Preston Taumua commitment day and more Nebraska Football news

Preston Taumua is announcing his commitment on Sunday night and Nebraska football is the heavy favorite, plus more headlines for the Huskers.

Nebraska football fans should have something to cheer about late Sunday night as four-star offensive lineman Preston Taumua is set to announce his commitment.

The top-ranked player from the state of Hawaii in the 2024 class, is 6-foot-4, 315 pounds, and has been trending with expert projections to Nebraska football.

The trend has even picked up steam over the weekend as an Auburn expert projected the four-star to wind up with the Huskers, as did Steve Wiltfong and Brian Christopherson of Huskers 247.

As far as the actual announcement, it’s not expected until 12 PM CST. Hopefully, you can stay up that late but all indications are that Nebraska will be landing its second-highest-rated commitment (235th overall) in the 2024 class.

#GBR 🌽 pic.twitter.com/916oIVjLgS

— Blackshirts (@blvckshirts) July 17, 2023

Grant Brix is still out there, so Nebraska football isn’t going to be done with recruiting. They could use another pure offensive tackle and Brix is ranked fifth at the position in the 247 Sports composite rankings.

Here’s the scouting report from Brandon Huffman of 247 Sports:

“Impressed at this past summer’s ESPN 300 Hawaii Camp, earning Top Performers honors. Now, seeing him in pads, you see every bit the elite prospect that he is. He’s got tremendous agility and flexibility, a natural knee bender with great body control, doing a great job of getting to the second level consistently and opening up holes for his backs. He’s also a plus pass-blocker, keeping his quarterback clean during the game.”

I know Taumua is listed as an interior lineman. But I still believe there’s a chance he could play right tackle and be pretty damn good. Regardless, Nebraska football needs more blue-chip talent up front and Taumua would be a big-time get.

Phile Steele lists Nebraska as one of the most improved teams

Nebraska will need to show some improvement if the Huskers want to get back to a bowl game and renowned college football expert Phile Steele thinks Nebraska will make a bowl game.

Steele listed the Huskers as the No. 15 most-improved team heading into the 2023 season. Here’s what he wrote about Nebraska football via On3.com:

“Rhule does have 15 starters returning and gives them a coaching upgrade. His first two stops he has just 2 and 1 wins his first year. But (Nebraska) was -3 in close games last year and six of my nine power ratings are calling for bowl eligibility.” So, Steele expects improvement, but not a giant leap.

Jeff Sims is listed as a top-5 transfer QB

One of the reasons I’m so optimistic about Nebraska football’s chances of going bowling this season is the new starting quarterback Jeff Sims.

I truly believe he’s going to be an upgrade. Having a true dual threat with an NFL-caliber arm to go along with his running ability will make him a perfect fit for Marcus Satterfield’s offense.

The Huskers didn’t have a quarterback that could be a weapon on the ground last season. I can see Sims running a lot near the goal line and on third downs. Running quarterbacks are huge weapons in those situations.

Overall, I just have a good feeling about Sims, as does Andy Staples of On3.com, who listed the former Georgia Tech starter as a top-5 quarterback transfer.

“Matt Rhule picked Jeff Sims after a very interesting quarterback competition in which he had all his quarterbacks live in spring practice,” Staples said. “The defense could hit them. They had five, and they had a lot to choose from and Matt Rhule wanted to see what they had, and Jeff Sims rose above them all. … He also has NFL tools, the question is, is he going to be able to show them? I’m not sure he ever got to show them at Georgia Tech, but you could see flashes there.”

Sims is going to excel at Nebraska and it’s another reason why the Huskers should bounce back in 2023.

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