The Huskers Defense has been spoken about as a gimmy this year, announced as close to a sure thing as you can get. If you would’ve told me this three years ago you would’ve been called a lunatic. This season The Blackshirts may truly live up to their reputation. With depth, alot of maturity and some standout young athletes the Huskers may just finish ‘24 with the best defense in the Big 10.
The linebackers are the most unproven squad on this 2024 Blackshirt roster. With a ton of talent, it is still unproven going in to this season and that is a concern of mine. From seniors like MJ Sherman, Javin Wright and John Bullock to the Newcomers like Freshman Vincent Shavers or Syracuse transfer Stefon Thompson the Huskers are flush with talent, but we will need to see the transition from talent to on field production before I feel comfortable with that room this year. In the current position I grade out the linebacker core at a C, but as the season moves on this group could grade as high as a B+.
The secondary is unproven opposite Tommi Hill but there are plenty of young options that will have a chance to prove themselves such as transfer Blye Hill and freshman legacy Mario Buford. Malcom Hartzog is going to see most of the snaps at the nickle or boundary position, as I do believe if Hartzog can put together a stable season he could have a tremendous upside. Safeties are an impressive bunch, it is always a good dilemma as a position coach to not know who you are going to start because you have four starting quality and possibly All-Conference level talented players. From Issac Gifford and Marques Buford to DeShon Singleton and freshman D’Andre Barnes this safety crew is one you can lay your confidence in, giving this secondary an overall grade of a B.
Yes, I did not forget about “Murderers Row” the defensive line. Being the deepest position group, not only on the defensive side of the ball but the deepest group on the whole team. The defensive line is loaded with talented veterans and skilled young talent. Starters should lay out like this; Ty Robinson and Jimari Butler at end, and Nash Hutmacher (The Polar Bear) at nose guard. The most important part about this line is that the second team could start on most B1G teams with Kyle Van Poppel, Elijah Jeudy and my pick for 2024 breakout player of the year Cameron Lenhardt. Wrecking havoc on quarterbacks and shutting down the run harder than a steep incline, this group gets hander the prestigious A+ grading. If controlling the line of scrimmage wins games, than we should be prepared to compete in every game this year without exception.
Overall landing this defensive unit as a whole at a B+, and if all goes right a A- this season. The Huskers Defense may embody the Blackshirt name fully this year, leading Nebraska to a very bright season.
