5 must-land recruits for Nebraska football in the 2025 class

The 2025 recruiting class will come into focus even more for Nebraska football in the coming weeks and months. On Tuesday, it was reported that two in-state priorities — Christian Jones and Chase Loftin — have scheduled official visits to Nebraska and other schools.

They are each top targets. Are they among the five most important on the board for the Huskers? TJ Lateef would have been. But he’s now a Nebraska commitment. Yet, there are still some huge priorities for the Huskers, and here are five remaining targets they need to land.

4-star LB Christian Jones

Steve Wiltfong of On3.com reported that Christian Jones will take official visits to Nebraska, Oklahoma, and USC. Jones is ranked 152nd overall in the 2025 class according to the 247 Sports composite rankings. He’s also ranked No. 1 in Nebraska.

At 6-foot-2, 215 pounds, the Omaha Westside product is an elite athlete. He’s run the 100-meter dash in sub-11 seconds and would add another impact linebacker. It’s not a huge position of need but Nebraska doesn’t have many athletes like Jones at linebacker and with him being the top player in the state, it’s a top priority.

Nebraska football doesn’t land many top-200 recruits and when you have one in your backyard, it makes it even more important to land them. Matt Rhule got the top in-state recruit in 2023 and 2024. We’ll see if he can do it again.

4-star TE Chase Loftin

The Huskers seem to be in a better spot for tight end Chase Loftin. He’s also taking official visits starting this weekend with Missouri. Texas A&M and Florida State are the other programs. It feels like Loftin is serious about all of those schools, although I’m more worried about A&M and FSU. Yet, nobody should sleep on Missouri, which has tons of NIL money and is fresh off a top-10 finish.

Yet, Loftin’s visit to Lincoln will be his ninth. He’s been on campus a ton since Matt Rhule was hired. Rhule will miss on some in-state recruits, but he hasn’t missed on one that has been prioritized and so when it comes to Loftin and Jones, I’ll believe the Huskers get beat for them when I see it.

5-star WR Michael Terry

Nebraska is among the leaders for five-star wideout/athlete Michael Terry. If you listen to him talk about the Huskers after his official visit for the spring game, you might think they are in the lead.

However, he’s taken a trip to Oregon since then. Texas and Texas A&M will also get visits. The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder is ranked 28th overall as the No. 1 athlete in the entire 2025 class according to the 247 Sports composite rankings.

Out of San Antonio, the Huskers probably need to get him back on campus but he did say Nebraska football is recruiting him the “hardest.”

We’ll see what that means but he’s a special athlete and adding him to the wide receiver room would be insane. Malachi Coleman, Quinn Clark, Jaylen Lloyd, and Terry would be absolutely insane. That’s the kind of speed you want at wide receiver and it’s also the kind Nebraska has rarely, if ever, had.

The idea of Dylan Raiola and other quarterbacks throwing to that room is exciting, to say the least.

4-star RB Jamarion Parker

If there’s one position where the Huskers have struggled to recruit under Matt Rhule, it’s been running back. The Huskers had Kewan Lacy committed but weren’t able to hold it until signing day.

Nebraska football has signed just one running back in the past two classes. That’s not going to cut it long-term. The Huskers have Connor Booth committed in the 2025 class, but they need another running back and four-star Jamarion Parker fits the bill.

Parker is a 6-foot, 185-pound back out of St. Louis. He’s ranked No. 335 overall and the 28th-best running back. He was committed to Arkansas before his decommitment. There are visits scheduled to TCU and Nebraska. Alabama also offered recently. The crystal balls favor Nebraska but the Huskers need to close with a blue-chip running back and hold onto that commitment.

Four-star OT Broderick Shull

The four-star offensive tackle ranked No. 196 overall in the 2025 class and recently visited Nebraska football and called the Huskers his co-leader with Auburn.

Shull who is 6-foot-5, 275 pounds from Bixby, Oklahoma, has a crystal ball projection to land with Auburn, plus an official visit on June 1st. Texas A&M and Texas Tech will be up next.

I still like the Huskers chances but they need to get him back on campus again. They could also use another elite talent at tackle to go along with Grant Brix. Shull could give them bookends in the future, along with more depth at the position.

David Sanders is still out there but Tennessee has grabbed the momentum. Nebraska needs to get him back for another visit before I take them seriously as a contender, even though the vibes were incredibly positive after his visit.

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