Should Nebraska football be worried about QB commitment; Memorial Stadium snubbed

Hey, Oscar fans. Welcome back to the Husker Big Red YouTube channel. I'm Chris Peterson

and joining me as always is Danny Gillette. We're back here on this Wednesday morning for another episode of the Husker Big Red podcast. Today we're going to talk about Nebraska

quarterback TJ Lateef, the fact that the Memorial Stadium was stubbed by EA Sports College Football

25 and some of the issues going on with offensive line recruiting. So before we get into that

please hit the subscribe button, hit the like button, get into the comment section, help

other Husker fans find our content and also please check out huskerbigred.com. But first

Danny, how you doing on this Wednesday morning? I'm actually fired up because one, the little

bit later start time has made me more awake. So that's bad news for you, Chris. But also

there's a lot of stuff I got to get off my chest today and we'll get into it. But just

a lot of nonsense going on in my opinion. A lot of nonsense. Well, that is college football

recruiting. And yeah, there is. So if you haven't seen this, so TJ Lateef, the 2025

quarterback committed to Nebraska ranked, I think, 18th or 17th among quarterbacks to

27th overall in the 24 seven sports composite rankings was at the elite 11 was interviewed

by Tom Loy of 27, 24 seven sports. And at the end of the interview, Tom Loy asked him, is

your recruitment shut down? And TJ Lateef said, I quote, I won't speak on that. And

essentially that's, that's what he said. So that got a lot of Nebraska fans up in their

fields about those comments. I'm worried about his, you know, potentially flipping. Some

people said like, go ahead and flip right now. So, you know, I wrote an article on

huskerbigred.com. I said, I'm not too worried about TJ Lateef flipping. There's not, you

know, any buzz about a particular school and almost every, you know, most programs have

their quarterback right now. There's a few major programs that don't. So I'm not saying

that it's not impossible that someone else is going to try to come flip him or that maybe

you know, a school that has a lower ranked quarterback is going to try to come flip TJ Lateef. But at this point, how worried are you about his commitment to the Oscars

I don't worry at all. Cause okay. Let me break this down into a couple of parts here. First

of all, for those who saying pull his offer, are you kidding me? Are you guys morons? I

don't care if he's indecisive right now or whatever. If you have a quarterback, he's

still committed to the program. Like what are we doing here? Do not pull his offer

He's a four-star quarterback. I mean, he could be a great addition to your quarterback room

and don't do anything until he decides to flip or, or, you know, go to another program

Do not pull his offer because he said he wasn't fully committed in an interview. It's an interview

If he told the coaching staff, Hey, maybe I'm not so interested. Or, you know, if, if

the coaching staff had an issue with his, you know, verbal commitment, then maybe pull

his offer, but don't pull his offer because he answered a question in an interview. And

so, so many people are getting so upset about his answer. I mean, he's an 18 year old kid

who's trying to figure out his way, trying to figure out, you know, the benefits of playing

for different college football programs, but don't pull him. Don't pull his offer. If you

already have him committed, like, I don't know, like, what are we doing here? Like he

was asked a question. It was kind of like a, I don't want to say on the spot question

but it was a tough question to answer and he answered it. So I wouldn't be worried about

his commitment yet. I mean, maybe if this was something he said over the course of the

fall, then maybe I'd be a little bit worried, but I'm not worried right now

Yeah. I mean, I wouldn't be, yeah. The people saying to pull his offer. I mean, that's just

ridiculous. And, you know, look, sometimes kids just, you know, he did an interview

He answered a question. There's probably other schools that are trying to recruit him. Maybe he's, you know, reciprocating that interest a little bit. I have no idea. I haven't heard

any buzz. There hasn't been any reporting from anybody who said that. And generally

you know, we kind of hear those things, especially if, you know, someone's at the, you know, teams are at the elite 11 trying to flip the kid or whatever

Quite honestly, like, could you blame him for like keeping it? Like, could you blame any

prospect from keeping their recruitment open? I mean, you want him for like when it's program

short, but at the same time, like you have a bunch of things being thrown at you from a bunch

of programs. Don't like, wouldn't you want to keep them to keep their options open? I mean

it's hard not to these days cash is being thrown around and I LDLs are being thrown around. So

