Nebraska Football: Program adds 2021 walk-on with size and speed

Nebraska football got a talented walk-on Thursday.

It seems like every day there is some more Nebraska football news and Thursday was no exception. The team added walk-on athlete Taveon Thompson to the 2021 class.

The first thing I noticed about this new addition is his size. Thompson measures in at six-foot-four, 200 pounds. He played wide receiver and linebacker for the Lincoln Southeast Knights.

Evidently, he played well. He was named to the All-City First-Team by the Journal Star. In addition to that accolade, he was also an Honorable Mention All-State Honors in the Class A Division.

When I watch his film, I noticed a receiver who plays the outside very well. He is a very good route runner, and he is deceptively fast. He does not get out of his break very quickly . Once he catches the football, he is able to showcase his speed and make things happen after the catch.

One of the things that Nebraska football has liked in some of their previous receivers is that precise route running. In addition to the route running, he also has a long reach, and is able to catch footballs that may be a little bit past his initial catch radius. That long reach could be very helpful for Nebraska football, as they try to add explosiveness to the passing game.

So far, Nebraska football has made a commitment to the trend of tall, lanky playmakers. This is a little bit of a change from what we have seen in the past. Normally, Nebraska would go for the smaller receivers. Now, Scott Frost and the rest of the Nebraska football coaching staff have made a commitment to getting physical, deep-threat playmakers.

This could be very beneficial to the quarterbacks moving forward, particularly in the red zone. Red zone offense is something they struggled with last year, and getting taller playmakers will be able to help with that. In 2020, Nebraska ranked 41st in all of college football with a 85.71% red zone conversion percentage.

I’ll be interested to see where Thompson fits into the equation for Nebraska football. There is no doubt that the program has made more of a commitment to stock up on wide receivers. Now, it’s going to be about trying to work all of them onto the field.

There certainly is talent on offense for the 2021 season. I’m excited to see how all these new faces start out as well as the progression they make during the course of spring practices.