LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska’s wide receiver depth chart coming out of preseason camp one year ago featured an undersized No. 1 option who had never gained more than 32 yards on a catch in five seasons of college football.
It included two elevated walk-ons and three journeymen with average measurables who caught a total of 39 passes in the season prior.
And that’s it.
Now take a look. This is Extreme Makeover: Pass Catching Edition.
There’s 6-foot-4 Jahmal Banks at 220 pounds, a Wake Forest transfer who caught 101 passes for 1,289 yards and 13 touchdowns in the past two seasons. He immediately fit in as a model teammate in Lincoln and enters this season as the projected leader in targets.
At the same size, Isaiah Neyor, the transfer from Texas who grabbed 44 passes for 878 yards and 12 scores at Wyoming in 2021, brings electrifying after-the-catch ability.
The Huskers have a pair of freshmen set to crack the playing rotation thanks to their unique skill sets. There’s Jacory Barney, the game-breaker out of Miami, and Carter Nelson, the 6-5, 230-pound converted four-star tight end who played eight-man high school football in Ainsworth, Neb.
Veterans Alex Bullock and Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda return from the preseason two-deep in 2023.
Jahmal Banks led Wake Forest with 59 receptions in 2023. (Ken Ruinard / USA Today)
There’s Jaylen Lloyd, a track star who caught three passes of 58 yards or longer last season, and 6-5, 210-pound Malachi Coleman. Both made a splash as freshmen despite limited opportunities to develop when pressed into starting action a year ago after injuries suffered by Garcia-Castaneda in the opening game and Marcus Washington in Week 6.
And there’s Janiran Bonner, a 6-2, 220-pound sophomore slot receiver who came to the Huskers as a four-star wideout from Georgia but toiled much of the past two seasons at tight end and fullback.
That’s nine receivers for three positions. The Huskers could go deeper this year — 6-3, 210-pound true freshman Keelan Smith has looked fluid and well-schooled in camp — but the thing is, they don’t need to.
The wide receivers at Nebraska in 2024 do not simply rank as the most improved position group on this team — they could by November rate as one of the most improved positions in the Big Ten and as the most improved group from one season to the next at Nebraska in many years.
“It’s a totally different room,” wide receivers coach Garret McGuire said.
Consider that Bullock, a 6-2, 205-pound junior who played more reps than any other receiver last year and caught 15 passes, must fight this season for playing time at all.
“I’m super excited about the depth,” McGuire said. “That’s what is going to make it so much fun in the season. Our depth chart could change week to week, based on how you practice and play in the game.”
Garcia-Castaneda began last season as a starter. This year, he worked overtime to return from an ACL injury and saw dividends paid in the weight room. Up 10 pounds to 198, IGC knocked out 20 reps of 225 on the bench press. He’s squatting 500 pounds and has shattered other personal-best lifts.
Yet nothing is assured to him.
“Nobody’s job is guaranteed or safe,” he said.
Nebraska struggled to throw the football in 2023. Its completion rate of 52.1 percent ranked 126th nationally. It gained 6.2 yards per passing attempt, better than only five Power 5 teams.
The quarterbacks took a heavy share of the blame. They were, in fact, inefficient, throwing 16 interceptions and 10 touchdowns. But the lack of experience, depth, size and dynamic ability at the receiver spots contributed mightily to the one-dimensional nature of the offense in Matt Rhule’s first season as coach.
Billy Kemp, the aforementioned WR1 who stood 5-9, caught 35 passes for 310 yards (both team highs) with just one touchdown through the air.
Yes, Nebraska has Dylan Raiola, the QB prepared to deliver a major upgrade to the offense with his strong right arm and advanced understanding of the passing game for a freshman. But without weapons around Raiola, hopes for a significant offensive turnaround might fizzle.
The Huskers have those weapons.
“Man, this group is special,” running back Gabe Ervin said. “This group is not only special because of the guys that came in, but how we’re coming together and how we’re developing a culture of execution is what is going to win us games.
“I’ve been a part of this program since 2021. And I’m saying now, all these players are bought into the process and listening to Rhule, listening to all the coaches, and it’s just going to make a difference. We come together as one, Week 1, and put it all on the table, it’s just going to be phenomenal to watch.”
The makeover began with Banks, a fifth-year senior, and Neyor, now in his sixth season. They joined the program in January. Nebraska sought a pair of big brothers for the likes of Coleman and Lloyd, who weren’t ready to take over the primary pass-catching jobs.
In Neyor, the Huskers got a motivated player. He suffered a knee injury early in his time at Texas two years ago and did not realize his potential with the Longhorns. Neyor said he feels as good physically as he did in 2021 and better mentally, with a stronger understanding of offensive schemes.
“Man, I’m so hungry,” he said.
Neyor glides with the football in his hands. His big upper body, at age 23, makes him an option over the middle. If he slips one tackle, he’s gone.
“If you try to play one-high (safety) or you try to zone pressure us,” Rhule said in June, “we’re going to absolutely murder you. And you need players to do that.”
In Banks, Nebraska got a readymade leader. He turned down offers from Harvard and Army to attend Wake Forest in 2020. Banks recognized the standard of work and attention to detail that Rhule and his coaching staff expected from older Huskers.
“It’s about doing the things that are not asked of you,” Banks said.
How did that look within the team environment during his only offseason in Lincoln?
“It looked like working hard,” Banks said. “It looked like having my teammates’ backs. It looked like picking up after my teammates. It looked like starting a conversation, just being a great teammate. When you have great teammates, the foundation is there to have a brotherhood, a close team, a strong team, a team that refuses to be beat.”
A team led in part by its pass-catching talent. An extreme makeover, without a doubt.
(Top photo of Isaiah Neyor courtesy of Nebraska Athletics)
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Publish date : 2024-08-15 13:00:00
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