After the Spring, we will probably see a few more transfers to and from some of our Big Ten Foes. But at this point in the Spring Semester, rosters have been somewhat stabilized. So here is a look at the starters each Husker conference opponent will lose, who they are bringing back, and some of the transfers.
While you as a Husker fan should be fearful of EVERY Power 5 opponent, Nebraska caught some kind of weird fortuitous break with drawing Indiana and Rutgers this season. Neither team is particularly talented, but as you will see below, they will also be going through substantial rebuilds in 2022.
Northwestern
9 Returning Starters on Offense - QB Ryan Hilinksi coming back.
4 Returning Starters on Defense - Big Losses in Defensive Front 7 and All-American Safety Brandon Joseph
3 Transfers (all on Defense) - LB Wendell Davis from Pitt - 37 career tackles in 4 seasons, DE Ryan Johnson from Stanford - 23 career tackles in 4 seasons, DT Taishan Holmes from UMASS - 17 career tackles in 2 seasons at UMASS
Offense should be better due to experience. Defense might actually be worse than it was in 2021.
Indiana
3 Returning Starters on Offense
6 Returning Starters on Defense
- Indiana's returning offensive starters might be a tad misleading. WR DJ Matthews, Jr was a transfer from Florida State following the 2020 season. He was a very good player for the Seminoles and was a starter for the Hoosiers at the beginning of 2021. But he tore an ACL in September. The Hoosiers, much like the Huskers, also picked up some impact Offensive Players that should help soften the blow of losing a QB. Connor Bazelak transferred in from Mizzou and will take over under center. RB Shaun Shiver, is an Auburn Transfer, who should pick up the bulk of the load at RB. Indiana's offensive line returns its LT, LG, and Center, but the rest of that offense is very raw.
- The defense returns a lot experience at LB and in the secondary. But the D-line will be new. Indiana brought in some Power 5 Defensive Linemen transfers, but they have 0 combined starts between them:
DT LeDarrius Cox, from Ole Miss (0 starts in 3 seasons), Patrick Lucas DT from Ole Miss (0 starts in 3 seasons) Myles Jackson DE from UCLA, (0 Starts in 3 seasons) However, all three of these dudes have at least 3 seasons of eligibility remaining. Not bad picks up for their future.
On a side note, Indiana was hit harder by the Transfer Portal than any other team in the League. 13 scholarship players left Indiana between November and January.
Rutgers
4 Returning Starters on Offense - Vedral Returns
3 Returning Starters on Defense - Defensive front 7 is going to be SMALL and YOUNG.
- This is the least experienced group in The Big Ten. Their offensive line returns 19 total starts. But they may have 4 transfers starting on the offensive line:
OG Curtis Dunlap, transfer from Minnesota, ( 2 career Starts for the Gophers) JD DiRenzo, OT transfer from Sacred Heart (FCS All-American), Mike Ciafonni, LG transfer from Colorado State, (0 games played) and Willie Tyler, a LT from Louisiana- Monroe - (12 starts at La Monroe) Dunlap, DiRenzo, and Tyler will be immediate starters for Rutgers.
WR Sean Ryan, a transfer from West Virginia, started 10 career games at WVU with 3 career TD receptions.
Rutgers hasn't added any Defensive Transfers.
Purdue
7 Returning Starters on Offense - O'Connell Returns
4 Returning Starters on Defense
Proving their may indeed be a God, David Bell is going to the NFL. That guy killed not only the Huskers, but everyone in the Big Ten. Purdue's offense should be good again with the return of Aidan O'Connell, Milton Wright, and TE Payne Durham. The offensive line also brings back 3 starters and picked up an excellent transfer in RG Sione Finau. He has 18 career starts at Florida International, and should be a nice addition to their front. The Boilers also added to receiver transfers because Brohm loves receivers. One is Tyrone Tracy, from Iowa. I think that's a fairly overrated signing. Tracy was basically pushed out of PT at Iowa for two freshmen. IMO, Tracy won't even start at Purdue. They also added Elijah Canion from Auburn. He only had 7 catches for the Tigers in two seasons, but has a ton of upside.
