I’ll admit, it’s probably way too soon to do this, but if you’re a Husker fan like I am then you want to know what the roster looks like headed into the new spring practice date. Also, as a fan, it’s too easy to convince yourself the roster looks better than last season and an improvement should be expected. But thinking like Forest Gump, “Football is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.”

There is a ton of discussion over the fact Nebraska didn’t pursue a running back in the transfer portal, and at first, I agreed. But when I look at the running back room I find I have more confidence in EJ Barthel each passing season. Especially after what we saw from Emmett Johnson. Barthel obviously sees something in that room, and surprisingly, nobody is talking about incoming freshman Jahmal Rule. While we haven’t seen it, it isn’t unthinkable for a freshman to get playing time. And with the addition of new offensive line coach Geep Wade and a scheme that allows the quarterback to run, pass protection won’t be an absolute must like it was with Raiola.

If Nebraska faltered anywhere when hitting the portal it was finding defensive lineman. That isn’t to say I don’t like a couple of the guys they picked up, but it appears they made lateral gains. Nobody is a homerun. I’m telling myself they weren’t more aggressive because they really like Riley Van Poppel, Kade Pietrzak, Tyson Terry, Malcolm Simpson and Williams Nwaneri. Plus, the move to the four-man front will put players in positions they are better suited for. What I’m really hoping to see is an improvement from players with the addition of coaches Corey Brown and Roy Manning, Past coaches haven’t gotten the best out of guys. Will we see someone like David Hoffken make strides and standout. At 6’7” and 285 pounds he should be an animal. Can they light a fire under him and others?

Position wise, they made their biggest moves at quarterback, offensive line, and linebacker. I probably shouldn’t say it, but I was glad to see them move on from Raiola. He fit in with the moment, but he wasn’t the future. I think Nebraska is better at quarterback this year than they have been since Rhule took over. Anthony Colandrea appears to me to have that ‘It’ factor that has been missing. There will be mistakes, but he is the kind of guy that makes plays to make up for them. Getting Kaelin back was also big. In my mind he is already ahead of TL Lateef in the rotation. Not many programs can boast their top three QBs all have starting experience in the power four.

 

On offensive line there is no reason to believe the three new portal additions in Brendan Black, Tree Babalade, and Paul Mubenga won’t be day one starters with Justin Evans and Elijah Pritchett. That means there should be good developing depth behind them in Gottula, Sledge, Brix, and Taumua. With Geep Wade as offensive line coach I look for big strides from the offensive line in 2026.

I also like the additions at linebacker. Rob Aurich adding Owen Chambliss was huge. Chambliss knows Arich’s system and was a big part of the Aztec’s success last season. I was big on Will Hawthorne when I watched his high school film and was disappointed when Nebraska missed out on him the first go around. In my mind he is the kind of linebacker we have been missing. Dexter Foster was also a good add to go with Vincent Shavers and Dawson Merritt.

Kwazi Gilmer at wide receiver will be a day one starter, taking Dane Key’s spot. I anticipate Nalin Scott will see playing time as freshman. Nobody is talking about him, but I think Luke Sorsen at tight end will see playing time as well. He is a good compliment to Lindenmeyer, and we may see Holgorsen creating double Luke sets.

Picking up Jack Willis at long snapper was also important as Keven Gallic’s return is questionable. Moving forward will Nebraska be able to keep guys like Archie Wilson, Kyle Cunanan, and Willis with the departure of STC Mike Ekeler? The three coaches who have played roles at special teams are Josh Martin, Brett Maher, and Nick Humphrey. Rhule indicated he would promote from within. Will there be co-coordinators? Humphrey came to Nebraska with Ekeler from Tennessee. Keeping him may play a big role in what transpires moving forward. It will be interesting to say the least.

The Huskers picked up safety Dewayne McDougle from San Deigo State. Not only did he play for DC Rob Aurich there, but he followed Aurich from Idaho. He’ll help a young secondary group pick up the new 4-2-5 scheme. Nebraska picked up Justin Shiggs and Victor Evans III as well. The Huskers have some good defensive backs, whether Shiggs and Evans are starters is yet to be seen.

One note of interest. Only four of the ten single digit number players return. That means there will be opportunities for players to set themselves apart.

As of now the roster appears as follows.

