SSO Spring position previews

[HBK4life]

2024 Spring Preview: Quarterbacks​

We are starting our spring position previews with the quarterback position, as that is one of the most intriguing spots in my opinion for the team. Last year, Matt Rhule brought in Jeff Sims at the guidance of a coach he trusted and it fell flat on its face. From dropping snaps, to fumbling, to just an entirely weird season when it came to this spot, 2023 was one to forget for the most part.

The lone bright spot (though some of you may argue it isn’t one) is that Heinrich Haarberg came out of nowhere and led Nebraska to multiple victories giving him precious starting experience and having him as QB1 heading into fall camp. We dive into this position group and figure out who may emerge.

Glenn Thomas Takes Over For Satterfield At QB Coach
I wanted to start by talking about this a little bit. I can tell you of the 3 practices i’ve been to, I can tell a noticeable difference between how he coaches the position compared to Satterfield last year.

Thomas is extremely technical, talking to the QBs about arm placement, footwork, etc. While last year our QB coach was more talking about progressions and working from within the offense. I think the QB coaching this year will help people see a big difference in HH’s throwing, but also help our young guys Raiola and Kaelin come along.
What does interest me is I always wanted my offensive coordinator to be the QB coach. You want that guy around the signal callers as much as possible so they can just be an extension of what your OC is and they know why he is calling what he is calling. While Thomas is co-OC, Satt is the one with the final say. I don’t anticipate this to be a huge deal, but if I had my way with it I would want Satt to be the more technical QB coach that called the plays and have someone else go down with the TEs. That’s extremely nitpicky though, I don’t anticipate it being an issue.

The Quarterback Room
As we discussed, we have 3 scholarship players in Heinrich Haarberg, Dylan Raiola, and Danny Kaelin. Each has a unique story to them, but each could possibly have their place in Lincoln at any given time, game, or season.

I was one of those people extremely worried about the number of QBs that we have in the spring and heading into the fall. With only 3 scholarship QBs I got concerned. After watching a few practices, I do think we have the right amount of guys. HH, Raiola, and Kaelin can all work with the top offenses while our walk-ons handle the scout team duties for now. I don’t see a need to add another QB after this spring unless someone leaves. Further, Rhule made a point he actually likes having fewer QBs here this spring as it gives guys that absolutely need reps plenty of opportunities to get them in the limited practice time/days. If you remember, last year we had 6 scholarship QBs on the roster and that’s before counting walk-ons for spring. While some of them were hurt, you just couldn’t get the amount of reps you needed or give people the opportunities they deserved.
HH is QB1 as of right now. Rhule will always go with the returning starter over the true freshmen or first year guys that come in. But I do see HH getting overtaken before the first game (barring an injury) by the next guy. Haarberg will be able to find his place though. Between being a threat at TE, or having him be our 2nd/3rd and short QB, it gives you a lot of options. Think of him as a wildcat RB but with the ability to throw. He will be able to get on the field for us to take pressure off needing to start Raiola.

Our second guy is Dylan Raiola. As I said when Thompson came here that there wasn’t a QB battle, as I said when Sims came here that there wasn’t a QB battle, and as i’ll say for 2024, there isn’t a QB battle. Raiola was the #1 rated QB coming out of high school choosing between Ohio State, Georgia, and us. He didn’t decommit from the Bulldogs to come and backup here as a freshman. Also, we didn’t give him a 7 figure NIL deal to come and sit on the sidelines. Every Nebraska person that understands things knows what will happen come the first game, you just can’t say it yet if you are in that building.

The third QB is Danny Kaelin, a local kid from Bellevue West. If you are unfamiliar, Kaelin committed to Nebraska very quickly after Raiola told us he was going elsewhere in the spring of 2023 and was a very big help peer-recruiting guys like Carter Nelson and others. How fortunate is Nebraska to have Kaelin come in during the same class as Raiola? An Elite 11 QB, he is everything you would want in an option just in case Haarberg or Raiola go down for an extended period of time. As many have heard, Kaelin is throwing the ball unbelievably well this spring. He’s one of the first guys in and out of every drill and in meetings, and he has run an offense close to what we are doing here in high school.
Raiola throws the ball so effortlessly it’s really fun to watch. Kaelin is close to his arm talent but not quite, but with those two we at least have a decent 1-2 punch to throw the ball. Our change of pace guy can be Haarberg who at least has experience throwing at this level as well.

Rhule Takes The Pressure Off Raiola
There is already a tremendous amount of pressure on Raiola as it is. His dad has his name on our stadium, #1 QB recruit so people are just expecting him to start. So the message Rhule is sending is great in my opinion to DR. “We already have our starter returning so don’t try to do too much. You’ll start when you are ready.”

While Raiola has been in front of the media a couple times, he isn’t being trotted out there too often. And I think that will only help temper expectations and continue to allow Raiola to just get better and learn while not having to deal with the high bar that fans/media are setting for him. Rhule knows those things are there, but shielding the kid from them for now is a great move.

Kaelin’s Support System
I need to bring this up because the big winner in all of this could be Danny Kaelin. I am setting the over/under at 2 years for how long Dylan Raiola is at Nebraska. He absolutely won’t be here more than 3. He will either head to the pros or transfer after year 3 if that’s the case. But if Kaelin has the right people in his corner, he can redshirt this year and be a RS Soph or RS Junior once Raiola is gone. All of this while learning the offensive system and getting familiar with the players and coaches on the team. In a world where everyone transfers whenever they can, my crystal ball thinks that if he can stick it out he would be in a great spot.
Depth Chart Prediction:

QB1 – Dylan Raiola
QB2 – Heinrich Haarberg OR Daniel Kaelin

 

[HBK4life]

2024 Spring Preview: Runningback​

We kick back off our previews with the running back position. This group had a lot of similarities for me to the quarterback spot entering the spring. If you remember, I said I was very concerned about the depth at QB and RB. While we spoke about how I wasn’t as concerned with the QB depth after seeing a few practices, the opposite is true about the RB spot.

Nebraska has 5 scholarship RBs in their room currently for the 2024 season, but 2 of them are being held out of spring ball, one is new transferring in, leaving only 2 players who have experience in this offense for the spring. Nebraska had a gamebreaker committed for its 2024 class in Kewan Lacy, but he decommitted and we didn’t replace him for this class. It’s concerning for me.

