3 thoughts on commitment of Dasan McCullough to Nebraska football

Nebraska football has been one of the most active teams in the transfer portal and that continued on Saturday with the addition of another impact player — four-star linebacker Dasan McCullough.

The former Indiana and Oklahoma standout is a proven producer. He had four sacks and was a freshman All-American at Indiana. He had 47 tackles, seven tackles for loss, and three pass breakups in 18 games with the Sooners (he missed six in 2024 due to injury).

McCullough was a top-150 recruit coming out of high school and was committed to Ohio State before he flipped to Indiana. The 6-foot-5, 235-pounder then transferred to Oklahoma before entering the portal. He will play his final season for Nebraska football and here are three thoughts on the commitment.

Another impact player for Nebraska football

Nebraska isn’t just adding players in the portal, it’s adding impact players. McCullough is ranked as the No. 3 linebacker according to 247 Sports and he’s also ranked in the top 100. Williams Nwaneri is ranked 16th and Nyziah Hunter is also a top-100 player in the portal.

The Huskers also added a long-snapper and a punter with two of the best players available. Marcos Davila, the quarterback landed, actually ranked 298 spots higher than Daniel Kaelin in the 247 Sports composite rankings coming out of high school, so the quarterback room added a quality player.

Jaylen George was an all-conference player in the Southern Conference. Justyn Rhett might be an unproven player, but he’s from Bishop Gorman, and played for two seasons at Georiga, although he didn’t play. He’s got the ability to play though.

It’s an impressive haul and the Huskers are far from finished.

An X-factor for the defense

McCullough is such an impressive athlete. He can cover, he’s good against the run, and he’s a pass rusher too.

For Nebraska, he could do all of the above. McCullough could play all three positions in the 3-3-5. That should give the Huskers plenty of flexibility, and allow John Butler to get creative.

After losing some linebackers to the portal and graduation, Nebraska football needed another and they got one of the best available.

A good move for freshman LBs

This commitment came on quickly. McCullough visited this weekend and it didn’t take long. It does feel like a perfect fit for both sides.

Nebraska football needed an impact linebacker as they brought along Christian Jones and Dawson Merritt. Now, there isn’t a need for Jones and Merritt to play right away if they aren’t ready. They still could, but the Huskers can let it happen as opposed to forcing them onto the field too early.

Jones and Merritt will still see plenty of snaps this season, just like Willis McGahee and Vincent Shavers in 2024 but now the Huskers should feel less urgency to rush them.

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