I will apologize from the start. Many of the first few paragraphs were taken from the ‘Offense’ article. That’s because what I had to say applies to both, and well, if you didn’t read the first article you need to know what was said.
Come January 2nd Nebraska will be hitting the transfer portal hard. There are several positions where the Huskers need to add more depth and experience. Why do I say it that way? Because there isn’t a position on this team that doesn’t have good young talent. The key word is, young. During the season there were 39 players who were sophomores or younger, making the Huskers one of the youngest teams in the Big Ten.
Before worrying about targeting talent in the portal the Nebraska staff has a more critical task at hand. They must recruit their own roster. It is an absolute must that they maintain the talent that they’ve brought in and invested in. And when I say invested, I’m not talking about money. Yes, it’s important, but that’s just another check mark on GM Pat Stewarts’s list of things to do. The investment has been in development. Progress has been made and according to Matt Rhule there is no benefit in a reset. Tweaking yes, reset no.
I can break down the positions and the players I think this staff needs to concentrate on but first let me point out that the dynamics of this team have changed since QB Dylan Raiola went down against USC and three assistant coaches were fired.
When Raiola went down TJ Lateef came in, and while he couldn’t salvage a win against USC the freshman was impressive the next week against UCLA. And what we all saw, including Raiola, was that Nebraska would be going with a dual threat QB moving forward. It sounds like an offensive thing, doesn’t it? But it goes deeper than that. Having a dual threat QB changes how you play offense, which directly affects how you play defense, how you practice, and how you approach the game. It’s a change in philosophy that affects the whole team.
Last season, because of who the QB was, there was an emphasis put on receivers and offensive linemen. The dollars spent were to protect the dollars spent. The defense suffered because of it. This portal season Nebraska will target players across the board and concentrate on team rather than doing what’s best to protect their biggest investment. With the big investment gone, money will be spent to retain some of the top young players. But it won’t take just money to retain them. You must convince them they are still an integral part of this team going forward.
That’s why I’ll argue with anyone who will listen that the bowl game against Utah is huge for Nebraska. Rhule and his staff must be able to sell results rather than hope. Since Rhule’s arrival the pitch has been making the CFP but that seems unrealistic when you look at the results over the last two seasons. Especially in November. Last year the Pinstripe Bowl win gave the impression that changes were already happening, and you were headed in the right direction. Once again, that is needed more than ever now. You’ve fired staff and hired young enthusiastic coaches. Change for 2026 has been made, now show you are headed in the right direction with a Las Vegas Bowl victory. Because if you don’t, the fallout on January 1st will be noticeable.
On offense I listed a wide receiver, a quarterback, a 2nd wide receiver, and two offensive tackles as the top positions to recruit internally. It may sound crazy after what we saw this last season, but retaining defensive lineman may be just as important.
Rhule has stated that it isn’t as much about scheme as it is physicality and aggressiveness. Still, it appears with the addition of DC Rob Aurich the Huskers will be moving from the 3-3-5 to the 4-2-5. I think Nebraska’s personnel is much better suited for a four-man front.
Moving in that direction there are four defensive linemen that are a must to keep on this roster. They are Kade Pietrzak, Riley Van Poppel, Willams Nwaneri, and Keona Davis. They are as talented as we’ve seen in years. All they need is coached up and put in the right positions. And with the addition of Aurich, Edge coach Roy Manning, and a yet to be determined defensive line coach, I’m willing to bet that happens.
Behind those four there are two more promising young players who didn’t see action and were red-shirted due to injuries, Tyson Terry and Malcolm Simpson. It’ll be important to let them know they are needed, but I don’t see either of them going anywhere.
With the change in scheme, I see Nwaneri and Davis as defensive ends, Van Poppel and Terry can play on the inside, but some big-bodied fireplugs will need to be added through the portal. When asked, DC Rob Aurich had this to say about the defensive line doing a better job of defending the run.
“Fundamentally there’s a level of style that needs to be played in this conference to be an elite run defense. And we’re starting to see those fundamentals show up. Especially from our front. And secondly you can’t have any missed fits. You can’t beat yourself. When I watch the tape from last year, I think they are on the same page for 57 reps of the game, but there’s one or two a game that they leak out explosive yardage. And so, we’ve got to make sure we don’t allow that to happen.”