 

 

 

Ct	Pos Ct	No.	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.
1	1	11	Demitrius Bell	WR	6’0″	195	So.
2	2	13	Nyziah Hunter	WR	6’1″	205	So.
3	3	4	Janiran Bonner	WR	6’2″	225	Jr.
4	4	2	Jacory Barney Jr.	WR	6’0″	170	So.
5	5	X	Kwazi Gilmer	WR	6’2″	190	So.
6	6	19	Cortez Mills Jr.	WR	6’0″	185	Fr.
7	7	26	Roman Mangini	WR	5’10”	170	Jr.
8	8	30	DJ Singleton	WR	5’10”	150	RFr.
9	9	80	Jeremiah Jones	WR	6’4″	225	Fr.
10	10	81	Hayes Miller	WR	6’0″	200	So.
11	11	85	Keelan Smith	WR	6’3″	205	RFr.
12	12	88	Jackson Carpenter	WR	6’1″	200	Fr.
13	13	89	Quinn Clark	WR	6’5″	210	RFr.
14	14	X	Nalin Scott	WR	6’2″	200	Fr.
15	15	X	Larry Miles	WR	5’10”	170	Fr.
15	1	29	Carter Nelson	TE	6’5″	240	So.
16	2	44	Luke Lindenmeyer	TE	6’3″	250	Jr.
17	3	48	Cayden Echternach	TE	6’4″	260	So.
18	4	49	Danny King	TE	6’4″	245	RFr.
19	5	82	Eric Ingwerson	TE	6’7″	255	RFr.
20	6	87	Mac Markway	TE	6’4″	250	So.
21	7	X	Luke Soresen	TE	6’4″	245	Fr.
22	1	22	Isaiah Mozee	RB	6’0″	210	Fr.
23	2	23	Conor Booth	RB	6’0″	215	Fr.
24	3	X	Jamal Rule	RB	6’0″	205	Fr.
25	4	28	Kwinten Ives	RB	6’3″	215	So.
26	5	30	Vincent Genatone	RB	6’0″	225	Jr.
27	6	32	Trent Uhlir	RB	6’1″	235	RFr.
28	7	35	Mekhi Nelson	RB	6’0″	195	RFr.
29	8	45	Izaac Dickey	RB	5’10”	220	RFr.
30	1	11	Bode Soukup	QB	6’2″	205	RFr.
31	2	14	TJ Lateef	QB	6’1″	200	Fr.
32	3	X	Anthony Colandrea	QB	6’0″	205	Sr.
33	4	X	Danny Kaelin	QB	6’3″	218	RSo.
34	5	X	Tanner Vibabul	QB	6’1″	175	Fr.
35	6	17	Luke Longval	QB	6’2″	215	Jr.
36	1	30	Michael Sarikizis	PK	5’10”	190	Fr.
37	2	90	John Hohl	PK	6’0″	195	So.
38	3	91	Kyle Cunanan	PK	5’10”	180	So.
40	1	37	Kamdyn Koch	P	6’2″	200	RFr.
41	2	83	Archie Wilson	P	6’2″	215	Fr.
42	1	X	Brendan Black	OL	6’4″	320	Sr.
43	2	51	Justin Evans	OL	6’2″	315	Jr.
44	3	56	Julian (Juju) Marks	OL	6’4″	310	Fr.
45	4	57	Elijah Pritchett	OL	6’6″	325	Jr.
46	5	58	Jake Peters	OL	6’3″	300	RFr.
47	6	X	Paul Mubenga	OL	6’4″	320	Sr.
48	7	62	Sam Sledge	OL	6’4″	300	So.
49	8	X	Tree Babalade	OL	6’5″	230	So.
50	9	X	Rex Waterman	OL	6’5″	295	Fr.
51	10	66	Grant Brix	OL	6’6″	310	RFr.
52	11	X	Claude Mpouma	OL	6’5″	338	Fr.
53	12	68	Preston Taumua	OL	6’4″	325	RFr.
54	13	70	Nolan Fennessy	OL	6’4″	300	RFr.
55	14	72	Gibson Pyle	OL	6’5″	295	RFr.
56	15	74	Brock Knutson	OL	6’7″	310	So.
57	16	75	Tyler Knaak	OL	6’6″	325	Jr.
58	17	76	Hayden Ainsworth	OL	6’5″	305	Fr.
59	18	77	Gunnar Gottula	OL	6’6″	305	So.
60	19	78	Jacob Brandl	OL	6’3″	305	So.
61	20	79	Shawn Hammerbeck	OL	6’6″	265	Fr.
62	1	X	Jack Willis	LS	6’2″	217	RFr.
