December recruiting thread

[Carm]

I don’t know. You always just know too much and break everyone’s hearts and tell us so & so is not coming

He has been looking at different schools the entire time and the commitment to CU doesn't appear to be whole-hearted. With him it's a question of money, I think.

 

[COYS]

He has been looking at different schools the entire time and the commitment to CU doesn't appear to be whole-hearted. With him it's a question of money, I think.

Don’t think that’s the case. Maryland is most likely going to land him and that is all about relationships and proximity to his home. Locksley has been recruiting the kid for 4 years and has the best relationship with him over any other coach. I am sure Maryland will pay him something, but would be a fraction what he would get in the open market.

 

[Carm]

Don’t think that’s the case. Maryland is most likely going to land him and that is all about relationships and proximity to his home. Locksley has been recruiting the kid for 4 years and has the best relationship with him over any other coach. I am sure Maryland will pay him something, but would be a fraction what he would get in the open market.

Maybe he was essentially a silent commit to MD all this time and then decided to take a visit at the end, I don't know. But he hasn't decommitted from CU. Why did he commit to CU at all just a few weeks ago? If he is so in love with Locksley why didn't he ever visit there until last weekend? I wouldn't be surprised if he waits until February to sign to get all the bids in, but maybe I am too cynical.

Here are his visits (actually I could fit a couple at the bottom into the screen shot).

 

[Tsakoi]

It is amazing to me that JUCOs have become recruiting graveyards.

I remember that lots of top schools used to mine JUCO talent but then the portal just nuked them completely.
I couldn't even name a top JUCO QB, OT, CB or RB now, when 2-3 years ago we would have been recruiting one of them.

Where do those guys go now? Do they even get recruited by any power 5 schools now?

 

[DanasMullet69]

Maybe he was essentially a silent commit to MD all this time and then decided to take a visit at the end, I don't know. But he hasn't decommitted from CU. Why did he commit to CU at all just a few weeks ago? If he is so in love with Locksley why didn't he ever visit there until last weekend? I wouldn't be surprised if he waits until February to sign to get all the bids in, but maybe I am too cynical.

Here are his visits (actually I could fit a couple at the bottom into the screen shot).

View attachment 31666

My guess is Deion got him star struck and said "I will get you on undisputed to announce if you go with the buffs, you will hang with two NFL greats and be in front of millions" the kid ate it up but he has been in hiding since. I feel like since Deion does not do in homes he is probably the most aggressive used car salesman there is once he gets people on visits and that is why he has so many closed lost opportunities

 

[Baron Winnebago]

My guess is Deion got him star struck and said "I will get you on undisputed to announce if you go with the buffs, you will hang with two NFL greats and be in front of millions" the kid ate it up but he has been in hiding since. I feel like since Deion does not do in homes he is probably the most aggressive used car salesman there is once he gets people on visits and that is why he has so many closed lost opportunities

It's a smart move to raise your profile given that the media wants to suck off Deion about everything.

 

[panther07]

It is amazing to me that JUCOs have become recruiting graveyards.

I remember that lots of top schools used to mine JUCO talent but then the portal just nuked them completely.
I couldn't even name a top JUCO QB, OT, CB or RB now, when 2-3 years ago we would have been recruiting one of them.

Where do those guys go now? Do they even get recruited by any power 5 schools now?

There are definitely still good players at JUCO and some teams (Ole Miss for instance) are still mining them.
Ole Miss signed 4 of the Top 15 according to 247:

2024 Top Football Recruits

The 247Sports rankings are determined by our recruiting analysts after countless hours of personal observations, film evaluation and input from our network of scouts.

247sports.com

 

[Scarlet ObsessioN]

Anyone got the goods on this one?

McKewon: Why Dylan Raiola raises the ceiling of Nebraska football

“This about someone who wanted to bet on coach Rhule, he wanted to bet on the players who are there, the players who are coming, the University of Nebraska, the

omaha.com

 

[MtnHusker]

So far, the deer are smarter than I am this morning. I’ll trade deer for commuts, tho.

