If there is one position that this staff is really liking currently, it’s their tight end room. Their TE1 is Thomas Fidone who they had to be careful with last spring and even in the fall, he’s back and fully healthy now after leading our TE room in snaps and receptions in 2023. With him back, there’s a lot to like.
Further, you have Nate Boerkircher that in my eyes was every bit as good as Fidone in practices that i’ve seen. While his ceiling may not be as high, he is reliable and would start at many other programs. He reminds me a bit of Alex Bullock, where him being around is a nice safety blanket for our coaches and quarterbacks.
The real question is what do we do after our initial 2 guys? Janiran Bonner was a fullback last year but is being tried out at WR and TE. I don’t think he’s fast enough to be WR, and i’m not sure he has the ability to pass the top 2 guys on this chart. So i’ll be curious if the portal is in the future for him.
Smith-Flores
I was a little critical of this recruit, I didn’t see the intrigue. Many people said we brought him in to help with the inline blocking, but I don’t think you bring TEs in for that. I will be curious to see if we can get him on the field a lot or if the 3 true freshman or Bonner can pass him up.
Carter Nelson
I put him in his own category as he and Dylan Raiola already have some chemistry playing in Hawaii together at the Polynesian bowl. The other 2 TEs we brought in for the 2024 class aren’t as athletic as him, and he will be given every opportunity to play. Nelson is one of those guys that can play H-back or the slot Y looking a bit like the old Dallas Clark. The real question is if we keep his redshirt or not. I see him asserting himself as TE3 and when Fidone or Boerkircher are banged up he may end up playing. The only pause I have is if he’s able to move from 8 man football to 11 man without being in spring ball. That is what makes me thing he redshirts.
The Rest of The 2024 Class
Eric Ingwerson made noise when he committed to Pitt and Nebraska already had Ian Flynt committed. He originally committed to the Panthers as they told him they would let him play TE. The narrative out there is that he is in line for being moved to OT, but for at least this year he will not be moving to a line spot. Can he have the athletic ability to make a name for himself?
Flynt is a legacy recruit that is also talked about as an inline blocker. I don’t see him making noise for the 2024 season, but we will see.
Nebraska (The State) Is A TE Breeding Ground
Nebraska in the recent recruiting classes has somehow became a powerhouse for churning out Power 5 TEs. In fact, Nebraska puts out more P5 TEs than the state of California and the 2025 class is no exception. Following the Nelson and Ingwerson class (this doesn’t include Burt who committed to Iowa and Hollinger who committed to Illinois). The 2025 class has Chase Loftin who is the #2 ranked recruit in the state and transferred from Elkhorn North to Millard South for his senior season. He is a priority target for this staff. Platteview also has a Power 5 TE in Reiman Zebert. Both will be tough pulls, but I think in the end Nebraska can at least get one of those (my money is on Loftin for right now).
Depth Chart Prediction:
TE1 – Fidone
TE2 – Boerkircher
TE3 – Nelson OR Smith-Flores
Take a look at our spring preview page to get all of our write-ups prior to the spring game.
