2025-26 #PortalSZN Thread

[SOHusker11]

I'm just going to give two examples of RBs that Nebraska allowed to piss down their pants:
1.) #1 RB in the nation in total rushing yard: 2026 Sr. Cam Cook Jacksonville State went to the portal and will now play for West Virginia (guarantee you that we could have outbid them)).
2.) #6 RB in the nation in total rushing yards: 2026 So. Caleb Hawkins North Texas State, will be playing for Oklahoma State next year. (Again I guarantee we could have out bid the sowbellies.)

This entire portal period has been an unmitigated disaster, and the only semi-bright spot is Anthony Colandrea, and even that is only a "semi-bright spot".

In the end they had to find and get commitments from 3 game changing positional players for the following positions:
1.) Nose Tackle; they failed so badly at this I can't even talk about it without burning my laptop with my eyes.
2.) Running Back; they needed just one experienced RB here to make this at least a D- grade, instead they get a I for incomplete ...... they did absolutely nothing.
3.) QB and this only because Dylan walked away, they brought in Colandrea who may or not be an average B1G QB.

I'd fire the entire recruiting department right now if I had the ability.

Hawkins followed his QB and coach to Okie State. 0% chance we could have landed him. I'm not wasting my time looking into the other guy.

 

[jaihawk]

Hawkins followed his QB and coach to Okie State. 0% we could have landed him. I'm not wasting my time looking into the other guy.

Yep, that was a horrible take on Hawkins. Everyone in the world knew he and the QB were following their coach.

 

[Carm]

Hawkins followed his QB and coach to Okie State. 0% we could have landed him. I'm not wasting my time looking into the other guy.

Cam Cook was highly recruited out of HS and went to TCU. I don't think he played his freshman year. His sophomore year, he started 6 games and had 460 yards rushing and 3.9 ypc. After that year he entered the portal and dropped down a level to Jacksonville St.

The knock on him is that he lacks top level speed, runs about a 4.55 40.

 

[Flabio]

He's actually a good get. Still needed more DL though

Yes he’s de bread man. He’s here to eat.

 

[Flabio]

I've always assumed that Matt suffers from ADHD. In that regard, we need to have someone work with him on focus, cause we need him to FOCUS on the issues and the holes in our team's roster.

 

[ThankGODforWVB]

Just to help everyone see where we are on the DL, I have added the TPs to the roster for these positions in the chart below. You will find 4 positions listed: Nose Tackle (really a 0 - 3 tech):NT, Defensive Tackle (3 - 5 tech): DT, Edge ( a 5 - 7 tech usually on the weakside): ED, Joker (a 5 - 9 tech who can also play in short coverage): JK. You will also note a column marked Height/weight ratio; this intended to help you see why a player's size might influence their position. In some positions a large frame and ratio is desirable, as long as the ratio represents lean mass. In others you may be looking for more of a balance between height and weight (lower ratio).

 

[ThankGODforWVB]

FYI I currently have Simpson marked as an Edge. I expect that by no later than fall camp he will be moved to DT instead. He is a unique player in that he could really excel in either position.
I should also note that Gabe Moore's weight is suppose to grow pretty quickly this fall to more like 305/310 lbs which would make his ability inside greater. He was getting pushed around a bit because he was undersized against 330 to 345 lb inside offensive linemen.

 

[ThankGODforWVB]

There are numerous players on that roster that I have absolutely no expectation that they will ever see significant playing time. I'll point those out later. Those prior starters are going to undoubtedly be the starters again this year. If Jones shows some capacity to handle coverage in the mid and short range as well as be a rush end and handle the running game against OTs and TEs then he might see significant playing time. I'm dubious about that. We are going to be weaker at this position than we were last year. What might help would be if we went full out 4 front, then Lenhardt and Nwaneri both start opposite each other.

 

[ThankGODforWVB]

Cam Cook was highly recruited out of HS and went to TCU. I don't think he played his freshman year. His sophomore year, he started 6 games and had 460 yards rushing and 3.9 ypc. After that year he entered the portal and dropped down a level to Jacksonville St.

The knock on him is that he lacks top level speed, runs about a 4.55 40.

In other words; he has the same speed as Ameer Abdullah ......

 

[ThankGODforWVB]

Hawkins followed his QB and coach to Okie State. 0% chance we could have landed him. I'm not wasting my time looking into the other guy.

well that is the lazy man's assumption ........ I've seen that change on a dime with players for the right offer. Okie State is a mess right now, even more than Nebraska.

 

[Carm]

In other words; he has the same speed as Ameer Abdullah ......

I think Ameer ran a 4.6 at the Combine but a 4.4 at Pro Day, but I could be wrong

EDIT: It was 4.6 at the Combine and 4.53 at Pro Day, my post was in error

 

[Carm]

What might help would be if we went full out 4 front

Isn't this what Aurich has done other places?

