Opposing Players We’re Dreading: Nebraska’s Stanley Morgan Jr.

It took some baffling hires since Bo Pelini, but Nebraska finally found its Golden Boy with the sweet offense and startling eyes. Finally, Nebraska is there, and so is Scott Frost, ready to unleash a tailored RPO attack on the rest of the Big Ten West.

Like Lovie Smith’s rehab in Champaign, it’s going to take a few years for Frost to bring in the right type of talent and bring back that vaunted “Husker Strength” program, but waiting in Lincoln is a nightmare of a receiver: Stanley Morgan Jr.

Morgan is a full-grown man coming off a 986-yard, 10-touchdown campaign in 2017, including a 96/1 performance against Illinois. The exciting thing for Husker fans, and scary change for the rest of us, is Frost is going to better utilize the explosive talent, and squeeze every possible explosive play from the senior wideout. Frankly, he’s a beast, and there isn’t much else. It’s what any smart coordinator would have done last year with Mikey Dudek while he was healthy. But Morgan Jr., is a larger target that maintains all of the Illinois great’s shiftiness.

As a 6-foot-1, finely tuned athletic machine, Morgan Jr. is strong enough to get open underneath, and then too fast or too quick for the linebackers and defensive backs around to bring him down. He’s the type of guy you really have to flow to because he’ll likely make the first guy miss and bolt upfield for extra yards or game-breaking plays. For an Illinois defense that will still be breaking in young defensive backs, and showing them the P-5 ropes, Morgan presents legitimate challenges and worry. While Frost can easily design plays to get him the ball through tunnel screen’s or run-pass-options, Morgan Jr. can as easily hitch on his third step, but instead of cutting into the tunnel, dive back outside for a deep ball.

Morgan’s making house calls this year.

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