Why Nebraska’s Slow 2026 Recruiting Start Isn’t Cause for Panic

The Huskers capped another busy weekend of official visits, their final push before a 75-day recruiting dead zone. It’s a long quiet stretch in the 2026 calendar, and for Nebraska, whose best recruiting tool is getting players on campus, it’s not ideal. 

Consistent with college football recruiting’s long-term trajectory, commits are coming earlier and earlier. That means Husker fans are already scoreboard-watching. And they don’t like what they see. 

As of mid-June, Nebraska ranks last in the Big Ten in the 2026 cycle. They just lost their highest rated commitment — a top 100 player nationally — to Florida. The day prior saw Nebraska native Jett Thomalla, who Rhule declined to offer, commit to Alabama, prompting public frustration and introspection.  

Things might get worse before they get better. The Huskers didn’t make the cut for top defensive lineman Titan Davis, arguably their higheste priority target in the class. They saw all their top wide receiver prospects – Jabari Brady, Nalin Scott, Ryan Mosley, and Nasir Rankin – commit elsewhere (though Scott still visited this past weekend and may be on flip watch). Long time running back target De’Zephen Walker is also off the board, and touted Linebacker Jordan Campbell has reaffirmed his commitment to Miami. 

Offensive tackle Claude Mpouma may still fall Nebraska’s way, but the outlook for Kelvin Obot — who has Michigan and Oregon circling — is far from certain. 

But there's reason to believe the Huskers are still in good shape.

Remember The 2025 Class Started Slow Too 

It’s easy to forget when the Huskers registered a top 20 class, but Nebraska’s 2025 recruiting started just as slow. The Huskers missed early on presumed top target Dawson Merritt (Alabama), while Wide Receivers Cortez Mills (Oklahoma) and Isaiah Mozee (Oregon) both committed elsewhere. Four-star defenders Christian Jones and Kade Pietrzak were trending towards Oklahoma while O-Line recruiting looked bleak with the Huskers striking out on all three linemen from Bishop Gorman.  

Then the Huskers got momentum.  

Merritt, Mills, and Mozee all flipped to Nebraska before Signing Day. Jones and Pietrzak cast their lot with NU after a strong start to the Huskers’ season. The Huskers responded to their linemen misses by thieving Tackle prospect Julian “Juju” Marks from Kansas. They also landed Shawn Hammerbeck and Houston Kaahaaina-Torres, both four-star-caliber players.  

That was all before they flexed their muscle and won out for transfers Rocco Spindler, Dasan McCullough, Elijah Pritchett, and wide receiver Dane Key, who could’ve gone most anywhere.   

The early outlook for 2025 was grim. By December it was a much different story.  

This Class Is Meant to Be Small 

Rhule has already said he plans to sign around 15 high school players per cycle. That’s in line with new roster caps and reflects his growing emphasis on the Transfer Portal, where he cleaned up last cycle.