Nebraska football is smart to prioritize high school recruiting

Nebraska football is going to sign a much bigger 2024 class than some expected and here’s why that’s a good thing for recruiting.

If you had asked me back in January, or even a couple of months ago, how many recruits would Nebraska football sign in the 2024 class — my answer would have been around 20.

That seemed like a perfectly reasonable number. After all, the Huskers needed to rebuild or reload — whatever term you want to use — and had just signed double-digit transfer portal classes in 2021 and 2022.

Every college football team has to be active in the portal. Even Georgia, Alabama, and Ohio State. The key is being able to use it to fill specific needs or to add really special players.

For every success story of teams rebuilding quickly through the transfer portal, you can point to a failure.

For Nebraska football, the key to success is twofold. It’s about recruiting and development. That doesn’t necessarily mean five-star prospects. Last year Michigan had nine players, I believe that were drafted and only one ranked in the top 300 of the 247 Sports composite rankings for his particular class.

I’ve always believed that 3-star prospects ranked in the 500-800 range are closer to the guys ranked 200-300 than the 200-300 guys are to the guys ranked in the top 50 or so.

Just like the NFL draft. You can make a lot of headway with those lower-ranked three-star recruits if you are smart about your evaluations and know how to develop players.

Plenty of programs are hoping for a quick turnaround and while Matt Rhule knows he needs to win quickly at Nebraska, it seems as though high school recruiting will play a bigger role than the transfer portal.

Why prioritizing high school recruits makes sense

Nebraska is going to utilize the transfer portal. Don’t get me wrong. The numbers just might be lower than we expected — just look at the high school recruiting class.

As much as coaches don’t stress the numbers when adding talent, there is an 85-man scholarship limit. Some players can take NIL money to play but Nebraska football is closing in on a class that could be anywhere from 25-30. It’s already 23 and we are over five months from early National Signing Day.

If Jeff Sims plays so well that he leaves for the NFL draft after this season, you can bet Nebraska would look for a starting-caliber quarterback. Those are the moves they will hope to make and capitalize when big-time talents become available.

Sometimes, it can be a former five-star such as MJ Sherman. He’s got the tools but was just buried on the depth chart at Georgia. Nebraska can offer a lot to those kinds of players, especially when it gets the NIL side of things ramped up.

Rhule is recruiting players with NFL traits. The focus is on size and speed, plus on-field production. That will always be key. However, it’s important to find guys with those traits worth developing and Rhule has done that from top to bottom in the 2024 class.

Some of the recruits might not be ranked that high and the Huskers won’t hit on them all. They just need to hit on enough, which is where Rhule and the staff come in.

When Trev Alberts was going through the hiring process, he said Nebraska football needed to be the premier development program in college football.

Well, if the Huskers are ever going to win championships again, conference or otherwise, that’s the path.

So far, it’s going well on the recruiting trail. We’ll see how the development side goes. But it’s fascinating to discuss.

The transfer portal can be great. But you also tend to get some for just 1-2 years. You have to worry about culture, roster fits, and all that stuff.

In terms of constructing the roster, I don’t think Rhule will leave any stone unturned. He’s rebuilding the walk-on program, hosting camps, and investing heavily in high school recruiting.

He will also take any transfer that can help the Huskers win. But Nebraska seems like it will prioritize high school recruiting over the hope of the transfer portal.

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