In a 2017 season that was pretty much a disaster for Nebraska in almost every aspect, J.D. Spielman served as one of the lone bright spots.
The standout wide receiver ended up ranking second on the team with 55 catches for 830 yards and two touchdowns while leading all Huskers with 1,572 all-purpose yards.
Yet as good as Spielman was in his first active season at NU, there’s a growing optimism that he could be even better in the high-octane offense of new head coach Scott Frost.
A versatile weapon who is already taking reps both at receiver and in the backfield this spring, the 5-foot-9, 180-pound native of Eden Prairie, Minn., is a player Frost thinks could be a perfect fit in his system.
In fact, Frost has felt that way for years.
“J.D.’s the type of player that we like to recruit to this offense," Frost said. "In fact, I went and saw J.D. - I think it was his junior year, my last year at Oregon - because he was somebody that we were interested in. I think him and Tyjon (Lindsey) are both the type of kid that flourishes in our offense, guys that can win in space.
“You get them the ball in space and they can make things happen with it. J.D.’s done really good things out here the past couple days. He’s still learning like everybody else, but I see a lot of potential out of both of those guys.”
After veteran wideout Stanley Morgan Jr., it was Spielman who picked up much of the slack in Nebraska’s off-and-on passing game last season.
Not only did he put up impressive final numbers, he also broke the school’s single-game receiving record (200 vs. Ohio State) as well as the freshman season marks for receptions, receiving yards, and all-purpose yardage.
Spielman was tabbed a Freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association and USA Today and was a third-team All-Big Ten pick.
Despite his early success, Spielman said he thinks his ceiling could rise even higher in NU’s new offensive scheme.
“I feel like in the long run, I’ll be a really good fit in this offense,” Spielman said. “I feel like there’s a lot of guys that are good fits in it. We are all going to be able to rotate each other in and all of that.
“I feel like we are going to be able to play a lot of fresh guys, and all of that. The offense is not really relying on anybody as much this year. We are just all spread out through everybody.”
One area in which Spielman wants to improve the most this offseason is in becoming more on an every-down receiver. To do so, he said he needs to develop his physicality and assertiveness to go get the football rather than waiting for it to come to him.
“There’s always a lot of things to improve on, but I feel like a big focal point for me is catching the 50-50 balls,” Spielman said. “I feel like I dropped a lot those last year, especially against Wisconsin. I had one in the end zone that I dropped. I just have to keep improving on attacking and high-pointing the ball and making sure I get over the DB to catch it.”
