Nebraska Football: Devin Drew appears ahead of schedule

The Nebraska football team didn’t think Devin Drew was going to be much of a contributor against Northwestern. It turns out the team’s coaches might have underestimated their transfer defensive tackle.

Drew, who started 11 games for Texas Tech last year was supposed to be in Lincoln earlier this summer. However, one thing after another got in the way and the former Red Raider didn’t arrive at the Huskers fall camp until August 9.

That means he’s been going up against his fellow Cornhuskers teammates for a little more than a week. Despite starting out behind eight ball, it appears the defender is impressing everyone who watches him.

Defensive coordinator Erik Chinander said that the 6-foot-2, 280-pound tackle has been “amazing,” since getting to camp, according to On3.com.

"“You expect there’s going to be errors and blow-ups everywhere. There hasn’t been with him. Right now, he’s dialed in, he’s operated and he’s going to compete for a chance to play”"

It doesn’t appear that’s a nebulous “chance to play” in the future either. There is reportedly quite a bit of talk among Nebraska football coaches that he’ll be a significant contributor during the Northwestern game in 9 days.

While the staff is still trying to downplay publicly what exactly Drew is going to be able to do with so little prep time, it appears he’s going to be playing against the Wildcats. He likely won’t be the starter but he’ll likely get on the field more than anyone expected when he first got to campus.

Devin Drew picking up Nebraska football schemes quickly

At the core of why the defensive tackle might be ahead of schedule is that he’s picked up the Huskers’ terminology and scheme rather quickly.

The coaching staff seems surprised at that, but defensive line coach Mike Dawson and his grad assistants have been working hard to get Drew up to speed.

At this point, it appears that the only real worry is that one of the newest Huskers is only trailing his teammates when it comes to his conditioning.

If he can convince the staff that he’s where he needs to be in that regard, it appears Devin Drew will show just how ahead of schedule he is for the Nebraska football team in Ireland.