4 Thoughts on Early Signing Day for Nebraska football

Phase one of the offseason is complete for Nebraska football.

Early Signing Day has come and gone for the Huskers. There was one positive surprise for Nebraska. The Huskers also guarded against a flip attempt, again by Missouri.

Missouri has been pushing to flip Jeremiah Jones, the 6-foot-4, four-star athlete from Kentucky. He could play linebacker, defensive back, or wide receiver. Yet, he ended up signing with Nebraska.

That wasn’t the only signing day drama. Nebraska was a finalist for five-star Michael Terry. But in the end, he chose Texas over the Huskers. The exact opposite happened with Cortez Mills, who flipped his commitment from Oklahoma and signed with Nebraska.

Mills is ranked 113th overall in the 2025 class according to the 247 Sports composite rankings. He’s the highest-ranked commitment on the offensive side of the ball and a Jacory-Barney-type recruiting win for Matt Rhule.

Mills is a dude. He’s the kind of player that defensive coordinators have to account for when they put together their gameplan and in recent years, Nebraska hasn’t had enough of those players.

All in all, it was a successful day. Nebraska football signed all 20 recruits it expected (Jones included) and even though it missed on Terry, the five-star was always going to be the cherry on top, not something expected.

Looking back on signing day and Terrance Knighton leaving, here are four thoughts.

Cortez Mills is a game-changer

Cortez Mills is my favorite recruit in the entire 2025 class. He’s not a big receiver. But he’s dynamic and paired with Jacory Barney, the Huskers are going to have weapons that will threaten the entire field.

Matt Rhule has compared Mills to Devonta Smith before. So stealing him away from Oklahoma is a huge deal. Frankly, if it was a choice between Mills and Terry, I’d take Mills.

Defensive coordinators will have to account for him and with Dana Holgorsen calling plays, that’s an exciting prospect.

Not the only wide receiver added

Nebraska football did miss on Terry but the Huskers still technically added an offensive weapon on Early Signing Day — Jeremiah Jones.

The four-star athlete has signed with the Huskers, despite a continued push from Missouri to flip. Yet, the 6-foot-4 standout spoke to Matt Rhule, then signed a few hours later.

Jones could wind up as a defensive back, but Nebraska still needs a big wide receiver to emerge and Jones could be the ideal candidate.

Either way, I love his upside, and wherever he ends up, I’m glad he’s going to be a Cornhusker.

Terrance Knighton’s departure hurts

Outside of Daniel Kaelin, Knighton’s departure, which was reported by Sean Callahan of Husker Online is the biggest gut punch.

Good defensive line coaches are hard to find. Outside of the offensive and defensive coordinators, D-line, and O-line coaches are the most important.

I’m assuming that Knighton will follow Tony White to Florida State. It probably comes with a raise or an added title — something along those lines and good for Knighton.

It’s not great for Nebraska. Rhule needs to figure out his defensive coordinator, which could be John Butler. That would make things more straightforward.

Maybe the best news is that despite losing their defensive coordinator and D-line coach, the Huskers didn’t lose any of their major commitments on defense.

That’s a job well done by Rhule.

A huge step forward

According to the 247 Sports composite rankings, Nebraska football signed 11 four-star recruits out of 20. Six of them are ranked outside the top 300 but the fact remains that the Huskers’ blue-chip percentage for the 2025 class is 55 percent.

That’s the best under Rhule. It’s the best in a long time and it’s the kind of recruiting class you need to consistently compete for a spot in the 12-team playoff.

You want your blue-chip ratio (percentage of players on the roster that were blue-chip recruits) above 50 percent and this class was a big step in the right direction (55 percent). Over the past two cycles, the Huskers have signed 19 blue-chip prospects.

Nebraska signed 32 players in 2024 but a bunch of them were walk-ons (given NIL deals). That’s skewed the numbers a bit. Kaelin left but he wasn’t one of those 19 blue-chippers.

None of them have transferred out and as long as Nebraska football succeeds with their development and supplements the roster in the transfer portal, the Huskers should be in a position to win — a lot more than six games.

For More Nebraska content, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook Page, and Subscribe to the Husker Big Red YouTube Channel. You can also find our podcast on Apple or Spotify.