View attachment 31576

if ya get skunked come down to the Lake and I'll set up a lawn chair in my driveway for you. You'll limit out in no time on Deer.

 

[nja13]

It is amazing to me that JUCOs have become recruiting graveyards.

I remember that lots of top schools used to mine JUCO talent but then the portal just nuked them completely.
I couldn't even name a top JUCO QB, OT, CB or RB now, when 2-3 years ago we would have been recruiting one of them.

Where do those guys go now? Do they even get recruited by any power 5 schools now?

Also, college entrance requirements have been relaxed quite a bit. Didn’t they eliminate the minimum ACT/SAT requirement? Think Zavier Betts and a few others getting in when they wouldn’t have been able to a few years ago. I’m sure this has hurt the talent pool at JUCOs. Now it’s more guys who weren’t recruited out of HS instead of super talented guys who didn’t qualify.

 

[Alcaus]

Anyone got the goods on this one?

McKewon: Why Dylan Raiola raises the ceiling of Nebraska football

“This about someone who wanted to bet on coach Rhule, he wanted to bet on the players who are there, the players who are coming, the University of Nebraska, the

omaha.com

McKewon: Why Dylan Raiola raises the ceiling of Nebraska football​

Sam McKewon breaks down the impact of Dylan Raiola's commitment to Nebraska
LINCOLN — Cold November winds wailed a tune Matt Rhule had already hummed.
You better have a man whose spiral can find its target without a wobble. When your offense ranks 129th in the FBS in passing yards per game, 125th in completion rate and 130th in pass efficiency, the arms on hand ain’t cuttin’ the breeze.
The five-star quarterback signed Wednesday before most fans awoke, as if to send a message that if he came late to NU’s 2024 recruiting class, he intends to lead it now.
During an in-house interview with Nebraska, he said nice things about the program being in his blood and being “home.” Ask Dylan’s dad, Dominic, and the feeling started to grow during Dylan’s senior year at Buford (Ga.) High.
“We took it for granted that he’s going to Georgia, an hour from our house,” Dominic said Wednesday night. “I guess there was something pulling at him, something nudging him, for him to come to us.”