We will start with Emmett Johnson, as he is the clear RB1 for our team this spring. I wasn’t high on him out of high school, but with the injuries he has asserted himself as someone this staff can depend on within what they want to do offensively. Johnson is probably one of the most complete backs we have on our team, but at only 190 pounds he isn’t really built to be a bell cow for an offense in the B1G. Nebraska has somewhat done the committee approach the past few years whether that be due to injuries or because someone hasn’t asserted themselves. But EJ at least gives the staff options.

The Guys Sitting Out
Nebraska has 2 returning players with significant experience that are both sitting out this spring. Gabe Ervin Jr was the first true freshman starter in an opening day contest for Nebraska, but that seems like ages ago as he just hasn’t been able to come back from that gruesome knee injury he suffered against Oklahoma in 2021. He has been injured often and unable to stay on the field. At 220 pounds he would be your guy you could insert at the goalline or pound out the game to milk clock. But you just can’t trust he will be available for this 2024 fall and even if he is, will he be 100%? There are rumors he may just take a medical redshirt or even transfer out to be done.
Next is Rahmir Johnson, while I think Rahmir could have got some reps this spring, they are being careful with him since he and EJ are going to be your 1-2 punch for the 2024 season. However, Rahmir Johnson has the same issue EJ does as he is only 185 pounds and can’t take the pounding of a full season. A rotation with him and EJ is what would almost certainly be needed. I actually like Rahmir and Emmett Johnson as your 1-2 punch, but there lacks some gamebreaking abilities there on top of the injury issues for one of them. Rahmir was one of the guys out of high school that ran some top track times, but it just hasn’t really translated so far. But glass is half full, he really has performed well in some games for us.

The One High School Recruit For Barthel
Barthel brought in Kwinten Ives in his first month being here, and I greeted it with kind of a tilted head. While this staff gets the benefit of the doubt for most of the recruiting, Barthel is still one that needs to show me what he can do. Ives has looked like another guy out there, and hasn’t really taken advantage of the additional reps in my opinion. He may be counted on for the simple fact that we are a little thin.

The Oregon Transfer
As we talked about above, EJ and RJ are your 1-2 punch, but with the question marks behind Ervin Jrs health, you had to go grab a big back in the portal. Dante Dowdell transferred here from Oregon as they burned his redshirt while playing sparingly for the Ducks. I got in a Twitter conversation about Dowdell as people were just penciling him in as a guy we could count on this fall, and that simply isn’t the case so far. He lacks some vision and just tries ramming his head down to get through a hole instead of having patience to wait for things to open up or bounce.
It is my opinion he will end up playing for us in some capacity, but he needs to improve quite a bit from this spring to the fall if he wants to get any serious snaps for us.

So We Have 1-2, But Who Else?
Matt Rhule unsolicited brought up walk-on RB Maurice Mazzccua. A walk-on from West Chester University, at this point we are needing bodies so bad that we are just calling out walk-ons as guys to count on. The miss on a 2024 recruit is basically making it where we may end up needing someone like Mazzccua to step up.

2025 Class And Beyond
Nebraska has Conor Booth from Wahoo Neumann in the class already (listed as a fullback by some recruiting services). He really did well at the Army combine down in Texas, so there’s potential there. But he isn’t on the same level as a Kewan Lacy commitment, Barthel and Nebraska desperately need a gamebreaker in this class so that Emmett Johnson can still be your main guy in 2025 but you have someone ready to go for the following year.

Wrapping Up For The 2024 Season
RB is one of 2 positions (maybe 3) that I would say don’t be surprised to see some portal movement for the Huskers after spring. If Gabe Ervin Jr leaves or medically retires, you almost have to go get another one. The issue is, I have on pretty good authority that Emmett Johnson told the staff if they went after a guy that was “like him” or would be starter he would enter the portal. Thus why Nebraska went with a guy that didn’t play much but had potential in Dowdell.

I kind of like what Oregon did with their spot. They had two guys that outplayed Dowdell and needed a stop-gap player while they wait for their 2024 and 2025 recruits to get up to speed. They went and got the All-American RB from D2 Northwest Missouri State and gave him an NIL deal for one semester to get them through. It didn’t rock the boat as the guys that came back weren’t intimidated, and it buys them some time for a year.

Emmett Johnson will be your starter followed by Rahmir. But after that we have some issues. I would watch the portal after Saturday here. And I wouldn’t be surprised if we rest EJ a bit after a couple series.

Depth Chart Prediction:

RB1 – Emmett Johnson OR Rahmir Johnson
RB2 – Dante Dowdell
RB3 – Kwinten Ives
Gabe Ervin Jr medically retires

 

[HBK4life]

2024 Spring Preview: Wide Receiver​

Nebraska was extremely thin at Wide Receiver for the 2023 season, where they saw multiple first-year players for the Huskers seeing significant snaps for the team. Nebraska loses its top WR from last year in Billy Kemp, but does it really matter? The Cornhuskers were so bad on offense last year that Kemp only had 35 total receptions and averaged 28 yards per game. The problem is that in the portal, Nebraska grabbed Kemp who was a solid slot WR but he didn’t have the gamebreaking ability he needed.

Nebraska Solves The Outside WR Problem
Kemp was a slot WR we brought in, but Nebraska did a hell of a job bringing in slot WRs for their first and second recruiting class (more on that later). Nebraska brought in Jahmal Banks from Wake Forest and he is everything you’ve heard and then some for the Huskers. You can go ahead and pencil him in as starter for one of the outside WR spots. He goes and gets contested balls and is an experienced big-bodied WR that the Huskers desperatley needed.

They also went and got Isaiah Neyor who transferred in from Texas. Neyor hasn’t been productive at the P5 level due to some injuries, but he was a stud at the University of Wyoming that got him down to Austin. Texas recruited over him, so he is getting another chance in Lincoln.

The Consistent Walk-On
Alex Bullock had the most snaps of any of our WRs/TEs last year. He is reliable and will always be where he needs to be. Does he have the explosiveness of a guy like Coleman or others? Probably not. But it will be interesting to see how he fits into the offense this year. Do they go with him or do they go with the higher ceilings?


Injuries Like RB
Isaiah Garcia-Castenada is coming off of injury again, who would be another inside WR threat. But it’s up to him to get healthy to give himself a chance. He’s one we may offer a medical redshirt to or see him hit the portal. I wouldn’t get too worried there.

