It’s been a little bit! When you don’t make a bowl game, there’s really not a ton to write about, but I did want to go over the transfers we have brought in and my thoughts on each of them.
Let me start off by saying that the transfer portal has given me a new pet peeve:
It just bothers me so much, we saw it with Tyreke Johnson coming here from Ohio State and how he was a five star that would for sure help. Or even a guy like Kaine Williams who everyone thought had to be good coming from Bama because “if they wanted him there’s something there.” We went over a breakdown of this, but the best indicator of if someone is going to be successful is if they’ve played before and looking at how they’ve done.
Nebraska in my opinion had 3 priorities in the offseason within the portal. Bolster your WR room with some veteran presence, grab a RB with two of your 4 scholarship guys coming off a season ending injury and Lacy decommitting, and finding an ILB to replace Reimer and Henrich, as we only had Bullock and Wright back at that spot. 3 is the minimum there.
We will go in order of their commitment according to 247sports:
CB Blye Hill – FCS St. Francis
As a true freshman, his stats were not overwhelming. He played in 9 games, had 21 tackles, 6 pass breakups, and 2 interceptions. Hardly something to write home about, as the level of competition steps up immensely from FCS to Power 5 FBS football. Compare him to a guy like Omar Brown who transferred here and did well, Brown was an All-American from an FCS school coming this way. Quite frankly, I don’t really understand this one. But he does have some good genes as his father is Leroy Hill, who played 8 seasons for the Seahawks and was the 2004 ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
WR Jahmal Banks – Wake Forest
If we are looking for production, Banks has it. While at Wake Forest, he had 107 catches for 1,404 yards and 13 Touchdowns. In 2023, Nebraska desperately was looking for an outside WR to step up once Betts left the team, IGC got injured and so did Washington, and guys like Malachi Coleman just weren’t ready yet. Banks has eclipsed 600 receiving yards each of the last two seasons. The Cornhuskers have plenty of quick, speedy, and shifty guys to take care of running the slot position, but the outside was a problem, and Rhule addressed it adding this 6’4″ 208 pound threat.
WR Isaiah Neyor – Texas
Similar to Banks, Neyor is a big bodied outside WR standing 6’3″ and 215 pounds. Neyor transferred to Texas in 2022 after a standout campaign in Laramie, Wyoming where he had 878 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2021 (he played there in 2020 as well during the shortened Covid season). Neyor has sat out nearly his entire time at Texas due to an ACL injury he suffered in 2022 and set back again in 2023. He reminds me a bit of Fleeks who had some issues but came to Lincoln and really got back to where he was early in his career.
RB Dante Dowdell – Oregon
Nebraska was in a bit of trouble in their RB room. You lose Grant to graduation, and while Johnson and Ervin Jr come back they are coming off of season ending injuries. That leaves you with solely Johnson and Ives that you can feel comfortable with being healthy. While Johnson proved he’s someone who can contribute at this level, we still don’t know with Ives. And that’s why you had to go get someone like Dowdell.
At 6’2″ and 215 pounds Dowdell can be that punishing back that we wanted Ervin Jr to be. He only spent one season at Oregon, and the Ducks returned their top 2 backs so he was looking for a fresh start elsewhere. He unfortunately burned his redshirt playing in 6 games, where he rushed 17 times for 90 yards and 1 touchdown. I just don’t know enough about him, but he definitely seems to have some tools.
LB Stefon Thompson – Syracuse
A massive need with the departures from Reimer and Henrich, Thompson comes with familiarity to this staff. He played as a true freshman and started in 12 games for Tony White at Syracuse, where he had 79 tackles, 6 sacks, and 8 tackles for loss including 2 forced fumbles. Thompson suffered a setback in 2022 injuring his knee and not playing. In 2023 he only started one game but played in all 12 contests, where he finished with 52 tackles.
In the spring of 2023, Nebraska was toying around with Butler, Sherman, and others at ILB. Having Thompson, Bullock, and Wright there to rotate along with a guy like Dylan Rogers who is a year in, we should be able to see just where we are at.
OL – Micah Mazzccua Florida
I didn’t think Nebraska would be adding an interior offensive linemen, but one thing I’ll give Rhule credit for, is if he thinks you’ll help, you’re coming on the team. If the name sounds familiar it’s because Mazzccua was courted hard by this staff when he left Baylor and headed to Florida a year ago. Rhule brought Mazzccua to Baylor so he is very familiar with him, and with Nouilli graduating and the status of Piper very up in the air after that gruesome injury, more help was needed. While I think Rhule and his staff like guys like Lutovsky, Jenkins, and Sledge… bolstering the guard spot with a guy who started 11 games in the SEC and another 10 at Baylor is not a bad thing.
Wrapping it up
Let’s give some major props to Rhule and his staff here for something… at the beginning of January, Nebraska was set to host 5 portal visitors. While one of them dropped off (due to us filling up), the other 4 made it (Neyor, Thompson, Banks, and Dowdell). Nebraska went 4 for 4. That is so pivotal. The transfer portal is a weird thing, but if you can get in a situation where you aren’t spinning your wheels and getting people to campus crossing your fingers they commit, that can go a long way. No staff member wants to be in a spot where you are just trying with portal player after portal player to get a bite and have someone commit. This staff did a very good job identifying and relaying their message to these kids BEFORE they got to campus. Them coming to Lincoln was basically just a formality for signatures.
A couple of these guys are on NIL packages and won’t count against our 85, but me trying to figure out our numbers at this point is pretty much gone so I don’t really care.
Rhule and his staff addressed the 3 biggest needs that we talked about at the beginning of this… WR, RB, and ILB. Adding a DB and OL is just a bit of a cherry on top.
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Dowdell looks like he runs hard and accelerates quick in the limited tape I saw. He seems like he will be a theoretical fit for what we want to do(physical running game) if he pans out…although I didn’t see that as much as I thought I would of it last year, could be due to OL play or injuries .
Liked what I saw of Emmett Johnson, he’s not big but ran really hard too.
Ya, I think Johnson was ok with the Dowdell transfer in because they are different backs theoretically. I’m excited to see what Dowdell can do here.
Was the one who didn’t visit because we filled up Xe’Ree Alexander? I was excited about him visiting and potentially joining. Looks like he ended up at UCF.
Yep, basically Thompson told us he was in he just needed to get to campus so we told him we filled up.
Like your thoughts here, def if they pan out and contribute the way it has been planned out, great job.. With all the changes to the staff is what kind of surprised me as it seemed like we were doing well but if its true Rhule just wanted to move on I’m curious if the new staff members are going to be that much better or not.. should be an interesting spring with our numbers and seeing how many are being told they can leave to find playing time..
I just don’t think they are bringing anyone in that won’t contribute (save Hill). I think everyone else will see massive snaps.
Still have some concerns with QB. If DR gets injured we are left with HH and Kaelin. Although we now have a QB coach , can he get HH to improve enough at passing to be a true #2, allowing Kaelin to redshirt.
I’m right there with you. We are very thin. I think it’s just really difficult to grab a Chubba Purdy type that is willing to wait his turn when your starter is going to be a true freshman. Maybe they can find someone that knows they aren’t “good enough” and can be a mentor like Gebbia did at Ohio State?