I'd honestly be more worried in today's day and age. If somebody said their recruitment

is completely shut. And honestly, I'm not, you know, at the end of the day, even if Nebraska

did lose TJ Lateef, I don't think it's like a program like crushing blow because at the end

of the day, it's either going to be either TJ Lateef or Daniel Kalin is going to start after

Dylan Rayola. There's not two quarterback jobs. So one of those guys, isn't going to be here

I mean, that's just how, I mean, maybe Nebraska, like can figure out a way to keep players better

than any other program in history. And they've done a pretty good job so far. Like I'm not doubting that rule's ability to do that, but you know, like TJ Lateef doesn't seem like he wants

to sit on the bench for three years and wait for Dan, you know what I mean? I don't believe I'm like, I don't believe it's just not realistic. So, I mean, to be honest, that's why I've been

talking to him. I think 2026 quarterback recruiting is more important than 2025, which is

why I am a little disappointed in where Nebraska stands right now, because the best quarterbacks

are coming off the board. And they don't, you don't want to be in a situation like they were

in 2025, where, you know, it was February and they had to try to get on board with TJ Lateef

and they recruited him the hardest. And that's why they got him, I believe. And we'll see if

that continues, but you know, this isn't anything new to Matt rule and company, this happened to

them. You know, they, they had two, you know, blue chip players flipped last year, late in the

cycle in you know, key one Lacey and Carl on Jones. So they know bet as well as any of these

power programs that you have to recruit these kids until signing day. So I don't think that

you know, they're worried and all these people were like, Oh, coach rules got to get on the phone with this kid right now. No, he doesn't. If a, if TJ Lateef schedules an official visit

somewhere this fall, cause the recruiting period is, is going into a dead period now, then

then sure. I'll be a little bit worried about that, but I don't see that happening. And you

know, I, I still, at this point, it would be my prediction that he's going to sign with the Huskers. So I do about nothing for the most part. Yeah. And, and, and for those complaining about

all of this, we wouldn't have gotten Dylan Rayola if we had the rules, the way that some of you guys

want these rules to be had. So to complain at this game, let's, let's remember that as well

Yeah. I mentioned that in my article too, you know, Nebraska fans should know this as well as anybody. I mean, if Georgia can lose the top ranked quarterback in the country, you know

Nebraska could potentially lose their guy. You just, you have to, it's like your current roster. You always have to be recruiting those guys. So, you know but yeah, let's get TJ Lateef on campus

for that July cookout. Then maybe that'll make everybody feel better. But so to answer your

question, I'm not worried yet. I would be more worried if you said something in the fall

but I mean, I'm not worried yet. I mean, it's, it's, it's the waiting game. It's the long game

I think this coaching staff is prepared to play it. Yeah. And like I said, if, if he takes a, if he takes a visit somewhere else, that's when the

concern level gets raised. If that doesn't, until he steps foot on someone else's campus

I'm not worried about him flipping. It's not, what's the point of worrying about it? Like

yes, I understand it's, it's worth information talking about it and we're talking about it right

now. It's also, you know, the middle of June, there's not a lot happening. So I think that's

also why this is kind of blowing up. We're in this dead, you know, period and, and plus there's

been, you know, kind of some negative, some negative trends for Nebraska with the O-line

recruiting and some of these other, you know, like a Dawson Merritt and yada yada. So I think