You also have Malachi Coleman who had shoulder surgery and is participating this spring but having a green no-contact jersey on this spring. I had been critical of MC with sitting out most of the practices I was at prior to the season starting in 2023. Once IGC and Washington went down it was a renewed energy from him and he looks good. However, he is again sitting out (this time legitimately IMO). I will be interested to see how he reacts when guys like Banks, Neyor, possibly IGC, and Bullock are battling him on the outside for playing time. Hopefully he stays on the up and up, but I will watch his trajectory closely. Don’t be surprised if something weird happens there IMO maybe after this season (or sooner).

The 2nd Year Players
While Coleman was a second year player, you also have Jaylen Lloyd who burned his redshirt with 132 snaps last year and showed flashes of why he was offered full-ride scholarships in track for his explosiveness. Lloyd is a slot WR, and it seems Nebraska has plenty of those.
Jaidyn Doss was able to preserve his redshirt by only getting 79 snaps last year, playing in 2 games and getting 2 receptions. Doss has a ton of upside, but Nebraska has recruited the WR position well.

Last and certainly not least, Demetrius Bell had to redshirt last year due to an academic redshirt situation. By many accounts and my eyes, Bell was actually the best true freshmen WR last year, he just wasn’t eligible to play. He also has a bit of an injury-issue as he got hurt last year and is a little banged up this spring. If he is available to play, watch out for him getting some major playing time.

The True Freshmen
Jacory Barney has looked everything like a guy that could see the field early with this squad. He is explosive, and he is such a playmaker they have been putting him back for punt and kick returns. With Emmett Johnson being RB1, we can’t have him back returning kicks. The question for me is where do we put Barney, as he isn’t as big as a Coleman, Neyor, or Banks. He is more than likely a slot, but we have so many of those guys.

Quinn Clark and Keelan Smith are two legacy recruits that have the body-type to be on the outside with a guy like Coleman. The good news is I think we have a decent enough amount of bodies that we won’t have to hurry these guys along. I expect a redshirt here unless some injuries happen, but don’t have that fool you into thinking they aren’t ready or aren’t capable.
We round out with the Bellevue West WRs of Isaiah McMorris and Dae’Vonn Hall. I’ll be curious how they end up doing, as their QB from their high school is here but it’s a loaded room currently.

2024
The two things i’m interested in checking out is who starts opposite of Banks out wide, and who emerges as our top slot WR candidate. Lloyd played because Bell was ineligible last year, but now he has Bell and Barney as options. Coleman started playing out wide last year, but is he going to play over Neyor or Bullock out there?

The good news is we have options, and our WR room is vastly different right now than it was for the 2023 season.

Depth Chart Prediction:

WR1 – Banks
WR2 – Neyor

Slot1 – Lloyd OR Bell
Slot2 – Barney

WR1 – Bullock OR Coleman
WR2 – Doss

 

[HBK4life]

2024 Spring Preview: Tight End​

If there is one position that this staff is really liking currently, it’s their tight end room. Their TE1 is Thomas Fidone who they had to be careful with last spring and even in the fall, he’s back and fully healthy now after leading our TE room in snaps and receptions in 2023. With him back, there’s a lot to like.

Further, you have Nate Boerkircher that in my eyes was every bit as good as Fidone in practices that i’ve seen. While his ceiling may not be as high, he is reliable and would start at many other programs. He reminds me a bit of Alex Bullock, where him being around is a nice safety blanket for our coaches and quarterbacks.

The real question is what do we do after our initial 2 guys? Janiran Bonner was a fullback last year but is being tried out at WR and TE. I don’t think he’s fast enough to be WR, and i’m not sure he has the ability to pass the top 2 guys on this chart. So i’ll be curious if the portal is in the future for him.

Smith-Flores
I was a little critical of this recruit, I didn’t see the intrigue. Many people said we brought him in to help with the inline blocking, but I don’t think you bring TEs in for that. I will be curious to see if we can get him on the field a lot or if the 3 true freshman or Bonner can pass him up.



Carter Nelson
I put him in his own category as he and Dylan Raiola already have some chemistry playing in Hawaii together at the Polynesian bowl. The other 2 TEs we brought in for the 2024 class aren’t as athletic as him, and he will be given every opportunity to play. Nelson is one of those guys that can play H-back or the slot Y looking a bit like the old Dallas Clark. The real question is if we keep his redshirt or not. I see him asserting himself as TE3 and when Fidone or Boerkircher are banged up he may end up playing. The only pause I have is if he’s able to move from 8 man football to 11 man without being in spring ball. That is what makes me thing he redshirts.

The Rest of The 2024 Class
Eric Ingwerson made noise when he committed to Pitt and Nebraska already had Ian Flynt committed. He originally committed to the Panthers as they told him they would let him play TE. The narrative out there is that he is in line for being moved to OT, but for at least this year he will not be moving to a line spot. Can he have the athletic ability to make a name for himself?

Flynt is a legacy recruit that is also talked about as an inline blocker. I don’t see him making noise for the 2024 season, but we will see.

Nebraska (The State) Is A TE Breeding Ground
Nebraska in the recent recruiting classes has somehow became a powerhouse for churning out Power 5 TEs. In fact, Nebraska puts out more P5 TEs than the state of California and the 2025 class is no exception. Following the Nelson and Ingwerson class (this doesn’t include Burt who committed to Iowa and Hollinger who committed to Illinois). The 2025 class has Chase Loftin who is the #2 ranked recruit in the state and transferred from Elkhorn North to Millard South for his senior season. He is a priority target for this staff. Platteview also has a Power 5 TE in Reiman Zebert. Both will be tough pulls, but I think in the end Nebraska can at least get one of those (my money is on Loftin for right now).



Depth Chart Prediction:

TE1 – Fidone
TE2 – Boerkircher
TE3 – Nelson OR Smith-Flores

 

[gomerxx]

Thank you so much for making this available. You’re the Babe Effin Ruth of aggregators

 

[HBK4life]

Thank you so much for making this available. You’re the Babe Effin Ruth of aggregators

He knows his stuff. Rumored to be Damon Benning. Not sure but whoever it is they are watching practices.

 

[SickOfPractice]

Thanks for this!! 👍👍

 

[RBigredMax]

I wish he would join this forum. He was on Max and always enjoyed his thoughts.

