Huskers Recruiting Update ~ Offense

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For whatever reason, I’ve never been able to get into College Football recruiting. Maybe it’s because the ratings and rankings are such a crapshoot. Or maybe it’s just because it falls under my distaste for off-the-field news that surrounds sports so much nowadays due to ESPN. Whatever the reason, I can hardly bring myself to look at it.

So what I went ahead and did, was turn over my coverage of recruiting to the biggest Nebraska Cornhuskers fan that I know, my buddy John Clements, who was born and bred in the great state of Nebraska (unlike your’s truly). He went above and beyond what I asked of him, to which I can assure you he will be greatly rewarded (with high fives).

Here’s what the great Mr. John Clements came up with….

The Cornhuskers started out the 2011 recruiting class off during the summer ’09 prior to the Season of the Suh. OL Ryan Reeves of Crete, Nebraska was the first of the class to commit. About four months later, Nebraska secured it’s second commitment when OL Tyler Moore of Countryside in Clearwater, Florida made it known that he would be following in his past family’s footsteps and play football for the Big Red. By the time Nebraska received their third verbal, QB Jamal Turner, of Sam Houston High School in Arlington, Texas, everyone who follows the Cornhuskers could see what the focus on the 2011 class would be: Offense.

The Husker class of 2010 had a little more of a defensive feel to it. With 12 recruits coming in on the defensive side and 10 on offense, you might think the final number of 22 players was pretty balanced. Consider this, RB Braylon Heard of Ohio and Chase Harper out of a junior college in Texas, could not make grades to enroll for the fall semester and QB Brandon Marsh of Millard South High School in Omaha was a greyshirt, which means you will not be on scholarship until after the following football season. He will still have 5 years to complete 4 years of eligibility.) After you knock out those three, we are now down to 12 on defense and 7 on offense. With a defense that was senior top heavy, especially in the defensive backfield, it was something that had to be addressed sooner rather then later.

With the struggles of the Husker offense AGAIN at the end of the 2010 season (remember, the offense brought back 10 of 11 starters for the 2010 season, and still underachieved), the 2011 focus shifted back to the offense. Nebraska got right to work by recruiting one of the best OL classes in recent Nebraska history, and might have the two most athletically gifted QBs in the country. Nebraska’s stud of the class is RB Aaron Green, who has all the hype that was once rained down on Marlon Lucky (who moderately filled expectations).

The component of the 2011 class that I feel is lacking is a talented WR or TE. I know we have depth at TE right now, but the passing game needs all the help it can get. The one WR in this 2011 class is Taariq Allen of Rivers School in Weston, MA. Nebraska has to be looking into bringing in at least one more WR to add to this class before it is complete. With the lack of production from the WR’s this past year (a group that i thought might be a strength at the beginning of the year), something has to be done talent-wise or coaching-wise, but that is a different story for a different day.

For today, I will break down the current commits on the offensive side of the ball:

QB’s

Jamal Turner – 6’1″- 175lbs – 4.5 forty – 4 stars – Sam Houston HS, Arlington, Texas

2010 stats:

Passing – 151-248 for 1,551 yards, 8 TD’s, 8 Int’s,

Rushing – 267 att, 1,888 yards, 35 TD’s

Bubba Starling – 6’5″ – 193 lbs – 4.5 forty – 4 stars – Gardner Edgerton HS, Gardner, Kansas

2010 stats;

Passing – 38-83 for 790 yards, 8 TD’s, 6 Int’s

Rushing – 180 att, 2,377 yards, 31TD’s

RB’s

Aaron Green – 5’11” – 191 lbs – 4.4 forty – 4 stars – James Madison HS, San Antonio, Texas

2010 stats:

Rushing – 240 att, 1,717 yards, 19TD’s

WR’s

Taariq Allen – 6’3″ – 191 lbs – 4.5 forty – 3 stars – Rivers HS, Weston, Massachusetts

2010 Stats:

Rushing – 69 att, 706 yards, 8TD’s

Receiving – 36 catches for 660 yards, 8TD’s

Defense – 60 tackles

OL

Ryan Reeves – 6’3″ – 300lbs – C/OG – 4 stars – Crete HS, Crete, Nebraska

Tyler Moore – 6’6″ – 295lbs – OT/OG – 4 stars – Countryside HS, Clearwater, Florida

Ryan Klachko – 6’4″ – 287lbs – OG/OC – 4 stars – Sacred Heart Griffin HS, Springfield, Illinois

Zach Sterup – 6’8″ (!) – 260lbs – OT – 4 stars – Hastings St. Cecilia HS, Hastings, Nebraska

Givens Mordi Price – 6’4″ – 278lbs – OT – 3 stars – Alief Taylor HS, Houston, Texas

Be sure to drop mi amigo a line of appreciation in the comments. Let me know of any other recruiting updates you would like to see in the future.