If it seems like Nebraska football has lacked difference-makers on the field lately, that’s because it has. It’s the single biggest reason Nebraska has been a mid-level team ever since it joined the Big Ten.
Bo Pelini inherited a respectable amount of talent, but couldn’t keep the pantry stocked. Mike Riley seems to be making progress in that department, but the jury is still out. For two years in a row, only one Nebraska football player has been selected as a first-team All-Big Ten player. Although 2007 was the single worst year with zero Husker first-team honorees, you have to go all the way back to the pre-Bob Devaney era to find the last time Nebraska had only one first-team all-conference player in back-to-back seasons. This nonsense has to stop.
In 2010, NU had nine first-team All-Big 12 players. It’s obvious the Huskers have a lot of catching up to do in the next few years. Putting five Huskers on the All-Big Ten first team this fall would be a nice start and frankly, is a minimum number to hit for the Huskers to win the Big Ten West. Here are my five top choices for Husker first-team all-conference players in 2017:
1. Placekicker Drew Brown (senior). Brown was an honorable mention selection last fall. It’s hard to find a more dependable placekicker anywhere. Brown was 12-for-14 in field goals and hit all 38 of his extra-point tries. Brown has not missed from inside 40 yards since his sophomore season. He also had 30 touchbacks on 63 kickoffs last season. He’s the most dependable Husker at any position, and deserved at least second-team All-Big Ten last fall.
2. Cornerback Chris Jones (senior). Through the first half of last season, Jones was on track to be a first-team selection, but he really wasn’t as dominant in November. Jones can close the deal if he improves his consistency in 2017. I think he’ll be a leader in what could be a strong NU secondary, and he could near the top of the NFL Draft in 2018. He may not ramp up his 2016 stats (10 passes broken up and three interceptions, one returned for a touchdown) very much, because quarterbacks will generally avoid throwing in his direction. Hard to say for sure just how Bob Diaco will use him. If Diaco sticks religiously to his base scheme using a field corner and a boundary corner, then Jones won’t always becovering the other team’s best receiver.
3. Punt returner De’Mornay Pierson-El (senior). If nothing else, NU should be strong in special teams this season, especially if Pierson-El can recapture the magic of his freshman season. I think he will. The Huskers need a few punt-return TDs by the elusive senior. Pierson-El may catch 40 passes this season, but his greatest value is his explosiveness as a punt returner. All he needs is one block when he catches the punt (something the Huskers never really figured out under Bruce Read), and he’ll provide good field position more often than not.
4. Wide receiver Stanley Morgan Jr. (junior). Morgan could have a great season if new quarterback Tanner Lee gets time to throw. (See #5 below.) Morgan is the most physical of the Husker wide receivers, and probably will prove to be the most versatile as well. He’s the receiver I’d look for first on third-and-8. Hopefully, he can become more explosive as a junior. He has averaged below 14 yards per reception both his freshman (25 receptions, 304 yards, 3 TDs) and sophomore (33-453-2) seasons. Nebraska needs no fewer than six touchdowns out of Morgan this fall.
5. Offensive tackle Nick Gates (junior). The offensive line is the biggest X factor in the entire Nebraska football program this fall, and Gates is the biggest X factor in that o-line. The Huskers absolutely have to develop their offensive linemen into all-conference players, or the program won’t go anywhere. Frankly, Jerald Foster should contend for first-team all conference honors as well. The Huskers should have a fabulous left side with Gates and Foster this fall; they need to grab two of the 10 available spots on the Big Ten’s first- and second team l-line this December. Riley’s offense demands o-linemen who can both run block and pass block well. If they don’t get it, there will be very little progress on offense. Incredibly, no Husker offensive linemen signed to a letter of intent since the Bill Callahan era has been selected in the NFL Draft. That pitiful streak needs to end dramatically, hopefully with Gates in 2019. If he has an incredible season this fall and goes pro early, that would be encouraging. He really didn’t improve much as a sophomore last fall, although injuries were part of the reason.
It was a tough decision whether to put Gates or defensive lineman Carlos Davis at No. 5. Davis, an honorable mention All-Freshman selection by the Big Ten Network, will be a force to be reckoned with, and could well grab at least a second-team all-conference honor. The Huskers need strength in both offensive and defensive lines, and they need both lines represented well come all-conference selection time.
If Lee makes first-team all-Big Ten quarterback, we will have a huge season … with J.T. Barrett, Trace McSorley and Wilton Speight all returning, it would take a monstrous year from Lee to break through to the top level, and that won’t happen unless the o-line is excellent. The Huskers can win the West with merely a solid year from Lee.
Five is an embarrassingly modest number of first-team all-conference players for the Nebraska football program. Think back to 2010, when the Huskers had nine all-Big 12 first-teamers. They had seven first-team all Big Ten selections in 2012, and five in 2013. This is very achievable. And if Riley’s staff maintains its recruiting momentum, the numbers will climb. Landing and developing difference-makers — a whole bunch of them — is the only tenable scenario for Riley’s long-term survival in Lincoln.
Formerly the sports editor at the North Platte Bulletin and a sportswriter/columnist for the North Platte Telegraph, Tad Stryker started writing for this website in 2008. You can e-mail him at
