The college football transfer portal opened for non grad transfers yesterday, and we have seen a flurry of players rush to officially enter their name (grad transfers could enter sooner). It’s a wild time I hate, because it’s like high school recruiting on steroids. Every QB that goes in we get an analysis on why he could go to Nebraska and if he’d be a good fit. At least with high school recruiting we don’t go down that road until they say they are interested or going to take a visit. With transfers, we somehow assume everyone is interested.
The funny thing about the portal is this tweet is so true:
If you aren’t aware, if you are a high school recruit that singed a national letter of intent with a school, your scholarship is guaranteed until you graduate for 4-5 years. They CAN NOT pull it from you. As soon as you enter the portal, you release the school from their obligation to pay for you. You help them get to their 85 number. You give them an out. Nearly 40% of FBS football portal entrants do not find a home:
Just interesting to me. It is now time for Nebraska to go after their QB…
Who are we going after?
I can confirm that Nebraska has had talks with three guys for sure. Will Howard from Kansas State who has one year remaining. He would be as good as we could hope for in my opinion, however, without a solid run game to lean on like Kansas State has, how effective would he be here? The second person that is getting steam and we have visited is Sam Leavitt, a backup at Michigan State that has only thrown 23 passes in his career. And lastly we have visited Blake Shapen from Baylor.
So what are we going to do?
Here’s the deal… Nebraska needs at least one guy. I would argue that Sims is going to be entering into the portal so you need 2. But there are rumors going around that Rhule does not want a one and done, he wants a guy that is going to be here for 2-3 years. So that would leave Howard out. Leaving us with Shapen and Leavitt as the front runners (more names will pop up i’m sure).
If we only get one of these guys, I am so pissed. Both of them have things that give me serious pause in getting excited about them. While people sit there and tell you how excited you should be about Leavitt, the reality is he was a backup on a very bad football team and threw 23 passes all year. So we don’t know what we are going to get, it’s like thinking a high school kid is the answer for your problem at a position. With Shapen, he is a statue back there that can’t run at all. When you look at the lack of playmakers around the QB spot in Lincoln, the ability to turn nothing into something like Purdy did on occasion or Haarberg with the QB power, it become vital to that spot.
DC White for one more year with a veteran defense
I have been told Rhule wants more of the 2-3 year guy, and not the one year band-aid. You saw that be the case with Sims who technically has another year he could stay here. But I think that’s a mistake to just look past the one year guys. Tony White will not be here for the 2025 season, Hutmacher and Robinson have said they are coming back for 2024, and if you look at our two deep, you have the chance to return 22 of the players on this defensive depth chart:
You can’t afford to waste a defense as dominant as ours was in 2023 putting all your chips in on a developmental transfer. You have to strike now. Further, you are probably going to have Ben Scott and Bryce Benhart back, making a veteran OL returning. You CAN NOT squander that.
Here’s the other reason you can’t just look to 2025, the 2024 schedule
People seem to be concerned about the 2024 schedule being much more difficult than 2023. While true, it’s not as bad as you think, especially in the front end.
Take a look at those first 7 games. Who is the toughest? Colorado? Rutgers? You can be bowl eligible by game 7 if you seriously believe you were building for year 2. You shouldn’t lose to Colorado at home. You beat Illinois and Purdue this year. Indiana has a new coach. Rutgers is at home. UTEP and Northern Iowa? You should be really good before getting to your last 5 games that are murderers row.
Get your one year guy to get us feeling good. Because 2025 is actually tough.
What would I do?
Mike Schaefer brought up on the radio “do you think Nebraska is just a QB away”? I thought it was a good question, because we weren’t in 2023. The point he was making, is a good one year transfer like Howard is probably costing you a million dollars plus. Are you willing to put a lions share of your NIL resources in one guy if your top returning WR is either a guy coming off a season ending injury or a freshman with 8 catches? Your RB room is Emmett Johnson and guys coming off season ending injuries.
