Rogers (left) and Fields; Nebraska Athletics images
2023 Signee Analysis: The Linebackers
The transfer portal and NIL are changing the landscape of college athletics. They’re hot-button topics right now. At their core, I believe they’re mutually beneficial for both player and school. Isn’t it only fair that a student-athlete generating millions of dollars for their university is allowed to benefit from that as well? When a coach is able to leave for greener pastures with impunity, isn’t it only fair that players are able to transfer to other schools without hindrance?
Inevitably, though, we’re seeing more and more schools recruiting players off of other schools and promising better NIL deals or guaranteed playing time. We’ve heard coaches talk about this tactic more and more out of frustration in interviews.
Earlier installments in Jeremy Pernell’s series: • EDGE • DL • OL • TE • WR • RB • PK • NU signee rankings • Top 40 classes |
Which brings me to Nebraska football’s loss of Ernest Hausmann, easily one of the more shocking transfers in the Big Ten this offseason. And for anyone who thinks it was a result of a coaching change, I have a bridge to sell you. Hausmann broke onto the scene as a true freshman last year, playing in 10 games with seven starts. Go back and watch his performance against Michigan — 10 tackles and a sack — and tell me that didn’t reverberate when Wolverine coaches watched the game tape. Hausmann has a sky-high ceiling and would have been one of Matt Rhule’s foundation pieces as a multi-year starter.
Nothing to do now but turn the page and get back to the business of restocking the room.
Cypress Woods (Tex.) High School linebacker Dylan Rogers was one of the early recruiting wins for the previous staff as they made a concerted effort to try and regain a foothold in Texas. The Huskers offered Rogers on May 2, 2022, and made him one of their top priorities at the position.
Assistant coaches Barrett Ruud, Bryan Applewhite and Erik Chinander were all involved in the 6-foot-3, 240-pounder’s recruitment. They made sure to visit Cypress Woods during the May evaluation period and after forming a strong bond with the staff during FaceTime chats and texts, Rogers came to Lincoln for an official visit June 17-19.
During his visit, ironically enough, he was hosted by Ernest Hausmann and also spent a lot of time hanging out with Mikai Gbayor. Rogers also had several interactions with Sam Sledge, who was on his official visit with the Huskers that weekend as well.
Rogers loved his time in Lincoln. The campus, the coaches, everything the program had to offer. On June 24, a week after returning home from his visit, Rogers tweeted out a final six of Nebraska, Texas, Missouri, Kansas State, Colorado and Houston. About a week later, Rogers privately committed to Husker coaches. He waited until July 5 to announce it publicly in order to honor his late cousin, Corbin George, who lost his life at age 17 on that date in 2014.
Like the other commits tied to the previous staff, Rogers watched the season quickly unravel and was forced to contemplate his future. He quietly began exploring options when it became clear there would be a regime change. Several schools circled back on Rogers, including Missouri, Texas, Kansas, Houston and Texas A&M.
When Matt Rhule took over at Nebraska, he made sure to get in contact early with Rogers. Terrence Knighton took point and called Rogers just days after they took over. Knighton stayed in constant communication with Rogers and made an in-home visit with him and his family in Houston on December 3. The following week, December 8, Rhule and Marcus Satterfield visited Cypress Woods High School and then met at the linebacker’s home for another in-home visit.
The next day, Rogers and his family flew to Lincoln for his second official visit with the Huskers. One of the sentiments shared by every commit of the previous staff was how much better the energy was when they got around Rhule and his coaches. They all commented about a better vibe being palpable around the new staff. Rogers was no exception. “The last staff was great, but this staff just has a lot more energy,” Rogers said in a post-visit interview.
Rogers loved the aura around the program. During his visit, he continued to bond with Knighton and also built strong relationships with Evan Cooper and strength and conditioning coach Corey Campbell. Rhule also put Rogers in contact with Rob Dvoracek, his soon-to-be linebackers coach who was still a defensive assistant with the Carolina Panthers at the time.
The visit solidified Rogers’ commitment to Nebraska. Even so, defensive coordinator Tony White was in Houston on December 15, conducting an in-home visit to continue to build a bond with Rogers and his family.
Rogers is a powerfully built do-it-all linebacker who can play any of the three linebacker positions. The previous staff viewed him more as a MIKE or WILL, but he could also play the EDGE if that’s where the new staff wanted to use him. Personally, I would keep him in the middle. He’s already college-built, and his tape shows how explosive he is attacking the ball.
