Huskers land commitment from 4-star edge defender Dawson Merritt

Dawson Merritt committed to the Huskers on Thursday.

Nebraska landed a commitment from class of 2025 edge defender Dawson Merritt on Thursday. The four-star recruit made the announcement on social media.

According to the On3 recruiting rankings, Merritt is the 85th overall player in the 2025 class, the 15th overall edge defender, and the third overall player in his class from the state of Kansas.

Nebraska had been recruiting him for quite a while. He first received an offer from the program on November 7. He has since visited Lincoln several times and will be in town for the Wisconsin Badgers game in the next couple of weeks. He also was able to come to town for the Colorado Buffaloes game back in September.

Merritt initially committed to Alabama on June 26. Nebraska football was initially a major player in his initial recruitment.

Merritt is having a solid season for Blue Valley High School this year. He currently has 58 total tackles in eight games, including 11 tackles for loss, per statistics from MaxPreps.

This commitment certainly adds a tremendous amount of talent to the 2025 recruiting class. The Huskers now have Christian Jones and Merritt as linebackers. This bodes well for the future. The class itself currently ranks 19th overall nationally per the On3 recruiting rankings. Merritt is now the highest-rated commitment in the class.

This is certainly a big recruiting victory, especially with Early Signing Day just a few weeks away. This coaching staff has been able to close the deal on multiple occasions with major recruits, and Thursday’s commitment was just an example.

Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes, and opinions.