Nebraska second-year recruiting coordinator Ross Els said recently that the Husker staff will favor in-state players if all else is equal. Note that NU already has three verbal commitments from in-state players in its 2014 scholarship class.
"But we're also not going to sacrifice the caliber of ball we play just to take a kid because he fits into a certain category," Els said.
Sounds prudent to me.
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Stanford envisions Phillips as a tackle in its 3-4 defense, as do many other teams, he said. He is most comfortable playing defensive line.
Rivals.com lists him as a strongside defensive end. Thing is, the Huskers' scholarship class of 2013 has six defensive linemen, including two who could be considered pure strongside ends — Dimarya Mixon (6-4, 250) and A.J. Natter (6-6, 240). Redshirt freshman defensive end Greg McMullen (6-3, 285) is also prominent in NU's plans.