Not sure who it is, but used to mention having some really good access to the USC program as well.

On of his takes a couple of years ago was when we opened against NW and he wrote that their Dline was garbage and we should move them all over the place. If our Oline didn’t dominate it would be extremely concerning. All of his concerns came to fruition and NW ended up being who they were as well.

 

[JPR95]

Thanks DB!

 

[leodisflowers]

He knows his stuff. Rumored to be Damon Benning. Not sure but whoever it is they are watching practices.

I dont think it is DB.

 

[cubsker]

I don't either unless someone else is writing for him.

 

[HBK4life]

 

[phoenix4nu]

You also have Malachi Coleman who had shoulder surgery and is participating this spring but having a green no-contact jersey on this spring. I had been critical of MC with sitting out most of the practices I was at prior to the season starting in 2023. Once IGC and Washington went down it was a renewed energy from him and he looks good. However, he is again sitting out (this time legitimately IMO). I will be interested to see how he reacts when guys like Banks, Neyor, possibly IGC, and Bullock are battling him on the outside for playing time. Hopefully he stays on the up and up, but I will watch his trajectory closely. Don’t be surprised if something weird happens there IMO maybe after this season (or sooner).

Hinting at a possible transfer for Coleman?

 

[Huskers123456]

Hinting at a possible transfer for Coleman?

This is where having a local kid should pay dividends. I think he sticks it out. If he was from Florida? Not so much. He always seemed pretty close with DR too.

 

[GBRforLife1]

Well it didn't take Rivals long to shoot SSO's HH as QB1 theory to shit.

 

[timnsun]

Well it didn't take Rivals long to shoot SSO's HH as QB1 theory to shit.

Do you have a link? Or a quote?

 

[leodisflowers]

Do you have a link? Or a quote?

The newest headline is how Dylan Raiola took control of the Saturday scrimmage.

 

[headcard]

Well it didn't take Rivals long to shoot SSO's HH as QB1 theory to shit.

SSO listed DR as QB1.

 

[BleedRed78]

2024 Spring Preview: Runningback​

We kick back off our previews with the running back position. This group had a lot of similarities for me to the quarterback spot entering the spring. If you remember, I said I was very concerned about the depth at QB and RB. While we spoke about how I wasn’t as concerned with the QB depth after seeing a few practices, the opposite is true about the RB spot.

Nebraska has 5 scholarship RBs in their room currently for the 2024 season, but 2 of them are being held out of spring ball, one is new transferring in, leaving only 2 players who have experience in this offense for the spring. Nebraska had a gamebreaker committed for its 2024 class in Kewan Lacy, but he decommitted and we didn’t replace him for this class. It’s concerning for me.

We will start with Emmett Johnson, as he is the clear RB1 for our team this spring. I wasn’t high on him out of high school, but with the injuries he has asserted himself as someone this staff can depend on within what they want to do offensively. Johnson is probably one of the most complete backs we have on our team, but at only 190 pounds he isn’t really built to be a bell cow for an offense in the B1G. Nebraska has somewhat done the committee approach the past few years whether that be due to injuries or because someone hasn’t asserted themselves. But EJ at least gives the staff options.

The Guys Sitting Out
Nebraska has 2 returning players with significant experience that are both sitting out this spring. Gabe Ervin Jr was the first true freshman starter in an opening day contest for Nebraska, but that seems like ages ago as he just hasn’t been able to come back from that gruesome knee injury he suffered against Oklahoma in 2021. He has been injured often and unable to stay on the field. At 220 pounds he would be your guy you could insert at the goalline or pound out the game to milk clock. But you just can’t trust he will be available for this 2024 fall and even if he is, will he be 100%? There are rumors he may just take a medical redshirt or even transfer out to be done.
Next is Rahmir Johnson, while I think Rahmir could have got some reps this spring, they are being careful with him since he and EJ are going to be your 1-2 punch for the 2024 season. However, Rahmir Johnson has the same issue EJ does as he is only 185 pounds and can’t take the pounding of a full season. A rotation with him and EJ is what would almost certainly be needed. I actually like Rahmir and Emmett Johnson as your 1-2 punch, but there lacks some gamebreaking abilities there on top of the injury issues for one of them. Rahmir was one of the guys out of high school that ran some top track times, but it just hasn’t really translated so far. But glass is half full, he really has performed well in some games for us.

The One High School Recruit For Barthel
Barthel brought in Kwinten Ives in his first month being here, and I greeted it with kind of a tilted head. While this staff gets the benefit of the doubt for most of the recruiting, Barthel is still one that needs to show me what he can do. Ives has looked like another guy out there, and hasn’t really taken advantage of the additional reps in my opinion. He may be counted on for the simple fact that we are a little thin.

The Oregon Transfer
As we talked about above, EJ and RJ are your 1-2 punch, but with the question marks behind Ervin Jrs health, you had to go grab a big back in the portal. Dante Dowdell transferred here from Oregon as they burned his redshirt while playing sparingly for the Ducks. I got in a Twitter conversation about Dowdell as people were just penciling him in as a guy we could count on this fall, and that simply isn’t the case so far. He lacks some vision and just tries ramming his head down to get through a hole instead of having patience to wait for things to open up or bounce.
It is my opinion he will end up playing for us in some capacity, but he needs to improve quite a bit from this spring to the fall if he wants to get any serious snaps for us.

So We Have 1-2, But Who Else?
Matt Rhule unsolicited brought up walk-on RB Maurice Mazzccua. A walk-on from West Chester University, at this point we are needing bodies so bad that we are just calling out walk-ons as guys to count on. The miss on a 2024 recruit is basically making it where we may end up needing someone like Mazzccua to step up.

2025 Class And Beyond
Nebraska has Conor Booth from Wahoo Neumann in the class already (listed as a fullback by some recruiting services). He really did well at the Army combine down in Texas, so there’s potential there. But he isn’t on the same level as a Kewan Lacy commitment, Barthel and Nebraska desperately need a gamebreaker in this class so that Emmett Johnson can still be your main guy in 2025 but you have someone ready to go for the following year.

Wrapping Up For The 2024 Season
RB is one of 2 positions (maybe 3) that I would say don’t be surprised to see some portal movement for the Huskers after spring. If Gabe Ervin Jr leaves or medically retires, you almost have to go get another one. The issue is, I have on pretty good authority that Emmett Johnson told the staff if they went after a guy that was “like him” or would be starter he would enter the portal. Thus why Nebraska went with a guy that didn’t play much but had potential in Dowdell.