63	2	94	Aidan Flege	LS	6’2″	225	Sr.
64	1	9	Vincent Shavers Jr.	LB	6’1″	225	So.
65	2	17	Willis McGahee IV	LB	6’1″	240	So.
66	3	X	Owen Chambliss	LB	6’3″	230	Sr.
67	4	X	Will Hawthorne	LB	6’2″	220	RFr.
68	5	X	Dexter Foster	LB	6’3″	236	Jr.
69	7	42	Derek Wacker	LB	6’1″	230	RFr.
70	9	X	Jase Reynolds	LB	6’2″	206	Fr.
71	10	46	Connor Schutt	LB	6’5″	225	RFr.
72	11	47	Gage Stenger	LB	6’2″	220	Jr.
73	12	50	Christian Jones	LB	6’2″	235	Fr.
74	13	51	Dawson Merritt	LB	6’3″	225	Fr.
75	14	52	Dylan Rogers	LB	6’3″	240	So.
76	15	54	Jacob Bower	LB	6’1″	220	So.
77	16	56	Pierce Mooberry	LB	6’3″	220	Fr.
78	17	94	Jordan Ochoa	LB	6’4″	240	RFr.
79	1	11	Cameron Lenhardt	DL	6’3″	270	Jr.
80	2	X	Anthony Jones	DL	6’5″	265	Jr.
81	3	5	Riley Van Poppel	DL	6’5″	295	So.
82	4	49	Malcolm Simpson	DL	6’3″	285	Fr.
83	5	53	David Hoffken	DL	6’7″	285	RFr.
84	6	55	Landen Davidson	DL	6’4″	305	RFr.
85	7	55	Ethan Duda	DL	6’5″	250	RFr.
86	8	57	Ashton Murphy	DL	6’5″	275	RFr.
87	9	58	Mason Goldman	DL	6’5″	270	So.
88	10	71	Tyson Terry	DL	6’2″	310	Fr.
89	11	73	Kade Pietrzak	DL	6’5″	265	Fr.
90	12	X	Jahsear Whittington	DL	6’0″	270	So.
91	13	92	Sua Lefotu	DL	6’3″	300	So.
92	14	95	Gabe Moore	DL	6’5″	290	So.
93	15	96	Williams Nwaneri	DL	6’7″	265	RFr.
94	16	X	Owen Stoudmire	DL	6’1″	292	Sr.
95	17	98	Conor Connealy	DL	6’4″	260	So.
96	18	99	Dylan Parrott	DL	6’5″	320	Jr.
97	1	X	Dwayne McDougle	DB	5’11”	208	Sr.
98	2	X	Victor Evans III	DB	6’1″	180	Sr.
99	3	X	Jasin Shiggs	DB	6’1″	175	So.
100	4	10	Andrew Marshall	DB	6’0″	190	Jr.
101	5	12	Kahmir Prescott	DB	6’1″	195	RFr.
102	6	13	Jamir Conn	DB	5’11”	180	Jr.
103	7	14	Amare Sanders	DB	6’1″	190	RFr.
104	8	X	Danny Odem	DB	6’1″	190	Fr.
105	9	18	Larry Tarver Jr.	DB	5’11”	175	RFr.
106	10	19	Justyn Rhett	DB	6’1″	200	So.
107	11	21	Rex Guthrie	DB	6’1″	200	RFr.
108	12	23	Blye Hill	DB	6’4″	195	So.
109	14	25	Jeremiah Charles	DB	6’0″	175	So.
110	15	28	Caleb Benning	DB	5’11”	200	RFr.
111	16	29	Braylen Prude	DB	6’4″	200	RFr.
112	17	31	Mario Buford	DB	6’0″	175	So.
113	20	36	Rowdy Bauer	DB	5’11”	195	RFr.
114	21	37	Donovan Jones	DB	6’1″	200	RFr.
115	22	38	Thomas D’Onofrio	DB	6’1″	185	RFr.
116	23	39	Bryson Webber	DB	6’3″	190	Fr.
117	25	41	Tanner Terch	DB	6’1″	190	Fr.

 

As always, the roster is a work in progress. Don’t be surprised to see changes before the season starts, whether it’s additions or losses, there are bound to be changes.

GO BIG RED!! SIMPLE, FAST, VIOLENT!!

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