People are also reading…​

That was Dec. 10, when Dylan shared his heart to his parents.
“I don’t think anybody knew — my brother didn’t know,” Dominic said, referring to NU offensive line coach Donovan Raiola. “It was out of the blue, because that was the next step — call coach Rhule, see what he says. Shoot, he might say, ‘We don’t have room for you, we can’t take you. It was fair for him to call coach Rhule and see what the response was.”
We know what Rhule’s response was.
Dylan Raiola’s call was able to shift the trajectory of an offseason, and maybe a program, for one big reason.
“After a spending a year in the Big Ten and the weather that we play in, having big quarterbacks with big hands who can spin the ball is vital,” Rhule said early in Wednesday's press conference. “I think Dylan certainly gives us that. Seeing the throws he was making this year in high school, they’re a lot of the same throws that we’re going to ask him to throw. And he threw them at a high level.”
So well that NU stopped kicking Kyle McCord’s transfer tires. The Ohio State quarterback landed at Syracuse, where new coach Fran Brown, who played for Rhule, happily added a fourth-year veteran.
Nebraska passed, if you will, on McCord — and not because Raiola, a confident kid with more tools than McCord, demanded it. Rhule framed it as a program choice.
“We made a decision,” Rhule said. “Hey, we’re gonna go young, we’re going to go with the guys we have and the two freshmen, and build.”
Bold choice in the midst of a seven-year bowl drought. Chubba Purdy’s already out the door. If NU said no to McCord and Purdy exited stage Boise, which transfer might be willing to battle a five-star prospect?
But that’s how good Raiola can be. That’s what he does for this program’s ceiling. To go where Nebraska wants to go — the expanded College Football Playoff — it needed a higher ceiling.
One of the 2023 CFP starting quarterbacks, Washington’s Michael Penix, is a 33rd-year senior or whatever. The other three were the Nos. 1, 25 and 82 players in the nation in 2021, according to 247Sports composite. Yeah, they play for good teams. But they’re good quarterbacks, too.
Was NU going to be in McCord’s one year what UW is in 2023? Probably not.
It still might have been worth the gamble. Older guy, superstar freshman — but a glance at NU’s rosters shows 60 scholarship underclassmen, 48 are either true or redshirt freshmen.
If ever Nebraska desired to have a core group grow up together — playing for a coach who actually believes in trying that — this is the moment.
So long as some Husker quarterback can outplay the position’s performance from last year.
That’s when Rhule and Co. resorted to the 1992 NU offense to create big plays. Load options, power tosses and Heinrich Haarberg getting knocked into next week.
A vaulted ceiling rules so long as the floor isn’t made of plywood. Patience wanes. Nebraska blew its bowl chances this year with injuries and quarterback-fueled turnovers. It can’t miss postseason parties again for the same reason.
Raiola has zero collegiate experience, but leads the offseason quarterback race by default.
Yeah, that’s tough to write about the toughest guy — Haarberg. But it’s where it’s gotten. It’s a 52.1% completion rate, 6.2 yards per attempt and a bazillion turnovers.
And look: Raiola’s arm talent — 65, 70 yards in the air — is real. Raiola can stand in a pocket and hum all the hardest throws. He doesn’t Scott Frost shot put or Sam Keller push the ball, either. It can come out over the top, like a catcher trying to gun down a runner at second base, or in a jazzy, improvisational sidearm that makes on-the-move passes easier.
And the deep ball is pretty, on the mark. The ability to hit a deep throw changes a defense. If those safeties have to fear Raiola’s ability, they stick their noses a little less into the run game. If Raiola can accurately fire a deep in route to Keelan Smith, good luck playing a wispy zone.
Of course, Haarberg has arm talent, too. And he’s athletic enough to play tight end, too. So Raiola’s arm has to be matched with a steel trap mind.
Dominic tells the story of Dylan watching film constantly, of looking up Patrick Mahomes trainer, getting Mahomes workout regimen and doing it on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6 a.m.
“He’s just a football junkie,” Dominic said.
Nebraska believes the same. Believes enough in Raiola to risk losing a current QB — already happened — and send McCord off to the ACC without an offer.
“This game comes down to way more than just arm talent,” Rhule said. “To us it’s about teaching him the way we see things, the way we process things so he can play fast and play free.”
Who’s going to be the roster of coaches teaching him? Rhule’s not ready to say. Sometime in January, you’ll know.
What Rhule also wants to offer Raiola is a pro-style offense like the 49ers, featuring Brock Purdy, a medium-armed talent who might win MVP this season. Hey, it’s a cool scheme that balances power run plays — Nebraska already uses them — with throws all over the yard. Throws Raiola has made and can make. Throws he’ll need to make to take a young team where it wants to go.
Nebraska football hasn’t had an easy season in a decade. It is in many ways the opposite of Georgia, which can surround Stetson Bennett or Carson Beck with so much five-star talent that it makes QB play more of a cinch.
Perhaps Dylan Raiola wanted more than just a real home for college. He wanted a challenge, too. If so, he’s got one.
“This about someone who wanted to bet on coach Rhule, he wanted to bet on the players who are there, the players who are coming, the University of Nebraska, the state of Nebraska and ultimately on himself,” Dominic Raiola said. “And I say ‘himself’ last because this is ultimately a selfless decision. It’s selfless. His statement was: ‘I just feel like there’s a greater purpose. I want to serve a purpose bigger than myself.’”
Nebraska raised its ceiling Wednesday.
But there’s still the matter of NU’s floor.
You can set it at seven for 2024. Fans will anyway.
Welcome the fish bowl, five star.
Dylan Raiola seems ready for it.

