'12 CA ILB Hardy Nickerson Jr. (Signed to Cal)

[Buffnik]

Rivals
Scout
ESPN
247 Sports

Bishop O'Dowd H.S. (Oakland, CA)

Ht: 5-foot-11
Wt: 218 lbs
40:

Rivals rating: 3*-5.6rr; #38 ILB
Scout rating: 2*; #79 MLB
ESPN rating: 3*-75 grade; #109 OLB
247s rating: 2*-77 rating; #73 ILB

Reported Offers: Colorado, California, Nebraska, Utah, CSU, Idaho, Navy, UNLV, UTEP

 

[Buffnik]

[video=youtube;ZhIhys9JszY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhIhys9JszY[/video]

 

[Buffnik]

Nickerson's dad was a long-time NFL linebacker who was named the O'Dowd head coach in 2010. I'm hoping that the NFL connections of our staff pays dividends in recruiting in these types of cases, much like Al Groh was able to do at Virginia where Howie Long and other NFLers trusted him with their sons.

 

[LongHaulBuff]

Hope he's friends with (PWO) Briscoe.

 

[slider]

Undersized for an LB?

 

[Buffnik]

Undersized for an LB?

Maybe a bit. However, a lot of the articles I saw talked up his speed as his big asset. He's probably under-recruited because he's not 6'3", but I'll take 5'11" with speed along with high football IQ from great coaching... and hope that he's another Jordon Dizon.

 

[White_Rabbit]

Nickerson's dad was a long-time NFL linebacker who was named the O'Dowd head coach in 2010. I'm hoping that the NFL connections of our staff pays dividends in recruiting in these types of cases, much like Al Groh was able to do at Virginia where Howie Long and other NFLers trusted him with their sons.

Hopefully without all of the losing that also came with Groh.

I wonder what this means for Schany? It sounded like he was close to heading our way.

 

[JtsRcktVctry]

I just like that his dad was nicknamed "The Dragon." That's badass. What would a baby dragon be?

 

[MtnBuff]

Short may be less important at LB than almost any other defensive position. There is a long history of very good LBs who were overlooked because of their height.

Tom Jackson, Sam Mills, London Fletcher are all guys who have had success in the NFL without being tall. More importantly Nickerson looks pretty stout, solid enough to hold up against blockers and not get run through by ballcarriers.

 

[Shldr2Shldr]

Short may be less important at LB than almost any other defensive position. There is a long history of very good LBs who were overlooked because of their height.

Tom Jackson, Sam Mills, London Fletcher are all guys who have had success in the NFL without being tall. More importantly Nickerson looks pretty stout, solid enough to hold up against blockers and not get run through by ballcarriers.

Zach Thomas

 

[Buffnik]

I don't like seeing that Cal offer. If he wants to follow in his dad's footsteps as a legacy, we've got no chance.

 

[Duff Man]

Too bad. Have seen in various places that Cal is likely to offer Dalis Bruce soon as well. They are putting together a good class.

 

[Heywood]

Well even if we loose out to Cal, I am liking a few things I am seeing. Alot of the recruits we got onto early seem to have rising stock and offer lists. Seems like we may have a good nose for talent and are good at sniffing it out early. This makes me feel better about some of our commits that others are whining about. Perhaps we just got in early on these guys and they would have had more offers and stars had they stayed in the recruiting process longer (read norgard). At least that is my hopeful and glass half full interpretation.

 

[Highlander27]

Kick Cal's ass this year and we're free to poach from their class. Some kid's will listen.

 

[JRK1212]

Kick Cal's ass this year and we're free to poach from their class. Some kid's will listen.

The CU bookstore is selling t-shirts with the Cal and CU logo accompanied by some phrase like "inaugural Pac-12 game" and the games date. Clearly someone didn't get the memo about it being a non-conference game.

 

[JRK1212]

Committed to Cal.