Nebraska offered three defensive linemen prospects from the state of New York on Friday. Two of the prospects are in the 2024 class (Aaris Bethea and Caden Brown) and the other prospects in the 2023 class (Dillan Fontus). It’s no surprise that two of the offers went to Erasmus Hall High School. They’ve produced Division prospects on a yearly basis for a good while now and Bethea and Brown are two of New York’s best.
AARIS BETHEA | 6-3 | 250 | DEFENSIVE TACKLE | 2024 | ERASMUS HALL
Bethea is one of two prospects from Erasmus Hall to be offered by Nebraska on Friday. His other offers include Buffalo, Rutgers, Syracuse, and West Virginia.
Here is what I had to say about Bethea after his performance at NextGen’s Trench King Challenge at The Star last month in Frisco Texas:
Bethea won MVP over a good number of talented defensive linemen. He consistently got lower than the offensive linemen he went against and rarely lost ground to power. Bethea has a quick first step and showed active hands which helped him separate from linemen who were trying to block him. I was impressed with him being young and having a rush plan a set of go-to moves during the 1v1's.
CADEN BROWN | 6-4 | 215 | DEFENSIVE END | 2024 | ERASMUS HALL
Nebraska is the latest to offer the talented defensive lineman out of Erasmus High School. He also has offers from Buffalo, Rutgers, Syracuse, and West Virginia.
DILLAN FONTUS | 6-5 | 245 | DEFENSIVE END | 2023 | CANARSIE HIGH SCHOOL
Edge defender Dillan Fontus picked up his latest offer from Nebraska on Friday. Fontus, who Is listed at 6-5, 245 pounds, is one of the top prospects in both New York and the Northeast. Illinois offered him last week. His ten-plus offers include West Virginia, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Ole Miss, and Missouri. Fontus recently attended Junior Day at West Virginia on Feb. 2.
Fontus has excellent size with desired combo of length and power. He has a strong upper-body and is able to jolt and dislodge defenders with initial contact. Fontus west into the neutral zone very quickly , takes on and sheds blocks quickly. He takes great angles as a tackler. Fontus also does a great job of using his upper-body power to punch, press, and extend in setting an edge. There’s several plays on his film where he just uses force to power his way into the backfield. Not twitchy, but is able to make up a lot of ground with is long strides.