Nebraska fans are getting a little bit restless and, you know, it would be nice maybe if a

commitment was coming here at some point in the near future, but I did want to, before we get to

the Memorial stadium thing, I did want to address some of the myths, you know, the O-line, cause I've seen people really freaking out about this too. You know, being like, Oh, why is Dylan Rayola

still have a job and blah, blah, blah. Donovan. Donovan, you said Dylan Rayola

Yeah. I get it mixed up there. Yeah. Donovan Rayola, excuse me. So at any rate on a Tuesday

we had John Mills or basically on Monday, this happened John Mills after the show that we did

on Monday, John Mills committed to Texas, Douglas Utu committed to Tennessee. You know, Brian Tapu

committed to Oregon state over the weekend. So a number of targets coming off the board, Broderick Shoal recently committed to Auburn, David Sanders looks like he's going to Tennessee

or Ohio state. So the offensive line board, definitely thinning out. It was at SJ Cephalotuli

was another top 100 Bishop Gorman guy. Just got a projection to Miami. You guys, if you're familiar

with recruiting, you know, I'm talking about, I butchered his name a little bit, but at any rate

those are a lot of the top targets. And so some people are really, you know, kind of freaking out

about offensive line recruiting. And I understand that the board is a little thin, but they did land

10 commitments over the last two classes. They led two blue chips last year. So I think we need

to keep that in perspective when we're talking about online recruiting and there's still some

quality guys on the board, but you know, at this point, Sean Hammerbeck, the offensive tackle from

South Dakota, like they really got to get that guy done. He took an official visit during the last

one with Brian Tapu and things I think are trending in the right direction. They're battling Kansas

state. So, you know, as long as they get him and a couple other guys, I'm not too worried. I think

there's still plenty of time to even expand the board if needed. Yeah, I'm not worried. And

everybody's saying fire Donovan Rayola and the sky is falling. Like it's not falling. Had we not done

the leg work that we did last year over the course of the, you know, couple cycles that I would be a

little bit worried, but you know, we've done a good job of addressing the offensive line and

you know, Rayola, I thought did a much better job, you know, coaching the offensive lines

I'm not worried at all. And quite honestly, you guys, you mentioned, you know, Sanders Mills

show Douglas U2, like those are all high calorie players. And, you know, it's not like we're

losing out to an offensive lineman with offers from, you know, Yale and, you know, McNeese state

like these are talented, quality linemen. And again, it goes back to what can Nebraska do this

season? You know, what can the offensive line, you know, show this season in order to make some

of these recruits change their minds? And, you know, I'm not worried. I'm not worried because

of the base of, you know, commitments that Nebraska landed last year. They have a lot of

linemen in the stable. Sure. It would have been nice to land some of these bigger names, but

I mean, I'm not surprised we have to get to a level where we can be put into the conversation

with some of these top programs. Doe Fire, Donovan Rayola, the sky is not falling. I mean

we have, again, we have depth from last year. I really don't see the panic. Sure. The board

is thinning out a bit short. It would have been nice to land these guys. And I think honestly

you know, with all these reports from us and other news sources, you know, there's this

expectation that Nebraska is in on every guy that they have a good shot with every guy. And

you know, even when we report that we have that Nebraska has a good shot at somebody

you know, it doesn't always necessarily mean that we're going to land him. But

you know, I think Nebraska is very much in these conversations to land some of the top recruits

And that doesn't always mean a commitment. So I think that has to be, you know, put into

perspective as well. I'm not worried. I mean, sure. You know, a lot of things have not gone

our way on the recruiting trail, but quite honestly, I expected it until Nebraska can

start winning and, you know, putting consistent seasons together or even start winning this season

Then I think we're going to lose out on a couple more of these battles. But, you know, like I said

on Monday, I'd rather us try to, you know, land these guys than not try at all. And that's been

a motto that this coaching staff has used throughout the recruiting process for several of

these guys. Yeah. And it was always going to be a smaller offensive line class. I don't see him

six. You know, I mean the talk overall, I mean, it's right now it seems like Matt rule is like

giving a finger to all this talk about the roster limits. Like he's just trying to add as many

players as possible. I think Nebraska has like 80 freshmen or 79 freshmen on their roster, which is

insane. I'm assuming that includes redshirt freshmen. Cause I don't know how they, how they

I didn't check out that number. I'm not sure how they get to that without redshirt freshmen, but, but at any rate you know, there was talk that this recruiting class is only going to sign

like 20 players. So, I mean, there's not really room for like a huge offensive line class. So

you know, I think it is, you know, you do want to land you know, some top talent, but there's

plenty of time it's June there's six months to go. And you know, I think, like I said, you know

you really have to focus in on the two targets that they just had. There's another guy that's

a three-star I'm blanking on his name. But he's in like an interior guy, center offensive guard

