CBS Sports’ latest list of top 5-star flip candidates includes a name Nebraska fans know well: Trae Taylor.
Cody Nagel wrote that Taylor, the quarterback committed to the Huskers and now ranked by 247Sports as the No. 1 QB in the 2027 class, remains on Ohio State’s radar even after months of speculation about whether he might eventually change course. Nagel pointed to Taylor’s summer work at the Elite 11 and The Opening Finals as part of the reason his profile has only grown.
“Trae Taylor is viewed as the future of Nebraska's quarterback room, and his standout performances this summer at the Elite 11 and The Opening Finals only strengthened his case as the No. 1 quarterback prospect in the 2027 class,” Nagel wrote. “ Ohio State hasn't made much ground in its attempt to flip Taylor away from the Huskers, but the Buckeyes continue to stay involved.”
Nagel also acknowledged how hard it would be to pull Taylor away from Nebraska.
“It is going to be very difficult to flip him from his commitment to Nebraska. The nation's top quarterback currently resides in the Cornhusker State and will end his high school career in Omaha, not too far from Lincoln.
If Nebraska wins this season, he is not going anywhere. That said, Ohio State has not given up and will continue pushing for a flip until Taylor stops answering the phone.”
Still, Taylor keeps saying the same thing: he’s staying with Nebraska. He has repeated that message over and over, and he even moved to Nebraska to play his final high school season closer to where he’ll enroll in college.
The skepticism from national analysts hasn’t gone away, though. The broader belief seems to be that Nebraska will eventually lose this kind of battle, especially in a recruiting era where commitments carry less weight than they used to.
There’s also the reality of Nebraska’s recent track record, which makes outsiders hesitant to believe the Huskers can hold onto the nation’s top quarterback prospects. Even so, Nebraska has now landed the best quarterback in the class two of the last three years.
Analysts have brushed off Dylan Raiola’s commitment as a special case tied to his being a Husker legacy and to Matt Rhule’s staff bending over backward to keep him happy, including keeping an offensive line coach who was clearly overmatched but happened to be his uncle. None of that explanation fits Taylor.
So the doubt lingers. National voices still talk as if Taylor is bound to flip before December, even though the quarterback himself keeps insisting he’ll be a Husker. The only question left is what those same analysts will say if he ends up making good on that promise.
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