Portal activity continued Thursday as the Huskers picked up their eighth player with the commitment of UCLA defensive lineman Anthony Jones. The 6’5” 265lb Jones plays defensive end and will be needed if the Huskers move to a four-man front. Jones started 10 games for the Bruins this season and will be on his fifth school after playing at Indiana, Oregon, and Michigan State.
Nebraska continues to host visits and offer new players. Concentrating on the defensive line, the Huskers offered Iowa Western Community College defensive tackle Andy Burburija. Looking at JC players seems underwhelming for a team looking to bolster a porous defensive line. But the 6’2” 295lb game wrecker racked up 45 tackles, 19.5 TFLs, and 12 sacks this season for the National Champion Reivers. The All-American heads to Lincoln after coming off a visit to Clemson. He’s received offers from over ten Power Four schools such as Penn State, Auburn, and Texas Tech.
Colorado defensive lineman Tawfiq Thomas will also be visiting. In 95 snaps this past season the 6’4” 300lb Thomas logged 11 pressures, 1 sack and 1 QB hit. He has played in 13 games for the Buffaloes.
Other visitors will be LSU offensive lineman Paul Mubenga and FIU corner back Victor Evans III. Mubenga is a 6’5”, 317lb left guard and made 11 starts this past season. He is also being pursued by South Carolina and Arkansas. The 6’1”, 180lb Evans played the last three seasons at Florida International. In 12 games last season he made 42 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 interception, and 4 pass breakups. He logged 481 defensive snaps in 2025.
Nebraska is also scheduled to receive a visit from Michigan State long snapper Jack Willis.
Players who have committed to the Huskers are as follows:
- Brenden Black – IOL, 6’4” 320lbs, Senior, from Iowa State
- Owen Chambliss – LB, 6’3” 230lbs, Senior, from San Deigo State
- Tree Babalade – OT, 6’5” 330lbs, Junior, from South Carolina
- Will Hawthorn – LB, 6’2” 220lbs, Sophomore, from Iowa State
- Anthony Coldera – QB, 6’0” 205lbs, Senior, from UNLV
- Dwayne McDougle – S, 5’11” 208lbs, Senior, from San Deigo State
- Dexter Foster – LB, 6’3” 236lbs, Junior, from Oregon State
- Anthony Jones – DE 6’5” 265lbs, Junior, from UCLA
Seven of the eight players listed have signed their commitments. It’s unclear if Jones has yet signed. That may sound like a small detail, but until a player signs, they could pull a ‘Minchey’, decommit and go elsewhere.
As of Tuesday, there was a prediction for Nebraska to land UCLA wide receiver Kwazi Gilmar. As of now there has been no further news as to where his recruitment stands.
Nebraska had two more players enter the portal today with running back Kenneth Williams and offensive lineman Brian Tapu announcing their entry. The loss of Willimas hurts as he was a special team’s standout. As for Tapu, with the firing of Donavan Raiola I wrote before the portal opened to watch for movement from Kaahaaina-Torres, Tapu, and Taumua. There was a special Polynesian connection between the three players and coach. Two of the three have now entered the portal.
Twenty-one Nebraska players have entered the portal.
- Caden VerMass – Safety, 6’0” 190lbs, Freshman
- Jamarion Parker – RB, 5’11” 200lbs, Freshman
- Dylan Raiola – QB, 6’3” 230lbs, Sophomore
- Malcolm Hartzog – Safety, 5’9” 185lbs, Senior
- Preston Okafor – Safety, 6’2” 190lbs, Red Shirt Freshman
- Maverick Noonan – LB, 6’4” 225lbs, Sophomore
- Marcus Davila – QB, 6’2” 235lbs, Red Shirt Freshman
- Tristan Alvano – Kicker, 6’2 185lbs, Sophomore
- Roger Grandney – LB, 6’0” 225lbs, Red Shirt Freshman
- Jason Maciejczak – IOL, 6’3 310lbs, Sophomore
- Jaylen George – DL, 6’2” 265lbs, Junior
- *Braylen Prude – Safety, 6’4” 200lbs, Red Shirt Freshman
- Dylan Parrot – DL 6’5” 320lbs, Junior
- Rahmir Stewart – Safety, 5”11 195lbs, Sophomore
- Houston Kaahaaina-Torres – IOL 6’3” 300lbs, Freshman
- Brice Turner – CB 6’1” 205lbs, Sophomore
- Keona Davis – DL, 6’5” 275lb, Sophomore
- *Larry Tarver – CB, 5’11” 175lbs, Red Shirt Sophomore
- Willis McGahee – LB, 6’1” 240lbs, Sophomore
- Kenneth Williams, RB, 5’9″ 190lbs, Sophomore
- Brian Tapu – OL, 6’5″ 295lbs, Freshman
As I previously mentioned, players who enter the portal can change their minds. As of now, two players have withdrawn their names and are sticking with the Huskers, Braylen Prude and Larry Tarver. Of the nineteen players still in the portal, two have committed to new schools. Jason Maciejczak will be going to Wyoming and Jalyn George is headed to Tulsa.
Standing at eight commitments, I look for the Huskers to add anywhere from four to six more players. They still need at least two defensive linemen, an offensive tackle, a safety, a quarterback and possibly a running back. The deadline to enter the portal closes on January 16th but we will continue to see commitments long afterwards.
GO BIG RED!!
Photo courtesy of The Falls City Journal
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