This post is dedicated to my top 10 rankings of in-state players. It seems that every year people are flabbergasted about how many of our recruits in Nebraska are getting Power5 offers. With camps, social media, and 4 recruiting services now, it’s nearly impossible to be kept a secret. Couple that with Nebraska having 6 different head coaches this century, and the stability (or lack of) makes it easy for other schools to come in and offer some different options. Let’s get into it:
1 – Carter Nelson – TE – Ainsworth, NE – 6’4″ 215 pounds
Nelson is the consensus #1 player in the state from multiple sites (rivals has him as #2 behind Hall). He is on an official visit tour to places like Georgia, Notre Dame, Penn State, and last but not least Nebraska. He came on the scene with his track numbers where he was high jumping close to 7 feet among other impressive accolades. Many believe this is down to Georgia and Nebraska for his services. Raiola is recruiting him to Georgia, but the hometown school is putting up a fight.
Prediction: Nelson stays home and picks Nebraska
2 – Daniel Kaelin – QB – Bellevue, NE (Bellevue West) – 6’2″ 195 pounds
A current Nebraska commit, Kaelin’s recruitment was a whirlwind from the jump. If you remember, he was offered by Florida State as a freshman while he was a backup for the Thunderbirds before he even started a varsity game. He eventually ended up committing to Mizzou early in 2023, but he is a Cornhusker at heart. He is the QB at the school with the most Power 5 players in the state of Nebraska, a great in for Rhule and his staff. If you have ever heard him speak, he is an impressive young man. While I think there may be a QB in Nebraska with a higher ceiling than him, he is one of the most polished QBs i’ve seen at the high school level. He will be a great advocate for our team.
Prediction: He’s already committed here, but off the wall prediction, he and Flores will battle for the starting spot in 2 years for the Cornhuskers
3 – Dae’Vonn Hall – WR – Bellevue, NE (Bellevue West) – 6’2″ 185 pounds
Hall is one of 3 Power 5 prospects for the Thunderbirds, and it was tough choosing which WR I should put ahead of the other. Hall gets the nod as he has been on the scene for longer, and has the size. The Cornhuskers seem to be on the outside looking in for this prospect, and quite frankly I believe the staff to be ok with this. Hall is enamored with getting down to the SEC and other places for a visit, but as of now it seems those schools are keeping him on the backburner.
Prediction: Nebraska will be full at WR before Hall makes a decision, and he ends up at Kansas State or Iowa State.
4 – Eric Ingwerson – TE – Papillion LaVista (Papio) – 6’7″ 235 pounds
For years i’ve talked about how TE is the best position for players in the state of Nebraska, and 2024 is no different. I still think a coach with Nebraska connections at TE coach would be ideal. Ingwerson is committed to Pitt and Pat Narduzzi. He had a visit scheduled with Nebraska, but Pitt shut it down. I don’t think Nebraska is completely out of it, but this is a Mt Everest type battle. Many teams approached Ingwerson about moving to tackle when he continues to grow, and he is not interested in that. If we want a chance, gotta have him as one of our TE commits.
Prediction: He sticks with Pitt as we end up not having room
5 – Isaiah McMorris – WR – Bellevue, NE (Bellevue West) – 6’0″ 170 pounds
The third Power 5 recruit for the Thunderbirds, McMorris is a bit different of a recruit as he is a bit quicker and shiftier. WRs are so hard to predict, as i’ve said before for the most part they are a dime a dozen. Many times it comes down to who gets the playbook the quickest and who meshes with the coaches and QBs the most.
Prediction: Commits to Nebraska in the next 30 days
6 – Teddy Rezac – WR – Omaha, NE (Omaha Westside) – 6’4″ 200 pounds
I have been enamored with Rezac ever since watching the state championship games last year for Class A. He was easily one of the best players on the field that had guys like Zane Flores, Caleb Benning, his brother, and many others. Nebraska football was playing catch-up this spring and Notre Dame swooped in and offered right out from under us. Rezac is a kid that I think is extremely raw and give him a little bit of focus on football with college coaching and he could explode.
Prediction: Sticks with the Irish
7 – Caleb Pyform – OL – Omaha, NE (Omaha Central) – 6’5″ 300 pounds
Pyform is another Eagles prospect along the OL and this place will become a factory here for the next years to come with Abdul Muhammad coming back to coach there. Pyform is down to Penn State and Nebraska, and has a ton of upside and athleticism. He took a visit to Colorado but it was a bit too much of a circus. With his frame he could be a great interior lineman but has a ton of room to grow. We were out of it with Pyform until the new staff was hired and they did a masterful job making up ground with this Omaha prospect.
