Mickey Joseph confirms position change for Jailen Weaver

Nebraska interim head coach Mickey Joseph confirmed today that defensive lineman Jailen Weaver will be switching positions and joining the Cornhusker’s offensive line unit. Joseph was asked about the switch, and said that the position change was actually Weaver’s idea during their bye week.

“He came to me,” Joseph explained. “He called me on a Saturday afternoon on our off week and said, ‘I want to meet with you’.”

Weaver was a 3-star prospect out of high school from Antioch high school in California and was ranked a top 100 player in the state according to On3 Consensus. In his two seasons with the Cornhuskers, he’s seen limited action, just appearing in one game during his redshirt freshman year versus Fordham and recording one tackle.

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Weaver has the potential to make an impact for Nebraska’s offensive line in the future, and has the frame to do so, standing at a towering 6-foot-8, 345 pounds. Joseph confirmed that he will be playing offensive tackle for the Cornhuskers, and with the help of offensive line coach Donovan Raiola, could help a unit that has surely struggled at times this season.

“So I was happy that he said he wanted to get over there and help us, I think he’s gonna be a really good o-lineman once Donnie gets him and trains him a little bit,” Joseph said.

Mickey Joseph reveals Nebraska’s plans at quarterback

Nebraska faced quarterback turmoil on Saturday afternoon when Casey Thompson went down with an injury against Illinois. By the end of the game, interim head coach Mickey Joseph had used three different quarterbacks in a losing effort at home. Now, Joseph needs to plan for the future.

While speaking to the media, Mickey Joseph was asked how confident he was in Logan Smothers.

“I’m confident in him,” Mickey Joseph said. “But I think that you know, if we want to go with Chubba [Purdy] because we think Chubba throws it a little better, let’s go with Chubba.”

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After Casey Thompson left the game, Chubba Purdy took most of the snaps for Nebraska. However, the Cornhuskers also took a brief look at Logan Smothers when hecame in to briefly. So, it sounds like the Cornhuskers are going to openly evaluate each one of them before next week, even though Purdy is generally thought of as the backup.

At the same time, Casey Thompson is listed as day-to-day. So, he might be able to play in a week. That remains to be seen, though.

“But we have to take it from here because we don’t know what’s gonna go on with Casey. So, it’s a possibility you’ll see both of them.”

Both Purdy and Smothers were four-star recruits in the Class of 2020. Nebraska’s next game is against Minnesota.

On3’s Daniel Morrison contributed to this report