Huskers trying to shake things up at the outside linebacker position

It's no secret Nebraska’s outside linebackers have been one of the more underperforming positions on the defense in terms of production the last two seasons.

In 2019, NU’s outside linebackers combined for just five sacks and 19 tackles for loss, while in 2018, largely in part to current Dallas Cowboy Luke Gifford, they finished with 8.5 sacks and 21 tackles for loss.

In order for defensive coordinator Erik Chinander’s defense to take a step forward, this is a group that has to show improvement under Mike Dawson.

As spring practice opened last week, senior JoJo Domann and junior Caleb Tannor are the top two guys, while sophomore Garrett Nelson also returns. After that, the position is wide open.

“You'll see a lot of guys,” Chinander said of the outside linebacker position. “That was one of the places we had to pull some guys, obviously. There's young guys, Blaise Gunnerson and Jamin (Graham) and Niko Cooper coming in, Jimari Butler. We're going to need to get a good look at them and then, behind them, Damian Jackson's got some reps out there.

“Javin Wright will take some reps out there along with being in the back end. He's going to be kind of a guy that's going to job swap. There's another group, but I'm not ready to say which one of those groups is going to step up because we've got to see those guys for about week here.”

Wright’s move to outside linebacker this spring got a lot of people’s attention.

The 6-foot-3, 205 pound Wright started his career at safety and corner, but Chinander thinks there could be a future for him as a hybrid outside linebacker, similar to Domann.

“First and foremost, he's a ridiculously smart player,” Chinander said of Wright. “He could tell you what all the guys did before. He's really, really smart, has a great football knowledge. Second off, obviously, he's a very good-sized kid. We can do whatever we want with him. If we decide that secondary in the back end is going to be the best position, he can stay lean and be a 205, 210-pound safety-corner, whatever he needs to be.

“Then if we have to move him down, if that's the position that we feel like is best coming out of spring and fall, coach (Zach) Duval can do a good job with him and get him up to 225, 230 pounds.”

Tannor remains the x-factor for Nebraska’s outside linebacker position. He’s shown promise at times but has lived up nowhere near the expectations out there for what type of player he can be.

Chinander said when Mike Dawson came back and took over the outside linebacker coach position, he challenged Tannor and got after him early.

“I think they had a heart to heart when he first got here,” Chinander said of Tannor and Dawson. “I think Caleb responded well.

“He's going to be a guy and he's going to have to help us and he's going to have to help us early. If he can't, then once you get to be that junior age, if you can't help anymore, then some young guys got to get a shot. He's going to have a nice spring ball here to show us he can do it. He's either going to or he's not.”

Chinander also wants to see more out of Domann in 2020.

Yes, the Colorado native has made a lot of big plays for the Huskers the last two years, but Chinander said there’s so much more out there for him to achieve.

“I think he can be a lot better and that's something I talked to him about,” Chinander said of Domann. “Obviously, there's things that he needs to do differently, but JoJo is as good as he wants to be. Right now, he's got to focus. That'll help him, knowing what his role is early and being able to narrow that down. Him focusing and coming to practice every day and starting to make some of those calls and be verbal and be sure about his job and limiting his mental errors will dramatically change his game. Even though it appears a lot on the outside he’s making a lot of plays, which he is. He definitely is, but there's things that don't get seen probably that can really help our team.”

With newcomers like Niko Cooper, Jimari Butler and Blaise Gunnerson all set to be a part of the equation as well, Dawson knows his room still has several unknowns.

He’ll also be the first to tell you they are nowhere near where they need to be.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Dawson said. “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. I think anytime after a season like last year, you have to go back and self-scout and see where you need to get better and try to improve it. Whether it was Jovan (Dewitt) sitting here, or me sitting here, I think it would be a similar story. We need to get better at what we are doing, and these guys are eager to get that done.”