I would argue you absolutely do it. Grab Howard, grab a transfer portal RB and WR to go along with Fidone and Carter Nelson next year at TE. Get to your bowl game with that schedule mentioned before and PROVE that you are getting better. There was one coach that said in year 1 and year 2 of recruiting (this year will be Rhule’s third class) you can recruit on your vision. By year 3 and 4 you gotta have some results to point to instead of just a vision.
Would you come to Nebraska?
I put up a poll asking with all of the offensive deficiencies around the QB, would you even come to Lincoln if you were a transfer portal guy? Or would the ability to start due to not having good talent here overcome all of that for you?
So far it’s about how I thought. About 60% said they would stay away while 40% said they would come here. We have some people saying we have good talent around that QB spot but that’s a hope that kids will develop. We don’t have someone like Stanley Morgan Jr coming back to show that they have weapons next year. Fidone II is our leading target coming back. Washington and/or IGC are your leading receivers that are coming off major injuries, or you have freshman that caught less than 10 balls you are trying to promote. It’s a tough spot.
So realistically what do we get?
Excuse the punctuation and grammar here:
From what i’ve been told, I don’t think we are getting a Will Howard type of guy. I believe we are going to get a Michigan State or Baylor type of guy and have him battle it out with Chubba, Haarberg, and Kaelin. If we only get one portal guy at QB and he’s a developmental guy like that… I hate it. I absolutely hate it. Our room needs an influx of talent right now, so if we only get one guy, it needs to be someone that is transferring in after being successful at the Power 5 he was at before.
Since I don’t believe that is happening, i’m hoping we get two developmental guys. If it’s the Baylor QB and the Michigan State QB, i’ll at least be ok because you are creating competition. Someone can rise to the top out of those two and who we have coming back. But each of those guys on their own have reasons to give me serious concerns that they are “the guy” for us in Lincoln.
Get two developmental guys, or one stud. Don’t just get one.
Jake Appleget enters the transfer portal
As of right now, we only have one scholarship player that has entered the portal, and that is Jake Appleget. Formerly at Lincoln Southeast, he came in as a LB on defense but moved to TE this spring. In a room where Fidone II and Boerkircher are back along with Carter Nelson coming in, it would be tough to get some playing time.
However, I did hear one good conspiracy theory. Nebraska has to count Appleget towards the 85 as he signed out of high school, they can’t move him to NIL. But if he enters his name in the transfer portal, Rhule and staff are released of their obligation. Can he now move to an NIL situation and not count towards the 85? Is a local kid helping out his local team?
Probably not but whatever it’s fun to talk about.
Join us next article where we talk about who else has entered the portal from Nebraska and which QBs we will be landing.
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Jake Peetz turned down an offer to join Coach Rhule’s staff last year as co-OC/QB coach, staying with the LA Rams as their Passing Game Specialist. Rhule instead created/filled a Tight End coaching position.
A year later – the TE is filled by a former intern after the incumbent departed due to a DUI. The Rams are trying to avoid a second consecutive losing season.
What’s the likelihood that Coach Rhule will create/fill a co-OC/QB Coach position on his staff this off-season? It would certainly help the development of our QBs, and Peetz might be looking for a new job in a couple months.
One thing I don’t know if you have more insight to, sorry if already discussed. I’ve read here and there Nebraska has NIL funds that go a lot towards paying the guys we have on roster already.
Do you know how this is structured? Is it like everyone is guaranteed x$ for returning, or do they give certain players more premium, do they have varying amounts and offer each person individually, etc?
I’d imagine certain people would be offered more than the average freshman\walkon, but was just wondering if you had any more insight exactly how they go about this and deciding howich goes to current vs new portal players.
Do you think the Huskers will get Kyle McCord to transfer?
Would he classify as a big time transfer?
Btw: I’ve been a long time lurker on the old site you used to post. Your insights and N2FL’s were the best on that site. Sorry for whatever happened. That message board is not the same w/o you.
N2FL is great! Love that guy. Unfortunate what happened but after Frost got fired pretty much just validated what I had been saying.
I would classify McCord as a big time transfer. There are some gaps in his game I don’t like, but it’s not like we can just go get a Dillon Gabriel at outbid Oregon for him. I have a post coming out tomorrow.