Husker Big Red Daily: Position battles too close to call, truly elite recruit to visit Nebraska football

Welcome to Husker Big Red Daily, your daily stop for the latest Nebraska football news, recruiting buzz, transfer portal updates, and Huskers headlines. Here’s a quick look at the latest storylines surrounding Nebraska athletics.

Fall camp keeps trudging along for Nebraska football. There is this week, with potentially a scrimmage on Saturday, then just one more week before it’s Ohio Game Week.

The season is just 16 days away. It has been a quiet offseason for Nebraska. The hype hasn’t been what it was the past two years, but has started to pick up in fall camp.

There are lingering questions, though. We analyzed potential concerns for the Huskers this season, including the schedule and other factors that could prevent Nebraska from having a winning season. Six wins against this schedule won’t be easy. Seven or eight wins would be an achievement.

It would be a sign of progress. Rhule has made progress with consecutive bowl berths and back-to-back winning seasons. Fans want more, though, and this team feels poised to deliver.

Nebraska position battles too close to call

And with that in mind, the competition to get on the field has been fierce. There are some intense position battles, such as right tackle, cornerback, running back, safety, linebacker, and defensive line.

Tree Babalade was in a non-contact jersey during open practice Tuesday. Gunnar Gottula has been working more with the No. 1 group; could there be a surprise there? We will find out soon enough. Caleb Benning has also made a move at safety, while the running back battle got a little clearer with Tikey Hayes’ departure.

Victor Evans and Jeremiah Charles are duking it out to start opposite Andrew Marshall. Danny Odem is in the mix, too. And Vincent Shavers is competing with Dexter Foster to keep his starting job.

Multiple players will see the field at most of those positions, except at right tackle. Whoever doesn’t win that job will still play. No team can survive a season with five offensive linemen, but Gottula has made things very interesting.

Truly elite 2029 recruit to visit Nebraska football

It might seem early to look ahead to the 2029 recruiting class, but the Huskers are scheduled to have the No. 2 recruit, at least according to the initial 247 Sports rankings for 2029, on campus for a game this fall.

J’deion Jackson, a 6-foot-2, 330-pound defensive tackle (rising sophomore in high school) out of Orlando, Florida, will be in Lincoln for the Maryland game, according to Tom Loy of 247 Sports.

Florida and Texas A&M are among the schools “standing out.” Jackson has Gameday visits scheduled to Nebraska, Texas, LSU, and Ohio State. That’s good company to be in, although this feels like an uphill climb for the Huskers.

Winning eight games in 2026 would go a long way toward securing this kind of recruit. Matt Rhule has recruited really well, but needs more on-field success to take the next step on the trail.

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