This is HuskerOnline.com's feature in which recruiting analysts Mike Matya and Bryan Munson give their weekly takes on topical issues concerning Nebraska football, baseball and recruiting.

Today in our next installment of "Three and Out" we hit on defensive recruiting, Coach Bill Busch's recruiting comments, and 2024 quarterback Dylan Raiola's upcoming visits.

There is only one defensive commitment in the 2023 class, but the Huskers could go from one to very full extremely quickly. One of the biggest reasons is the connection that Nebraska has with several players on that side of the ball.

Let’s start out with the inside linebacker spot. It used to be that gap responsibility was all a middle linebacker needed to be concerned with. They weren’t known for great athleticism. The responsibilities for defending the pass may have consisted with dropping to the curl or if you’re Corey McKeon dropping back to play safety.

That’s changed recently with Barrett Ruud’s vision. Gone are the squatTier, heavier, less rangy and meatier inside linebackers. In are the longer, more athletic and yet still physical linebackers that make tackles, and even generate a pass rush from their inside linebacker position.

The search continues for that type of athlete to play inside linebacker in 2023. This past weekend the Huskers targeted Mateaki Helu. Helu, a Utah commitment from Tooele (Utah), is the nephew of former Husker running back Roy Helu.

Mateaki is listed as an outside linebacker and, following the junior day visit this past weekend, he was able to share that Nebraska sees him playing inside linebacker. That spot, based on what Nebraska sees, completely makes sense for Helu.

The Huskers are stockpiling those more athletic types to play the inside linebacker position. Some might say that it started with Randolph Kpai, but it really goes back to the 2019 class with Nick Henrich. Add in Seth Malcom and follow it up with Ernest Hausmann this past year.

Transition to outside linebacker where you must talk about one of the top targets on Nebraska’s overall board, Husker legacy, Maverick Noonan. And don’t forget about Asa Newsom, the younger brother of current Husker Mosai Newsom. Asa has really transformed his body and added a lot of athleticism which would make him a solid third outside linebacker in the area for Nebraska.

Then move down to defensive line and talk about David Borchers. I have futurecasted Borchers to Nebraska. I think Nebraska feels good about Borchers as more of a hybrid three-technique, 4-3 defensive tackle that can slide out and play the four in a 3-4 front.

Nebraska is sitting good with defensive recruits. The Huskers must keep up their efforts and not let it trail off like we all saw happen following the month of June 2021. Keep up the communication and those spots could fill up quickly.

- Bryan Munson

In last week's NU assistant coaches' press roundtables, Bill Busch had some interesting comments about how recruiting has changed and not changed since he was last a full-time, on-the-field coach for the Cornhuskers.

One of the best postseason moves Scott Frost made was bringing Busch back as an assistant coach for Nebraska. He's going to be the special teams coordinator, but maybe more importantly he will help rejuvenate the Huskers' recruiting operation which had become somewhat stale.

Busch noted what hasn't changed about recruiting is the relationship aspect.

"Well, it's changed a little bit, but I still say this: 'recruiting is recruiting'," Busch stated. "What I always try to do first thing out of the gate is to have likeability. Try to get the recruit to like you. That way you can talk to him. That way they answer your call. That way they text you back. That gives you a chance to get things going for us."

What has changed is the opportunity to have more frequent interaction with the recruits than they were allowed by the NCAA when he was last in Lincoln. Also, how the Cornhusker recruiting responsibilities are designated under Coach Frost.

"So, the difference for us now is there is probably more position recruiting, more so than when I was [previously] here," Busch said. "I recruited offensive linemen, I recruited every position that there was, and I was coaching on the defense at the time. There were a lot of different spots.

"It's really more specialized now because you talk to these recruits so much. Before, you go back to year one of me being here, you talked to them once a week. You had one phone call a week, and this time of year you couldn't even call them. Now, you can text them and call them and talk to them all the time."

That increased level of contact with recruits means college coaches need to be prepared to broaden the scope of those ongoing conversations.

"So, the conversation is so much more and you have to have a lot in your tank of what you're going to be presenting to them, talking to them about, all the different things," Busch said.

"But, in the end, they still like football the most. There's all these different things that are going on, but they still like football the most and having success in football. And being able to have an academic and playing on the field plan for them here to be able to get things done."

Another thing that hasn't changed with Busch is his appreciation of recruiting being the lifeblood of any college football program.

"It's the most important thing you do on the team," Busch stressed. "Period. It haunts you every day. If you have a whatever's good, whatever's bad [day], it usually comes back to one thing: it's recruiting."

Every Nebraska assistant coach and personnel staff member needs to have this mentality and focus for the program to get back to recruiting on a level commensurate with fostering future success.

- Mike Matya

It’s safe to say Husker Nation hopes the recruiting weekend is a successful one for the spring game, especially since one of the most important recruits to Nebraska in recent years will be in attendance.

Dylan Raiola, the 2024 quarterback from Chandler (Ariz.), who is the son of former Husker Dominic Raiola and is the nephew of Nebraska assistant coach Donovan Raiola, will be making a return visit to Lincoln that weekend.

The four-star recruit has a monster arm, all the tools you look for in a quarterback, and the offers now to go along with it. The pro-style quarterback has over 20 offers from schools such as Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oregon, Oklahoma, Texas and USC among others.

Raiola will be hitting the road quite a bit in the coming weeks to check out a number of those schools.

“It is confirmed,” Raiola said. “I just talked with my folks, and we are booked for the weekend of April 9th to go to the spring game in Nebraska.

“I will be visiting Oregon this weekend. My whole family will be able to come with me, so that’s a big deal. I will also be flying out to Clemson on March 15th to hang out with coach Streeter and continue to build our relationship. I am excited to see the coaches out there and watch how they run practice.”

Those trips to Oregon and Clemson are just the next two weekend. Raiola has plans to see another Big Ten school before he gets to Nebraska in April.

“At the end of March, I will be visiting Ohio State,” Raiola said. “I am super-pumped for that. Coach Day and Coach Dennis have been great. We have built a great relationship since we met at my game day visit at Penn State.”

And the visits don’t stop there. There are two more schools Raiola plans to visit, but doesn’t have the dates secured for the trips yet.

“USC is definitely a priority to get to, too. We are just working on the dates for that trip. Texas is another school that I am going to visit.”

It will not be easy for Nebraska to reel in Raiola. They have some solid connections with his father and now his uncle. It’s going to be very interesting to watch as Raiola checks out some of the nation’s best schools to see how Nebraska stacks up through his recruiting process.

- Bryan Munson