Jonathan Cook Surprise Number 14 Commit
The 14th commit of the class is a corner from Alabama who has not even visited Lincoln. As it certainly brightened the day of fans, it apparently made the day of the coaches as well. It is easy to see why from his highlights. The three-star recruit might be waiting for more than a greyshirt offer from the Tide. But for now, his addition brings the strength of the class up to #25 according to Rivals.
8/10/2012
Yes, the Husker class is ranked #25 on Rivals, and #16 on Scout today. They are squarely in the third position (behind only Michigan and Ohio State) in the B1G at this point in the recruiting cycle.
Two other thoughts - one positive, the other more grounded.
On the plus side, it pretty obvious the Husker coaches have a good amount of momentum going. They have room for 25-26 players in the group, and are ahead of pace (they wanted a dozen before the season started). Official visits during the season have always been good to NU. And they have some great prospects (DT, TE, RB) still on the board. Yes, it’s right to be optimistic about how this class is developing.
On the slight downside, this kind of spontaneous and surprising commit always feels a bit sketchy. I really like this kid as a prospect. He’s a big, rangy, fast player who would fit with what NU does with it’s corners. And he plays physical on film. The sketchy side is that he still intends to take all five of his official visits. And, he’s also obviously still holding out hope for an offer from his home-state Tide. So, we’ll just have to see if the staff can keep this young man in the fold all the way to signing day February. I sure hope so. Good cornerbacks are critical.
Either way, it’s time to get excited about what this class can be.
Kansas City, MO
8/10/2012
Agreed, all 5 official visits to the schools on his list, waiting for ‘Bama. It all adds up to a maybe he signs, maybe he don’t.
Ankeny, IA
8/10/2012
As long as one of those visits is to Lincoln, I’ll feel pretty good about it.
Austin, TX
8/10/2012
Hopefully this guy sticks to his commitment…watched some video and he does a good job of closing and getting to the football…6 picks as a junior is a quality number.
Also, big shout out to Alex Henery who booted a 51-yard game winner in an emotional preseason game for the Eagles last night!
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap2000000048274/Henery-kicks-the-Eagles-to-preseason-win
8/10/2012
I’m just wondering now that we have offered him how many other people in SEC Country will take another look at him. I just remember when we offered Anthony Jennings (Roswell, GA) and we were really one of the first programs to really go after him. Seemed that after we offered that everyone down there said “Well if Nebraska is coming down here to offer him then if must be something they need, and consequently this is somebody we need to look at.” Subsequently LSU came into the picture and he gave his verbal. When we go down into SEC Country I wonder sometimes if we are doing the homework for the other programs down there who are trying to bash each other’s head in by going after the most in-demand talent. . .
It will be interesting to see over the next few years where we will shift our recruiting focus to. We’re obviously working Ohio and taking the long approach towards recruiting the Deep South. I wonder sometimes though. USC is back, Oregon is alive, and you have some other good recruiters out in The PAC 10 with Rodriguez, Sarkisian, which means California is very competitive. We seem to be looking away a little from Texas (Dallas Metroplex the exception) and getting people our of SEC Country is tough in general. People like to compete and play against what is deemed to be the best. I hope that we are able to make some inroads, somewhere, because Michigan and Ohio State seem to be selling something that players are buying. We’ll see. I will give Coach Pelini credit for two underappreciated players from The Deep South that really went under the radar and underappreciated by the SEC Schools: Alfonzo Dennard & Ameer Abdullah. . .
21 days until the first game. . .