This weekend, Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule will host many talented prospects in Memorial Stadium. However, the most important one is former Wake Forest wide receiver Jahmal Banks. With his two years of eligibility remaining, he has become a priority target for the Cornhuskers. As a result of this, wide receivers coach Garrett McGuire wants to land his services over other prominent programs. Let’s break down why he would want to take his talents to Lincoln.
Jahmal Banks’ Success at Another Power Five Program
For the last two seasons at Wake Forest, Banks has played a major part in the Demon Deacons offensive scheme under coordinator Warren Ruggerio. As a sophomore in 2022, he exploded onto the scene by catching 43 passes for 636 yards and nine touchdowns. He was able to reel in an All-ACC honorable mention. But he wasn’t done yet. In 2023, the junior proved as one of the top options for the Demon Deacons, totaling 59 receptions for 653 yards as well as four touchdowns. It’s certainly not a bad option, and his presence would add credibility to what McGuire and Marcus Satterfield plan to do with the offense in 2024. But how can they persuade him to be a part of NU’s renaissance? It’s something that we will get greater detail on in his visit to Lincoln.
An Emerging Young Core
If Banks commits to the Nebraska Cornhuskers on his visit this weekend, Rhule and the rest of the coaching staff will have found their number-one weapon. This hasn’t shown itself within the program since former head coach Mickey Joseph brought wide receiver Trey Palmer with him from LSU. And we all know that this decision turned out to be a revelation for the program. In just eleven starts in his offense, he was able to catch 71 passes for 1,043 receiving yards as well as nine touchdowns. This led him to capture the achievement of most receptions in program history while being second in NU’s history overall. And in 2023, this trend started to continue with Jaylen Lloyd and Malachi Coleman. As the two of the best players in the state of Nebraska in the 2023 recruiting cycle, the true freshman lived up to their billing, as they would combine for 12 catches and four touchdowns. And there are reasons that the young core should get better. Almost all of the quarterbacks have starting experience, and five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola emerges as an interesting option. Because of this, Banks should fit right into NU’s revised offense.
Longest play allowed by Iowa this year:
Chubba Purdy ↗️ Jaylen Lloyd for the 66-yard @HuskerFootball TD
📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/MtqbcMz5V6
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) November 24, 2023
Double Trouble?
If the Cornhuskers program thought that Banks was a big deal, then they should be excited about Texas wide receiver Isaiah Neyor. As a freshman with Wyoming in 2020, he became one of the program’s leading receivers with 248 yards. And in 2021, he truly came into his own under offensive coordinator Tim Polasek. He ended up totaling 44 receptions for 878 yards and 12 touchdowns. But there are still some concerns. At Texas, he was buried on the depth chart under Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian. Because of this, he only was able to muster one reception for 14 yards. While NU’s coaching staff may not like this development, there is still hope that he can return to form. However, it will require NU’s starting quarterback to get the ball as equally to him as it does to its young receivers core. If the team does that, there is a chance that he could become dangerous in the new Big Ten era. That is if he doesn’t find a more attractive destination first.
Starting A Chain Reaction
It’s been eight years since the Nebraska Cornhuskers were inside the Top 25 of college football. You would have to go back to 2016 when Rutgers and Maryland were newly announced as members of the Big Ten Conference in 2014. But now, the path to relevancy is going to be much harder in 2024. This year, the conference brings two quality opponents in the Washington Huskies, as well as the Oregon Ducks with ex-Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel. These programs don’t provide a lot of hope to Nebraska fans to compete in the long run. But there is a good way for them to start. They just have to secure the commitments of Banks and Dante Dowdell. If so, they will certainly have more depth to compete for more than just a bowl game this fall.
Read more about the Oregon transfer back in What Would Dante Dowdell Bring To The Nebraska Cornhuskers
