Recruiting Class of 2023

Red Five said:
You have an obsession with Gilbert over HS stars that were given to him over 3 years ago.  Best I can tell he has played in 3 games the last 2 years.  He is on his 3rd school in 4 years.  There is a decent chance he never sees the field here.
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He'll be the starter at tight end for the upcoming season.  He's still only a sophomore.  It's not that I so much care about his stars but will say is that I take in the fact that he was the 2019 National Gatorade Player Of The Year which has never been given to a tight end ever, the award as been giving out since 1985 which means enough people thought of him highly and when he went to LSU, he started 8 games as a freshman and was All-SEC.  Now do I know why he transferred and sat out his first year at Georgia?  No, but maybe he needed to recharge himself and when he did decide to play and go through spring ball he was already behind the 8 ball bc of the top established talent in front of him.  So like I said before his talent has never left him, just needs to be in the right situation for himself and fortunately for us we have him on our roster.  Actually we have 2 highly thought of tight ends and are looking forward to seeing how the OC takes advantage of the mismatches on the field.

 
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knapplc said:
Nebraska is 23-45 in this span.
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truly amazing.  Has got to come down to coaching and development in explaining our average rank vs accomplishments on the field.   Or we have just recruited the wrong type of player for Nebraska.  Over the past 5 years we've had many highly rated players leave the program.  :dunno     

On the bright side:  I like what I see in what Rhule has done with this class.  To him it isn't all about the star power but the fit.  

 
Red Five said:
Pretty sure we are all hoping he will be.  But he hasn't played a meaningful snap since 2019, so I think its fair to view him skeptically until he proves otherwise.

You are just setting yourself up to b!^@h and moan if he isn't playing.
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No at all I have faith and hope that this staff actually knows how to succeed here and with the players they have unlike the previous staff.  When HC Matt Rhule said visiting 8 schools is the bare minium that brought a joy to me bc that told me and the high schools that they care and want to establish relationship.  Not saying the previous staff didn't work to do that but will say they probably didn't put enough emphasis into doing that.  What will suck is if HC Matt Rhule establishes the relationship with the high school coaches, wins and has a winning culture and then eventually leaves.

 
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Huskerfollower4life said:
No at all I have faith and hope that this staff actually knows how to succeed here and with the players they have unlike the previous staff.  When HC Matt Rhule said visiting 8 schools is the bare minium that brought a joy to me bc that told me and the high schools that they care and want to establish relationship.  Not saying the previous staff didn't work to do that but will say they probably didn't put enough emphasis into doing that.  What will suck is if HC Matt Rhule establishes the relationship with the high school coaches, wins and has a winning culture and then eventually leaves.
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I admire the optimism, and I think a fair amount of these transfers/under the radar recruits will work out. But nobody bats 1.000 on anything, several of these guys won't contribute on the field as much as we hope. It's reasonable to assume the guys who haven't contributed recently or at all at their previous stops are long shots here too. I hope they do put it together, but not all of them will unfortunately. 

 
Husker in WI said:
I admire the optimism, and I think a fair amount of these transfers/under the radar recruits will work out. But nobody bats 1.000 on anything, several of these guys won't contribute on the field as much as we hope. It's reasonable to assume the guys who haven't contributed recently or at all at their previous stops are long shots here too. I hope they do put it together, but not all of them will unfortunately. 
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Yeah I understand but a player of Arik Gilbert caliber will play and could have played anywhere bc of how highly regarded he is as a player.  I don't doubt that plus a position of need.  The guys like a Billy Kemp or Joshua Fleeks are good players but how much they contribute to the overall team success is anyone's guess.  

 
Huskerfollower4life said:
Yeah I understand but a player of Arik Gilbert caliber will play and could have played anywhere bc of how highly regarded he is as a player.  I don't doubt that plus a position of need.  The guys like a Billy Kemp or Joshua Fleeks are good players but how much they contribute to the overall team success is anyone's guess.  
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The mental side is the question though, they're not going to throw him out there if he's not in a good place. I love recruiting rankings, but Tyreke Johnson was in his ballpark and does not appear to be poised to contribute. I love the addition but I fully expect Kemp to see more offensive snaps than Gilbert. Fleeks seems like a culture guy who could be more if he can put injuries behind him, Kemp is a solid, proven receiver. Gilbert could be a game changer, but having no insight into his personal situation it's tough to expect major contributions given his career arc so far.

 
Kemp has had two 70 catch seasons in the ACC, so assuming he stays healthy I would guess he will lead us in receiving.

Fleeks is a somewhat similar case to Gilbert.  He has barely played the last 2 years (9 games, 9 catches) and his high point was in 2019 and 2020 (25 catches each year).  Looking at that, I wouldn't expect much from him.

 
One nugget on Gilbert today - he didn't say it in a totally negative way (says he runs like he's 230), but Rhule said Gilbert is probably in the 280-285lb range currently. He's got some physical work to do too


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41 minutes ago, Husker in WI said:

One nugget on Gilbert today - he didn't say it in a totally negative way (says he runs like he's 230), but Rhule said Gilbert is probably in the 280-285lb range currently. He's got some physical work to do too

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Add 15 lbs and play him at tackle.

 
Mythical national championship here we come!

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