Jeremiah Charles, dunk contest winner, is name to watch for Nebraska football

Nebraska football players took part in a slam dunk contest and Jeremiah Charles gave Husker fans even more reason to be excited about his future.

Jeremiah Charles came to Nebraska football as a wide receiver/athlete. However, Charles is playing on the defensive side of the ball right now and it’s easy to see the upside is tremendous.

Charles was one of the participants in the Nebraska football slam-dunk contest that took place during halftime of the Nebraska basketball game on Sunday night. Charles competed against Thomas Fidone, Heinrich Haarberg, and Emmett Johnson and came out on top after some thunderous dunks.

THE CHAMP 🏆🏀🙌@jeremiah_charl2 #GBR x #WhatsNExt! pic.twitter.com/OGwJ4QKAVn

— Nebraska Football (@HuskerFootball) February 26, 2024

The redshirt freshman even hopped over head coach Matt Rhule on one dunk. He used another fancy move to win the competition which capped a strong week for him after he placed in the long jump and triple jump in the Big Ten track and field indoor championships.

Here are highlights from the Nebraska football dunk competition:

🌽 🏈 Huskers Have Hops! 🏈 🌽

Highlights from the first-ever Nebraska football dunk contest, won by @jeremiah_charl2:@HKHaarberg10 @ThomasFidone @EmmettJohnson_ @CoachMattRhule@KETV | #Huskers | #GBR pic.twitter.com/k86SYLFvKG

— Matt Sottile (@MSottileTV) February 26, 2024

Jeremiah Charles could be in a line for a 2nd-year leap

Back to Charles. He played just one season of high school football. He came to Nebraska football as a 6-foot, 160-pound athlete, but according to Sean Callahan of Husker Online, he’s put on around 30 pounds but his athleticism hasn’t taken a step back, at all.

190-pound players who can run and jump like Charles don’t grow on trees. Evan Cooper said he’s made as many gains as anyone in the secondary but will that start to translate to the field?

Charles seems like a great candidate for special teams this season and if he can work his way onto the two-deep that would be a great sign for his development.

The sky is the limit with this kid and he’s a great reminder of why Rhule loves to bet on athletes. We’ll see if that bet pays off with Charles, but so far, I like how it’s trending, especially after watching him win the slam dunk contest.

You can only imagine what those hops can do on the football field.

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