Quartz Hill, Calif. ATH Matthew Tago has committed to Oregon State. It was a decision that came down to Nebraska and the Beavers. The Huskers were recruiting him as a quarterback, and he will start out as an outside linebacker at Corvallis. Here are a few pros and cons of his decision and my take on how it impacts NU and this class in the days leading up to signing day.
Cons:
***Nebraska was looking to add another QB in this class. They currently only have three scholarship signal-callers on the roster, and Scott Frost has said that he ideally would like to carry five on his roster.
***The Huskers used a valuable official visit on Tago and did invest a fair amount of time in recruiting him. NU only has two official visits to give until the number resets in August. Junior prospects can begin taking official visits this spring beginning on April 1. While only having two visits to give out is not something that should drastically hurt them, it is a less than ideal situation to be in.
Pros:
***If you ranked the remaining needs in this class quarterback would have been towards the bottom. Losing Tago may now actually free up an extra spot in the class for a position of greater need.
***Tago was going to be a bit of a project at quarterback. No incoming freshmen signal-callers are finished products, but it was especially the case with Tago. He had a unique skillset, but it was going to be a while before we would see him on the field. Now his spot may end up going to someone that could have an impact earlier in his career than Tago would have.
***The Vedral effect. I believe part of the reason Tago didn't end up picking NU was that the Huskers added UCF QB transfer Noah Vedral. With Tago being a bit of a project, would he ever have been able to pass someone who has already played in Frosts system and is a much more polished QB like Vedral on the depth chart? Not likely.
***This possibly means NU could add a grad transfer in the future like a Joe Burrow perhaps.
***I believe this will really help NU in recruiting a big time QB for 2019. Taking two quarterbacks in one class would have been used against the Huskers for 2019.
Overall, as long as Nebraska fills the spot Tago would have taken I don't think this will hurt NU too bad. In fact, there's a good chance it could work out for the best.