 

[Carm]

Just to help everyone see where we are on the DL, I have added the TPs to the roster for these positions in the chart below. You will find 4 positions listed: Nose Tackle (really a 0 - 3 tech):NT, Defensive Tackle (3 - 5 tech): DT, Edge ( a 5 - 7 tech usually on the weakside): ED, Joker (a 5 - 9 tech who can also play in short coverage): JK. You will also note a column marked Height/weight ratio; this intended to help you see why a player's size might influence their position. In some positions a large frame and ratio is desirable, as long as the ratio represents lean mass. In others you may be looking for more of a balance between height and weight (lower ratio).
View attachment 66267

You probably need to add Mac Markway to this chart

 

[ThankGODforWVB]

You probably need to add Mac Markway to this chart

View attachment 66269

I'll wait till after the Spring Camp and see how that falls, it seems odd that they would go that way in many regards, given how high they were with him prior to this last injury.

 

[Carm]

I'll wait till after the Spring Camp and see how that falls, it seems odd that they would go that way in many regards, given how high they were with him prior to this last injury.

Media reported he was with the DL in workouts running up to the Bowl, but I take your point it's not official until it's official.

 

[ThankGODforWVB]

Isn't this what Aurich has done other places?

The reality is that we mostly went with a 4 front, at least from a viewable point of view last year, and quite often in both 2024 and 2023. But what you see, and what they are actually doing are a different thing in the 3 - 3- 5. When Rhule talks about changing, he seems to do it with a lot of qualifying sentences. Until Rhule states categorically that we are going to adapt to a 4 man front, I'll hold my breath.

In the interim I keep feeling like part of what you say is true; that Rhule doesn't want to play a 0 - 3 tech, and he is willing to risk his tenure on that notion. I've watched a lot of years of football, and lot of those in the B1G. Not having someone who can play that role on your front never seems to work well for B1G teams. There was a point in time where TOSU thought they were going to go away from that idea ....... and it blew up and the DC got fired after a very short time. (ended up at OU for a short time and then followed that guy at USC to USC, until he was fired ....

 

[ThankGODforWVB]

Truth be told if they are moving Markway in sincerity rather than for recruiting angles; it would mean that Markway was not going to ever see playing time. I'm thinking they are doing this for recruiting purposes with the 2027 class, and one player in particular from Louisiana.

 

[Carm]

The reality is that we mostly went with a 4 front, at least from a viewable point of view last year, and quite often in both 2024 and 2023. But what you see, and what they are actually doing are a different thing in the 3 - 3- 5. When Rhule talks about changing, he seems to do it with a lot of qualifying sentences. Until Rhule states categorically that we are going to adapt to a 4 man front, I'll hold my breath.

In the interim I keep feeling like part of what you say is true; that Rhule doesn't want to play a 0 - 3 tech, and he is willing to risk his tenure on that notion. I've watched a lot of years of football, and lot of those in the B1G. Not having someone who can play that role on your front never seems to work well for B1G teams. There was a point in time where TOSU thought they were going to go away from that idea ....... and it blew up and the DC got fired after a very short time.

A lot has been written here and elsewhere about how much we ran a four man front the last couple of years. I do think we making a shift, though, especially as there was talk that what Aurich asked of the D-Line was a better fit for our existing roster.

If you hire a guy because he has off the charts performance analytics, like we did with Aurich, I think you probably have to let him basically do his thing.

We tried to get a NG, and I think they'd like to have one on the roster, I but think in the end there was no one decent who was priced in a way that was consistent with being a situational player. The decent ones were priced based on the market for using them as base scheme starters. So, we are going the route of trying to get Berymon, who will be expensive in terms of a HS school player, but cheap compared to a portal player. Since we paid him two visits this week, one by Rhule, one by Brown, we appear to be very serious about trying to get him in the class.

 

[Carm]

Truth be told if they are moving Markway in sincerity rather than for recruiting angles; it would mean that Markway was not going to ever see playing time. I'm thinking they are doing this for recruiting purposes with the 2027 class, and one player in particular from Louisiana.

I doubt Hudson would care if Markway was in the TE room. Markway has never been the kind of receiver TE Hudson is. Markway is more the classic inline TE. Hudson isn't going to be afraid of any competition from the existing roster.

 

[ThankGODforWVB]

A lot has been written here and elsewhere about how much we ran a four man front the last couple of years. I do think we making a shift, though, especially as there was talk that what Aurich asked of the D-Line was a better fit for our existing roster.

If you hire a guy because he has off the charts performance analytics, like we did with Aurich, I think you probably have to let him basically do his thing.

We tried to get a NG, and I think they'd like to have one on the roster, I but think in the end there was no one decent who was priced in a way that was consistent with being a situational player. The decent ones were priced based on the market for using them as base scheme starters. So, we are going the route of trying to get Berymon, who will be expensive in terms of a HS school player, but cheap compared to a portal player. Since we paid him two visits this week, one by Rhule, one by Brown, we appear to be very serious about trying to get him in the class.

Yeah here is the thing, and you hear this alot when you talk to upper level DCs in the NFL and P5 football, calling a defense a 4 - 3 or a 2 - 5 - 4 anymore is a fool's errand. Really you are just being multiple and trying to confuse the QB on the other team, and the more options you can create out of whatever "formation" you begin with is the name of the game. That is why there are SO many players on defense in the NFL now who are situational defensive players, and this is only growing now in the CFB.

Why this fits with me ARGUING for the 0 - 3 tech is that as long as your are playing run first teams, and you are always going to find those in the B1G, you need to have that big ball buster in the middle, who can turn an offense into a gigantic constipated shit.