Nebraska Baseball: Despite MLB Draft, All Is Not Lost For 2015

Nebraska Baseball: Despite MLB Draft, All Is Not Lost For 2015 by Andrew Bienka

There are plenty of things that don’t deserve sequels. Nebraska football recruiting’s Big Red Weekends aren’t one of them. The guest list for the June 14 edition looked to be about twice the size of the cozy June 7 get together, but schedules and expenses had a funny way of trimming it.

Regardless, Nebraska is bringing in prospects that could very well be major commitments down the road.

Just like last week, the Husker staff is bringing in recruits from this cycle and the next along with current commits. The virtues of Lincoln should be shared by fellow recruits, after all.

Let’s run over who’s stopping by. (All rankings according to the 247Sports Composite Index)

2015 Class

S Will Sunderland

Oklahoma City, OK’s Will Sunderland would fill the void left by Drake Martinez’s departure perfectly. He’s ranked as the No. 12 safety prospect overall, the No. 4 in-state prospect and No. 184 prospect in the nation.

Leroy Alexander and Nathan Gerry should be able to hold the fort as D.J. Singleton and Luke Gifford learn the system. However, Sunderland is the kind of athlete that a staff wants to get on the field as soon as possible.

Bo Pelini’s been far more liberal with burning redshirts than he used to be and Sunderland could give him a reason to continue that trend. It’s no lie that it’ll be hard to yank him away from Oklahoma, but if anyone can, it’s Charlton Warren.

WR Charles Fessler

Pulling talent out of Pennsylvania’s going to be a much more difficult job with James Franklin at Penn State. That said the Huskers look to be in on a receiver that fits offensive coordinator Tim Beck’s vision.

Erie, PA’s Fessler has the potential to be a major asset for the Huskers’ receiving corps. At 6’4″ 205 pounds, he could ease the loss of Taariq Allen and Sam Burtch.

Last season, he hauled in 41 receptions for 626 yards.

2016 Class

OG John Raridon

Raridon would be a fantastic start to Nebraska’s 2016 class. The West Des Moines, IA offensive lineman isn’t exactly unfamiliar with the Cornhuskers. He was offered during an unofficial visit on November 29 last year. Since then, he’s returned to Lincoln twice on unofficial visits.

(If you enjoy seeing offensive linemen do work, you owe it to yourself to watch these)

The 6’4″ 260-pound lineman is ranked as the No. 1 player at his position, in his state and as the No. 15 overall prospect in the country. Yes, you read that correctly. As in there are only 14 recruits ranked higher.

He boasts offers from Oklahoma, Wisconsin and, of course, Iowa. With the work that Barney Cotton and John Garrison are putting in, there’s no such thing as a lock in recruiting, but Nebraska’s giving Raridon every reason to commit.

OT Matt Farniok

Continuing on the offensive line train, Farniok’s addition would help for a number of reasons. Four current juniors will have graduated which leaves only three current scholarship tackles and commitment Christian Gaylord.

Hailing from Sioux Falls, SD, the 6’6″ 290-pounder has already stopped by the Nebraska campus much like Raridon, though not as often. He also has offers from Oklahoma and Iowa, but the Huskers have improved at locking up nearby talent.

The addition of Farniok to Raridon would give Nebraska the start of another stellar class of offensive lineman. He’s ranked as the No. 14 offensive tackle overall, best in-state prospect and No. 137 prospect overall. Nothing like two top 140 lineman up front, eh?

TE Jared Bubak

Believe it or not, while Bubak may live in the Huskers’ backyard (almost literally), he could take off for the land of Rocky Top.

The 6’4″ 235-pounder from Lincoln Christian currently only has offer from South Dakota State, but more schools have tugged on his ear, specifically Tennessee. When an SEC program thinks a Nebraska kid’s good enough to look at, the Big Red has a prospect that it probably should keep in-state.

Interestingly enough, Bubak will be under center for Lincoln Christian for the upcoming season. He has no rankings at this time, but wait until a few more offers come in.

CB Keshawn Somerville

Somerville actually already committed to Baylor on June 9, however he’s still on the reported list for the Big Red Weekend. Signing Day for the 2016 crop’s a ways away. It’s unlikely the Bears won’t save a spot for him, especially considering they’ve given him his only offer to date.

A tri-sport athlete, Somerville not only tends to the Hendrickson High School secondary, but plays basketball and runs track. He’s now ranked as the No. 22 athlete overall, No. 39 prospect in-state (kind of a big thing in Texas) and the nation’s 251 overall prospect for the next cycle.

His addition to the roster would only strengthen an already talented and young bunch. Jonathan Rose, Daniel Davie, Charles Jackson and Byerson Cockrell will have departed, but Eric Lee and Avery Anderson add their services.

Lock up Somerville and Nebraska would have some major lockdown cornerbacks.

OG/C Eli Johnson

Who’s up for more offensive line talk? I’ll do you one better, who’s ready for a challenge?

The Oxford, MS native already committed to Ole Miss (hold your gasps, please)…in December of 2013. Things can change. Will they? It’s hard to say, but as a recruit, be assured that you’re wanted very badly if you’re from the South and you hear from Charlton Warren (Johnson’s main recruiter from Nebraska).

A starter since his freshman year in high school, this 6’3″ 295-pound behemoth is ranked as the No. 1 center, No. 15 in-state prospect and No. 318 overall prospect.

Getting him away from his home state isn’t going to be easy and not just because of his current commitment. The Rebels’ rival, Mississippi State, has offered as well. Fortunately, Nebraska’s luck with quality offensive line prospects has been on the upswing. Getting Johnson to Lincoln would be a tremendous coup.

Current Commits

Running back Kendall Bussey, offensive guard Michael Decker and offensive tackle Christian Gaylord are scheduled to be in attendance. Wow, look at that. Two of the three current Big Red commits due to show up just happen to be offensive linemen.

Clearly, this is a sign.

Nebraska could very well lay the foundation for a monster offensive line class next year (pardon the pun). Securing a top tackle, guard and pulling a center out of SEC territory is a tall order, but you lose 100 percent of the battles you don’t take a swing in. Let’s see which fuses get lit.

Be sure to like Husker Corner on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, snag the FanSided app (iOS) (Android) and subscribe to our newsletter below to keep plugged into Husker Nation from all over the globe.