Highly rated guard picks Nebraska

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BYSTEVEN M. SIPPLE

Richard Pacheco knows a little about the latest player to accept a football scholarship offer from Nebraska.

Pacheco, you see, plays center alongside guard Rodney Picou on the Canyon Springs High School team in Moreno Valley, Calif.

The 6-foot-4, 300-pound Picou is the sixth player known to have given Nebraska a verbal commitment to join its 2005 recruiting class.

"He's just a dominant player," Pacheco said of Picou. "He's someone you can really depend on. For me, it's a comfort issue. I usually don't have to help with double teams on his side."

Picou is the nation's third-ranked offensive guard according to rivals.com, a national recruiting Web site. He selected Nebraska over Arizona State, Florida State, Southern Cal, Utah and Washington State.

"He's a big kid who can move extremely well," said Jeremy Crabtree, an analyst for rivals.com who watched Picou perform at a Nike recruiting camp in San Diego. "He has great feet - that's the thing I really liked about him. Obviously, you want that in a pass blocker."

Picou isn't just a pass blocker, Crabtree said.

"He's not a bad run blocker at all - he can really grind it," Crabtree said.

Pacheco said Picou picked Nebraska in part because Husker coaches helped him understand what he needed to accomplish to prepare for classes next year.

Picou attended Nebraska's summer football camp in July.

"I think he made a great choice,"Pacheco said.

Picou is a four-star recruit in rivals.com's five-star system. He's the third four-star recruit who's committed to Nebraska's 2005 class, joining quarterback Harrison Beck of Clearwater, Fla., and linebacker Phillip Dillard of Jenks, Okla.

"You have to think Nebraska's in line for a top-15 class,"Crabtree said. "They've done a masterful job of being aggressive nationally. They've worked their butts off to get kids interested in Nebraska who should be interested in Nebraska."