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Nebraska Football: Grading the Cornhuskers' Early National Signing Day Haul

For being on the job less than a month, new Huskers head coach Matt Rhule and his staff did impressive work on the recruiting trail.

One of Matt Rhule's biggest tests as Nebraska football's new head coach was wrapping up much of 2023's recruiting class by Early National Signing Day. That gave him less than a month to work his magic.

With a whirlwind 24 hours behind us, let's go over the Cornhuskers' newest crop moving into the holiday season.

Quarterback

Jeff Sims (Georgia Tech transfer)

Sims was listed as one of Nebraska's main targets to watch for once applicants rushed the transfer portal. The addition of the former Georgia Tech starter further emphasizes Rhule’s shift to his familiar fast-paced offense. With Casey Thompson out this spring, Sims immediately leaps to the front of a competition to lead the Big Red Charge of 2023.

Grade: A

Running back

Kwinten Ives

Ives was recruited by Nebraska running backs coach E.J. Barthel during his days at UConn. Like other offensive skill positions post-Scott Frost, this room remains in flux. But Ives provides options to both run and catch the ball out of the backfield. Pair him up with a speed demon like Ajay Allen, and defenses get winded reading the scouting reports. The position needs to be solidified further, but Ives shows immense promise.

Grade: B

Wide receivers

Jaidyn Doss, Josh Fleeks (Baylor transfer), Jaylen Lloyd, Brice Turner

With Trey Palmer heading to the NFL, Rhule had to address a corps lacking consistent playmakers and leadership. Josh Fleeks meets up with his former Baylor head coach as the wide receiver room gets an immediate injection of ample acceleration with the likes of Doss, Lloyd and Turner.

Grade: A

Offensive line

Mason Goldman, Gunnar Gottula, Brock Knutson, Sam Sledge

Following one of the poorest offensive line performances at Nebraska in recent memory, Rhule kept exclusively in-state. Look for the Big Red to target a few more seasoned names to hold things down up front while the young guns get acclimated to the college game.

Grade: B

Defensive line

Elijah Jeudy (Texas A&M transfer), Jason Maciejczak, Maverick Noonan, Riley Van Poppel, Dylan Rogers, Princewill Umanmielen, Vincent Carroll-Jackson, Kai Wallin

We see Rhule’s relationships in Texas at work with a quartet of Lone Star State defenders. Wallin also provides experience off the edge coming from American River (Calif.) Community College. The group is thick with crown jewels and is a testament to new position coach Terrance Knighton's efforts.

Grade: A+

Linebackers

Chief Borders (Florida transfer), Eric Fields

Borders brings exuberance, enthusiasm, and swag to a defensive second level in need of an identity. Fields has drawn comparisons to some of the fastest linebackers the program has ever produced. Rhule himself even told reporters they'd know his name in the coming years during a press conference introducing Nebraska's new signees.

Losing Ernest Hausmann to Michigan didn't do the Blackshirts any favors, but the Huskers made the most of these two slots. Borders can plant his flag straight away while Fields looks to eclipse Hausmann's spotlight.

Grade: A+

Defensive backs

Dwight Bootle II, Corey Collier (Florida transfer), Syncere Safeeullah, Rahmir Stewart

Nebraska’s Floridian flair continues with Collier, his Miami Palmetto High School teammate Bootle, and IMG Academy product Safeeullah. Stewart shows several members of the Husker staff can parlay connections made during their days at Temple to give the Big Red an east coast presence.

Grade: B

Special Teams

Long snapper: Marco Ortiz (Florida transfer)

Kicker: Tristan Alvano

Alvano was a must-get and continues a long-standing tradition of Cornhusker State kickers. Whether he becomes the next Brett Maher is yet to be seen, but his walk-off field goal to win the 2022 Class A Nebraska State Championship Game bodes well. Another Florida transfer, Ortiz provides special teams coordinator Ed Foley with a potential linchpin for success across all phases of kicking and punting.

Grade: A

Athlete

Malachi Coleman

The No. 1 local prospect, Coleman's ceiling is sky high. Following Frost's firing, he decommitted and was entertaining offers from Deion Sanders's never-more-shiny Colorado program. In the end, Rhule sidesteps the optics of losing the in-state superstar and gets the desirable job of figuring out how to best use him on either side of the ball.

Grade: A+

Summary

Rhule had less than a month to get his coaching staff together and sign a laundry list of potentially effective contributors. While transition classes are usually hard to grade, the quality of athletes here should be exciting for Husker fans. For an early period, it's hard to make the case Nebraska could've done much better.

Overall: A+

— Written by Brandon Cavanaugh, part of the Athlon Contributor Network. Be sure to follow him on Twitter (@Bcav402). To contact him, click here.