IMO, the key to Purdue's 2021 success was not really about O'Connell or David Bell. The Boilers reached unprecedented heights under Brohm because of their defense. They had 3 NFL players in their defensive front 7 including a generational talent in George Karlaftis. That dude, along with DaMarcus Mitchell and Jaylan Alexander wreaked havoc on the Huskers. Purdue's secondary should be pretty good, but their defensive line and linebackers really only have 2 players with Big Ten playing experience. Purdue struck out on adding a lot of Defensive Transfer from the Portal.
Illinois
7 Returning Starters on Offense
4 Returning Starters on Defense
I need someone to explain this NCAA eligibility thing to me. Illinois RT Alex Palczewski received a waiver back for his 6th season of eligbility. Now, that happens a lot when a player misses a season due to injury. But lets look at what this dude has done:
2017 - 11 Starts
2018 - 12 Starts
2019 - 13 starts
2020 (Covid Year) - Started 4 games then tore his ACL.
2021 - 12 starts
We all know the Covid Year was a free year. But the NCAA somehow granted him an injury redshirt for what was already the free season, and then still allowed him to play 4 full seasons. He only has to start 2 games in 2022 to have started more games than any other player in College Football history.
The Illinois offensive line will still lose two NFL draft picks and their depth for 2022 will be very young. The biggest impact transfer for Illinois is QB Tommy DeVito from Syracuse. He might be one of the more underrated transfers into the Big Ten. I would be very worried if he was transferring to Northwestern. IMO, he will be a nice sparkplug for an Illinois offense that could benefit from a mobile QB. The Illini still have a terrific corp of running backs and receivers.
Defensively, Illinois actually became a very good unit by mid season in 2021. Part of that was due to coaching, but it also had to do with talent. That side of the football will send at least 4 dudes to get drafted, and I bet at least 6 of their starters end up on NFL rosters next season. The defensive front seven loses 5 starters, and all 5 of them will probably play on Sundays.
Depth will be an issue on both sides of the line for the Illini.
Minnesota
5 starters return on Offense
3 starters return on Defense
Prior to 2021, I was chastised a bit for picking Minnesota as the favorite in the West. I will double down on that selection by saying how the fvck did Minnesota lose to Illinois at home? That game seriously cost them the Big Ten title. We can take a step further and ask how the hell did Minnesota lose to Bowling Green? They were two terrible losses away from winning 11 games again. Why did I pick them?
No team in the West has had as much piggybacked Experienced TALENT as Minnesota. And the Covid season allowed them one more year to "keep the band together." But as confident as I was about Minnesota being a really good team in 2021, I'm equally as confident that NO team in the West is going to take as big as step back as the Gophers.
Minnesota is losing 3 offensive linemen and 3 defensive starters who have literally PLAYED IN EVERY GAME COACHED BY PJ FLECK. He's been there since Mike Riley's final season in Lincoln. On top of that, Minnesota seriously is going have 6 dudes drafted this Spring. DE Boye Mafe and RT Daniel Faalele will both be gone before the 3rd round starts.
QB Tanner Morgan will be back with Autman-Bell and Mo Ibrahim. The Gophers receivers and RB's should be good again. But so much of their success the last 3 seasons was contingent upon that Offensive Line that loses 4 starters. LG Chuck Filiaga, has transferred in from Michigan after 8 career starts for the Wolverines.
With defense taking some major hits, Minnesota has added DE Lorenzo Surgers, a transfer from Vanderbilt (8 career starts, 1 career sack), CB Ryan Stapp (multi year starters at FCS Abilene Christian), and CB Beanie Bishop, (a multi Year starter from Western Kentucky) DT Darnell Jefferies transferred from Clemson, but he has only played in 10 games in 4 seasons. DT Chris Smith transferred from Harvard. He is difficult to gauge. He was 1st Team All Ivy League, but almost every 2nd or 3rd team Scholarship Defensive Linemen could earn 1st Team All Ivy League
One bizarre stat about Minnesota football: If all the draft projections come true for this upcoming draft, 16 of Minnesota's 22 starters off their 2019 team will have gotten drafted. 12 of them were signed or initially recruited by Terry Clayes and Jerry Kill.
