HOL Top 40 for 2016: 26-30

Voting Criteria: Player's importance to the team in 2016, talent and potential for the upcoming season. A player's long term/NFL potential was not taken into consideration.

Voting Panel: Publisher Sean Callahan and HuskerOnline.com staff Robin Washut, Nate Clouse, Mike Matya, Bryan Munson, and Gregg Peterson.

Few would argue that from a standpoint of running the football, Wilbon was more than talented enough to be a factor for Nebraska last season.

Unfortunately, when it came to all the other details of playing the position at the major college level, the former four-star recruit left much to be desired in the eyes of his coaches.

The good news is that the switch seemed to get flipped for Wilbon this spring. His running ability is as good as ever, but he's paired that with a much better grasp of the offense and, maybe most importantly, has improved vastly in his pass blocking.

By doing so, Wilbon's coaches will finally be able to trust him enough to keep him on the field. In turn, Nebraska should actually be able to put one of its most explosive backfield weapons to use.

One of the more disappointing turn of events this offseason was that sophomore defensive tackle Mick Stoltenberg was unable to participate in spring practice after undergoing offseason knee surgery just before the bowl game.

Had he been able to suit up, there's a good chance the 6-foot-5, 290-pounder would have already solidified himself a fixture on the starting defensive line for this season and years to come.

Just from the basic eyeball test, Stoltenberg might be one of the most physically intimidating players on the entire roster. Even better, he's got the skill set to match and was already earning notable playing time last year as a redshirt freshman at one of NU's deepest positions.

The Gretna, Neb., native will have to make up for lost time when he returns to action in fall camp, but for a guy who already triggers comparisons to former Husker standout Adam Carriker, that shouldn't be much of a problem.

A player who might have been better known last year for his impressive mustache than his play on the field, Ross Dzuris quietly established himself as a fixture in Nebraska's defensive end rotation in 2015.

When Jack Gangwish went down after the first game with an elbow injury, Dzuris stepped in and played in every game with four starts during Big Ten Conference play. He even led the Huskers with nine tackles for loss, including 2.5 sacks.

With defensive end being easily the biggest question mark on NU's defense, Dzuris is in line to open this season as a starter once again. If he can keep up his rapid development, a lot more people are going to know Dzuris's name by season's end.

Alonzo Moore finally started to live up to his sky-high potential in 2015 after two seasons full of drops and inconsistency, catching 24 passes for 395 yards and six touchdowns.

He might get overshadowed a bit in a wide receiver group that is widely regarded as the deepest and most talented positions on Nebraska's roster. But in terms of pure athletic explosiveness, few posses what Moore brings to the table.

In addition to being one of the Huskers' best deep threats, Moore was also used heavily in the fly-sweep game, rushing the ball 14 times for 106 yards.

Coming into last season, Marcus Newby had spent almost just as much time as a rush end as he did at linebacker, the position at which he came to Lincoln in 2013 as a four-star prospect.

After starting six of 10 games and finished eighth on the team with 34 tackles in 2015, Newby finally appears to have found his home again at linebacker.

He'll continue to battle for a starting job during fall camp, but don't be surprised if Newby once again moves down to defensive end as a pass rush specialist in order to give the Blackshirts a boost.

36-40

35-31