Spring preview: Defensive line locked and loaded for 2021
The Nebraska football team is scheduled to officially start spring practice on Tuesday, Mar. 30, as the Big Red will go five straight weeks before wrapping things up with the May 1 Red-White spring game.
As we get closer to the start of spring practice, it's time to take an in-depth look at each position group.
Today we breakdown the defensive line, as the Huskers return all but one of their top players from a year ago in terms of snap played.
What we know now: The top group appears to be pretty set
The top four of Nebraska's defensive line in 2021 appears to be set - Senior Ben Stille, junior Damion Daniels, sophomore Casey Rogers and redshirt freshman Ty Robinson all return this spring.
After that both veterans Deontre Thomas and Jordan Riley round out the top six, giving defensive line coach Tony Tuioti a solid rotation to work with.
The biggest question is what type of gains will this group make with a full eight-week winter conditioning under their belt?
Stille returns after his most productive year ever at NU in terms of quarterback pressures, while Rogers and Robinson had breakout type seasons in 2020. Daniels also showed his value at the nose and gives the Huskers a big body to match-up against run-heavy offenses.
Biggest question to answer: Will Jordon Riley be a bigger factor?
One player that was held back for injury reasons in 2020 was Riley. Before that, the junior college transfer was expected to battle for a starting job.
Riley saw only 36 snaps in 2020 over 7 games. That was three less even than Keem Green, who ended up leaving the program for South Carolina.
Ideally, they need Riley to give them much more productivity, as he's the ideal candidate to play the nose position with Daniels.
Spring dark horses: Mosai Newsom and Nash Hutmacher
Two sleeper names to watch this spring are redshirt freshman Mosai Newsom and true freshman Nash Hutmacher.
Both will have their time at NU, it's just a matter of when it will happen. Newsom has been on the radar of Erik Chinander and Frost the last year, and they expect him to be a factor sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile, Hutmacher is as strong and athletic of a recruit NU is brought in in quite some time. Once he gets comfortable with the overall level of play, you have to think Hutmacher will make an impact.
This spring will be the first real opportunity Newsom and Hutmacher will get to show themselves, as the pandemic took away so much from a year ago.