I kind of like what Oregon did with their spot. They had two guys that outplayed Dowdell and needed a stop-gap player while they wait for their 2024 and 2025 recruits to get up to speed. They went and got the All-American RB from D2 Northwest Missouri State and gave him an NIL deal for one semester to get them through. It didn’t rock the boat as the guys that came back weren’t intimidated, and it buys them some time for a year.

Emmett Johnson will be your starter followed by Rahmir. But after that we have some issues. I would watch the portal after Saturday here. And I wouldn’t be surprised if we rest EJ a bit after a couple series.

Depth Chart Prediction:

RB1 – Emmett Johnson OR Rahmir Johnson
RB2 – Dante Dowdell
RB3 – Kwinten Ives
Gabe Ervin Jr medically retires

Sounds like we might be in the mix for Edwards from Colorado too

 

[PeliniTheCrutch]

He knows his stuff. Rumored to be Damon Benning. Not sure but whoever it is they are watching practices.

It is not Benning.

 

[HBK4life]

2024 Spring Preview: Offensive Line​

I have to admit, every time I have been to a practice this spring, it is truly eye-opening to see how many linemen we have going through practice. I can think of not too long ago when Nebraska would only have 14 or 15 offensive linemen for spring ball, and usually 2 or 3 were out for the spring, with a handful of others sitting out a practice here and there. Nebraska now has over 20 players on scholarship or NIL packages along the OL, and 25 total on their 2024 roster. This spring, they are running 3 deep lines with ease, and have another 4th string and fit-ins for other places.

The tough thing about watching practices is that these coaches truly are giving everyone a chance, but it makes people like me who aren’t in the meeting struggle to figure out who is truly the 1s. They are giving everyone a chance and working from there.

Nebraska loses Nouredin Nouilli as well as Ethan Piper, but the interior is not an issue for what Matt Rhule and Coach Raiola have stockpiled. We go into that here…

Center and Right Tackle Are Set
Ben Scott and Bryce Benhart have their positions locked up to help anchor a line that may actually return some of the most starts not only in the B1G, but the entire nation. With center and right tackle under control, it gives Donovan Raiola a chance to start mixing and matching who can play where to help figure out the best 5 players to start.
Turner Corcoran, Teddy Prochazka, and Jacob Hood
These 3 I grouped together as they have had injuries that are hindering how they develop in Lincoln. Starting with Corcoran, he was already behind as he was such a swiss army knife that we moved him from tackle to guard to tackle to guard and he never got a chance to hone his craft at one spot. Corcoran had such a tough injury that Matt Rhule has stated you may not even see him until into the fall. With that said, he is out there with a green jersey on this spring from what I saw.

Prochazka is another one that has just had some bad luck with injuries. With how big he is, it makes it tough to get confident and get better when he is on the sidelines for so long. But this spring he has taken another step forward after starting the final 2 games at LT for Nebraska. Could this mean we finally have our LT to get us through?

Jacob Hood is one of those guys that everyone got pumped up about when he came from Georgia. While I continued to beat the drum that the best indicator of success in Lincoln transferring in was success elsewhere whether that be FCS or FBS, people still started to say “he was just behind a bunch of great players at Georgia.” Last year, he couldn’t even practice many times, but those days seem to be behind him. With that said, I still think 3rd string at best for right now.

The Interior
Interior linemen are plentiful, you have Corcoran that has pretty much moved there for now, but also new OL Ru’Quan Buckley, Henry Lutovsky, Justin Jenkins, Sam Sledge, and new transfer Micah Mazzccua.

We will start with Mazzccua, as he was called out early by Rhule for needing to know the standard. If he figures that out, his abilities are far and away better than the other interior players. But there are things people like you and I can’t predict, such as how he will mentally handle things here.

Buckley was moved to OL after struggling along the DL in his time here. He has looked pretty decent to me, but sometimes I wonder when someone continues to move back and forth at different positions if they just can’t make an impact?

The 3 that are really in a battle with Mazzccua are Henry Lutovsky, Justin Jenkins, and Sam Sledge. As of now, I would give the edge to Jenkins. Lutovsky has all the tools but just hasn’t seemed to be able to put it all together to get starts. Sledge may be your guy that takes over for Ben Scott when he leaves, but Jenkins has taken snaps there as well.

The Edges
Gunnar Gottula is backing up Prochazka in my opinion at LT right now, but I don’t think they believe he is quite ready at this point. Knaak is manning the RT side beind Benhart and looks much improved from his time last year there, with Hood a distant 3rd for that RT spot. I hesitate to put true freshman here right now, but Grant Brix could give Gottula or Knaak a run for their money at the edge spot. I assume preserving the redshirt is the plan, but if Prochazka goes down for an extended period of time, we may see a battle there.
The First And Second Year Players
Head Coach Matt Rhule brought in 11 scholarship and NIL offensive line recruits in his first two seasons here trying to rebuild that line and regain depth there. All of these guys are waiting their turn for when guys like Ben Scott and Benhart are gone. While Rhule grabbed a ton of local guys in year 1 highlighted by guys like Sam Sledge, Gunnar Gottula, Mason Goldman, Brock Knutson, and Jason Maciejzcak, every single player was from Nebraska or South Dakota listed there. He turned around in year 2 and went high profile grabbing the #1 ranked player in Hawaii in Preston Taumua and the #1 ranked player in Iowa in Grant Brix. An unbelievable start. He found Gibson Pyle, Landen Davidson, and Jake Peters at camps and getting eyes on them live. And to put an unbelievably large cherry on top, he somehow convinced Xander Ruggeroli to walk-on here with an NIL scholarship. We are stocked and loaded with young talent waiting their turn.

2024 Prediction
I do believe you will see at least 2 guys in the transfer portal from the OL after spring ball. It is just too loaded there and kids want to play. However, this is one of the deepest OLs I believe we have had in quite some time, and I do think Raiola is getting the most out of them as I see guys like Benhart and Jenkins making massive improvements last year.
The biggest key is going to be bringing the young guys along so they are ready. The biggest question is will someone like Brix or others press to maybe not even redshirt? The only way that happens is if they end up having to start for us, which I don’t see for right now. But an injury happens and you may be pressed for action.