Nebraska has recruited well across the board on defense, it’s just that the guys on this roster are so stinking young. That applies to the linebacker position as well. At the second level there are seven names I would think this staff would zero in on. They are Vincent Shavers, Dawson Merritt, Christian Jones, Peirce Mooberry, Willis McGahee, Dylan Rogers, and Jordan Ochoa. All seven of these guys are sophomores or younger.
With the change in scheme, it’ll be interesting to see where the guys playing ‘Jack’ linebacker fall on the roster. Will they still be linebackers or do they move to more of a rush end position? Players like Willis McGahee, Dylan Rogers, and Jordan Ochoa who are bigger guys may not have the speed to cover and run sideline to sideline. But are they big enough to play defensive end down after down. While they may be talented, some may fall in the ‘tweener’ category. Two players have entered the portal, Maverick Noonan and Roger Gradney.
Of these seven, I see McGahee and Ochoa as the biggest threats of entering the portal.
When Rhule was hired as head coach he brought Evan Cooper with him as his defensive backs coach. Cooper had an eye for talent and Rhule sometimes turned him loose. Because of that Nebraska’s defensive backs room ballooned up to 26 players. John Butler brough in his own guys as well and the room maintained its size. Typically, there are five DBs on the field at a time, even if you go three deep that’s only fifteen guys, meaning there are ten guys not seeing playing time. It’s hard to get guys to stay who aren’t getting on the field. Meaning there will more than likely be some attrition in this room. We’ll have to see how defensive backs coach Addison Williams handles it. Maybe it doesn’t change.
I’m going to sound repetitive, but if there is one word to describe this team it’s ‘young’. Of the nine guys I’m going to say this staff must retain, only two are older than sophomores. In no particular order they are Andrew Marshall, Donavan Jones, Jamir Conn, Blye Hill, Amare Sanders, Justyn Rhett, Rex Guthrie, Jeremiah Charles, and Caleb Benning.
Marshall played for DC Rob Aurich at Idaho and seemed excited to be reunited with him. Conn and Rhett have already transferred once and have seen plenty of playing time, it’s hard to imagine them transferring a second time. Jones and Guthrie saw a ton of playing time and unless they just don’t like being Huskers, I don’t see them leaving. Benning hasn’t seen the field as much as I thought he would, but he’s a legacy. That leaves Sanders, Charles, and Hill as guys who I could see looking around.
There are four guys graduating, DeShon Singleton, Ceyair Wright, Marques Buford, and Derek Branch. Four players announced they will enter the portal, Malcolm Hartzog, Caden Vermaas, Preston Okafor and Roger Gradney. Look for incoming 2026 recruit Danny Odem to see playing time upon his arrival. He’s a big bodied talented kid.
Once again, the bowl game becomes important for that reason. It’s anticipated that some of the young defensive backs will set themselves apart and get a jump in 2026.
New DC Rob Aurich’s had this to say about his overall impression of the Blackshirt defense. “I think we are long, we’re athletic, I think if you watch practice the last three days there’s a level of physicality that has been on display. I’ve been really impressed with how the guys practiced. I think there are plenty of tools here to have a championship level defense. And you look at their season last year they did that for a large portion. We’ve got to make sure we’re able to finish the race.”
The core group of defensive names that need to be priority targets are:
Kade Pietrzak
Riley Van Poppel
Willams Nwaneri
Keona Davis
Vincent Shavers
Dawson Merritt
Christian Jones
Peirce Mooberry
Willis McGahee
Dylan Rogers
Jordan Ochoa
Andrew Marshall
Donavan Jones
Jamir Conn
Blye Hill
Amare Sanders
Justyn Rhett
Rex Guthrie
Jeremiah Charles
Caleb Benning
We’ve seen four defensive players enter the portal thus far. After the bowl game, the recruits coming in for 2026, and the possibility of portal additions, I anticipate six to eight more entries from the defense on January one. This offseason isn’t a rebuild. But it is a roster realignment, a reset, or a tweak. It’s what every football coach has done for the last 100 years, only now with the portal and NIL, it’s magnified a thousand times over. Let the tweaking begin.
GO BIG RED!!
Photo courtesy of the Falls City Journal
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