If you can get him and if you can get a hammer back you know, the offensive tackle out of South

Dakota who they're banned, who they're battling Kansas state for them. That's a couple of nice

pieces. And you still have plenty of time, you know, to expand the board. We've seen that now

I do understand the concern, but I mean, as far as the people talking about, you don't fire a

coach because of one down recruiting cycle, that makes absolutely zero sense. Coaches have that

stuff happen all the time. You know, there's a, there's just a lot of different variables that

can happen on the recruiting trail, but you know, it's not like an evaluation thing. It's not a

coaching thing. I think Donovan Rayola is doing a great job. They just, they just missed on a

couple of recruitments, but he, he just landed a top 100 guy in Grant Bricks and another top 200

guy in Preston to move in the last cycle. So let's just calm down a little bit. The other guy I was

talking about is Houston Kahena Torres. I have no idea if that's right, but he's out of Honolulu

He's the top ranked player in the state interior offensive lineman. So he's right there at the top

of the board. You know, if you get him, he's ranked five 6532. And then if you get, you know

hammerback, then, you know, things start to look a lot better. So there's no point in freaking out

right now. The Oscars do a great job, I think with their evaluations. And, you know, I noticed them

kind of putting out more offers earlier in this cycle in the offensive line. And I think they'll

probably go back to the board and they'll really look at, you know, that's where you do your fall

evaluations, right? You look at the guys who, you know, maybe weren't ranked as high as offensive

linemen, but took a jump their senior year. And I fully trust Nebraska's evaluation ability to

find somebody just take a deep breath. I realize it hasn't gone as ideal as possible, but that's

how it's going to go sometimes. Like you said, especially we've won what nine games in the last

two years, haven't played in a bowl game since 2016. You know, like we're doing a pretty good

job for you know, the results on the field, I would say. And also the offensive line position

is one where you don't necessarily need five-star talent in order to be successful

You know, you can kind of mold linemen and teach linemen, you know, to be sturdy and, you know

technique wise, you know, they can be taught some other stuff as opposed to

you know, like a wide receiver or a quarterback like that. That's like wide receiver and quarterback

for example, are positions where you kind of need, you know, higher star caliber players to succeed

with, you know, athleticism and things like that. Linemen, you kind of have the benefit of

you know, just working on technique and strength and they don't have to be the five-star guys

They can be the three-star guys and they can be molded into some pretty good players. So

even if it's not, you know, the sexy names like five-star, you know, David Sanders, like that type

you know, the offensive line position is one where you can kind of, you know, evaluate based

on technique and overall talent instead of needing to get that five-star player

And then one thing I did want to talk about that came out Tuesday that did

kind of piss me off, I'm not going to lie, is the EA Sports College Football 25

or list of top 25 toughest, most difficult places to play. So number one, Texas A&M with Kyle

Fields. Are you kidding me? Are you absolutely kidding me? Michigan has had 11 undefeated

seasons at home since the last time Texas A&M had one. So like, come on, like that's just ridiculous

There's no way that Kyle Field is the toughest, but they lose the home games there all the time

So, I mean, I know it's not just based off of like, you know, who wins at home and who loses

but like, if you're keeping Nebraska off this list because of their record the last like six

seven years at home, how in the world do you have Texas A&M number one? And it just

like, I get Nebraska not being in the top 10, but South Carolina being above them

Virginia Tech, Utah, Iowa, I mean, Michigan State, Arkansas, Boise State, are you kidding me

Boise, you're going to tell me that it's harder to win at Boise State Stadium than Lincoln Memorial

Stadium? Like, come on. It's just because they have a loser. Virginia Tech is tough to play. I do agree with Virginia Tech, but

I mean, I agree with that. Yeah, I agree with that, but I'm not sure I would take it over

