Nebraska senior center Justin Evans has been named to the 2026 Rimington Trophy preseason watch list. The announcement came early last week, placing the East Orange, New Jersey, native among the top 40 centers in college football. The Rimington Trophy committee compiled the list using data from Pro Football Focus (PFF), which grades players on every snap. Of the 40 honorees, 13 come from the Big Ten Conference, the most of any league.
Evans, a 6-foot-2, 315-pound senior, enters the season as one of Nebraska’s most experienced offensive linemen. He has appeared in 38 career games with 31 starts for the Cornhuskers. In 2025, he started all 13 games at center after transitioning from left guard, where he had started every game the previous season. His performance helped pave the way for running back Emmett Johnson to earn first-team All-America honors and Big Ten Running Back of the Year recognition.
PFF rated Evans as the highest-graded returning center in college football heading into 2026, with an overall grade of 78.6. In pass protection last season, he surrendered just one sack across 443 snaps while posting a strong run-blocking grade of 75.0 that ranked 12th nationally.
The Rimington Trophy, presented annually to the most outstanding center in D1 college football, is named after former Nebraska great Dave Rimington. A College Football Hall of Famer, Rimington was a two-time first-team All-American and the only two-time winner of the Outland Trophy. As a senior in 1982, he also claimed the Lombardi Award and finished fifth in Heisman Trophy voting. The winner is determined by a combination of All-America teams from the Walter Camp Foundation, The Sporting News, and the Football Writers Association of America.
As a former two-star recruit who has developed into a reliable starter and potential NFL prospect, Evans’ inclusion on the watch list underscores his growth and the high expectations for Nebraska’s offensive line this fall. If Evan’s earns the Rimington Trophy, he would be the first husker since 2000 when Dominic Raiola won the award.
