One day after the Nebraska football coaches got to see a couple of their top 2024 signees play in the Polynesian Bowl, they're officially moving on to the next recrutiing cycles in a very big way. That includes a Junior Day event on Saturday that will have some of the best targets in the 2025 and 2026 classes coming to Lincoln.
Among the most important visitors on Saturday will be none other than Jackson Cantwell. The monster offensive tackle out of Nixa, Missouri is already among the absolute top players in the 2026 class. He's going to be, or already is being chased by the top programs in the country.
That's why his coming to Lincoln on Saturday is such a big deal. It's a foot in the door for a program that is poised to make a jump, if it can continue to reel in prospects on the level of Cantwell and Dylan Raiola.
Since that sort of thing has been tracked, the Nebraska football team hasn't reeled in many 5-star prospects. Raiola is the top rated prospect the Huskers have ever signed. While it's still too early for Cantwell, a member of the 2026 class, to consider his star rating in stone, it's almost assured he'll finish as a 5-star as well.
I’ll be back at @HuskerFootball again on the 20th for a Junior Day. #GBR @HuskerFBRecruit @CoachMattRhule @DonovanRaiola @s_kwilli32 @CoachCoeling @VincentGuinta @Adam_DiMichele @Rob_Dvoracek @Callaghan_NEB #NSGB pic.twitter.com/LeOQDaMXiY
— Jackson Cantwell (@jcantwell2499) January 14, 2024
Several recruiting services, including the 247Sports composite rankings have the offensive tackle there already.
Nebraska football hosting monster visitor in Jackson Cantwell
When Cantwell comes to Lincoln on Saturday, it will actually be the second time he's come to see what the Huskers have to offer. He was also in town when Nebraska was busy getting beat down 45-7 by Michigan.
It doesn't appear that loss soured the 6-foot-7, 300 pound lineman all that much.
"I had a pretty good trip," the prospect told SI then. "The game didn’t go the way they wanted, but I still think that there were a lot of good takeaways- their program is developing into something good, they have a very good offensive line system and I have a good relationship with the coaches there."
This weekend, the Nebraska football program will get another shot at Jackson Cantwell and try to stand out from his growing list of 24 offers.