Memorial Stadium. Like, I get it, but like, they haven't had that much success over the last like

decade or so. I mean, it's been a long time since Beamer Ball was running the show there. So it's

like, do we get credit for the Tom Osborne era when we literally had, I mean, there was a time

where I think the win streak was like seven, almost like a decade that Nebraska didn't lose

a home game before a major Applewhite and the Longhorns beat us. So I don't know. I just don't

see how the Nebraska is not in the top 25. I think that's a pretty major snub

I think it is too, but I'm still excited for the game. Oh yeah, me too

I'm excited for the game and I'm excited. Let's see. It's about, what, 23 days away or so. So

because I'm not getting the Madden in the deluxe version. I refuse to give

my money to anything associated with Madden for the foreseeable future until they

actually prove that they can put together a good game. Granted, it looks a little bit better now

that they have competition with NCAA, but I'm just playing NCAA all fall

Yeah, we'll see. I haven't had a new system or the new Madden for a while. So I'm going to change your perspective when you have, like, you got to take like

five years between Madden's and then. Yes, I haven't played Madden since like 2016. So, so yeah, so this will be like my first one

but yeah, it's, I realized it's not for it. It does. Yeah. The interceptions on defense

make me want to bust my controller because I'm like, how is that possible? But anyway

I actually have busted my controller a couple of times. I'm surprised I haven't yet

I'm not proud of it. It's one of those things where you're not proud of, but. Yeah, I just, it's hard not to though. It's really hard not to

I always like to buy an extra controller just so I can use that just to like, throw against the wall or something

I used to have one of these brick things. It's like a foam brick that my parents got me to

throw at the TV. So I need one of those, but it just doesn't quite, doesn't, you know

it doesn't do any damage. So it doesn't make you feel quite as happy. No, like once you get a like impact smack, then like you're good

Yeah. So the last thing I want to touch on, we did talk about this a little bit Monday

cause we kind of knew it was going to happen, but now it's been official. Mekhi Nelson is a Nebraska Cornhusker. He's, he's a signed, he's joined, he's in the 2024

roster, I guess you want to say. So what do you think is his impact is going to be

or do you see him having an impact on this on the 2024 team or just more of a move

kind of for the, to bolster the future of the running back position? Well, it's easy for me to say right now that we have a lot of running back depth

and the 2024 roster and that we won't need them because there's so much depth

We said the same thing last summer and then by mid September, we were kind of scrambling for running backs. So I don't know, cause when you take a look at the health of some of these

guys that are coming back, you know, it's, it's not a shot on them. I, you know, I love the group

that we're bringing in, but guys like Ramir Johnson and Gabe Irvin haven't necessarily been

the most healthy during their Nebraska careers. So, you know, if you think about it, let's see

you have Dante Dowdell, Emmitt Johnson and Quentin Ives. Those are my main three. Would that be

would that be accurate? Would you say Irvin? Yeah, I'd probably say, I'd probably say Johnson

I'd say Irvin Johnson and then Ramir Johnson. And then, well, I'd say Dowdell and Emmitt

Johnson are my top two. And then I think Ramir Johnson and Gabe Irvin are three and four and

like specialty, you know, type of like, I think Gabe Irvin is going to get the third most carries

but I think Ramir Johnson could have like a third down back type of role. So that's how I kind of

see it playing out. And then, yeah, I do think Ives could get himself into the mix as well

Yeah. I just hope Ramir Johnson finds a role and he can kind of have a, have the career or season

that he's been supposed to have. But anyway, you know, Nelson is an interesting guy because he

wasn't offered a ton out of, you know, high school. He played in Pennsylvania. He

he transferred to Connecticut, I believe. And then, you know, last season he had 221 carries

for 1,670 yards and 22 touchdowns. He averaged 151.8 yards per game and, you know, a long run

of 95 yards. I mean, this to me is an EJ Barthel recruitment, obviously, you know, from Barthel's

Pennsylvania and Connecticut ties. You can never have too much running back depth and, you know

people were like, oh, we beat out Bowling Green and this and that. Like he's not going to be your

starting all American running back. He's going to be a depth piece and a, you know, to kind of

solidify the room. And that's not a shot at him. I mean, you know, we saw, like we just said last

year, we needed that depth piece and we needed that depth. It's just kind of interesting that

he would reclassify to 2024 given the amount of depth in the room right now, but it kind of works

as a double-edged sword. Like we said, depth for this year, plus he gets a chance to learn the

offensive system. So he's not a, you know, high star prospect, but I do think he is a solid player

