Nebraska Football has an edge this year on the field. No, we did not hire Connor Stallions to steal play calling signals or Tom Brady’s ball boy to deflate the football and give Dylan Raiola an advantage. I’m talking about our most underrated position on this 2024 team, the edge rusher. If you are a Husker fan you may remember names like Cameron Meredith, Thad Randle, Cole Pensick, Jared Crick and Baker Steinkuhler. All of these players were good in their own right, but having Ndamukong Suh definitely didn’t hurt their ability to shine. A player like Suh had the ability to draw the attention of everyone on the opposing team, not only on game day but in preparation for the week. You either put 2 blockers on Suh or he would make every play, even if you did he still may make you look incompetent (see Nebraska vs Texas 2009). Now we may not have a Suh caliber defensive lineman, but we do have 2 of the best defensive lineman in the Big 10 this year.
Know that when Nash Hutmacher and Ty Robinson oppose offenses this year that the attention will be on them. If you are not worried about Ty and the Polar Bear enough to but a double team on them, then you may have a very bad day. This will open the door for so many talented edge rushers to take center stage for Nebraska this season. Guys like Cam Lenhardt, Jimari Butler, Elijah Judy, Brodie Tagaloa, Riley Van Poppel, Keona Wilhite and Jordan Ochoa will all benefit from the double teams put on Nash and Ty this year. All of those names mentioned above are set to have a breakthrough or breakout year with teams looking at them as secondary concerns.
Putting an offensive lineman on an island is already a dangerous thing to do as a coach. With no help from your surrounding cast, it is just a 1 on 1 battle. With Rhule’s (positionless) players that makes things even more dangerous. Nebraska’s defense is very straight forward in the front end. Each player is responsible for 1 gap and 1 gap only most of the time. Allowing players to play without fear or hesitation. When allowing a faster and more athletic defensive end or edge to pair up against an offensive lineman 1 on 1, as long as the defensive player has good handwork and a motor. It becomes less of a question of if a player will make it to the quarterback but when.
The Huskers have so many young, yet experienced ends and edges that it is easy to overlook them due to constant rotation. But this year you will see plenty of quarterback rushes and sacks due to these individuals. Forcing opposing teams to run the ball, which Nebraska stopped very well last year. With Ty and Nash drawing all eyes, offenses will take their eyes off a young, fast and hungry pass rush. I believe we will see this in full force come the Colorado, UCLA and Wisconsin games. This year the Cornhuskers have an edge, and that edge is sharp.