Depth Chart Prediction
LT1 – Teddy Prochazka
LT2 – Gunnar Gottula OR Grant Brix

LG1 – Justin Jenkins
LG2 – Sam Sledge

C1 – Ben Scott
C2 – Justin Jenkins OR Sam Sledge

RG1 – Micah Mazzccua OR Henry Lutovsky
RG2 – Ru’Quan Buckley

RT1 – Bryce Benhart
RT2 – Tyler Knaak
RT3 – Jacob Hood

 

[HBK4life]

2024 Spring Preview: Defensive Line​

Much like what we said in our offensive line preview, this defensive line is one of the deepest i’ve seen at Nebraska since 2013 when Nebraska had Jason Ankrah, Greg McMullen, Avery Moss, Randy Gregory, Maliek Collins, Thad Randle, Aaron Curry, Vincent Valentine, Kevin Maurice, and Kevin Williams.

Nebraska only needs 3 guys to play along the defensive line, but they have 6 guys they would be comfortable starting at any given time. Further, they have a bunch of different options to choose from based on the offense they are facing or the situation they are in (3rd and long, 3rd and short, etc.).

The Anchors
Nash Hutmacher and Ty Robinson both decided to come back and are massive gets to help anchor what could be our best DL in quite some time. I wouldn’t be surprised to see these guys only take a series or two in the spring game then let the younger guys needing reps take over. Not much more to say here except with these 2 here, we have leaders that have done it getting our young bucks up and ready.

The Other Staples
Jimari Butler was bounced around from JACK to DE but finally found his calling at the latter and garnering 6 starts in his 11 games played. With him coming back, you have to like the ability to pair him with the two up top.

However, you also have a freshman All-American with 4 starts in Cam Lenhardt. He flashed and showed why people were so excited about him in spring ball and during the recruiting process, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see him end up as a starter instead of Butler. Another guy they have been pretty pumped about this spring is Van Poppel, who is waiting his turn as he is much like a Hutmacher and Robinson, but if one of them went down they would have no problem inserting him there.

Position Switches
The 6th guy i’m referencing is Chief Borders, he played DE quite a bit last year but they are experimenting with him at the JACK LB spot as well as Kai Wallin. If they needed to, they could slide him back down as we have a ton of JACK LBs needing to play.

Guys “On The Come”
Sua Lefotu and Elijah Jeudy are all guys that are poised for better spring and fall camps with another year under their belt so that they can provide depth to what we are needing to do to switch things up schematically. Also, Vincent Carroll-Jackson was one I was very excited about when he committed, so i’m hoping he takes a big jump in 2024.

AJ Rollins is one to keep an eye on here. He was a TE then Rhule moved him to JACK/DE his first couple days here and people were excited, but he never got things going and only played 36 snaps last year.

2024 Class
People may forget, but Nebraska lucked out and grabbed Keaona Wilhite who was committed to Washington but lost their coach, then looked at UCLA but Chip Kelly left, so he landed in Lincoln. He is a highly rated recruit and reminds me a bit of Cam Lenhardt. Lofty comparison, but he has the talent. I’m hoping the recruiting process didn’t screw him up too much.

Nebraska also grabbed Ashton Murphy from Elkhorn South as a DE who will more than likely take a redshirt this year.

2024 Prediction
We are going to have a dominant defensive line this year. I still remember being worried how the 3-3-5 would hold up when White was hired and he alleviated that fear and then some. It’s crazy to think just how great our guys did in year 1, and with 4 starters returning on a 3 man line, things are only looking up here.

2024 Depth Chart Prediction
DE1 – Ty Robinson
DE2 – Sua Lefotu

NG1 – Nash Hutmacher
NG2 – Riley Van Poppel
NG3 – Vincent Carroll-Jackson

DE1 – Jimari Butler OR Cam Lenhardt
DE2 – Elijah Jeudy

 

[HBK4life]

Thank you so much for making this available. You’re the Babe Effin Ruth of aggregators

 

[HBK4life]

SSO listed DR as QB1.

 

[weiddj]

8 -10 portal entries - Hmm.

 

[SomedayHusker]

View embedded media

The crazy folk were entertaining HH to be QB1. Not even close.

 

[HBK4life]

The crazy folk were entertaining HH to be QB1. Not even close.

Rhule is doing his best to not overhype DR or put down any other QB's at the same time. But as SSO posted Dylan did not come here to be a backup all while making 7 figures. That's just a fact.

 

[huntered]

can we bring in some cheerleaders?

 

[GBRforLife1]

SSO listed DR as QB1.

Sso said HH is QB1 right now. Predicted DR would eventually be QB1.

Did you read the article?

 

[GBRforLife1]

can we bring in some cheerleaders?

Only if they join in on the pillow fight. They have to wear lingerie though.

 

[GBRforLife1]

Do you have a link? Or a quote?

 

[GBRforLife1]

I bet a website with QBs making funny faces and hand gestures while throwing could bring in some ad money.

 

[HBK4life]

Spring Preview: Linebacker​

This position group is very interesting to me. It’s a case of an embarrassment of riches at the JACK spot, and trying our best to find depth at the ILB spot. Last year, Nebraska had Reimer, Henrich, Bullock and Javin Wright were your staples in the middle. Henrich had to retire medically from the game which gave way to Wright getting more snaps. We somehow convinced Bullock to come back with Reimer leaving, which is huge. But the backups are going to need to come along in a hurry. We will start the preview with the more proven area, the JACK spot. Nebraska seemed to insert whomever they wanted into that role and they thrived.

The “Knowns”
Nebraska seemed to mix and match well here… the Minnesota game saw Chief Borders, Jimari Butler, and MJ Sherman as your JACK LBs on the depth chart. But Borders and Butler shifted to DE throughout the season and Sherman never really took hold. Eventually, you saw Gbayor and Umanmiellen starting to assert themselves at the JACK spot. Umanmiellen is the guy i’d watch to start here, but he’s been out this spring with an injury. That has given a chance to a guy like Borders who came back from the DE spot to help out at this position, and they are more than confident with him there.

Kai Wallin is another player that moved from DE to JACK like Borders did, and I think he can thrive there just as much as Borders is.




Gbayor and Sherman they are trying at ILB a little bit to get some depth, so it will be interesting to see what comes of that. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Sherman part ways with us honestly. But back to Gbayor, he started the last few games at JACK for us and really did well, so i’m hoping we find some depth at ILB elsewhere and we can let him and Umanmiellen rotate at starting JACK.

