The 3-2-1: How many more pieces will Nebraska add to its 2022 roster?

How many more pieces will Nebraska add to its 2022 roster? We discuss that and more in the 3-2-1 column.

1 - Nebraska is not done transfer shopping for 2022

The addition of Alabama defensive back Kaine Williams gives the Huskers now 13 transfer portal players added to their 2022 roster.

They also hosted Crimson Tide defensive lineman Stephon Wynn last week and await his final decision.

This week HuskerOnline reported that another Power Five transfer portal target has emerged in Texas wide receiver Marcus Washington.

On Tuesday, HOL confirmed on the Red Sea Scrolls that Washington is expected to be in town this weekend as an official visitor.

This one is interesting because wide receiver does not feel like a pressing need. But in many ways, this would replace the departed Zavier Betts, who left the team this spring.

The connection to quarterback Casey Thompson is another angle to follow. One would have to think Thompson will be heavily involved in the visit weekend.

Today that transfer portal addition number is 13, but there's a chance it could be as high as 15 about a week from now.

2 - Dylan Edwards was a nice visit surprise for this weekend

We've known both offensive lineman Cayden Green and wide receiver Jaidyn Doss were going to visit Nebraska for quite some time now.

However, another nice visit surprise emerged this week when Derby (Kan.) running back Dylan Edwards announced his plans to visit NU this weekend.

This will be Edwards's third trip to Lincoln since November, as he was named the Kansas Gatorade Player of the year in 2021.

Nebraska is recruiting him as more of an all-purpose player that can line up at running back, slot receiver, and return kicks and punts. The primary competition here appears to be Oklahoma and Kansas State.

3 - Newcomers making their way into town

By week's end, nearly all of the newcomers joining the Husker football team that were not here this spring will be in Lincoln.

Summer conditioning workouts start on May 22. We saw kicker Timmy Bleedrode announce his arrival on Wednesday. TCU defensive line transfer Ochaun Mathis, running back Ajay Allen, and others will be in town no later than this weekend.

The only newcomer not expected to be here early is Texas Tech defensive line transfer Devin Drew, who will be finishing up a summer class in June that will allow him to graduate. It's an online class he'll take back home in Kansas City.

1 - What direction will the Big Ten go with schedules and divisions?

This week, NCAA said it would no longer require divisions for leagues of 12 teams or more. We saw the Pac-12 immediately eliminate their division set-up. Will the Big Ten follow suit?

It sure seems that way. I think the challenge is creating a schedule model that works with nine conference games in a 14-team league.

One interesting idea I heard tossed around was a 3-5-1 model. Where you play three protected games, five crossover games, and then have the final week of the regular season feature flex scheduling.

It gets better, though. How about having the conference's top-four teams play one another that final week, with the two winners going to the conference championship game? A Big Ten final four, so to speak.

This would probably move rivalry week to the week before Thanksgiving but then allow the Big Ten the opportunity to have two big marquee games where the winners would advance. It would be an interesting idea. The only hole I see is schools need the guarantee of seven home games. The 3-5-1 model would make that very hard to do.

2 - What are the biggest immediate impacts of the NCAA eliminating the 25 scholarship cap?

The Big Ten eliminated the 25-man scholarship cap this week. So what does that mean going forward?

You no longer have to back count recruits to go over 25 signees. Things like making players walk-on for one semester to not count against the 25 also won't be necessary.

The early years of the transfer portal taught us staying at 25 is very difficult. It was actually hurting high school players the most because it was taking away spots from them each year that were being held for the transfer portal.

The 2022 baseball season has not been easy for Nebraska. Nothing has gone their way, so I'm going out on a limb with this prediction.

I predict Will Bolt's team figures out a way this weekend vs. Michigan State to get it done and qualify for the Big Ten Tournament in Omaha. I say this because I have that much belief in Bolt. I think he will have his team up for the MSU series, and they will survive another week.

Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and he can be heard each day at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall and each week he appears on NET's Big Red Wrap-Tuesday's at 7 pm.