Nebraska defensive lineman Jordon Riley has a new number that represents that he's a different player than last season, his first as a Husker.

“I wore 87 last year, and I use 91 and 87 as two different people,” Riley said. “Two totally different people.”

After transferring from Garden City Junior College before the 2020 season, Riley weighed 335 pounds and is now 6-foot-6, 305 pounds. Shaving off that much weight dramatically changed his game.

“I dealt with a lot of injuries last year, and I felt like the weight had a lot of things that go with that, as far as us just playing heavy,” Riley said. “I hurt my knee last year. A lot of that came with weight issues.

"I feel lighter. Not a lot of pressure on my joints so that's a great feeling coming to this fall camp.”

Losing roughly 30 pounds will help with Riley’s stamina and ability to spend a lot amount of reps on the field.

“Difference in stamina, I can play longer. Around this time last year, I probably played about four or three snaps. I was heavy, 330,” he said. “Now I can play multiple snaps without getting tired. That's a great feeling coming into this season knowing I can play how many snaps I want to play.”

Riley’s coaches and teammates have noticed a large leap in his game and athleticism.

“I have teammates and coaches telling me that I look way quicker than I was last year,” Riley said. “That's very great to hear because I wanted to change my weight coming in this fall camp.”

His position coach Tony Tuioti has noticed Riley’s stamina increase and the game starting to slow down for him.

“The thing about him is he's starting to learn and understand the scheme of the defense,” Tuioti said. “His mental errors have dramatically dropped.”

Defensive coordinator Eric Chinander said on Monday that Riley has ‘done a great job developing his body’ and is leaner and has a better twitch.

“The biggest thing for him is he’s much more comfortable in knowing what his job is in this defense and knowing what he has to do before he lines up,” Chinander said. “There’s not a lot of thinking going on anymore, he’s just able to play ball and that’s helped him out a ton.”

Several of Riley’s teammates on the defensive line has been impressed by the nose guard's overall improvement during the offseason.

Six-year senior defensive end Ben Stille said that he challenged Riley to slim down and now he’s able to move better and ‘make the plays he needs to.’

“He's still 300 plus pounds, he's never going to have an issue holding ground,” Stille said. “For him, it's really technique. He's improved over the last, I don't know, six, eight months through spring ball. He’s really improved his technique towards the end of spring ball and then he picked right back up and fall ball.”

Another position mate, fourth-year sophomore Casey Rogers said he has always been impressed with Riley’s ability to move as a big man and now that has increased.

“Jordan is a big body, man. He's just a huge guy who can plug up the middle and he can move too,” Rogers said. “I remember watching him when he first got here and watched him do pass forward stuff, and he's huge, but he could flip his hips and he can get on an edge too.”

“Yes, it hurt a little bit when he was a little banged up last year,” Rogers continued. “I think now that when he's back to 100%, he's a hard person to block.”

Riley suffered a knee injury last season and came back a new athlete with a new number. No. 91 is leaner, faster, stronger, smarter and can stay on the field longer to display those things.

He and his teammate, Damion Daniels, went on the weight loss journey together and had one mission in mind during the taxing process: be on the field when it’s third down and their team is counting on them the most.

“It was all a mindset thing for the both of us,” Riley said. “We all want to play faster. We all want to be on the field when it's third down, so you got to be a little bit slimmer, you got to be faster.

“We want to get our bodies in shape to help the team out the best.”