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5 Nebraska Football commitments still underrated in 2024

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Nebraska football
Daniel Kaelin Twitter

Some Nebraska football commitments have gotten rankings upgrades recently, but some are still too low in the 2024 class.

Rankings don’t mean everything. But they are an interesting way to gauge the incoming talent of a recruiting class and looking at haul for Nebraska football in 2024, I see at least five guys that need to be ranked higher.

Truth be told, there are more than five. However, my focus is on five recruits that I think should be blue-chips, which is a four or five-star recruit.

Personally, I use the 247 Sports composite rankings. So even if a guy has a 4-star ranking from On3 or a 4-star ranking from 247 Sports own rankings, unless he’s a composite four-star, he doesn’t count toward the blue-chip ratio.

There are a few Huskers that fit that bill and we’ll start with Daniel Kaelin, the future Nebraska football starting quarterback as we tackle five recruits that should be blue-chips.

Daniel Kaelin (composite 3-star) 

I know Nebraska football fans will point out that Kaelin is a four-star prospect already and according to the 247 Sports rankings, they are correct. The On3 Industry rankings also have him as a four-star.

However, the 247 Sports composite rankings, still have him in the three-star range at 491 overall. That’s because rankings from On3, ESPN, and Rivals are all weighing him down.

Each service has Kaelin rated as a three-star while 247 Sports ranks him as the 15th-best quarterback in the 2024 class following his Elite 11 performance. The invite should be enough to merit a four-star ranking, let alone the fact that he won the accuracy competition.

I’ve said all along I think Danny Dimes will be a composite four-star quarterback when it’s all said and done. But why is it taking so long?

Kewan Lacy (composite 3-star) 

Another three-star ranking I don’t understand is that of Kewan Lacy. He’s 6 feet, 205 pounds, and runs the 100-meter dash in sub 10.8 seconds.

Lacy was dynamic last season out of Lancaster, Texas and he’s one of the most underrated commitments in the entire 2024 Nebraska football recruiting class.

On3 just gave him a big boost, which boosted his 247 Sports composite ranking to 529 overall. However, 247 Sports has him ranked in the 800 in its own rankings, which is insane.

There aren’t 40 running backs better than Lacy in the 2024 class, but he’s ranked 41st in the composite rankings at the position, which makes him clearly underrated in my book.

Lacy should be a blue chip, no doubt about it.

Isaiah McMorris (composite 3-star) 

Another player that’s being underrated is Isaiah McMorris. He’s 6-foot, 168 pounds, runs the 100-meter dash in 10.62, and also had nearly 1,300 receiving yards last season for Bellevue West.

McMorris was getting interest from Oklahoma and USC at one time. If he wasn’t so tight with Kaelin and Dae’vonn Hall, I might even be worried about a bigger program trying to flip him.

However, I have zero doubt that McMorris is going to become a productive Big Ten wideout. Not only does he have a connection with Kaelin, he’s just really good.

McMorris is ranked 493rd overall in the 247 Sports composite rankings. But after another 1,200 yards receiving or so again this fall, one would have to think he would get a bump.

Gibson Pyle (composite 3-star) 

One of two Nebraska football commitments that has been invited to the All-American Bowl, Pyle is criminally underrated by the recruiting services.

The 6-foot-4 (1/2) 285-pounder out of Texas is ranked 756th overall and that’s just insane. He’s an elite-run blocker. If you watch his highlights, you’ll see a bunch of defenders getting pancaked.

Pyle is expected to shift inside to guard for Nebraska football, which should be perfect. With his experience at tackle, he should do fine in pass protection and his movement skills are going to be an asset.

He just posted that he ran a 4.7 in the shuttle and you can see his athleticism on film. It’s bewildering that the recruiting sites have him so low, but Matt Rhule recognized his talent, which makes the fact that he was the second commitment in the class all the more impressive.

Carlon Jones (composite 3-star) 

The 6-foot-2, 270-pound defensive lineman got a well-deserved upgrade from the On3 rankings, which now have him as a four-star recruit. That also bumped Jones up to No. 528 overall in the composite rankings for the 2024 class.

That still has him in the three-star range and he’s another Nebraska football commitment that should be ranked a blue chip. Jones had 102 tackles last season to go along with 29 tackles for loss and 13 sacks.

Whether it’s again the run or the pass, he’s a disruptor and if he was an inch or two taller, he would easily be ranked in the top 300 overall of the composite rankings.

Yet, with his dominant play on the field, he might get there any way by the time signing day rolls around.

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Nebraska Football lands athletic playmaker in JD Crisp

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Nebraska Football
Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

Nebraska football continues to recruit for the 2024 class. They picked up a commitment from 2024 wide receiver JD Crisp on Wednesday afternoon. Crisp played both sides of the football in high school, playing both defensive back and wide receiver for Second Baptist High School.

He is not ranked in the 247Sports regular or Composite Rankings. However, he does have a solid offer sheet.  Crisp had seven offers in total, including one from Minnesota. He was officially offered by the program on September 16 and quickly made his decision.

It’s also worth noting that his recruitment was active throughout the summer. He attended Texas A&M Aggies camp on June 14. At the very least, he garnered interest from a prominent Texas school. That is notable in of itself.

What could he bring to Nebraska football?

It’s interesting that he is a two-way player. He played both the receiver and safety positions in high school. As far as Nebraska is concerned, I could certainly see him playing at receiver. He has as a tremendous amount of athleticism, and played mostly on the outside and high school. Crisp was very good at catching in space, and making contested catches and tight windows.

