Christian Jones is a must for Nebraska football after projected Dawson Merritt miss

You aren’t going to win every recruitment and Nebraska football isn’t going to win the commitment of top-100 linebacker Dawson Merritt.

The Huskers did a great job recruiting him. I don’t know that there’s anything else Matt Rhule and his coaching staff could have done. But Dawson is trending with expert projections from Rivals and On3.com, as well as crystal balls from 247 Sports.

There may be is a late change up but it seems unlikely. Alabama grabbed the momentum coming out of Merritt’s official visit. Nebraska football stayed in the mix and kept battling but it wasn’t enough in the end, which means that the Huskers really, really need to land four-star linebacker Christian Jones.

There was an update from Steve Wiltfong that talked about the Huskers’ chances of landing both not long ago. Now, the Huskers have just Jones on the board. Merritt hasn’t announced a commitment but it’s just a matter of time at this point.

Nebraska football needs Christian Jones

The Huskers don’t have many options left on the linebacker board. Nebraska football is “warm” with just Jones and also three-star linebacker from Iowa Will Hawthorne who is taking an official visit this weekend.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound defender is ranked No. 853 overall in the 2025 class according to the 247 Sports composite rankings. He’s also got two crystal ball projections to Iowa State.

However, Sean Callahan of Husker Online projected him to Nebraska, giving the Huskers a 45-percent chance to win his commitment according to the On3 prediction machine.

Now that Merritt is off the board, the Huskers have their top two targets left — Jones and Hawthorne. The board could expand too if Hawthorne stays in Iowa, but the most important thing is landing Jones, the top-ranked player in Nebraska and a top-160 recruit overall.

Only that will lessen the sting of missing on an elite talent like Dawson Merritt.

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