As spring ball comes to a close, here are five players for Nebraska that still have something to prove heading into the 2017 season.

Related: Five players on the rise | Nebraska's strengths | Nebraska's biggest questions

After a rough finish to the 2016 season, followed up by seeing his weight drop over 10 pounds during the winter, this will no doubt be a big summer for junior left tackle Nick Gates.

Going into his third season as a starter, Gates will be looked at to lead this offensive line in 2017, and his play on the left side will be very important to the overall success of the offense.

Gates admitted at the start of spring practice it took him a while to get over his rough showing against Tennessee defensive end Derek Barnett in the bowl game. Hopefully he was able to get back mentally on track this spring.

Nebraska fans almost took for granted how good they have been at the punter position the last several years. The Huskers have had an NFL type punter more often than not, and after the tragic death of Sam Foltz last July, it really changed the complexion of the position.

Sophomore Caleb Lightbourn was forced to step in as a true freshman, and he definitely had his ups and downs and was nearly pulled after a negative punt in the Maryland game.

With a new punters coach in Bob Diaco, along with a year under his belt, hopefully Lightbourn can take a big step forward in 2017.

Gates is obviously an important part to the success of Nebraska's offensive line, but you could argue senior David Knevel is equally important.

If Knevel can give NU a solid senior season, that will allow another year for the young tackles behind him to continue to grow and develop.

Physically there's no question Knevel has the tools to get it done, the problem last year was staying healthy and being able to handle a 12-game regular season at right tackle.

Of all the positions on Nebraska's defense coming out of the spring, you could argue Alex Davis at outside linebacker remains one of the biggest questions.

The outside linebacker position is such a new wrinkle in this defense, where Davis will be forced to play almost as a hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker.

Davis got a ton of reps this spring, but you still never got the feeling he turned the corner. Davis is a guy this defense needs to an elite pass rusher in 2017.

A year ago at this time junior Devine Ozigbo looked like Nebraska's best running back. In September he looked like Nebraska's best running back.

Then an ankle injury slowed Ozigbo at mid-season, and he's never been able to get back to the place he was in last September.

This spring Ozigbo had some moments where he looked impressive, but he's still arguably the No. 3 running back behind Tre Bryant and Mikale Wilbon. However, his physical between the tackles style makes him different, and with a big summer he could easily make a run for more playing time in 2017.