OT Brandon Baker, TE Carter Nelson are top targets for Nebraska this cycle

Nebraska currently has the No. 25 class in the 2024 On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings. Head coach Matt Rhule and his staff are targeting players that could cause the Cornhuskers’ group to greatly rise, Sean Callahan of HuskerOnline said on the On3 Roundtable.

Two of those recruits are Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei four-star offensive tackle Brandon Baker and Ainsworth (Neb.) four-star tight end Carter Nelson. Baker last visited Nebraska on April 22, while Nelson is returning to Lincoln on June 23 for an official visit.

“Carter Nelson locally is a key one,” Callahan said. “He is the No. 1 player in Nebraska and a consensus top-100 player in the Industry Ranking on On3. Another guy is Brandon Baker. I think the effort they’ve put in to get this far down the road, it’s important. If they can get him back again, they’re going to be in the conversation with Brandon Baker and that would be huge.”

Baker is the No. 26 overall prospect and No. 1 offensive tackle in the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He is also the No. 2 player in California.

In addition to his trip to the Cornhuskers last month, Baker saw Nebraska on March 22.

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“Just the environment, coach (Matt) Rhule, he’s definitely brought a very strategic, I would say, very intentional staff around him,” Baker told Callahan and Steven Sipple on the Nebraska Football Recruit Spotlight. “(They’re) just wanting to develop young men. That’s definitely something unique about him. Obviously coming from the National Football League, (that’s) something you don’t see in that. I really like how he emphasizes on (how) they’re not here to just develop us as football players, but as well, as men.”

Meanwhile, Nelson is the No. 79 overall prospect and No. 5 tight end in the 2024 cycle, per the On3 Industry Ranking. On3 rates him higher than other recruiting services, according to the Industry Comparison.

Nelson is the No. 72 overall prospect and No. 4 tight end in the 2024 On300. He last visited Nebraska’s campus on May 27 with new Cornhuskers commit and Bellevue (Neb.) Bellevue West three-star quarterback Daniel Kaelin.

“Nebraska was by to see me today,” Nelson told Bryan Munson of Husker Online on Dec. 5. “They told me they would be out to see me every week and every time they can.”