Nebraska Football: Local tight end holds Huskers in high regard

Nebraska football is making a push for a tight end.

There is no doubt that Nebraska football is in the market for tight end. While everyone waits to see what happens with Thomas Fidone, Nebraska may be in the running for another top tight end prospect.

AJ Rollins has Nebraska in his top two in addition to Missouri, and has established a strong connection with tight ends coach Sean Beckton.

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Rollins is a three-star prospect and is the 35th overall tight end in the 2021 class, and the fifth overall player in his class from the state of Nebraska per the 247Sports Composite Rankings. Currently, he has offers on the table from Iowa State, Missouri, and UCF. Most recently, he was offered by the Cyclones on June 20.

When you look at his film, he is an extremely complete player. He can line up well on the outside, and is an ultimate red-zone threat. At the high school level, he was able to dominate others purely with his size. In addition to his solid play in the red zone, he also has a fair amount of speed for a tight end.

The speed allows him to follow a quarterback out of the pocket, and allow the quarterback to make throws on the run. This would be crucial for Nebraska football, especially when you take a look at the type of quarterbacks in needed for a Scott Frost system. They are all running quarterbacks, and having a big tight end target who can move with the quarterback on the run is important.

In a report from the Omaha World-Herald, Rollins indicated that the coaching staff, specifically Beckton, has made a push for him.

"“He checks in on me like he’s a father figure, to be honest,” said Rollins, the 6-foot-6, 230-pound 2021 prospect who has an offer from Nebraska, among other schools. “Nebraska’s shown that they really want me.”"

It would be fair to say that the tight end position was not really used a lot for Nebraska last year. Getting a player like Rollins would make the tight end a viable part of the offense. Especially in the Big Ten, you need to have all of your players viable targets offensively. Rollins would certainly add that playmaking dimension to the position.

Nebraska really needs a big tight end target, and they can’t rely on the hope that Thomas Fidone will commit. Rollins would be a nice get for the position as Nebraska continues to sift through their options.