Michigan
8 Starters return on Offense - Will there be a QB controversy between McNamara and McCarthy?
3 Starters return on Defense - also losing their DC
The Wolverines offense will be much better next season for a couple of reasons:
- Ronnie Bell is returning back from injury. He's one of the best WR's in college football. Their WR haul in the signing class was really nice. I think they will also become move McCarthy to the starting spot and become more explosive due to his dual threat ability. I also think Michigan hauled in the top transfer with Center Olusegun Oluwatimi from Virginia. Their 2021 center will play in the NFL next season, and Michigan actually upgraded at that position.
- But as good as Michigan's offense will be in 2022, their defense has a number of questions. 3 of the top 50 players taken in the draft will potentially be defensive players from Michigan. The good news for Michigan is they recruit at a high level enough that they should be able to reload rather quickly despite all the inexperience. The loss of their DC will be interesting mainly due to the scheme going forward. Do they switch schemes again, or run the same thing going forward? UM took no transfers on defense.
Wisconsin
5 Starters return on Offense
5 Starters return on Defense
Is there a bigger slap in the face to your current QB than the attempted love affair with QB Caleb Williams? Graham Mertz is like a sidepiece playing QB. Everyone wants to upgrade. He knows everyone wants to upgrade, but he still shows up to bend over when they tell him "you're the only one for me baby." The interior of Wisconsin's offensive line is returning along with Braelon Allen, maybe the most impressive running back in the Big Ten. Wisconsin's WR's are AWFUL. One has to imagine that Williams looked at that receiving corp and was immediately scared off.
Wisconsin's defense loses some studs at all three levels, but their defense will be fine. Keanu Benton returns, and he's the best Nose in football. 24/7 claims UCLA Transfer CB Jay Shaw is the #1 transfer in the Big Ten. I think he will be an immediate impact player, but the rationale for 24/7's transfer rankings make no sense.
Iowa
8 Starters return on Offense
6 Starters return on Defense
I saw some criticism on Twitter about Iowa ignoring the Transfer Portal. That's unwarranted. Iowa should definitely be the favorite in the division because they have the least amount of uncertainty coming back. However, Spencer Petras still sucks. Can he fight off freshman Joey Labia? Good news is the Hawks return all 5 of their top receiving options. It should get better... "SHOULD"
The Hawks lost a couple of NFL guys in their secondary, but Riley Moss is coming back for his 18th season. One interesting thing of note about Iowa going into 2022: This will be the first season in the last 11 years where Iowa didn't have a probable All-American on their offensive or defensive lines.
While you as a Husker fan should be fearful of EVERY Power 5 opponent, Nebraska caught some kind of weird fortuitous break with drawing Indiana and Rutgers this season. Neither team is particularly talented, but as you will see below, they will also be going through substantial rebuilds in 2022.
Northwestern
9 Returning Starters on Offense - QB Ryan Hilinksi coming back.
4 Returning Starters on Defense - Big Losses in Defensive Front 7 and All-American Safety Brandon Joseph
3 Transfers (all on Defense) - LB Wendell Davis from Pitt - 37 career tackles in 4 seasons, DE Ryan Johnson from Stanford - 23 career tackles in 4 seasons, DT Taishan Holmes from UMASS - 17 career tackles in 2 seasons at UMASS
Offense should be better due to experience. Defense might actually be worse than it was in 2021.
Indiana
3 Returning Starters on Offense
6 Returning Starters on Defense
- Indiana's returning offensive starters might be a tad misleading. WR DJ Matthews, Jr was a transfer from Florida State following the 2020 season. He was a very good player for the Seminoles and was a starter for the Hoosiers at the beginning of 2021. But he tore an ACL in September. The Hoosiers, much like the Huskers, also picked up some impact Offensive Players that should help soften the blow of losing a QB. Connor Bazelak transferred in from Mizzou and will take over under center. RB Shaun Shiver, is an Auburn Transfer, who should pick up the bulk of the load at RB. Indiana's offensive line returns its LT, LG, and Center, but the rest of that offense is very raw.
- The defense returns a lot experience at LB and in the secondary. But the D-line will be new. Indiana brought in some Power 5 Defensive Linemen transfers, but they have 0 combined starts between them:
DT LeDarrius Cox, from Ole Miss (0 starts in 3 seasons), Patrick Lucas DT from Ole Miss (0 starts in 3 seasons) Myles Jackson DE from UCLA, (0 Starts in 3 seasons) However, all three of these dudes have at least 3 seasons of eligibility remaining. Not bad picks up for their future.