 

[MtnHusker]

There are definitely still good players at JUCO and some teams (Ole Miss for instance) are still mining them.
Ole Miss signed 4 of the Top 15 according to 247:

2024 Top Football Recruits

The 247Sports rankings are determined by our recruiting analysts after countless hours of personal observations, film evaluation and input from our network of scouts.

247sports.com

Thanks for sharing. Love reading those. Noticed how far the Kansas JUCOs have fallen. Use to be they dominated the talent lists but only had 15 of the Top 50 players. Also surprised to see IWCC not have any top ranked players. Their highest rated was #30, and didn;t they win the JUCO National Championship?

 

[MtnHusker]

 

[Scarlet ObsessioN]

McKewon: Why Dylan Raiola raises the ceiling of Nebraska football​

Sam McKewon breaks down the impact of Dylan Raiola's commitment to Nebraska
LINCOLN — Cold November winds wailed a tune Matt Rhule had already hummed.
You better have a man whose spiral can find its target without a wobble. When your offense ranks 129th in the FBS in passing yards per game, 125th in completion rate and 130th in pass efficiency, the arms on hand ain’t cuttin’ the breeze.
The five-star quarterback signed Wednesday before most fans awoke, as if to send a message that if he came late to NU’s 2024 recruiting class, he intends to lead it now.
During an in-house interview with Nebraska, he said nice things about the program being in his blood and being “home.” Ask Dylan’s dad, Dominic, and the feeling started to grow during Dylan’s senior year at Buford (Ga.) High.
“We took it for granted that he’s going to Georgia, an hour from our house,” Dominic said Wednesday night. “I guess there was something pulling at him, something nudging him, for him to come to us.”

