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.
10. Joshua Kalu, CB, Jr.
While Nebraska had some concerns about its overall secondary depth coming into the start of spring practice, it had very little worry about with its top cornerback unit.
The rapid development of junior Joshua Kalu was as big of a reason for that confidence as any.
After emerging as one of the Huskers' top lockdown cover guys by the end of last season, Kalu picked up this spring exactly where he left off in his impressive Foster Farms Bowl performance.
His combination of size (6-1, 190), length, and athleticism make him the prototype for what NU wants in a cornerback.
What puts Kalu over the top is that not only is he as talented as any corner in the Big Ten, he's got the confidence and swagger to make sure all of his opponents know it, too.
9. Freedom Akinmoladun, DE, So.
Given the fact that Nebraska's depth and experience at defensive end make it one of the thinnest positions on the entire roster, the opportunity is there for the taking for Freedom Akinmoladun to establish himself as a force on the edge.
Already regarded as the Huskers' best natural pass rusher, Akinmoladun has made it his goal to bolster all of the other facets of his game in order to become an every-down defensive end.
The sophomore was on the verge of a breakout debut in 2015 before suffering a knee injury midway through the season, and he never quite looked the same when he came back later in the year.
This season marks his first chance to show he can return that level and be the menace NU is desperately counting on him to be.
8. Devine Ozigbo, RB, So.
Devine Ozigbo had his first breakout game as a true freshman last year at Illinois, carrying the ball seven times for 70 yards and a touchdown on the day.
But despite his impressive showing, Ozigbo only ended up rushing the ball nine more times over the next seven games, becoming a distant third and sometimes fourth option in NU’s running back rotation.
But as the Huskers re-committed to a power running game in their Foster Farms Bowl victory over UCLA, Ozigbo was once again front and center in Nebraska’s ground attack. He led the way with a team-high 21 carries for 87 yards, as NU racked up a season-high 326 rushing yards on a whopping 62 carries.
Based off the numbers the Huskers put up on the ground in their most dominant performance of the season, there's been a lot of talk that maybe the future recipe for success would be to continue relying on a heavy does of power football on offense.
Considering how prominent of a role Ozigbo had in that game plan, he figures to be a major piece in that puzzle.
7. Kevin Maurice, DT, Sr.
Playing behind two future NFL draft picks at one of the team's deepest positions at defensive tackle, Kevin Maurice didn't expect to have much of a role last season.
But when both Maliek Collins and Vincent Valentine missed Nebraska's road game at Illinois, Maurice was thrust into the lineup and earned his first career start. That's when he showed the type of player he could be when given an opportunity.
Maurice had eight tackles against the Fighting Illini, and even after suffering an immediate setback with a foot injury that forced him to miss the next three games, he solidified a spot in the d-tackle rotation for the rest of the year.
With Collins and Valentine declaring early for the NFL and Greg McMullen and Kevin Williams both moving on from the program, 2016 will be Maurice's greatest chance yet to be a fixture in the starting lineup and a force in the middle of the defense.
6. Cethan Carter, TE, Sr.
By seasons end, there may not have been a tight end in the Big Ten Conference playing better than Nebraska's Cethan Carter.
The Louisiana native finally looked like the player people thought he could be when he committed to NU back in 2013. Carter finished the year with 24 catches for 329 yards and two touchdowns while adding two carries for 48 yards on the ground, including a 32-yard touchdown run at Rutgers.
However, maybe his biggest value over the past three seasons has been as a blocker. Carter was dominant last season both as an edge blocker and in an H-back role.
Because of his undeniable physical gifts, there are many who think Carter could end up being Nebraska's first player selected in the 2017 NFL Draft next April. As long as he can avoid any further off-the-field issues (he was suspended for the first two games of 2015), there's no reason he can't live up to that potential.
