Now that the season is over for us.

TonyStalloni

TonyStalloni

Donor
For all Husker fans, about all we have is recruiting till spring ball. I was thinking this morning about many of the past recruits we have coveted and when they became Huskers but for some reason they flamed out and never became what we had hoped.  On the other hand there were some players who came in relatively unheralded at least on a national scale but became very good to great players.

My list of kids who didn't succeed:  (Not meant to be critical of these players as there are many reasons a young man doesn't have success.  They peaked in high school,  didn't care for the culture here,  injury,  got into trouble etc.)

Tyler Moore, Johnny Stanton, Adam Taylor, Kevin Gladney, Jordan Stevenson, Collins Okafor.

Then there are the players who weren't highly regarded nationally who rose up to become great players for the Huskers:

LaVonte David,  Roy Helu,  Rex Burkhead,  Alphonso Dennard,  Taylor Martinez (debatable on greatness level but I always thought he gave 100%),  Ameer Abdullah

With recruiting in full swing in the coming weeks we will have high expectations for all of them but which do you think will exceed expectations?

Add your selections to the list if you want.

 
Ameer may be the poster child for unheralded recruits who become major stars. Before his injury in his last season he was in the Heisman conversation.

I don't follow recruiting as much as a lot of folks here, but someone I thought came in without a lot of fanfare was DeJon Gomes. But by about the fifth game of 2009, he was a starter and was money. Eric Hagg didn't seem like a recruit with a lot of press before he got here, but Bo & Carl liked him so much they built the secondary around his skills. Always thought he seemed like a heck of a ball player.

 
I'm going to go with two local boys.  I I'm very excited to see what Hickman and Henrich can do.

For someone who came in without much publicity and has produced on the field, I'll go with Bootle.  The kid was pretty much an unknown nationally till our staff found him at a satellite camp in Florida and were impressed with his speed.  The kid has worked his butt off here.

 
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Dilly Dilly said:
I can't say which players I'd pick, but there has to be a special category for the 2 star rated player we all THOUGHT was going to perform like a 5 star, and that guy is the legendary Mason Wald.
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I remember some of the chatter about how this DB could separate wide receivers from the ball and how hard he hit yet I don't think he ever saw the field.

 
Marcus Mendoza. Never played here, and no one really knew why, because every offseason and in his pro-day, he nearly set every record athletically that there was to set at Nebraska. Just couldn't get on the field. 

Still holds the vertical jump record, I believe. 

 
Some could argue Marlon Lucky didn't quite pan out (he was good but not top 12 player in the country good)

I think from last years class, Tate Wildeman and Justin McGriff will absolutely exceed expectations in the long run.

From this years class, Garrett Nelson will be an absolute beast (barely a 3 star but has the best motor I've seen in a while) , as well as Bryce Benhart, even though he's a 4 star he could start at tackle right away next year, and probably will

 
Just off hand, how great he really turned out...was Suh highly regarded nationally? 

Taylor Martin-ez was heisman talk for a minute and no one gave him a shot at QB besides Pelini?

I always thought if B Steinkuhler played offense he may have gone pro. 

O’hanlon played way above his pay grade, he made a ton of plays for several years. 

I think we can all agree Janovich would’ve been something great if had a better scheme, he’s pro. Was a walk-on?

Zaire Anderson wasn’t a high regard? had a good career, went pro. 

Incoming...the kid that went to GT then juco will be HUGE for us next year, methinks. Benhart, Bland, Fair, and Heinrich can contribute right away off of film, but who knows? 

There are several others because of raw talent that might play right away but will take time to develop. Certainly don’t follow recruiting beyond what’s on this board but I do know how to watch film, as my dad was a coach and I played through college, guys who just plain ol make plays...we have some serious COMPETITION that will rise the tide and all the boats. Excited!!

 
Joe Ganz and Todd Peterson stick out to me.

Ganz wasn’t rated too high and he did quite well. I was harping him up all the time. When he got playing time in the spring game the people in front of us started to get annoyed by how much I was yelling “atta boy, Joey!!”.

I can’t toot my own horn too much though. Tyrell Spain and Marcus Mendoza are two dudes I kept telling everyone who would listen that they were gonna light it up if they saw the field, but they didn’t.

Aaron Green is the big name for me among the highly regarded recruits who didn’t pan out. We all followed him from like his freshman season in high school and he had a pretty big following before stepping foot in a classroom.

Others off the top of my head: Curt Dukes, Paul Thurston, Jared Afalava (although he wasn’t too bad when he actually played), Cody Green, Kenny Wilson (that darned tv!), Chris Septak.

Then there’s the baseball trio of Bubba Starling, Monte Harrison, and Carl Crawford.

I’m obviously a negative Nancy since I remember a lot more busts.

 
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