Nebraska Football: Could Patrick Payton decommit from Nebraska?

Could another linebacker be leaving Nebraska football?

The recruiting world can be fun, but it also can be ruthless. On Friday, it was reported that two schools are trying to flip Nebraska football linebacker Patrick Payton.

The 2021 three-star recruit is ranked as the 27th overall linebacker in his class, and the 70th overall player in his class from the state of Florida per the 247Sports Composite Rankings. Payton went to Miami Northwestern Senior High.

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The two schools vying for Peyton’s services are Penn State and Florida State. According to a report from Andrew Ivins ($), those schools have been talking to him.

I am not really surprised, especially in the case of Florida State.  Northwestern is a high school filled with a ton of talent. With the Miami Hurricanes landing several commitments from there, I certainly do not blame the Seminoles for trying to land him.

These past couple of recruiting weeks for Nebraska have been a roller coaster. Losing Peyton would make this is the third linebacker commitment that Nebraska would lose in the 2021 class. Will Schweitzer and Christopher Paul Jr. were the other two. This would be a devastating blow for Nebraska as Payton is a Top 500 player.

If there is any consolation to any of this, it is that Nebraska has seem to replace any recruit that they have lost. There is a possibility that they could do the same here with Payton. We have seen it happen a bunch of times, and I wouldn’t put it past Scott Frost and his staff to be able to do it again.

However, losing an athletic linebacker like Peyton would be tough. Nebraska needs athletic linebackers to compete in the Big Ten Conference. The linebacking  position is trending in the way of athleticism and speed rather than just physicality alone.  Not having a guy like Payton on the roster would ultimately stop Nebraska from achieving that goal.

It will be interesting to see if anything comes of this. Just because Payton is talking to these two schools does not mean that anything will get done. Maybe he is just putting out his feelers.

I will say this, not being able to visit a school is certainly hurting a program like Nebraska, who has to compete with much bigger and more prestigious schools in their conference.

Hopefully, Payton will stay.  However, with the way decommitments have been hurting Nebraska, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him want to go back home.