Nebraska Football hopes to add depth, upside with Michael Lockhart

Nebraska football has been busy on the recruiting trail since the early signing period ended and Sunday, the Huskers offered another 2019 recruit.

While the Nebraska football program was busy on early national signing day, the Huskers really haven’t taken a break yet as Scott Frost and company continue to hit the recruiting trail hard.

Over the weekend, the Huskers offered D.J. James, a three-star cornerback from Alabama and got him set up with an official visit. Then, on Sunday, Nebraska football extended an offer to two-star defensive end Michael Lockhart.

You may be thinking that a two-star player isn’t much to get excited about. But remember, Pat Mahomes was a walk-on and that’s just one example. Nebraska also has had a bunch of guys drafted that weren’t even offered scholarships. Some guys are just late bloomers.

Hopefully, Lockhart is one of those guys. At one time, he was committed to UAB but he just de-committed on Dec. 20 and three days later, the Huskers stepped in with an offer.

It’s hard to know why Lockhart de-committed from UAB but according to Sam McKewon, Lockhart also has an offer from Colorado, giving the defensive end a couple of power-5 options.

Lockhart isn’t a highly-ranked recruit by any means and ranks as the 98th-best player in the state of Alabama. In terms of his national rankings, Lockhart is No. 158 among strong-side ends and outside the top 2,500 overall.

Yet, Lockhart does have some size and he fits the mold perfectly for what Nebraska football wants off the edge. He’s 6-foot-5 and weighs 252 pounds. Lockhart is also a power forward on his high school basketball team, which shows that he has some kind of athleticism.

Obviously, Nebraska isn’t bringing in or offering a guy like Lockhart because they think he can help right away. He seems like a redshirt and a guy that needs a year or two before he’s really able to contribute or be part of the two-deep.

But sometimes in football, you just need a few certain traits to have a chance to be really good and my guess is that Nebraska sees some of those in Lockhart. He’s long and athletic and in terms of edge rushers, that’s exactly the kind of player you want.

We will see what other offers Lockhart gets in the coming weeks but he might be a guy that starts getting more attention and hopefully when it’s all said and done, he winds up in Lincoln.