On a side note, Indiana was hit harder by the Transfer Portal than any other team in the League. 13 scholarship players left Indiana between November and January.
Rutgers
4 Returning Starters on Offense - Vedral Returns
3 Returning Starters on Defense - Defensive front 7 is going to be SMALL and YOUNG.
- This is the least experienced group in The Big Ten. Their offensive line returns 19 total starts. But they may have 4 transfers starting on the offensive line:
OG Curtis Dunlap, transfer from Minnesota, ( 2 career Starts for the Gophers) JD DiRenzo, OT transfer from Sacred Heart (FCS All-American), Mike Ciafonni, LG transfer from Colorado State, (0 games played) and Willie Tyler, a LT from Louisiana- Monroe - (12 starts at La Monroe) Dunlap, DiRenzo, and Tyler will be immediate starters for Rutgers.
WR Sean Ryan, a transfer from West Virginia, started 10 career games at WVU with 3 career TD receptions.
Rutgers hasn't added any Defensive Transfers.
Purdue
7 Returning Starters on Offense - O'Connell Returns
4 Returning Starters on Defense
Proving their may indeed be a God, David Bell is going to the NFL. That guy killed not only the Huskers, but everyone in the Big Ten. Purdue's offense should be good again with the return of Aidan O'Connell, Milton Wright, and TE Payne Durham. The offensive line also brings back 3 starters and picked up an excellent transfer in RG Sione Finau. He has 18 career starts at Florida International, and should be a nice addition to their front. The Boilers also added to receiver transfers because Brohm loves receivers. One is Tyrone Tracy, from Iowa. I think that's a fairly overrated signing. Tracy was basically pushed out of PT at Iowa for two freshmen. IMO, Tracy won't even start at Purdue. They also added Elijah Canion from Auburn. He only had 7 catches for the Tigers in two seasons, but has a ton of upside.
IMO, the key to Purdue's 2021 success was not really about O'Connell or David Bell. The Boilers reached unprecedented heights under Brohm because of their defense. They had 3 NFL players in their defensive front 7 including a generational talent in George Karlaftis. That dude, along with DaMarcus Mitchell and Jaylan Alexander wreaked havoc on the Huskers. Purdue's secondary should be pretty good, but their defensive line and linebackers really only have 2 players with Big Ten playing experience. Purdue struck out on adding a lot of Defensive Transfer from the Portal.
Illinois
7 Returning Starters on Offense
4 Returning Starters on Defense
I need someone to explain this NCAA eligibility thing to me. Illinois RT Alex Palczewski received a waiver back for his 6th season of eligbility. Now, that happens a lot when a player misses a season due to injury. But lets look at what this dude has done:
2017 - 11 Starts
2018 - 12 Starts
2019 - 13 starts
2020 (Covid Year) - Started 4 games then tore his ACL.
2021 - 12 starts
We all know the Covid Year was a free year. But the NCAA somehow granted him an injury redshirt for what was already the free season, and then still allowed him to play 4 full seasons. He only has to start 2 games in 2022 to have started more games than any other player in College Football history.
The Illinois offensive line will still lose two NFL draft picks and their depth for 2022 will be very young. The biggest impact transfer for Illinois is QB Tommy DeVito from Syracuse. He might be one of the more underrated transfers into the Big Ten. I would be very worried if he was transferring to Northwestern. IMO, he will be a nice sparkplug for an Illinois offense that could benefit from a mobile QB. The Illini still have a terrific corp of running backs and receivers.
Defensively, Illinois actually became a very good unit by mid season in 2021. Part of that was due to coaching, but it also had to do with talent. That side of the football will send at least 4 dudes to get drafted, and I bet at least 6 of their starters end up on NFL rosters next season. The defensive front seven loses 5 starters, and all 5 of them will probably play on Sundays.
Depth will be an issue on both sides of the line for the Illini.
Minnesota
5 starters return on Offense
3 starters return on Defense
Prior to 2021, I was chastised a bit for picking Minnesota as the favorite in the West. I will double down on that selection by saying how the fvck did Minnesota lose to Illinois at home? That game seriously cost them the Big Ten title. We can take a step further and ask how the hell did Minnesota lose to Bowling Green? They were two terrible losses away from winning 11 games again. Why did I pick them?