Playing receiver would make sense for him, given Nebraska’s lack of depth at the position moving forward. He has the agility and ability to become a solid piece if developed properly.

Nevertheless, he has overall qualities that could make him a good safety as well. This coaching staff loves the opportunity to work with athletes and molding them as they see fit. His ability to fire off the football and read a play certainly stands out.

The commitment of Crisp adds to a 2024 recruiting class that ranks 24th overall nationally. The class itself is stacked with talent. It currently has 25 commitments in total.

It will be interesting to see what Crisp can do for Nebraska football. He is definitely more of a project player. Nevertheless, his athleticism and speed is intriguing. One of this coaching staff’s strengths is identifying how players fit into the program. They will have to do that with Crisp.

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BASKETBALL

Nebraska Cornhuskers news: Jeff Sims still not 100 percent, a flip attempt, and more

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Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

Nebraska football QB Jeff Sims still isn’t 100 percent, plus more Nebraska Cornhuskers news.

One thing we know for sure about the Nebraska football quarterback situation is that we won’t know anything until kickoff on Saturday against Louisiana Tech.

Matt Rhule said that he won’t be making any announcements prior to the game, similar to last week, about the starting quarterback. Marcus Satterfield told reporters on Tuesday that Sims took “50-55 percent of the snaps” so he’s improving, but according to Rhule, he’s still not 100 percent.

Rhule indicated that Sims is throwing the ball well. The Nebraska Cornhuskers just want to see some more movement skills out of their starting quarterback. One of the starting quarterbacks I should say since Sims and Heinrich Haarberg were listed as co-starters this week on the depth chart.

We’ll see how it plays out. If Sims is healthy, I expect that he will get the start or at least play, but with how thin Nebraska football is at running back, both quarterbacks will probably be needed, especially with their prowess for pounding the rock.

Nebraska Cornhuskers aiming to flip Michigan State 4-star

Andrew Dennis is a 6-foot-5, 275-pound offensive lineman rated as a four-star prospect by the 247 Sports composite rankings. He’s out of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, and has been committed to Michigan State since April but Nebraska football is one of many programs to throw out a recent offer.

We don’t know if Dennis has any plans to visit Nebraska football. He’s been offered by Auburn, Stanford, Penn State, and Purdue just since Monday. I wouldn’t get too serious worrying about Dennis until he takes a visit to Nebraska, but if that happens, watch out.

It’s at least a name to keep on the radar and a decommitment definitely seems possible with the situation going on at Michigan State with Mel Tucker getting fired.

Nebraska Cornhuskers Big Ten basketball schedule released

We knew which teams Nebraska basketball would play in the 2023-24 Big Ten season but got the official schedule on Tuesday. The Huskers released it on their official Twitter account.

Nebraska basketball will open Big Ten on December 6th against Minnesota on the road. Fred Hoiberg’s first conference home game will be against Michigan State on December 10th.

The schedule is fairly balanced in terms of the home and road games. The Huskers have consecutive home games twice on the conference schedule. Nebraska has also back-to-back road games twice.

My first impressions though, are that Nebraska basketball is capable of a winning season in Big Ten play, which would definitely keep Fred Hoiberg in place and likely, would give the Huskers a realistic shot at making their first NCAA tournament since the 2014 season.

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Nebraska football is trending for a priority target, plus more Cornhuskers news

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Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

Nebraska football seems to be closing in on the commitment of three-star athlete Caleb Benning, plus another win for volleyball.

For the first time this season, Nebraska football fans are enjoying a victory Monday following the Huskers’ 35-11 win over Northern Illinois on Saturday.

It was an important win for plenty of reasons. But Matt Rhule’s team needed some momentum. The Huskers got it with that win and now, they are picking up momentum with top recruiting target Caleb Benning.

Benning has been one of the top high school players in the state this fall. He was injured last year, which slowed down his recruitment, but the Huskers have been putting on the full-court press and hosted him for a visit during the game on Saturday.

After that, Benning told reporters how much he wanted to play in the Nebraska football defense. He also said that a decision could be “pretty soon” which sounds like great news for the Huskers.

Over the weekend, Nebraska football also picked up a new expert projection to land Benning from Bryan Munson of Husker Online. This was after another recent crystal ball from 247 Sports.

The On3 prediction machine now gives the Huskers a 91-percent chance to win the commitment of Benning, while all of the crystal ball projections agree. Even Greg Smith, a former Nebraska insider who covers Midwest recruiting for rivals, also projected Benning to Nebraska.

The 5-foot-10, 183-pounder is one of the top targets left on the board along with the likes of Grant Brix, Brandon Baker, and Jayshawn Ross. His addition to the 2024 class would be huge and regardless of his ranking, Benning is a player the Huskers need on their roster in the future.

Nebraska volleyball notches another top-25 win

The Cornhuskers were back in the Bob Devaney Center on Sunday and scored another win over a top-25 opponent, their second of the week with a 3-1 win over Kentucky by the scores of 25-14, 25-22, 23-25, and 25-21.

Merritt Beason was on fire for Nebraska volleyball as she had a team-high 17 kills, a total that was matched by freshman standout Harper Murray. Beason also added three blocks, as did Murrary, but Beason hit .438 compared to .308 for Murrary.

Nebraska had 62 kills compared to 53 for Kentucky, which was limited to just a .243 hitting percentage. The Huskers only had four service aces but Bergen Reilly had 32 assists in the win, while Lexi Rodriguez pitched in with 18 digs and had a perfect serve-receive percentage.

The Cornhuskers (9-0) open Big Ten play this week against Ohio State on Friday at 8 PM CST.

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