Maverick Noonan was actually making some noise early in his career with the Huskers, getting the best of many of his freshmen teammates, but a knee injury has set him back. If he can recover from that, I expect him to make some noise in the next year or two. But will be be able to in 2024? Remains to be seen.

Nebraska brought in Willis McGahee IV in their recruiting class and have him slotted for that spot. While I think he’s talented, might be a year or two away yet depending on how some of our more seasoned guys do.

The Issue
So now we move to ILB. Bullock and Wright I think are great starters for us. Bullock has actually been practicing on some punt team stuff and i’d prefer for them to just keep him strictly to ILB on defense duties to limit his snaps for when we need them. We have plenty of guys we can throw on punt and punt return. Wright probably still needs some volume to get going, but I expect a big jump from him this year.




But White likes to play 4 ILBs, so they brought Gbayor and Sherman inside from the JACK spot. I expect Gbayor to make some noise and be our third guy here.

Nebraska also brought in Syracuse transfer that DC White was familiar with in Stefon Thompson to play the ILB spot. He’s familiar with the 3-3-5 and should be able to at least add some quality depth. There were some weight issues early on, so hopefully that is remedied on his end.

Another guy i’m really intrigued with is Gage Stenger. He is a ballhawk who is always around where the play is. They moved him out of the DB/Nickel spot to ILB and I think he is a guy that could end up being a bit like Bullock, he just needs to add some good weight yet.

Nebraska brought in Dylan Rogers last year and Vincent Shavers this year for the ILB spot. I have heard really good things about Shavers so far. With that said, Rhule is kind of a master of playing the media game to encourage his players and keep momentum going.

2024 Prediction
The JACK spot will be fine, no need to worry there at all. With that said, ILB is where we need to figure things out. We are fine with starters but someone needs to assert themselves in that 4th/5th spot. Our DL will be great in front of them, so it’s going to be about who learns the defense and can be in the right spot at the right time who gets the playing time.



We will have 3 solid ILBs in Bullock, Wright, and Gbayor, let’s just find those other few.

Depth Chart Prediction
Jack1 – Umanmiellen
Jack2 – Borders
Jack3 – Wallin OR Williams OR Noonan

ILB1 – Bullock
ILB2 – Thompson

ILB1 – Wright OR Gbayor
ILB2 – Shavers OR Stenger

 

[HBK4life]

Spring Preview: Defensive Backs​

Nebraska lost Quinton Newsome, Omar Brown, and Phalen Sanford to graduation from a defensive backfield that exceeded expectations in 2023. Throw in Tamon Lynum transferring to Pitt and Javier Morton to Temple, while Corey Collier also entered this month (though he was no longer with the team) and you may think that we are in a bit of a predicament.

You would be wrong. Nebraska currently has 24 scholarship defensive backs on their roster for the 2024 season. So if you read nothing else from here on out, we are fine at DB considering that we return 3 starters out of the 5. I apologize in advance, because the practices i’ve been to there are so many dudes running around I can’t even keep them straight.

Known Commodities
We will start with the guys we know what we are getting and will be a Blackshirt. Isaac Gifford announced he was coming back for his fifth year, and that gives us our Rover to make sure that position is taken care of. While Deshon Singleton is being held out of most the spring after starting 5 games last year then being injured, I feel you can pencil him in as a starter as long as he is back healthy. That leads us to Tommi Hill, someone I have had a love/hate fandom with. He is one of those guys that will have a couple great games then try to do something amazing and forget his responsibility and let a big play happen on him. He’s good enough where if they can just curtail that little issue, he can be an all-conference player.




The Other Two Starting Spots
That leaves one corner to figure out and one safety. We will start with safety, as Marques Buford is back from his injury to 100% that they were making sure he was ok from. If he is truly 100% I expect him to be your other safety opposite of Singleton. With that said, Hartzog has been working at Rover behind Gifford, but he is more than capable of playing safety if Singleton or Buford isn’t ready. Koby Bretz while he probably isn’t ready to start just yet unless there’s some injuries is in the same boat as Hartzog, where he practices at Rover and Safety to give us some options.

The other corner spot is interesting. Hartzog played there a bit but they have shifted him to mainly the middle of the field. Blye Hill was an offer I was critical of, and that seemed to hold true the first week or two of spring. But once he figured out expectations and the defense, he seems poised to be the other corner opposite Tommi Hill right now.

Two guys that got some run early as true freshmen but had some injuries were Ethan Nation and Dwight Bootle II. Nation if you remember started getting some punt returns as a true freshman, he is someone I think the staff has a lot of excitement for. Bootle got injured but was pressing for time last year. The real question is if he is 100% healthy, and that’s what makes things really tough to predict.




Big Spring For Guys That Have Been Here For 1 Year
Nebraska brought in 6 players for their 2023 recruiting class that are still here, we mentioned Bootle. But the other 5 are D’Andre Barnes, Jeremiah Charles, Syncere Safeeullah, Rahmir Stewart, and Brice Turner. Stewart is someone that made some travel squads last year, so i’m curious how he looks on Saturday. Turner and Charles are burners that we need to figure out how they fit into the football program. Safeeullah is someone that is longer and rangey but definitely had an uphill battle to play. Lastly, Barnes was actually listed as Giffords backup last year a couple times, so how does he make a jump with Gifford back and Cooper stating he was focusing on Rover for Hartzog?

The 2024 Class
Nebraska brought in 10 defensive back recruits in the 2024 class and my head was already spinning trying to figure things out. You’ll notice in my depth chart prediction down below, that one of the spots just says “so many options”. While Cooper, White, and Rhule error on the side of having older guys play early, there’s no doubt in my mind one if not two of these guys will make a push to play a bit. I really am excited to see how some of these guys progress and quite frankly trying to give insight on them would be tough right now, so i’m just showing their recruiting rankings:

Plus Kahmir Prescott and Evan Taylor




2024 Looking Forward
The biggest thing is going to be finding the right 5. The defensive backfield reminds me a bit of offensive line right now that you hear when they say “we gotta find our best 5 combination.” There are a lot of guys that have came in and played multiple spots and finding where Bretz, Hartzog, or others can play best for us will go a long ways.

