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With a tweet that most Husker fans feared but probably expected, Nebraska center Cam Jurgens opted out of his final two seasons in Lincoln and declared for the 2022 NFL Draft.
Forever a Husker #2022NFLdraft pic.twitter.com/KuvIDRO0Nn
— Cameron Jurgens (@CameronJurgens) December 15, 2021
Three years ago, Scott Frost raised eyebrows when he moved true freshman Cam Jurgens from tight end to center, and in doing so, invoked the name of one of the legends of Nebraska football.
“This guy can be the second coming of Dave Rimington.”
Well, the transition went slowly, and Jurgens never quite made it to that level. Snapping issues in 2019 and 2020 were the big issue with his game. But by 2021, those issues were locked away in the past, and he instead became the most dependable part of Nebraska’s offensive line this past season. Take these plays where Jurgens cleaned up the mistakes of Nebraska’s green offensive tackles.
As people have pointed out, #Huskers center Cam Jurgens did this several times Saturday. He double teamed with both 83 and 11 on the edge and pulled both ways *in pass pro*. Here’s another. Heck of an athlete. pic.twitter.com/crAx4TjqKj
— Parker Gabriel (@HuskerExtraPG) November 7, 2021
NFL scouts were seeing it too, and pegged Jurgens in as a middle round draft pick. Rumors that Jurgens was going to declare for the draft had picked up steam as of late, and tonight, he made it official.
While Jurgens’ early departure to the NFL means that he won’t quite meet the lofty expectations that Scott Frost placed on him early on, it’s clear that Frost saw something that is just now starting to appear. It’ll be up to the NFL to finish taking him to that next level of the game.
Husker fans everywhere sadly wish him the best for a long and successful NFL career, though we probably all selfishly wish he could have stuck around for another season or two.