A dozen Nevada football recruits to track in 2024 class as offers fly fast and furious

If you follow Nevada football coach Ken Wilson on Twitter, you know the Wolf Pack has been doling out scholarship offers to the 2024 recruiting class hand over fist in recent days.

By my count, Nevada has offered a minimum of 33 players scholarships over the last week, including some to 2025 recruits. 247Sports has the Wolf Pack offering 77 high school recruits in the 2024 class thus far, and that's an incomplete list.

When all is said and done, Nevada will probably sign 15-20 prep players in 2024 with another handful of FBS transfers and junior-college kids filling out the class. So most of these scholarship offers will go unrealized. The Wolf Pack has yet to receive a verbal commitment in the 2024 class as the recruiting period is just starting to heat up.

By comparison, Nevada's first verbal commitment in the 2023 class came March 21 (and that player ended up eventually de-committing). So, the Wolf Pack might be a couple of months away from getting its first 2024 pledge, but let's look at some of the more interesting players Nevada has offered in the upcoming recruiting class.

* QB Ryland Jessee: Per 247Sports, Nevada has offered seven quarterbacks, with four-star prospect Austin Mack being the highest rated. Landing him is a longshot, but teams typically take one quarterback per class. Jessee's only offer is from Nevada, and he hails from Helix High in La Mesa, Calif., which produced Alex Smith and Reggie Bush. Offered by Nevada in December, Jessee was solid last year (1,814 yards, 27 TDs) and is a player the Wolf Pack could land before his profile rises.

* QB Anthony Wolter: Offered by Nevada last month, Wolter is a Mountain West-level recruit with some Power 5 interest at the moment with his only other offer coming from San Jose State (Florida State has shown interest). The Lancaster, Calif., player threw for 1,518 yards and 13 touchdowns last season and is a realistic target to track throughout the coming months.

* QB Jake Schakel: We'll stick at quarterback and highlight Schakel, who is interesting because he's being pursued by Nevada's current staff and its former one as Colorado State is one of his three offers along with Nevada and FAU. From Puyallup, Wash., Schakel has played high school ball since his freshman season, throwing for 6,272 yards and 70 touchdowns in his career. He visited Nevada's campus in November 2021, although that was with the Wolf Pack's former staff (currently ay CSU).

* RB Jason Brown: The Wolf Pack is deep with scholarship running backs entering 2023, but 247Sports has Nevada with three offers to 2024 backs. The top-rated player is Brown, the No. 30 national recruit who almost certainly is not coming to Nevada given he has offers from Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Washington, Miami, Michigan State, Texas A&M and almost every other Top 25 team with big NIL money. But could he be a bounce back a couple years down the road ala Sean Dollars?

* WR Malachi Durant: Nevada reportedly has 14 scholarship offers to wideouts, which remains a big position of need. Durant is from Puyallup, Wash., with associate head coach Vai Taua spending the last half-decade recruiting the Pacific Northwest. Durant has five Pac-12 offers, so he might be a stretch for Nevada as the No. 476-rated recruit in his class. He caught 37 passes for 563 yards and seven touchdowns as a junior last season. Nevada offered him Wednesday.

* WR Jack Ressler: Ressler also was offered by Nevada this week and holds offers from nearly two dozen FBS programs, several at the Power 5 level. A 5-foot-11 slot wideout, Ressler is from Mater Dei High in Santa Ana, with Southern California typically being a stronghold for the Wolf Pack. The No. 615 recruit in his class, Ressler has caught 77 passes for 861 yards and seven touchdowns in three varsity seasons.

* TE Jayden Fortier: Tight end has been a big position of emphasis for Nevada since Wilson was hired, and offensive coordinator Derek Sage is one of the best tight end coaches in the nation. That position should eventually become a weapon for Nevada. The Wolf Pack offered Fortier this week along with him holding offers from Arizona State and Colorado State. The 6-foot-5, 215-pounder from Tualatin, Ore., caught 25 passes for 342 yards and three touchdowns last season.

* CB Marcelles Williams: Nevada landed one legacy player in the 2023 class in Nate Burleson II. The Wolf Pack would love to add another in Williams, the son of former Nevada defender Maxzell Williams Sr., who had a team-high 103 tackles for the Wolf Pack in 1999. The younger Williams is a top-100 recruit resplendent with Power 5 opportunities, but given his family ties to the Wolf Pack, perhaps there's a long-shot chance he picks Nevada.

* CB Nireek Sharpe: The Wolf Pack staff had a recent home visit with Sharp, a native of Stockbridge, Ga., which is not typically a place Nevada recruits (the last two Georgia recruits to come to Nevada were QB Austin Kirksey and DT Wesley Hollingshed, neither lasting more than a year). Sharpe also holds offers from Mississippi State, Georgia Tech, Arizona State and Michigan State. He has excellent size for a defensive back and is a projectable player with his share of Power 5 interest.

* DE Salesi Manu: We'll cap our list by looking at some local players. Manu plays for Bishop Manogue and is the son of Charles Manu, who played at Nevada. The younger Manu is listed as the No. 47 edge in his class and No. 631 overall. His offer list includes Colorado State, Nevada and UNLV, but there's Power 5 potential there. As a junior, he was the Northern 5A Lineman of the Year after posting 67 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks in 2022.

* OL Tyler Miller: The Galena High product has offers from Nevada and San Diego State but has visited Power 5 programs. He's been one of the top trench players in Northern Nevada the last two seasons. The Wolf Pack has had a lot of success with local offensive linemen becoming starters (or even better; see Austin Corbett). Miller could be next on that list. And despite being 6-foot-4 and 300 pounds, he's a good overall athlete who plays lacrosse and is on kickoff coverage team.

* WR Ben Scolari: Playing for Bishop Manogue last season, Scolari ranked 42nd nationally among juniors in receiving yards with 1,242 on 47 catches (26.4 yards per reception) with 17 touchdowns. He could be the second grandson of Chris Ault to sign with Nevada as his older brother, Drew, was a quarterback for the Wolf Pack for one season (2021). Ben's only scholarship offer to date is from Nevada, so the odds look good he could suit up in silver and blue.

You can look at all of Nevada's reported class of 2024 scholarship offers here.

Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.