3 thoughts on Marques Watson-Trent commitment to Nebraska football

Nebraska football landed yet another defender from the transfer portal on Saturday as former Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year, Marques Watson-Trent committed to the Huskers.

Watson-Trent won that award after a third consecutive season with at least 100 total tackles. The 5-foot-11, 220-pounder has 27 career tackles for loss, 365 tackles, six sacks, six forced fumbles (4 in 2024) and six pass breakups.

Nebraska football suffered a few losses at the linebacker position due to graduation and players leaving via the transfer portal.

Some stellar freshmen are coming, as well as transfer Dasan McCullough, and returning players like Vincent Shavers and Willis McGahee IV are ascending, but Watson-Trent is super productive, and here are three thoughts on his commitment to Nebraska football.

Way underrated

Watson-Trent is ranked No. 674 overall among players in the transfer portal according to 247 Sports, which is insane. But that’s an example of potential being valued over production.

Indiana head coach Curt Cignettit talked about that. He focused on players who had produced, whether it was at the Group of Five level or the FCS even.

Watson-Trent isn’t just some starter from a G5 program, he was the Sun Belt Player of the Year. He’s had at least 114 total tackles in each of the past three seasons and at least 49 solos. The former safety is comfortable in pass coverage too.

Linebacker may not be a huge need in the eyes of some, but Watson-Trent is the kind of productive player that is hard to pass up.

Taking pressure off the freshman

Christian Jones and Dawson Merritt are super talented and both players have a chance to contribute immediately. Yet, the addition of Watson-Trent, along with McCullough will take pressure off both of those guys.

Nebraska will have the luxury of bringing them along slowly. I’m certain they will play a lot and you need 5-6 linebackers in this defense anyway, so adding a stud with one year of eligibility makes a ton of sense.

Nebraska football is formidable at LB

Thinking about those 5-6 players next season, Nebraska football should have a formidable trio of starting linebackers. Vincent Shavers will be a starter. He’s too good to keep off the field.

McCullough can play just about anywhere — whether that’s the Jack or playing on the inside and Watson-Trent is just a tackling machine, who is also good in coverage.

If the Huskers have multiple linebackers who can all three downs, they can get away with playing more guys in the box, which should help the run defense too.

At the very least, they have a ton of options. Nebraska football has talent and depth and in the Big Ten, those are essentials at the linebacker position.

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