Spring Look Back: Wide Receiver
We continue our spring positional recaps today by giving our final take on Nebraska's wide receivers...
WHAT WE LEARNED: This is the most WR depth of the Frost era
For a position group that only returned a combined 36 receptions and just two players with more than five catches from last season, Nebraska sure ended spring feeling good about its wide receivers.
The addition of Montana graduate transfer Samori Toure, the re-emergence of Omar Manning, and a slew of other wideouts taking significant strides over the past four months have changed NU's receiver room from a concern to a strength.
Head coach Scott Frost said this was the deepest receiving corps he's had in his four years with the Huskers, and his claim was backed up in the few glimpses the public got of the group this spring.
With Toure, Manning, Oliver Martin, Will Nixon, Zavier Betts, Levi Falck, Wyatt Liewer, and Alante Brown, Nebraska could go as much as eight deep in its receiver rotation in 2021.
It's been a long time since NU had that many wideout options on the roster, and it will give quarterback Adrian Martinez every opportunity to get a struggling passing game going.
BIGGEST SPRING CONCERN: Can Manning stay on track?
Talent has never been the issue for Manning.
The former four-star and No. 2 overall junior college recruit in the country out of Kilgore (Texas) C.C. was expected to change the look of Nebraska's offense when he signed in 2020.
In fact, Frost said it himself: “He looks different than anybody I’ve ever coached and has tape to match... He’s got a little work to do yet before he gets to campus, but I think he has a chance to change our offense.”
But for reasons on and off the field, Manning was never even a factor for the Huskers last season. He made just one appearance in the second game at Northwestern and played just four snaps before being shut down for the rest of the year.
Just when it seemed like it was time to write off the 6-foot-4, 225-pound junior, though, he came back with an impressive spring where, by all accounts, he did everything asked of him.
The most pressing wide receiver question over the summer and fall camp will be whether Manning can stay on track and solidify himself as a reliable player in practices and workouts that his coaches and teammates can trust.
If he can, he'll be one of the Huskers' best offensive players. But there's still a lot of work that needs to be done before that's answered.
SPRING SURPRISE: Martin coming into his own
For the past four years, Oliver Martin has been searching to find the right football fit.
A former four-star wide receiver recruit out of Iowa City (Iowa) West, Martin committed to Michigan in 2017. Two years later, he transferred back home to Iowa.
A year after that, the 2017 Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year was on the move again, this time ending up at Nebraska as a walk-on.
While his road has been full of speed bumps and detours, the fifth-year junior seems to have finally found where he belongs in Lincoln based on how well he's settled in over the past 12 months.
Martin opened plenty of eyes when he registered a team-high 40-inch vertical jump and his double-laser time of 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash during winter conditioning.
That translated into a strong spring, and Martin was among the three starting receivers for the Red team in the Spring Game with Toure and Manning.
He'll have plenty of competition to fend off over the next few months, but Martin looks on track to be one of NU's top wideout options this season.
LOOKING AHEAD: Wide receiver could be a strength for years to come
What's even better than the depth Nebraska appears to have at wide receiver this season?
How about that all but two of the projected top eight players at the position - Toure and Falck - are slated back in 2022.
Even more, because of the free year of eligibility players got due to COVID-19, six of NU's eight current scholarship receivers are listed with freshmen eligibility.
Manning and Martin are juniors, and Liewer is a sophomore. Betts, Nixon, and Brown are second-year freshmen.
The Huskers will add three more weapons to that mix this fall with the arrivals of true freshmen Latrell Neville, Shawn Hardy, and Kamonte Grimes.
They've also already added another piece in the '22 class with a commitment from Orlando (Fla.) Olympia three-star Victor Jones.
If the young wideouts Nebraska expects to make significant impacts this season pan out, this group could be one of the top overall strengths on the entire team for years to come.