Players Added on Signing Day Shouldn’t Be Overshadowed by Those That Weren’t

Former Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan was quoted after the decommitment of Josh Freeman (who instead went to Kansas State), "It’s been my experience that guys you have to continue to work on, and have a high-maintenance (manner) about themselves — a lot of those guys struggle throughout their careers. Guys who know where they want to go and have an exactness about their decision, those are usually the guys who pan out. There’s no confusion. There’s no clutter in their minds.”  Freeman has gone on to an NFL career, and even was a Pro-Bowl alternate.  Still, he went 0-3 against Nebraska.

 

Whether in hindsight you view those remarks as wise or foolish, you can certainly imagine circumstances where a cluttered mind undermines a players progress.  Granted, there's also been no shortage of signing day announcers that had fine college careers. 

Some Husker fans were distraught to see five-star offensive tackle prospect Andrus Peat choose Stanford.  That might have given NU a nice bump in the recruiting rankings, but do five-star players truly outperform four-star or for that matter three-star players?  The counter-examples are countless.  For every five-star that pans out like Matt Kalil, there are plenty more that don't. 

Nebraska has pulled in its share of four-star offensive linemen in recent years.  This year there was Paul Thurston.  Last year it was Ryan Klachko, Tyler Moore, Ryne Reeves and Zach Sterup.  The year before there was Jermarcus Hardrick and Andrew Rodriguez.  Sure maybe Peat's an inch taller than Moore or comes in a little heavier than Sterup, but does that give him or Stanford some insurmountable advantage?  Hardly.

What will be fun is to look back a few years from now and see whether Peat even turns out to be the best lineman in Stanford's class.  They brought in seven guys.  Peat may never even start.

That brings us to the three previously uncommitted players Nebraska did sign yesterday.  Alonzo Moore is a four-star athlete that could be a defensive back, wide receiver, safety, or even quarterback.  Defensive tackle Vincent Valentine reportedly had offers from Alabama, Florida, Arkansas, Auburn, Michigan, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Penn State, Iowa, Tennessee,  and a bunch of other schools.  If you can't be pleased about a player with a dance card that full, then you're simply not paying attention.  Defensive tackle Aaron Curry similarly had offers from Texas A&M, TCU, Iowa, Boise State and more than a dozen other programs.  The great arms race in college football always seems to be for these interior defensive linemen, and the Huskers added two warheads to their arsenal - one that already included Peat's older brother, Todd.

It would have been exciting to add the younger Peat to the fold, but that doesn't erase the positives for Nebraska on signing day.  They held every previously committed prospect and added three more.  They managed a top 25 Rivals ranking for a class that was only surpassed by two other classes with so few players.  Bo Pelini was in a good mood and with good reason.  He'd just seen his team get better.