I am so looking forward to this spring game to watch so I can just figure out who looks like they want to be out there and who is just waiting to be done. With 24 scholarship/NIL players I expect at least a couple portal entries from the DB room which is just a bit too crowded right now.

2024 Depth Chart Prediction
CB1 – Tommi Hill
CB2 – Ethan Nation

Nickel – Isaac Gifford
Nickel – Malcom Hartzog OR Koby Bretz OR D’Andre Barnes

S1 – Deshon Singleton
S2 – So Many Options

 

[HuskerO]

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Sherman part ways with us honestly.

This would be big disappointment, right? Another transfer from a big time program and highly recruited by everyone out of HS to come here and end up leaving without contributing much.

 

[SomedayHusker]

Spring Preview: Defensive Backs​

Nebraska lost Quinton Newsome, Omar Brown, and Phalen Sanford to graduation from a defensive backfield that exceeded expectations in 2023. Throw in Tamon Lynum transferring to Pitt and Javier Morton to Temple, while Corey Collier also entered this month (though he was no longer with the team) and you may think that we are in a bit of a predicament.

You would be wrong. Nebraska currently has 24 scholarship defensive backs on their roster for the 2024 season. So if you read nothing else from here on out, we are fine at DB considering that we return 3 starters out of the 5. I apologize in advance, because the practices i’ve been to there are so many dudes running around I can’t even keep them straight.

Known Commodities
We will start with the guys we know what we are getting and will be a Blackshirt. Isaac Gifford announced he was coming back for his fifth year, and that gives us our Rover to make sure that position is taken care of. While Deshon Singleton is being held out of most the spring after starting 5 games last year then being injured, I feel you can pencil him in as a starter as long as he is back healthy. That leads us to Tommi Hill, someone I have had a love/hate fandom with. He is one of those guys that will have a couple great games then try to do something amazing and forget his responsibility and let a big play happen on him. He’s good enough where if they can just curtail that little issue, he can be an all-conference player.




The Other Two Starting Spots
That leaves one corner to figure out and one safety. We will start with safety, as Marques Buford is back from his injury to 100% that they were making sure he was ok from. If he is truly 100% I expect him to be your other safety opposite of Singleton. With that said, Hartzog has been working at Rover behind Gifford, but he is more than capable of playing safety if Singleton or Buford isn’t ready. Koby Bretz while he probably isn’t ready to start just yet unless there’s some injuries is in the same boat as Hartzog, where he practices at Rover and Safety to give us some options.

The other corner spot is interesting. Hartzog played there a bit but they have shifted him to mainly the middle of the field. Blye Hill was an offer I was critical of, and that seemed to hold true the first week or two of spring. But once he figured out expectations and the defense, he seems poised to be the other corner opposite Tommi Hill right now.

Two guys that got some run early as true freshmen but had some injuries were Ethan Nation and Dwight Bootle II. Nation if you remember started getting some punt returns as a true freshman, he is someone I think the staff has a lot of excitement for. Bootle got injured but was pressing for time last year. The real question is if he is 100% healthy, and that’s what makes things really tough to predict.




Big Spring For Guys That Have Been Here For 1 Year
Nebraska brought in 6 players for their 2023 recruiting class that are still here, we mentioned Bootle. But the other 5 are D’Andre Barnes, Jeremiah Charles, Syncere Safeeullah, Rahmir Stewart, and Brice Turner. Stewart is someone that made some travel squads last year, so i’m curious how he looks on Saturday. Turner and Charles are burners that we need to figure out how they fit into the football program. Safeeullah is someone that is longer and rangey but definitely had an uphill battle to play. Lastly, Barnes was actually listed as Giffords backup last year a couple times, so how does he make a jump with Gifford back and Cooper stating he was focusing on Rover for Hartzog?

The 2024 Class
Nebraska brought in 10 defensive back recruits in the 2024 class and my head was already spinning trying to figure things out. You’ll notice in my depth chart prediction down below, that one of the spots just says “so many options”. While Cooper, White, and Rhule error on the side of having older guys play early, there’s no doubt in my mind one if not two of these guys will make a push to play a bit. I really am excited to see how some of these guys progress and quite frankly trying to give insight on them would be tough right now, so i’m just showing their recruiting rankings:

Plus Kahmir Prescott and Evan Taylor




2024 Looking Forward
The biggest thing is going to be finding the right 5. The defensive backfield reminds me a bit of offensive line right now that you hear when they say “we gotta find our best 5 combination.” There are a lot of guys that have came in and played multiple spots and finding where Bretz, Hartzog, or others can play best for us will go a long ways.

I am so looking forward to this spring game to watch so I can just figure out who looks like they want to be out there and who is just waiting to be done. With 24 scholarship/NIL players I expect at least a couple portal entries from the DB room which is just a bit too crowded right now.

2024 Depth Chart Prediction
CB1 – Tommi Hill
CB2 – Ethan Nation

Nickel – Isaac Gifford
Nickel – Malcom Hartzog OR Koby Bretz OR D’Andre Barnes

S1 – Deshon Singleton
S2 – So Many Options

Been really enjoying this dude’s commentary and can’t help but agree with him on almost everything. Remaining anonymous also helps him be honest about players like Sherman, Hood, etc. Unlike the Callahans and the Sipples of the world.

 

[king_kong_]

This would be big disappointment, right? Another transfer from a big time program and highly recruited by everyone out of HS to come here and end up leaving without contributing much.

Seems like a theme

Hope we focus much more of our efforts on standouts looking to move up in competition level instead of retreads from major programs going the other way

 

[maly]

Hopefully we start to see some serious separation at OL, LB, DB, etc. If you just have a bunch of dudes, you don't really have any difference makers. A lot of options to choose from at least.

 

[HuskerO]

Seems like a theme

Hope we focus much more of our efforts on standouts looking to move up in competition level instead of retreads from major programs going the other way

It's only been 1 transfer class under Rhule so the jury is still out for him.

I agree on where the efforts should be more focused on.

 

[Huskers123456]

This would be big disappointment, right? Another transfer from a big time program and highly recruited by everyone out of HS to come here and end up leaving without contributing much.

Everyone knew he had an injury history and was never going to live up to his initial hype. Georgia basically put him in touch with us because he was getting recruited over and they knew we could use him due to our lack of depth/talent. If you expected a bunch out of him that must have been because you didn't understand the situation.