The Nebraska Cornhuskers offered a four-star defensive lineman out of Illinois. Jason Dowell is a 6-foot-4, 285-pound prospect out of East Saint Louis.
The class of 2025 recruit is coming off a successful junior season in which he recorded 83 tackles, 30 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks. He holds offers from Auburn, Iowa and Oregon among others.
Nebraska’s class of 2025 has four commits. They are defensive lineman Tyson Terry, athlete Caden VerMaas, running back Conor Booth and athlete CJ Simon.
Head coach Matt Rhule opened his National Signing Day press conference with seven minutes of thank yous.
Among those receiving shouts were the recruits who signed and their parents, the Husker staff and former players, Nebraska volleyball, the city of Lincoln and the fans all over the country.
Rhule believes the combined effort helped Nebraska earn the No. 19 overall class in the 247Sports’ composite rankings. Wednesday helped show what the future in Lincoln will look like going forward.
“Today for me at least is always a day of gratitude,” Rhule said. “I’m grateful for all the players that they trusted their future to us.”
The Huskers made a splash on Monday, landing quarterback Dylan Raiola. The 5-star recruit made a late flip to Nebraska after originally being committed to Georgia. Raiola called Rhule about going on a late visit last week, but Rhule wanted to make sure Raiola made the best decision for himself.
“I challenged him like ‘Hey make sure you’re serious about this, because I don’t want this to be something that isn’t right for you,” Rhule said. “And [Raiola] said ‘No, my life has a greater purpose than just being the top recruit. I know what Nebraska means to my family and know what it’s meant for me and I’d Iike to come there.”
Quarterback was a position in need for the Huskers after a woeful 2023 season where three players combined for 1,631 yards, 10 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. They addressed it not only with Raiola but also with 3-star Daniel Kaelin from Bellevue West. Kaelin was given a chance to look elsewhere with the Raiola news but remained committed to Nebraska.
“Daniel Kaelin’s been loyal to us from the very beginning,” Rhule said. “He just wants to compete and wants to be a Husker.”
Rhule ultimately decided to go young with quarterbacks instead of targeting someone in the transfer portal. He emphasized that he “was never really too interested in one-year quarterbacks” while also stating that sophomores Chubba Purdy and Heinrich Haarberg “have earned the right” to compete for a starting job in the spring.
The Huskers have remained quiet with the portal in all positions, only bringing in one transfer so far in St. Francis sophomore defensive back Blye Hill. However, Rhule is more set on bringing key pieces back who still have a year of eligibility left.
“We have our own portal,” Rhule said. “We got Bryce Benhart out of that portal. We got Ben Scott out of that portal. [Isaac Gifford] decided to come back even though he’s probably gonna get drafted and Ty Robinson passing on a chance to get drafted to come back. I mean that’s unbelievable.”
