Branson Yager Commits to Nebraska

LINCOLN – Branson Yager is sold. Nebraska has virtually everything he’s looking for.
“Virtually” is the key word, because the offensive lineman from Grantsville, Utah, still hasn’t physically been to campus. But the 6-foot-7, 332-pound three-star prospect saw enough since the Huskers offered him a scholarship six weeks ago to make things public Monday night, committing as the fifth known member of NU’s 2021 class.
Yager was supposed to tour Nebraska last month before recruiting shutdowns set in related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Little things helped convince the lineman the Huskers were his team. Coaches got on a call with both his parents at once — not always easy, since they divorced when he was in middle school. The staff also assured Yager, a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints faith, that should he choose to go on a two-year mission at some point, his scholarship would be deferred. Right now, he said, his only plans are to graduate in May 2021 and focus on football.
Nebraska likes Yager’s physical frame, he said, and the way he finishes plays. He needs to drop some weight — he wants to be around 290-300 by this fall — but is athletic enough to play anywhere along the line. A starter at right tackle, he is also a defensive lineman and long snapper for his prep team.
Yager considers leadership important enough that he attended a weekend conference last month and approaches it like he does weightlifting — as a daily exercise.
Yager informed coaches of his decision Sunday, an amazing moment for someone who wasn’t sure sports would be in his future a few years earlier. As a fifth grader, he broke his arm so seriously that it took 18 months to recover. Doctors removed a baseball’s worth of skin on his arm but told him amputation was a possibility. The terrified boy used the time to put on good weight for the first time and learned how to overcome adversity.  The Huskers are looking forward to adding that grit and determination to the roster.