3 thoughts on Carter Nelson commitment to Nebraska Football

Nebraska football landed the commitment of Carter Nelson on Wednesday and here are three thoughts on what it means for the Huskers.

The commitment of Carter Nelson to Nebraska football was fully expected since last Saturday. However, it became official on Wednesday as the four-star tight end from Ainsworth pledged to Matt Rhule and the Cornhuskers.

It was a stellar recruiting win for Rhule. It started when he first took the job. Carter was one of the first recruits he visited and Nebraska football never took the foot off the gas.

The 6-foot-4, 205-pound tight end is elite in every sense of the word. He’s the No. 1 player in the state via the 247 Sports composite rankings and a top-100 recruit overall. 247 Sports has him ranked even higher — No. 2 among tight ends and 40th overall in their own rankings.

Yes, there will be an adjustment from 8-man football. But that’s not a reason to temper the excitement on Nelson. There’s a reason Georgia wanted him badly. Notre Dame too. Frankly, if he wasn’t from Nebraska, he’d probably be ranked as a five-star prospect, and with all that in mind, here are three thoughts.

Nelson’s adjustment won’t be that difficult

Some people are saying it’s going to take Nelson two full years before he’s ready to play D-1 college football, but that’s hogwash. He’s already got a D-1 body, skill set, and athleticism.

Sure, he’s going to have some different roles. In 8-man football, Nelson basically does it all. He plays quarterback at times, receiver, tight end, and running back. That’s just the way it works — you get the ball to your best players as much as you possibly can.

Once he’s able to focus on tight end, the sky is the limit. He’s got all the raw ability of Thomas Fidone and he’ll be developed by a coaching staff that knows what it’s doing, especially Bob Wager at tight ends.

I expect Nelson to have an impact right away and by the time 2025 rolls around, I have no doubt that Carter Nelson will be Nebraska football’s starting tight end.

The biggest recruiting win for Rhule at Nebraska

Matt Rhule has only been the Nebraska football head coach for a short time, but Nelson is the biggest commitment he’s landed just because of the competition.

Malachi Coleman was the key recruit in the 2023 class and Rhule got him. That’s the other commitment that is the contender for that top spot. The difference is that Colorado was the main contender.

When it comes to Nelson, Georgia wanted him badly. So did Notre Dame and Penn State. The Huskers held off challenges from all of those programs as Nelson took official visits.

Coleman was also committed to Nebraska before Rhule even got there. He re-opened his recruitment sure, but there were some built-in advantages. Plus, Colorado is more of a rebuild than Nebraska.

Georgia isn’t a rebuild. The Bulldogs have proven they can develop NFL tight ends and the weekend Nelson was on campus, five of the top 10 players in the entire 2024 class were also visiting.

The fact that Rhule was still able to seal the deal tells me all I need to know about his recruiting abilities. The dude is elite and this commitment is the best example yet.

Persistence pays off

This recruitment was all about effort for the Huskers. From the day Rhule took over the job, he made Nelson a top priority. The Nebraska football head coach took a visit there days after he was hired.

Rhule and others took in Nelson’s basketball games and got him on campus as many times as possible. Once Daniel Kaelin, Isaiah McMorris, and Dae’vonn Hall committed, it really seemed to build some momentum.

But you have to give Rhule credit. He played it all perfectly. It was smart to get Kaelin to visit on the same weekend and enlist him as your top recruiter. Hall and McMorris did the same and you could see once Carter was re-tweeting their announcements that things were trending in the right direction.

Rhule said when he was hired that he wasn’t going to let good players leave the state and so far, he’s lived up to that promise.

Yet, the staff is putting their money where their mouth is and they aren’t taking in-state kids for granted which is leading to a stellar 2024 recruiting haul.

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