Nebraska Football: Latest Dawson Merritt update not promising

Things do not look positive for Nebraska football on the Dawson Merritt front. Three new predictions were put in for Dawson Merritt to go to Alabama on Thursday afternoon.

This certainly conflicts with reports earlier this week, in which Nebraska insider Tim Verghese felt comfortable putting in a prediction for Merritt to Nebraska. However, things can change quickly. Joseph Hastings, Andrew Bohn, and Josh McCuistion all put in predictions for the linebacker to go to Alabama on Thursday afternoon.

With that being said, this should come as no surprise. Alabama and Nebraska have been the two schools that Merritt has been interested in for quite a while now. It’s been a two-horse race in that regard. Nebraska football certainly looked like they were making headway in this recruitment, and they still could be. This is certainly a bit of disheartening news, as it appeared that Nebraska had a slight edge in this recruitment to this point. However, it’s just a reminder of how far the program still needs to go in order to consistently beat out top-tier schools for talent.

Alabama is still very much a powerhouse program even with Nick Saban no longer in the picture. They are still a national brand with recent success. The Huskers have not been shy about trying to recruit with some of the bigger programs in the country. As result, they are going to miss on some players.

Where does Nebraska football go from here?

Where does Nebraska football turn to if Merritt does not commit to the program? Christian Jones should be a priority target even more so. Jones is taking a visit to Oklahoma this weekend, after visiting Nebraska last weekend. He also visited Auburn earlier this month. On top of this, there are also rumors that he is going to take a visit to Wisconsin. This is a recruitment that could extend into the fall.

With that being said, Nebraska is obviously still very much in play. Sounding the panic alarm about potentially losing Jones would be premature at this stage of the game.

Meritt’s recruitment certainly is not over yet by any stretch of the imagination. Even still, this latest news is certainly not what Nebraska fans want to hear. If there is any consolation to this, it’s that Matt Rhule and the coaching staff always seem to have a backup plan when things don’t work out.

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