2023 Husker Signee Analysis: Tight End

A newcomer to football, Ismael Smith Flores joins a position group at Nebraska that’s thin on experience

Ismael Smith Flores vai Twitter

Heading into the offseason, Nebraska's tight end room was in need of a major influx of talent. The Huskers lose Travis Vokolek and Chancellor Brewington, the team's top two tight ends from last season. In an already thin room, that leaves Nebraska with walk-on Nate Boerkircher (6 catches, 52 yards, TD) as the top returning producer. The room could have looked even worse. Thomas Fidone gave serious thought to entering the portal and restarting his college career elsewhere.

The room is chock-full of unproven underclassmen. All six returning scholarship players are complete unknowns. Adding someone through the transfer portal was a priority for the new staff. Nebraska is resetting the position and now has the top-rated tight ends from the 2020 and 2021 recruiting classes, with former five-star Georgia tight end Arik Gilbert and Fidone, who has seen his career sidetracked by back-to-back knee injuries.

Earlier installments in Jeremy Pernell’s series. • The wide receivers • Running back Kwinten Ives • Placekicker Tristan Alvano • Nebraska signee rankings • Top 40 recruiting classes for 2023

If Fidone can stay healthy and Gilbert can find balance with his off-field issues, this room could be pretty lethal. I would temper expectations, but the talent and potential are certainly there for this room to keep defensive coordinators up at night with a formidable 1-2 punch.

Along with adding Gilbert through the portal, the staff also grabbed a promising 2023 high school recruit to help revamp the profile of the room.

Although rumors of him joining the staff surfaced back on December 20, it wasn't until January 11 that Bob Wager of Arlington Martin High School in Texas was officially confirmed as part of Rhule's staff. His first order of business on the recruiting trail was extending an offer to Ismael Smith Flores, one of his players at Arlington Martin. Wager had mentioned Smith Flores to Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule before even becoming part of his staff. Once Wager was hired, he reintroduced the idea of adding Smith Flores to the class.

Much like receiver Jeremiah Charles, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Smith Flores played just one season for Wager - Smith Flores’ only season of football to this point. That might come as a surprise to some, considering he comes from a football family.

His father, Leroy Smith, played defensive end at Iowa from 1987-91. He was an All-American as a senior and earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors. He still holds the Big Ten single-season sacks record (18) and was inducted into the Iowa Hall of Fame in 2019. Ismael has a cousin, Adonis Jennings, who had a cup of coffee with the Green Bay Packers after playing for Rhule at Temple. Another cousin, Ka’lial Glaud, had a brief stint in the NFL after playing for Rutgers from 2009-12. His cousin Deion Jennings was just named honorable-mention All-Big Ten after leading Rutgers in tackles last season.

Despite football being in the family's DNA, Smith Flores' father didn’t want him playing the sport. Ismael had been asking for permission since middle school - to no avail. He excelled in basketball instead, until his father finally relented a week before fall practices started.

Smith Flores had to be taught everything. How to stand, where to line up, how to get off the line - everything. He was starting at ground zero. Arlington Martin played him at the X receiver position and Smith Flores essentially was on the field getting by on raw athleticism. He finished the season with 15 catches for 362 yards and three touchdowns.

Smith Flores never expected the opportunities that would come from his one season on the gridiron. He received his first offer from Iowa on October 13, and Michigan State followed four days later. He took an official visit to Iowa City the last weekend in October and the Hawkeyes took the pole position in his recruitment.

His stock began to take off at the beginning of November, and soon Smith Flores was holding double-digit offers, with Indiana and Vanderbilt also offering in January. Iowa pushed hard for him to sign in December, but Smith Flores bypassed to let his recruitment play out.

By the time Wager and Nebraska got in the picture, Smith Flores was lining up an official visit to Rutgers and was considering trips to Texas Tech and North Texas. Boston College, Michigan and LSU were also starting to sniff around.

After Smith Flores visited Rutgers over the January 14-15 weekend, Husker coaches Rhule, Wager and Evan Cooper were at his high school on the 17th to watch him and good friend Jeremiah Charles beat Arlington High School 73-54 on the hardwood.

A few days later, the pair were in Lincoln on official visits together. Smith Flores announced his commitment on his Instagram page January 23 following his visit, and he signed on February 1.

This was a big win for Nebraska and a feather in the cap for Wager. Beating out Iowa for a legacy recruit when the Hawkeyes had a three-month head start in the recruitment is saying something. Both of his parents graduated from Iowa, and Smith Flores' godfather is Danan Hughes, his father's teammate at Iowa and one of the best receivers in the history of the program. The family connections are as strong as they get, and Wager overcame that. Quite impressive. That's not to gloss over beating out a Rutgers team with family on the roster.

Smith Flores has the size to play either wide receiver or tight end in college. Iowa was recruiting him as an X receiver, while most other schools were recruiting him as more of an H-back hybrid. That's Nebraska's plan.

Thomas Fidone was his player host during his visit, and that's a good player comp for what the staff envisions down the line with Smith Flores. As a flex tight end, they'll want to get him around 250 pounds where they can use him all over the formation.

In his very limited experience, Smith Flores has shown his natural athleticism and basketball foundation can translate on the football field. He possesses a high developmental ceiling, but I wouldn't expect much out of him for at least a year. This will be Wager's construction project with hopes the game clicks for him mentally down the line. Keep in mind, Wager has been around this kid, so he knows his potential. Also keep in mind he was involved in coaching in the Under Armor All-American Game for several years and served on the game’s board of directors. He knows what elite players look like.

On Tuesday, I'll turn my focus toward the Big Uglies and discuss how the team took a nice step toward restocking the O-line.

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Related: HuskerMax 2023 recruiting central

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