The Weekly Rundown: It's back to work for the Huskers

Spring break is over and it's back to work for the Nebraska football team this week. We set the stage in the Weekly Rundown column.

You have to feel pretty good about these things right now:

A week of spring break rust: Nebraska gets back to work after shutting things down for spring break at UNL.

One thing you can probably expect is a lot of rust on Tuesday, and even Thursday, when the team gets back on the practice field.

Today, the team will not practice, but instead, it will be a Zach Duval day getting the players' bodies ready to get back on the practice field.

A busy Pro Day on Tuesday: Not only does practice begin on Tuesday, but NU will also hold their Pro Day later in the afternoon.

I expect a lot of scout activity, as players like offensive lineman Cam Jurgens, tight end Austin Allen, linebacker JoJo Domann and cornerback Cam Taylor Britt should draw a lot of scout activity.

I expect a lot of those guys to workout in front of the scouts, despite the fact they all ran at the Pro Day. The day holds even bigger value to players like wide receiver Samori Touri and defensive backs Deontai Williams and Marquel Dismike, as they didn't get the chance to train at the combine.

Also expect times to vary, as every scout runs their own watch at the event.

Plenty more info leaking from Saturday's practice: On Friday and Saturday NU will also hold their annual spring high school coaches clinic.

That means there will be hundreds of different local and regional high school coaches at practice. I would expect we'll hear quite a few takes and views from what the coaches see at practice. How much scrimmaging will the Huskers do on Saturday?

These were my surprises of the week:

Nebraska Baseball: After winning four games in a row this week, we saw the Nebraska Baseball team only get 1 hit and 1 run on Saturday vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and then get beat 21-4 and outhit 23 to 4 on Sunday.

I'm not sure we've seen a back-to-back stretch like this for the Huskers in what is deemed by many as a developmental home weekend series. Coming into the weekend, the Islanders had an RPI of 196 on NCAA.com.

Now the Huskers have South Dakota State coming in on Wednesday before Michigan this weekend. This is arguably as big as any home weekend series the Huskers will face this season in conference play.

Nebraska Wrestling finishing No. 5: Hat tip to Mark Manning and the Nebraska Wrestling program. He had his guys clicking this weekend at the NCAA Wrestling Tournament.

The Huskers finished No. 5 in the team standings. To put it in perspective how deep the Big Ten is, NU finished seventh in the league tournament.

Sam Griesel's quick commitment: Lincoln East and North Dakota State transfer portal target Sam Griesel wasted no time committing to Fred Hoiberg and the Huskers this weekend.

Even though Griesel is at D-I transfer, it's as big of an in-state win in recruiting the Big Red has had in quite some time. Rarely have we seen the Huskers beat out multiple high majors for a top-level Nebraska native. In fact, I can't remember the last time we've seen NU beat Creighton for an in-state prospect both programs wanted.

Questions still surround these things:

Offensive line play this spring: I think we are going to continue to hear great things about Donovan Raiola and the job he's done with the offensive line this spring.

However, the reality is we aren't going to know anything until he has all of his pieces to work with. To me, this spring is more about what one or two new names might emerge from the pack.

Fred Hoiberg and his staff moves: Matt Abdelmassih and Doc Sadler are gone from Fred Hoiberg's coaching staff. Armon Gates could be following his brother to Missouri. This is a complete blow-up for Hoiberg. What will it all look like on the other side?

One thing is certain: Nate Loenser is going to have a much bigger say in how this roster is built going forward.

Moving forward, this has my attention:

Malachi Coleman: A Georgia offer for Malachi Coleman should get everyone's attention. Could he commit to the Bulldogs tomorrow and they'd take it? It will be interesting to see if Kirby Smart's staff comes up to Lincoln this spring and starts pushing Coleman.

Someone brought up an interesting point/question to me: When was the last time a defending national championship team not named Nebraska offered an in-state prospect?

The only one that I could think of was former Omaha Central defensive back Brandon Williams who signed with Michigan in 1999. He would've been offered before the 1998 season and the Wolverines won a share of the title in 1997.

Former Husker DE Randy Gregory: Former Nebraska DE Randy Gregory turns 30 in November and he was paid this week as if he was a top 5 pass rusher in the NFL.

What's even more remarkable is Gregory has yet to play a full NFL season since being drafted by the Cowboys in 2015. That tells you his overall talent level and what the people in the NFL think of his overall ability.

I put Gregory in a camp of players that include Carl Nicks and Richie Incognito who have gone on to do more in the NFL than they ever did in Lincoln. All three players obviously had baggage, but elite talent. It will be interesting to see how Gregory settles in with the Broncos.

Tight end: If tight end Thomas Fidone did indeed suffer an injury before spring break, what will this position look like going forward? Travis Vokolek has also never played through an entire season injury-free in Lincoln. Chris Hickman has battled injuries since high school. It will be interesting how Sean Beckton shapes this room going forward.

Draft prospects for 2023: We know Nebraska has a good chance to get anywhere from three to five players drafted this year. What about in 2023? Today, Vokolek appears to be the only sure thing on the roster. Obviously, that can change very quickly, but 2023 looks awfully lean today.

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.