Nebraska has gotten off to a solid start with their 2016 recruiting class, garnering verbal commitments from 15 high school seniors during the off season. Nebraska still has at least 10 open spots remaining in their 2016 class, and Nebraska looks to add two more commits to their class this weekend. Nebraska currently has three official visits scheduled for this Saturday, as Offensive Tackle Tremayne Anchrum and Wide Receiver Darien Owens will be joining Nebraska linebacker commit Greg Simmons on the sideline when Nebraska plays the Cougars.
Nebraska vs BYU recruiting preview
Tremayne Anchrum hails from Powder Springs, Georgia, where he attends McEachern high school. Anchrum has been the starting Left Tackle for the McEachern Indians the past two years, helping lead them to a 10-4 record in 2014 and helping them start off the 2015 season with a 50-14 victory in their season opener. Anchrum experienced a relatively quiet recruiting process until a fantastic showing at the Atlanta RCS camp, a performance that earned him scholarship offers from the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the in-state Georgia Bulldogs. Anchrum currently has three official visits scheduled, with a visit to Georgia scheduled for September 18th, and a visit to Colorado scheduled for October 2nd. Despite having a visit to Colorado scheduled, it appears that Nebraska and Georgia are the two top teams in Anchrum’s recruitment, as he has stated that the two schools are “butting heads” for his commitment. Tremayne is, in this writer’s opinion, the most polished pass blocker in the Southeast, and with Nebraska losing four offensive tackles to graduation, expect Coach Cavanuagh to work extremely hard to get this polished pass rusher into Scarlet & Cream.
Darian Owens is the most highly touted recruit visiting Lincoln this week, as the four star receiver is visiting Nebraska despite being verbally pledged to the UCLA Bruins. I was able to ask Owens a few questions regarding where his recruiting process was at and what made the Nebraska Cornhuskers stand out to him.
Owens and his Clovis West Eagles were impressive in their season opener, defeating the Merced Bears 43-21. Despite this impressive victory in which Owens caught a 50 yard touchdown, he was far from satisfied with his performance. “Honestly my performance wasn’t that good, I had two touchdowns called back by holding penalties, so I only finished with one score. Fortunately, we were still able to pull out the win.”
Owens also made it clear that his verbal pledge to UCLA did not mean that his recruiting process was finished, stating “I say whatever happens, happens to be honest because my recruiting process is still open.”
Owens then stated that Washington, Notre Dame, and Oklahoma rounded out his top five, joining Nebraska and UCLA. When Owens was asked what stood out the most about Nebraska, the answer was simple, coach Keith Williams. “Coach Williams, the wide receivers he has sent to the NFL, I want to be one of them.”
Owens will be making the trip to Lincoln by himself Saturday, and one of the things he is looking forward to is learning more about Nebraska’s football tradition, as well as experiencing the game day atmosphere. Nebraska currently has just one wide receiver commit in 2016 in J.D. Spielman, so expect Coach Williams to work hard to reel in the young man who wants to become the next Amari Cooper.
Rounding out the three man group is Nebraska linebacker commit Greg Simmons. Simmons, a Fort Pierce, Florida native, flipped from the Miami Hurricanes in late June after finding his “football utopia” in Lincoln, Nebraska. I was able to ask Simmons a few questions regarding his commitment status and his relationship with Nebraska Linebacker coach Trent Bray.
Simmons and his Fort Pierce Central Cobras began the season with an impressive 35-0 victory over Westwood high. Despite the shutout victory, the young Husker commit was far from satisfied with his performance, grading his team’s performance a B and his individual performance a C. When asked why he graded himself so low, Simmons stated “Because there is always room for improvement and I just started playing Linebacker. That’s why I’m always asking coach Bray for advice.”
One of the most encouraging aspects of the new coaching staff is the renewed emphasis on linebacker recruiting, as Coach Bray has received 8 linebacker commits since last December. When asked about Coach Bray, Simmons stated “I believe that Coach Bray can give me the tools to be a great linebacker. When he was breaking down linebacker play on film, I was very impressed.
For the first time since 1996, Nebraska awarded a blackshirt to a true freshman prior to the season opener, as Dedrick Young earned the starting SAM linebacker job. When asked about the opportunity to play early, Simmons stated, “It would be an honor to earn a blackshirt, but I want to come in, get stronger, and learn the system. Blackshirt or Redshirt, it really doesn’t matter to me.”
Finally, when Simmons was asked to stat his strengths as well as who he patterned his game after, Simmons stated, “I just love the game and respect the linebacker position. I believe that to be great you have to be passionate and you have to have great instincts.” Simmons preferred not to compare himself to any linebackers, stating “I don’t want to compare to anybody, I want to make my own legacy.”
Simmons finished the interview with a simple statement that should make Husker fans giddy at the thought of him in Scarlet and Cream. “At Nebraska, I believe that I can be an All-American.”