No team in the West has had as much piggybacked Experienced TALENT as Minnesota. And the Covid season allowed them one more year to "keep the band together." But as confident as I was about Minnesota being a really good team in 2021, I'm equally as confident that NO team in the West is going to take as big as step back as the Gophers.
Minnesota is losing 3 offensive linemen and 3 defensive starters who have literally PLAYED IN EVERY GAME COACHED BY PJ FLECK. He's been there since Mike Riley's final season in Lincoln. On top of that, Minnesota seriously is going have 6 dudes drafted this Spring. DE Boye Mafe and RT Daniel Faalele will both be gone before the 3rd round starts.
QB Tanner Morgan will be back with Autman-Bell and Mo Ibrahim. The Gophers receivers and RB's should be good again. But so much of their success the last 3 seasons was contingent upon that Offensive Line that loses 4 starters. LG Chuck Filiaga, has transferred in from Michigan after 8 career starts for the Wolverines.
With defense taking some major hits, Minnesota has added DE Lorenzo Surgers, a transfer from Vanderbilt (8 career starts, 1 career sack), CB Ryan Stapp (multi year starters at FCS Abilene Christian), and CB Beanie Bishop, (a multi Year starter from Western Kentucky) DT Darnell Jefferies transferred from Clemson, but he has only played in 10 games in 4 seasons. DT Chris Smith transferred from Harvard. He is difficult to gauge. He was 1st Team All Ivy League, but almost every 2nd or 3rd team Scholarship Defensive Linemen could earn 1st Team All Ivy League
One bizarre stat about Minnesota football: If all the draft projections come true for this upcoming draft, 16 of Minnesota's 22 starters off their 2019 team will have gotten drafted. 12 of them were signed or initially recruited by Terry Clayes and Jerry Kill.
Michigan
8 Starters return on Offense - Will there be a QB controversy between McNamara and McCarthy?
3 Starters return on Defense - also losing their DC
The Wolverines offense will be much better next season for a couple of reasons:
- Ronnie Bell is returning back from injury. He's one of the best WR's in college football. Their WR haul in the signing class was really nice. I think they will also become move McCarthy to the starting spot and become more explosive due to his dual threat ability. I also think Michigan hauled in the top transfer with Center Olusegun Oluwatimi from Virginia. Their 2021 center will play in the NFL next season, and Michigan actually upgraded at that position.
- But as good as Michigan's offense will be in 2022, their defense has a number of questions. 3 of the top 50 players taken in the draft will potentially be defensive players from Michigan. The good news for Michigan is they recruit at a high level enough that they should be able to reload rather quickly despite all the inexperience. The loss of their DC will be interesting mainly due to the scheme going forward. Do they switch schemes again, or run the same thing going forward? UM took no transfers on defense.
Wisconsin
5 Starters return on Offense
5 Starters return on Defense
Is there a bigger slap in the face to your current QB than the attempted love affair with QB Caleb Williams? Graham Mertz is like a sidepiece playing QB. Everyone wants to upgrade. He knows everyone wants to upgrade, but he still shows up to bend over when they tell him "you're the only one for me baby." The interior of Wisconsin's offensive line is returning along with Braelon Allen, maybe the most impressive running back in the Big Ten. Wisconsin's WR's are AWFUL. One has to imagine that Williams looked at that receiving corp and was immediately scared off.
Wisconsin's defense loses some studs at all three levels, but their defense will be fine. Keanu Benton returns, and he's the best Nose in football. 24/7 claims UCLA Transfer CB Jay Shaw is the #1 transfer in the Big Ten. I think he will be an immediate impact player, but the rationale for 24/7's transfer rankings make no sense.
Iowa
8 Starters return on Offense
6 Starters return on Defense
I saw some criticism on Twitter about Iowa ignoring the Transfer Portal. That's unwarranted. Iowa should definitely be the favorite in the division because they have the least amount of uncertainty coming back. However, Spencer Petras still sucks. Can he fight off freshman Joey Labia? Good news is the Hawks return all 5 of their top receiving options. It should get better... "SHOULD"
The Hawks lost a couple of NFL guys in their secondary, but Riley Moss is coming back for his 18th season. One interesting thing of note about Iowa going into 2022: This will be the first season in the last 11 years where Iowa didn't have a probable All-American on their offensive or defensive lines.