People are also reading…​

That was Dec. 10, when Dylan shared his heart to his parents.
“I don’t think anybody knew — my brother didn’t know,” Dominic said, referring to NU offensive line coach Donovan Raiola. “It was out of the blue, because that was the next step — call coach Rhule, see what he says. Shoot, he might say, ‘We don’t have room for you, we can’t take you. It was fair for him to call coach Rhule and see what the response was.”
We know what Rhule’s response was.
Dylan Raiola’s call was able to shift the trajectory of an offseason, and maybe a program, for one big reason.
“After a spending a year in the Big Ten and the weather that we play in, having big quarterbacks with big hands who can spin the ball is vital,” Rhule said early in Wednesday's press conference. “I think Dylan certainly gives us that. Seeing the throws he was making this year in high school, they’re a lot of the same throws that we’re going to ask him to throw. And he threw them at a high level.”
So well that NU stopped kicking Kyle McCord’s transfer tires. The Ohio State quarterback landed at Syracuse, where new coach Fran Brown, who played for Rhule, happily added a fourth-year veteran.
Nebraska passed, if you will, on McCord — and not because Raiola, a confident kid with more tools than McCord, demanded it. Rhule framed it as a program choice.
“We made a decision,” Rhule said. “Hey, we’re gonna go young, we’re going to go with the guys we have and the two freshmen, and build.”
Bold choice in the midst of a seven-year bowl drought. Chubba Purdy’s already out the door. If NU said no to McCord and Purdy exited stage Boise, which transfer might be willing to battle a five-star prospect?
But that’s how good Raiola can be. That’s what he does for this program’s ceiling. To go where Nebraska wants to go — the expanded College Football Playoff — it needed a higher ceiling.
One of the 2023 CFP starting quarterbacks, Washington’s Michael Penix, is a 33rd-year senior or whatever. The other three were the Nos. 1, 25 and 82 players in the nation in 2021, according to 247Sports composite. Yeah, they play for good teams. But they’re good quarterbacks, too.
Was NU going to be in McCord’s one year what UW is in 2023? Probably not.
It still might have been worth the gamble. Older guy, superstar freshman — but a glance at NU’s rosters shows 60 scholarship underclassmen, 48 are either true or redshirt freshmen.
If ever Nebraska desired to have a core group grow up together — playing for a coach who actually believes in trying that — this is the moment.
So long as some Husker quarterback can outplay the position’s performance from last year.
That’s when Rhule and Co. resorted to the 1992 NU offense to create big plays. Load options, power tosses and Heinrich Haarberg getting knocked into next week.
A vaulted ceiling rules so long as the floor isn’t made of plywood. Patience wanes. Nebraska blew its bowl chances this year with injuries and quarterback-fueled turnovers. It can’t miss postseason parties again for the same reason.
Raiola has zero collegiate experience, but leads the offseason quarterback race by default.
Yeah, that’s tough to write about the toughest guy — Haarberg. But it’s where it’s gotten. It’s a 52.1% completion rate, 6.2 yards per attempt and a bazillion turnovers.
And look: Raiola’s arm talent — 65, 70 yards in the air — is real. Raiola can stand in a pocket and hum all the hardest throws. He doesn’t Scott Frost shot put or Sam Keller push the ball, either. It can come out over the top, like a catcher trying to gun down a runner at second base, or in a jazzy, improvisational sidearm that makes on-the-move passes easier.
And the deep ball is pretty, on the mark. The ability to hit a deep throw changes a defense. If those safeties have to fear Raiola’s ability, they stick their noses a little less into the run game. If Raiola can accurately fire a deep in route to Keelan Smith, good luck playing a wispy zone.
Of course, Haarberg has arm talent, too. And he’s athletic enough to play tight end, too. So Raiola’s arm has to be matched with a steel trap mind.
Dominic tells the story of Dylan watching film constantly, of looking up Patrick Mahomes trainer, getting Mahomes workout regimen and doing it on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6 a.m.
“He’s just a football junkie,” Dominic said.
Nebraska believes the same. Believes enough in Raiola to risk losing a current QB — already happened — and send McCord off to the ACC without an offer.
“This game comes down to way more than just arm talent,” Rhule said. “To us it’s about teaching him the way we see things, the way we process things so he can play fast and play free.”
Who’s going to be the roster of coaches teaching him? Rhule’s not ready to say. Sometime in January, you’ll know.
What Rhule also wants to offer Raiola is a pro-style offense like the 49ers, featuring Brock Purdy, a medium-armed talent who might win MVP this season. Hey, it’s a cool scheme that balances power run plays — Nebraska already uses them — with throws all over the yard. Throws Raiola has made and can make. Throws he’ll need to make to take a young team where it wants to go.
Nebraska football hasn’t had an easy season in a decade. It is in many ways the opposite of Georgia, which can surround Stetson Bennett or Carson Beck with so much five-star talent that it makes QB play more of a cinch.
Perhaps Dylan Raiola wanted more than just a real home for college. He wanted a challenge, too. If so, he’s got one.
“This about someone who wanted to bet on coach Rhule, he wanted to bet on the players who are there, the players who are coming, the University of Nebraska, the state of Nebraska and ultimately on himself,” Dominic Raiola said. “And I say ‘himself’ last because this is ultimately a selfless decision. It’s selfless. His statement was: ‘I just feel like there’s a greater purpose. I want to serve a purpose bigger than myself.’”
Nebraska raised its ceiling Wednesday.
But there’s still the matter of NU’s floor.
You can set it at seven for 2024. Fans will anyway.
Welcome the fish bowl, five star.
Dylan Raiola seems ready for it.

My man!

 

[Jim14510]

Was Cockeye the 19th biggest winner for most white guys?

 

[MtnHusker]

 

[Alcaus]

 

[Lionsfan93]

It is amazing to me that JUCOs have become recruiting graveyards.

I remember that lots of top schools used to mine JUCO talent but then the portal just nuked them completely.
I couldn't even name a top JUCO QB, OT, CB or RB now, when 2-3 years ago we would have been recruiting one of them.

Where do those guys go now? Do they even get recruited by any power 5 schools now?

I'd imagine that a lot of those guys don't even end up at JUCO anymore, they just transfer to a different school.

 

[MtnHusker]

 

[DanasMullet69]

Chip Kelly being that lazy would be my last straw as the AD