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
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No mention of D-lineman James Williams?
He redshirted last year and definitely has a niche to rushing the passer, they are trying him out at JACK a little bit this year. But the 3 practices I was at he didn’t jump out at me. Makes me think he will have about 5 sacks in the spring game.
I loved that they actually rotated a ton last year. I get that if you don’t have the guys and aren’t confident in your reserves, you may have to lean more on starters. But that is area where I feel like if you can rotate even for a few series, it keeps the backups motivated to prove something, and keeps the starters fresh to play balls to the wall for 4 quarters.
For sure. Offenses are bound to have some sustained 8, 10, even 12 play drives and you can’t just have your 3 guys out there the entire time. If you have the players, it does a good job of keeping everyone fresh and getting guys like Lenhardt and Van Poppel ready when Robinson and Hutmacher are gone.
Can you go into some more detail regarding what you mean by hoping the recruiting process didn’t screw Wilhite up too much. It is an intriguing comment.
Speculation, certainly not anything I heard, but I wonder if he will have some trust issues moving forward? The team he was committed to loses their coach, then the next one he wants to move on to their head coach heads somewhere to be an OC. We basically won his recruitment by default because our coaches have been steady.