Prediction: Commits to Nebraska over the Nittany Lions
8 – Asthon Murphy – DL – Elkhorn, NE (Elkhorn South) – 6’5″ 240 pounds
Murphy is listed as an OL by many of the recruiting sites but our staff sees him as a 3 man defensive lineman in our new 3-3-5 system. Murphy has gone out for track to help hone his athleticism, and fits the mold of some of the guys that have done well for us from in-state like Stille, Stoltenberg, and Feist. He’s the exact kind of guy that you can sit and develop for a few years and get ready to roll as a redshirt sophomore.
Prediction: None really necessary
9 – Caleb Benning – DB – Omaha, NE (Omaha Westside) – 6’0″ 185 pounds
Benning is the legacy recruit of Damon Benning who played RB for Nebraska in the 90s. I could certainly move up Benning on this list, but my issue with having him this low is the same reason he probably doesn’t have a ton more offers. Benning has been injured off and on most of his high school career, which leaves him minimal time to get the measureables in the 40, vertical, etc., to garner more attention. While some were skeptical of the numbers, it wasn’t tough to see just how much of a ball hawk he is on the football field. The bottom line is, Caleb is a football player. And while that statement seems very generic, it’s one of the biggest compliments I can give. If he puts together a nice 40 or some other things along with a healthy senior season, and he may explode. He wants to commit after his senior season (thinking there will be an uptick in offers when he has a healthy season).
Prediction: He doesn’t wait until the end of the season, Rhule tells him they have one spot left and need to know before October and he commits to the Huskers.
10 – Michael Burt – TE – Omaha, NE (Creighton Prep) – 6’6″ 225 pounds
Burt burst onto the scene the last 30 days when the Iowa coaches offered him a scholarship while our coaches were down in Texas at a camp. With TEU (Iowa) offering, it put us in complete reaction mode. Nebraska already has Ian Flynt committed at TE, they have Neil Smith’s son committed as an ATH but will play the Bonner role of FB/H-back, we want Nelson bad, offered Ingwerson, we have options.
Prediction: Burt commits to Nebraska after his official visit this weekend. Suck it Iowa.
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Really enjoy the little articles – perfect to read on a break and give me something to think on. Can’t wait to see what’s in the Store as well!
Thanks for the comment! Excited for our articles this week, but the better ones are next week. Hopefully they are as good as I think!
This was terrific, thanks. It’s all well and good to read about kids from other states, but it’s a lot more fun and interesting to hear about the locals. Hopefully, the ones that can most help Nebraska stay home.
Ya, we are always going to miss on a few I think. But if we start winning more and becoming relevant I think we will keep the bulk of them in Lincoln.
Loved how you sneaked this in: “…off the wall prediction, he (Kaelin) and Flores will battle for the starting spot in 2 years for the Cornhuskers.”
Zane Flores enrolled at Oklahoma State at the beginning of this year (2023). What’s your predicted timeline for Flores returning to Nebraska? Some cracks do seem to be developing in the Gundy regime. How well do you see Flores fitting in an evolving Satterfield/Rhule offense? While appearing (to me) to not have an elite arm, he seems to have very good decision-making and mobility.
Thank you for your great insights and analysis!
I was wondering who would catch that, nice work!
Flores is battling hard for the starting job down there right now, I think he is going to be in a good position there. My thoughts are like you mentioned there, the coaching staff there seems to have some chinks in the armor and he felt loyal to them after Satterfield came calling. The timeline is perfect for Sims being gone in 2 years for him to come back. I’m curious if he can win the starting job as a true freshman, I don’t know. But I can tell you he’s one of the best QB prospects i’ve seen from this state. I would rank him #1, Stick #2, and Kaelin #3.
Caleb Benning should be higher IMO, but he’s in good company with this group and I get how the injury thing played into it. In addition to being a ball hawk, he’s also a good kick/punt returner and one of the best tacklers you’ll see at the HS level. He would make a great safety in the 3-3-5.
He was tough for me, he’s been so injured I can’t get a read on him. But he is a freaking football player, always around the ball and making plays.
I’m curious with him, he’s not going to run a 10.2 like some of the guys Rhule goes after, so is he a take? Or do we like the guys with “things you can’t coach”? I would argue Bennings ball-hawking ability is not something you can’t teach so I suppose it just matters what the staff prioritizes.