If you look at his tape and watch how he was used at Cypress Woods, he was often the teams only linebacker, playing five to seven yards off the line of scrimmage. Rogers excelled as a sideline-to-sideline guy who patrolled the field and attacked the alleys as a run and hit ‘backer. He is also adept in coverage, as he was often used in zones and assigned to slot receivers, tight ends and running backs in man coverage. He has some nice tape showing above-average coverage skills during 7-v-7 events.
Rogers recorded more than 230 tackles during his prep career with 16 tackles for loss, five sacks and five interceptions. He was a three-time District 16-6A unanimous first-team selection. He also throws the shot put on the track team. He has a personal best throw of 51’ 6.5″ and qualified for the Texas Class 6A Region II meet as a junior.
Rogers will be joined in this class by Ardmore (Okla.) High School sensation Eric Fields, who was a late-cycle steal by this staff. Fields was extremely under-the-radar as a recruit, receiving very little interest from FBS schools until Rhule arrived at Nebraska and immediately got in contact after Evan Cooper saw his film.
The Huskers had an inside guy as well, with Husker recruiting staffer Omar Hales’ son having been a 7-v-7 teammate with Fields. The staff loved his film as a linebacker, and he checks all of their boxes when it comes to verified athletic thresholds. Fields is one of the top sprinters in Oklahoma. Last year he ran a 7.07 in the indoor 60 meters and has personal bests of 23.29 (200m) and 58.75 (400m). He was a member of Ardmore’s 4×100 relay team that ran 41.77 and won the 2022 Oklahoma Class 5A state title. He was also part of their 4×200 relay team that ran 1:28.57 and placed second.
The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder is a multi-sport athlete whose father, Eric “Danger” Fields Sr., was a professional boxer and former national Golden Gloves heavyweight champion. Fields Sr. finished his boxing career in 2016 with a 24-4 record (16 KO), losing the WBO cruiserweight title bout in 2008, while also fighting for the WBC belt in 2013.
Fields was an absolute tackling machine for the Tigers. He led the state of Oklahoma in tackles as a senior with 180 (127 solo), including two sacks and two forced fumbles in just 10 games. This, following a junior campaign that saw him finish with 88 tackles before suffering a season-ending injury in the sixth game of the season. Fields broke his shin making a tackle on 3rd and 1 where he also injured the opponent. He stayed on the field and made the stop on 4th and 1 because he didn’t know his shin was broken and played through it.
At the time Nebraska got involved, Fields was considering scholarship offers from Arkansas State, North Texas, New Mexico State and Abilene Christian. Fields took an official visit to Jonesboro December 9-11 and was likely going to sign with the Red Wolves.
Omar Hales visited Fields just before the Arkansas State trip to plant the seed of visiting Lincoln before the early signing period. This is right around the time Texas Tech – coached by Matt Rhule acolyte Joey McGuire – also tried to get involved. The Huskers had Fields in Lincoln for an official visit December 16-18 and extended an offer while he was on campus.
Fields left Lincoln loving Tony White’s defense and how he could be used in it. He narrowed his choices to Nebraska, Texas Tech and Arkansas State, announcing his commitment and signing with the Huskers on December 21, during the early signing period.
I love this kid's film and can’t believe he flew so low on recruiting radars. The way he closes the gap on a play to get to the ball carrier is elite. He is a perfect Swiss Army Knife for Tony White’s 3-3-5 system, where his speed and versatility will allow coaches to use him all over the defense on all three levels.
Fields is a hybrid outside linebacker/strong safety who could be used as the rover in White’s system (his nickelback) and also be utilized coming off the edge as a blitzer. He will be best served playing in space where he can take advantage of his speed and explosiveness. He will need to get used to taking on blockers at the college level and get comfortable playing through guys since he won’t be able to simply run around them as he’s mainly done at Ardmore.
Fields is an extremely active sideline-to-sideline ball-attacking linebacker. Where he ultimately plays will likely depend on how much weight he can carry without losing any of the quickness and explosion that makes him such an intriguing prospect. If it were me, I wouldn’t want to push him much past the 225-pound range.
On Saturday, I’ll wrap up my analysis of this signing class by taking a look at the additions Nebraska made in the secondary.
Related: HuskerMax 2023 recruiting central
