Rhule did an unbelievable job grabbing some transfer portal guys to help not only bolster our 247 team composite ranking, but fill some gaps where it’s paramount you have someone that can play. Here is a Nebraska football tweet of who all signed:
If you like stars, the transfer portal gave you everything you wanted and more:
Jeff Sims – QB – Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets – A four star prospect out of high school, Sims has 23 starts under his belt for the Yellow Jackets down in Atlanta. Coach Rhule knows that we will only go as far as our QB room takes us, so he wants to give himself as many options as possible. As of right now, Nebraska has 6 scholarship quarterbacks on the roster. I expect 2 players to move on after spring ball.
As we’ve talked about in the past, I will give the good and the bad from both sides. When we got this commit, my Iowa coach friend texted me and said “looks like you guys don’t want to throw the ball now.” It’s true, Sims definitely is not Casey Thompson when it comes to throwing the ball. But the kid is big and physical running the football, a staple of some of Rhule’s offenses down at Baylor. Having a QB you can count on to run is huge for him. I can already hear people in their heads saying “well Casey can run too”, but unfortunately Thompson isn’t anyone that opposing teams need to worry about with his legs. Sims would do that. Now, what is going to win out? Thompson’s legs and familiarity with the players, or Sims’ ability to create havoc on the ground and be serviceable enough through the air?
Sims has had 30 TDs through the air but paired that with 23 INTs as well. The turnovers will kill us if that happens. But as discussed in the previous paragraph, Sims has also rushed for over 1,000 yards in college and 11 touchdowns. We all know Rhule’s philosophy, I can teach you football, I can’t teach you to be fast. Highlights below:
Joshua Fleeks – WR – Baylor Bears – Fleeks comes to Nebraska with one year of eligibility remaining and a ton of familiarity with Rhule’s staff as he was recruited to Baylor by this regime when they were in Waco. Fleeks got injured in 2021 and never fully got back up to speed, but he was a four star prospect out of high school according to 247sports.
While i’m not sure he’s an elite guy, he’s absolutely someone like what we talked about in our transfer portal piece. A one year player so you don’t lose a scholarship for 4 years taking a chance on him, and with only 6 WRs on scholarship before this signing class you needed to add some options that weren’t all true freshman. His experience at the FBS level, knowing what our coaches want, and being on a winning team in 2019 with Rhule and his staff make him a great get even if he has zero stats in 2023. Here’s some highlights from him with Rhule, hopefully we can get him back to this form:
Kai Wallin – DE/Edge- American River CC – A 6’5″ 230 pound DE/Edge guy for Rhule and his staff. He is ranked as the #1 Edge in JUCO per On3 sports and the 19th ranked prospect overall. The stats on the JUCO website don’t look up to date, so I don’t have a ton on him. He has 4 years to complete 3 years of eligibility.
Elijah Jeudy – DT/NG – Texas A&M Aggies – Jeudy, who is originally from Philadelphia, joins the Cornhuskers for Texas A&M. He has four years of eligibility left. He only played in one game as a true freshman in 2021 before redshirting, and only played in one game in 2022 as the Aggies had the #1 ranked recruiting class and brought in 8 defensive linemen making his playing time all but disappear.
Jeudy was a four star prospect out of high school with offers from Bama and Georgia. If we can unlock this potential that they saw, he could be a sneaky good get for Knighton on the DL.
Chief Borders – Edge – Florida Gators – A 6’5″ 242 pound edge rusher from Gainesville? Yes please. He will have 3 years of eligibility remaining to get things where they need to be in Lincoln with Matt Rhule. He only played in 2 games as a redshirt freshman, but his versatility should make him someone to keep on our radar.
Corey Collier – DB – Florida Gators – Collier like some of our other transfers, don’t have a ton of playing experience on the field. But they help bolster depth and are used to what FBS football looks like. A renewed start for him could mean a reward for Cooper and Rhule on the recruiting trail with this four star.
Marco Ortiz – Long Snapper – Florida Gators – The last of the 3 transfers from Gainesville, Nebraska added a long snapper to their class to go along with Alvano as the kicker from Westside. Ortiz was the starting long snapper for the Gators all of 2021 with no miscues, however, the first game of 2022 he had a season ending injury so he will need to work the rust off here.
Ben Scott – OL – Arizona State Sun Devils – While not officially committed yet, this one is a done deal. Scott started every game at right tackle for the Sun Devils in 2021, then they moved him to center for the 2022 season where he had 11 starts. All in all, we are getting an OL that has 28 career starts at the FBS level, that is a massive pick up. With Covid, he technically has 2 years of eligibility still remaining. This is an unbelievable get and props to Coach Raiola as the connection ran through him. At 6’5″ and 290 pounds he has the size needed to play right away for us and either fill in at center with Hixson gone, or shore up our tackle spot. Want one more awesome bit of news? He played high school football at St. Louis in Honolulu, Hawaii where such players like Marcus Mariota, Tua Tagavailoa, and Dominic Raiola played. Decent place to try and start a pipeline.
committed after I wrote this, massive get!
Summary:
Pretty easy to see what Matt Rhule found as the immediate need for our team, and that’s the front “7” with the DL and LBs. He brought in as many guys as he could there for Coach White to be able to do what he wants. He also grabbed some help at QB to give himself depth and WR as we were thin there as well.
Moving forward I can see us grabbing a TE, OL, DL in the portal after spring ball. TE is probably our biggest position of need right now.
Join us Wednesday for our offensive breakdown!
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I figure it will take the next 2 years to really see what he’s going to do in the high school trail, but that’s about as good as you could hope for in the transfer portal.
A lot of guys haven’t had significant playing time, but a lot of good theoretical talent that were highly rated in high school for him to try to mold
Yep, a lot of guys still trying to make their mark. Besides Sims and the Arizona State transfer, not a ton of playing experience but the talent is there.
At least Scott and Sims have several starts at the P5 Level. One would think Scott would start on the Oline. Sims seems like a potential clone of Martinez (at least his time at NU). Sims had 23 Int’s and 6 lost Fumbles in 25 games. AM, 30 Int’s and 18 lost Fumbles in 39 games at NU. Based on Fumbles, Sims doesn’t appear to Fumble as much.
If, and this is a big if, they can get the Oline play to at least average, you would think the running game should be better if Allen and Grant are back. This would lead to less passing and hopefully less turnovers no matter who the QB is.
Yep, i’ll be curious to see how things shape up. I think Scott is nearly a lock to start on the OL. But my intrigue is with our QB situation. So many scholarships, will Sims be who he wants, or more of a manager that doesn’t turn the ball over like Thompson?