I don't think he's just a throwaway, you know, player that joined the program just to join the

program. I do think he has a lot of talent. He can run to the outside. He is a unique mix of kind of a

power and speed back. He brings that physical running style, but he also can get to the second

level of the defense really quickly. And so I think this was a really good, you know, pick up

kind of to just make sure that the program is set in the running back room, you know, with

recruiting and how it is nowadays, you know, and I'm not saying that there's been any indication

of this happening, but with a guy like Jermarion Parker, you know, teams are going to be calling

for him still and teams are going to be getting him to try to flip. And one of the things that Nebraska didn't do last year was have a backup plan really, you know, in place in terms of

recruiting after Kawan Lacey decommitted. It seems like the coaching staff kind of learned their

lesson in this cycle and, you know, tried to make running back depth a priority. So I know

I know this doesn't really excite a ton of Husker fans as far as this commitment is concerned

but I like it just due to the fact that, you know, Nebraska has another running back, a backup plan

and also a player that can develop into what I believe could be a really solid college running

back. Yeah. I mean, it's always interesting because we think about, we get caught up in

these recruiting rankings and things like that. But, you know, last year looking at this roster

you know, when they added James Williams, I never would have thought that, you know, Hey, this guy's going to come in and make an impact, but by the, by mid season he, he did

And so sometimes, you know, we get, like I said, we get caught up too much in rankings or whatever

This guy had 1600 yards rushing last season. I don't care what level you're playing at. If

you're playing Peewee football, that's impressive. So I love this addition. I trust EJ Barthel's

evaluations. Like I trust this entire staff. I think Matt Rule totally hit it on the head when

he was talking about, you know, we recruit NFL players here. They, the Oscars definitely do

They trust their evaluations. I think that's a huge part of Matt Rule's background in the NFL

is just being able to evaluate those players. I think that's a huge asset and I like what they're

getting in Mekki Nelson. And I love the fact that they are pushing the boundaries with the 2024

roster, you know, while they can, that roster limit may not last and they may have to, you know

technically cut some players after this season. We'll see where it goes, but I know Matt Rule's

fighting to keep it. He's fighting for players. And I think a lot of other college football coaches

see the value and, you know, being able to add guys like Mekki Nelson, because if you put in

a roster limit, this move probably doesn't happen, you know, because he has to wait until 2025 or

or maybe go to a lower program. So I think this, this is another example of why, you know

we need to keep the current system, you know, as much as possible in the sense that we need to

allow players to take these walk-on opportunities like Mekki Nelson is taking advantage of here at

Nebraska and, you know, easily, he could very easily turn into a scholarship player next year

I'm sure he's getting NAL money right now to supplement that. So it's a win-win for everybody

And I think it's a win for the depth chart, especially since they didn't have a 2024

commitment. Yeah. And, you know, I think it's going to be interesting to see how he develops

because now that Nebraska has, you know, Dowdell, Emmitt and Ramir Johnson, Gabe Irvin, they can

kind of take their time in developing Nelson. And I think it's going to be interesting to see

you know, what Barthel can do. Nelson has the potential to be a really solid running back and

you know, I'm, I'm just, I thought this was a really good addition to an already solid room

And it's not about, you know, adding to a room because you need it. It's about adding to a room

because you want to strengthen the depth there. And Nebraska hasn't been in a position to do that

in quite some time. Now under Matt Rule, we're kind of seeing the staff, you know, able to take

a flyer on some of these guys at positions. I mean, you look at wide receiver, we have 75 million

wide receivers. And so they're able to take flyers on athletes now because of the depth that they've

already solidified throughout the first year and a half here. And it's good to see

It is good to see, and it's going to be good to see this team finally take the field, which we're

about a couple of months away from now. So we're just trying to count down the time, count down the

days, getting to the season opener. So between now and then, please make sure that you guys

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