Nebraska football hosting 5-star Jackson Cantwell again, plus more Cornhuskers news

Nebraska football struck out on five-star tackle recruits in the 2024 and 2025 class, but the Cornhuskers are taking their shot once again with a five-star tackle in 2026 — Jackson Cantwell.

The Huskers have already made the top list. Cantwell recently released a top-12 list that included Nebraska football, although it feels like the Huskers are among the top five teams.

Out of Nixa, Missouri, the 6-foot-7, 300-pound offensive tackle is ranked as the No. 2 overall prospect in the 2026 class according to the 247 Sports composite rankings. He’s also ranked No. 1 among offensive tackles.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers just missed on David Sanders, the top-ranked tackle in the 2025 class. They were also a finalist for Brandon Baker, the top tackle in 2024.

So Matt Rhule and Nebraska football have been in the mix. With Cantwell, there seems to be a better opportunity. For starters, he’s visited three times already and according to Bryan Munson of Husker Online, Cantwell will visit the Cornhuskers again this fall.

That’s four visits. His dad was also a silver medalist in the Olympics in the shot put and Cantwell is a tremendous shot putter. He wants to compete in Track and Field in college and Nebraska football offers that opportunity. A bunch of other Nebraska players are already doing both sports. Hell, Nash Hutmacher even wrestled last season so Nebraska is a great place for dual-sport athletes.

Getting Cantwell back for another visit is huge and it feels like the Huskers are a true threat to land the elite offensive tackle in the 2026 class.

Nebraska football special teams updates

Special teams coach Ed Foley met with the media on Tuesday and updated where things stand in the kicking game. Tristan Alvano is “90 percent” according to Foley. He’s going to keep working toward getting healthy and Foley said they were working on extending his range.

John Hohl is the top kicker right now. Hohl is also handling kickoff duties along with punter Brian Buschini. Foley also mentioned that true freshman Carter Nelson has impressed on special teams even though he won’t be doing anything “glamorous.”

As far as the returners go, Jacory Barney and Emmett Johnson are the leaders for the job of punt returner. Barney is also in the mix to be the Cornhuskers kickoff returner. Emmett and Rahmir Johnson are both in the mix for that job too.

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