Steve Wilfong:
Mother’s Day Weekend was a good one for Nebraska on the recruiting trail as
Matt Rhule and his second-year coaching staff landed a commitment from their top quarterback target while also hosting a few more coveted prospects in the 2025 class.
On3 looks at the big news and where things stand with the Huskers moving forward.
Four-star quarterback commits
No program recruited the quarterback position better than Nebraska in the 2024 cycle and Rhule and company are keeping it rolling in 2025. After signing five-star
Dylan Raiola and local talent
Daniel Kaelin a year ago, the staff will now bring in Orange (Calif.) Lutheran four-star quarterback
TJ Lateef to push the room.
The nearly 6-foot-2, 185-pound Lateef announced his college plans on Sunday becoming commit No. 8 of the class for the Huskers. He is the On3 Industry’s No. 25 signal-caller in 2025.
Lateef is coming off a junior season where he completed 63 percent of his attempts for 1,965 yards and 13 touchdowns with another 230 yards rushing and five scores. He emerged as a national name to know following a sophomore campaign of 2,446 yards passing and 18 touchdowns with three rushing scores.
Two of Lateef’s best qualities are timeliness throwing the football and ball placement. He’s got arm strength to attack downfield and on tape we see him extend plays with his legs whether that’s buying time to throw or gaining yards as a runner.
Lateef was Nebraska’s top target at the position in the class, they recruited him as such, and now have him in the fold. Throughout the process he secured other scholarship opportunities from the likes of Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, Florida State, Ole Miss, Miami, Penn State, Colorado and Indiana among others.
Nebraska making a move with coveted offensive tackle Broderick Shull
Auburn has been the leader all spring for Bixby (Okla) High On300 offensive tackle
Broderick Shull. Following two-straight visits to Nebraska, one in April and this past for weekend for his official, has put the Huskers right there alongside the Tigers.
Shull gave the visit high marks when talking to HuskerOnLine and On3 spoke with him as well.
“The experience coming back was something I needed,” Shull said. “Seeing how this community in Lincoln thrived was the best part of the experience. Seeing their farmers market and local businesses was an extremely fun and important thing to experience, especially for me. Also, getting to know how the agriculture and environmental departments worked at Nebraska. And it did not disappoint. It’s like a completely different campus with all of the nature and even bee hives. But other than that, seeing the coaches again and hanging out with them definitely lightened my mood up that entire weekend. Safe to say that after this OV Nebraska and Auburn are both tied at number one for me.”
His father Jon spoke with On3 as well.
“We had a blast at Nebraska,” the elder Shull said. “I need to fast for like the whole next week. There were only four guys there and they got a lot of attention and care. No joke It was about three staff members per family member.
“Brode enjoyed all the normal stuff but the players panel, the stroll through the farmers market Saturday morning, tour of the Ag school, lunch at Coach Rhule’s loft were some of the highlights. All the coaches families hung around and it really emphasized the closeness of the team.
“All the staff and parents had a nice meal together and the boys did there thing. After dinner they rented out a local place, and while the players and recruits did there thing, all the coaches, recruiting staff and parents hung out. My daughter learned to play poker with the OC (Marcus Satterfield). It was pretty fun.”
Key in-state targets
Nebraska has four commitments thus far from in-state targets and the two biggest fish are still out there in four-star, freaky-athletic linebacker
Christian Jones, and national tight end recruit
Chase Loftin.
Both were recently in Lincoln for the spring game.
“The atmosphere in the stadium was awesome,” Loftin said.
“I thought the fans were great and filled the stadium well! I loved talking to all the coaches and had a really good time!”
Nebraska is battling the likes of Florida State, Oklahoma and Texas A&M among others to keep Loftin home.
“It could be a great potential fit with the quarterbacks they have and the great relationships I have with the coaches,” Loftin said. “I also think their offense will be a great fit for tight ends.”
Jones is an explosive, fast, second-level defender.
“Atmosphere was good,” Jones said. “But the best thing I saw was not on defense but on the offensive side of the ball was they threw the most I’ve seen Nebraska throw. They also caught the ball as much as I’ve seen them before. So that was a good take away from the game and is exciting to see when season comes around.”
Jones is also strongly considering the likes of Tennessee, Texas A&M, USC and Florida.
“Seeing how Nebraska’s culture is being changed under Coach Rhule and the players,” Jones added of what else stands out.
As things stand now I’d predict both to ultimately end up in the class.
Next potential commitment
Still like the On3 RPM in favor of Nebraska for St. Louis (Mo.) Cardinal Ritter College Prep running back
Jamarion Parker. He is one of the next that could potentially jump into the fold.
“Nebraska right now is in the lead because they’ve been consistently on him and building a relationship with him,” Cardinal Ritter head coach Brennan Spain has said.
“Jamarion is a relationship guy. He’s been through a lot in his life. He leans heavy on his relationships. When he identifies you have love for him off the field, he will empty the tank for you. He’s built a relationship with the running backs coach. He’s also been in communication with Matt Rhule as well.”
Five-star hunting
The Huskers had the highest-ranked recruit in the internet era in Charlotte (NC) Providence Day School five-star
David Sanders Jr. on campus. He is the No. 1 offensive tackle and No. 2 prospect overall per the On3 Industry Rankings.
Sanders had a top six of Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State, Tennessee and South Carolina. Time will tell if the Huskers did anything to make a dent in that.
Nebraska is very much in it for another five-star in the nation’s No. 1 athlete recruit
Michael Terry III out of San Antonio (Texas) Alamo Heights. He took his official the weekend of the Huskers spring game.
“I think it a good fit because the staff and education is great,” Terry said. “I believe that Coach Rhule is going in the right direction with the program and the connection he has with the players and parents is unbelievable. It was a lot of ex-players and parents there and you can tell they still felt comfortable there. Coach (Garret) McGuire is a great coach and pointed out all the things he’ll love to work with me on.”
More key targets on the board
The Huskers absolutely love Miami (Fla.) Booker T. Washington cornerback
Antonio Branch.
Overland Park (Kan.) Blue Valley On300 linebacker
Dawson Merritt is one they’re battling Alabama on.
Receivers
Cortez Mills and
Emmanuel Choice are coveted and took officials for the spring game.
Offensive linemen
John Mills and
Alai Kalaniuvalu were in Lincoln in April. Nebraska is one of the favorites for both of them.
Gainesville (Fla.) Buchholz edge
Nicolas Clayton is starting to see his recruitment blow up. Nebraska was one of the first to recognize his talents.