It's that time again for the NFL Draft
The 2024 NFL Draft is set to begin this Thursday, April 25. Will a Husker hear their name called during the three days?
The 2024 NFL Draft is set to begin this Thursday, April 25. The draft — which will take place in Detroit, Michigan — runs over three days, concluding on Saturday, April 27.
And as such, now is the time for the annual questions: will any Huskers be drafted, and in what round if they are?
Two Huskers were drafted in 2023 — edge Ochaun Mathis to the Los Angeles Rams and wide receiver Trey Palmer to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, both in the sixth round. Both are still listed on their respective rosters for each team. Through the 2023 draft, Nebraska has had 368 total selections.
Will Nebraska add a name to the list in 2024?
First, let’s take a quick look at the number of players drafted for the Huskers since 1993. I originally shared this graph ahead of the Super Bowl and broke it down based on coaches at the time of the draft. I also selected 1993 as the starting date because it was the beginning of a 26-year streak for former Huskers in the Super Bowl.
As you can see, the more successful the team was often correlated with the number of players drafted. There are always outliers, but the two do appear to go hand-in-hand. It makes sense. When your team is performing well, it creates more opportunity for better television time slots and for more scouts to visit on game days. When a team is underperforming, even the best talent can get overlooked.1
As we look toward this upcoming weekend, the cards are going to be stacked against Nebraska. There are a few potential draftees, namely safety Omar Brown, defensive back Quinton Newsome and linebacker Luke Reimer. If a Husker is drafted, it very well looks like they’ll come from the defensive side of the ball.
Defensive coordinator Tony White was asked about it on Thursday, and he pointed to what those players were able to show during Nebraska’s Pro Day.
“. . . You saw how explosive they are. You saw how fast they were, how high they jumped,” White said. “So the ability was there. And then coming from here, especially the way the program is run, like you're going to get a guy who excels. You're going to get a blue collar guy who's tough, who's physical, who knows how to show up, who knows how to take notes, who is a professional.”
White pointed toward his own experience with the NFL Draft, going undrafted in 2002. He signed with the Buffalo Bills for training camp but did not make the roster. Reflecting on that time, he feels the players now are more prepared for the experience than he was.
“I wasn’t as prepared as they were,” White said. “I wish those guys well and I know they’re going to do a good job wherever they go.”
As of Monday, all of Nebraska’s candidates are projected as undrafted free agents. If that ends up being the case, it will be the first time since 2019 that Nebraska goes without a draft pick.
That doesn’t mean someone like Brown, Newsome or Reimer can’t sneak into a late round. While no Huskers were invited to the NFL Combine in 2024, the players that participated in the Huskers’ Pro Day felt good about what they were about to accomplish in front of the scouts in attendance.
Coach Matt Rhule praised those that participated.
“I think the guys have done a fantastic job,” Rhule said “I’ve been proud to tell the scouts, ‘We have a bunch of guys here that no matter how they get there — whether they’re drafted early, drafted late or free agents — we’ve got guys with the grit and toughness to make teams and stick around.’”
We’ll see what happens soon enough.
A few other news and notes:
>> In addition to it being NFL Draft week, it’s also the week of Nebraska’s annual red-white sprint game. The Huskers kick everything off on Saturday at 11 a.m. inside Memorial Stadium, which will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.
As of right now, the weather looks pretty nice for Saturday too — 75 degrees and partly cloudy. Not bad.2
>> Nebraska also hosted a scrimmage this past Saturday and Rhule said it was all about the offense.
“This was the most dominant day we’ve had on offense ever,” Rhule said. “On offense, by far the best day we’ve had since I’ve been here.”
With that said, he did temper excitement a bit by adding that Nebraska wasn’t hitting the quarterback and he wasn’t letting all plays extend. Still, that has to be music to Husker fans ears.
>> The NCAA approved the use of in-helmet communication during games late last week. However, Nebraska has been practicing with the new communication all spring (and even practiced with it a bit last spring too).
“I think it’s really, really powerful,” Rhule said. “I’m so happy that it passed because it’s absolutely what should be happening in football.”
>> A quick update on volleyball’s Harper Murray from Friday. Coach John Cook said she is still at Nebraska, still in school and “focused on being a student-athlete right now and taking care of that.” She has also been practicing with the team, but an update wasn’t provided on if she’d be available for the Huskers’ spring game in Kearney on May 4.
Not to make this about basketball, but I’ve talked with multiple people about Keisei Tominaga’s evolution from the 2022-23 season to the 2023-24 season. While he did improve, his numbers overall were pretty similar. What was different? The attention he received as Nebraska’s season went on the upward trend. I have a hard time believing he would have been invited to participate in the 3-point contest had Nebraska not made the NCAA Tournament.
We’ll be back with our bonus Saturday newsletter this week in honor of the spring game, which will provide all the information you need for “game day.” Be on the lookout, because we’ll also drop information on the chat for paid subscribers then as well.