Nebraska Football: Trey Palmer still has chance to make NFL Draft history
Trey Palmer wasn’t selected in the first three rounds, but if he goes relatively early on Saturday he can still make some Nebraska football history.
Palmer already knows a thing or two about making history as a member of the Nebraska football team. However, this kind of history wouldn’t be quite as big as setting the school record for receiving yards in a season.
While the former Huskers’ receiver, who played just one season in Lincoln, didn’t get drafted in the first two days of the draft, he’s still got some time to go higher than any Cornhusker receiver in the last 21 years.
It could be argued, as a matter of fact, that if Palmer gets picked in the 4th round on Saturday it will be the earliest a Husker whose primary position at Nebraska was receiver was drafted first overall nearly 40 years ago.
Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch was picked in the third round of the 2002 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers, but he was obviously a quarterback while in Lincoln.
After Crouch, the highest drafted wide receiver in the last 30+ years was Kenny Bell, who was selected in the 5th round by the Tampa Bay Buccanneers.
It sure feels as though the history Palmer could make on Saturday is indicative of what’s gone wrong with Nebraska football for the past couple of decades. From Fryar to the Heisman winner, there was a built in excuse for the Huskers as receiver simply wasn’t a position of focus in Lincoln.
Nebraska football looking for some history from Trey Palmer
However, the Cornhuskers have been a team that passes more than it runs for a while now. And yet, finding (or developing) a receiver that is truly NFL caliber has been the program’s Achilles heel. Well that and doing the same at quarterback.
It’s possible that Trey Palmer could help change that narrative. Some thought he might even be able to get picked in the 2nd round. That obviously didn’t happen, but the Husker going in the 4th round would be some nice mojo moving into the Matt Rhule era.