.’s re-emergence: A year ago, it felt like running back Gabe Ervin Jr. was the odd man out. He saw just 57 snaps on offense all season, according to PFF. Before his injury at Oklahoma in 2021, he played 105 snaps in four games.
Under Rhule, Ervin Jr. has gotten new life and is back in the discussion again.
Jake Appleget and Janiran Bonner’s move to TE: Rhule’s quick decision to move both Jake Appleget and Jariran Bonner to tight end was interesting. Appleget doesn’t come as a huge surprise, as nearly all of his best plays were as a hybrid wide-out/tight end in high school.
Bonner on the other hand, is a big-bodied wide receiver, and they think his long-term path is as a hybrid tight end.
Jeremiah Charles triple jumping over 50 feet: The late take of wide receiver Jeremiah Charles caught a lot of folks by surprise. Then the more we learn about him, the more it makes sense.
He’s such an explosive athlete. He plays football, basketball and track at one of the largest high schools in the Dallas area. This weekend he tripled jumped 50-3, just 1/2 an inch behind Jaylen Lloyd’s state championship mark in Nebraska a year ago. Both of their marks would’ve been in the top 10 at the Big Ten indoor championship meet this month.
Rhule and his staff understand how to draw up plays and coach football, but you can’t create marks like 50-3 in the triple jump. That is some elite explosion to work with.
The jury is still out
Questions still surround these things:
Offensive line depth and numbers: Nebraska’s lack of offensive line numbers to work with this spring caught my attention. There are just 10 scholarship linemen on the spring roster and four walk-ons. That might be the norm at some schools, but that’s easily the smallest we’ve ever seen at Nebraska.
The Huskers had 24 total linemen on the spring roster a year ago, and 15 were scholarship.
First major spring scrimmage: Will we see Nebraska’s first major spring scrimmage this week? The Huskers practice on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I would not be surprised if they used one of their spring scrimmage days on Saturday.
Timeline of several of this weekend’s visitors: Of all the recruits on campus this weekend, very few, if any have delivered much of a timetable on a decision.
This was one of their first spring visits for many of these guys. Most of the high-profile recruits have several more planned. A few even said they might take official visits in June and hold some for the regular season to see home games.
This has my attention
Moving forward, this has my attention:
QB Dylan Raiola: It’s clear Dylan Raiola like it at Nebraska. The attention he receives here is unlike any other school recruiting him. He’s a Hy Vee name for me, meaning every time I go to the grocery store, fans tend to bring up his name.
I even saw Raiola outside Pinnacle Bank Arena after Saturday night’s Journey concert. There were Husker fans around him asking questions about his recruiting process.
OL Gage Ginther: It will be a battle to land Fort Collins (Colo.) Fossil Ridge offensive linemen Gage Ginther, but I like where the Huskers sit with him today. I also didn’t realize his dad Jonas played college football at Nebraska-Kearney and follows the Huskers closely.
Ginther is the top prospect in Colorado based on offers and attention. That would be quite a coup to take him out of Deion Sanders’s backyard.
QB Jeff Sims: From all accounts, Georgia Tech transfer quarterback Jeff Sims looked the part in Week 1. The former NU players I spoke with that attended practice were very impressed with his ability to run and pass.
DB Malcolm Hartzog: The new staff is very high on defensive back Malcolm Hartzog. The question is, where will he play? Is he a corner or safety? Lots of talk early on this spring that he might end up at safety.
More spring visitors: What’s next for spring visitors? You have to think we’ll see several more on campus this week. Rhule’s practices are also very open. Any high school coach is allowed to attend. There were several at practice on Thursday.
My read is the Red-White spring will be the next double-digit offer visitor weekend. How many of the visitors we saw this weekend will attend the spring game, if any at all?
Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and he can be heard each day 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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