Huskers Land In-State Tight End James Carnie

Huskers Land In-State Tight End James Carnie

Nebraska landed a commitment from tight end James Carnie out of Norris HS in Firth, NE this afternoon.  Carnie’s commitment gives the Huskers their third tight-end in the 2021 class and helps add depth to a position that is graduating all of its players over the next two years.

James Carnie is the Huskers 18th commit and fifth in-state recruit. Nebraska has the 23rd ranked class in 2021 according to 247sports.com.

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In a year where its hard for unknown prospects to garner attention Carnie turned heads after he posted a 4.60s 40 yard dash at the Warren Academy’s summer showcase in Omaha.  His time wasn’t just fast, it was faster than all the other tight-ends at the event including Huskers commit Thomas Fidone.

The addition of Carnie gives the Huskers two tight-ends that are receivers first and traditional TE’s second.  You can’t tech speed and Carnie’s long stride provides it in spades for the Huskers.  As a late bloomer Carnie still had a lot of work to do with his development but his leap from junior to senior seasons show that he’s just beginning to scratch the surface of his skills.

Since last fall Carnie has added almost 30lbs of muscle to his 6-5 frame and dropped his 40-yard dash from 5.01s to a head turning 4.6s. He originally committed to Miami (of Ohio) in May of 2020 but opened his recruitment back up this summer after P5 schools began to take notice of his skillset and the offers rolled in.

Boise State was the first major program to show interest in Carnie this summer but was quickly followed by offers from Iowa, KSU, Maryland, and eventually an offer from Nebraska.

Nebraska currently has two tight-ends committed in the class but with Chris Hickman moving from TE to WR this fall it made sense for the Huskers to invest in their backyard with Carnie. He’s fast, has terrific hands, and has begun to blossom on the field in his senior season.

Had this been any other year there is no doubt that Carnie would have blown up in the early summer camp circuit. Instead, Nebraska nabs a really great prospect out of their back yard who didn’t garner the attention he deserves.