Top 40 Huskers for 2019: 16-20

Voting Criteria: Player's importance to the team in 2019, overall talent, and future potential for the upcoming season. A player's long-term/NFL prospects were not taken into consideration.

Voting Panel: Publisher Sean Callahan, HuskerOnline.com writers Robin Washut and Nate Clouse.

Previous Rankings: 21-25 | 26-30 | 31-35 | 36-40

Make no bones about it, if things go according to plan, Jurgens should be Nebraska's starting center in 2019. However, there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered, including the most pressing of all - can he stay healthy?

Jurgens hasn't finished a football season without injury since his junior year of high school. He suffered a broken leg/ankle as a senior and then had a foot injury this past season as a true freshman.

Head coach Scott Frost didn't give any real update on Jurgens' status at Big Ten Media Day, so his availability for Week 1 likely won't be known until fall camp.

Everything is there for this move to make Frost look like a genius for moving Jurgens from tight end to center, but the Beatrice, Neb., native needs to prove that his body is up to the challenge.

If Ferguson could have stayed healthy last season, he was on his way to becoming a big piece of Nebraska's defense as the starting weakside linebacker. Unfortunately an ankle injury limited him to just eight appearances and four starts.

But he looked back to his old self this spring, and he could play a big role in helping bolster the Huskers' desperate need for an outside pass rusher this year.

This is a guy who had a career-high 10 tackles in his first start as a Husker last season against Colorado after only registering eight total stops in his previous two campaigns. As long as he stays on the field, Ferguson should make his presence known right away in 2019.

Stille joins Carlos and Khalil Davis to give Nebraska a strong core of experience and production at defensive end this season.

The Ashland, Neb., native had his best year yet in 2018, starting 11 of the 12 games he played and finishing with a career-high 25 tackles and leading all NU defensive linemen with 5.0 sacks.

He's bulked up to 6-5, 290, since moving from linebacker to defensive end as a redshirt freshman, and he will once again be one of the Huskers' top options up front going into his junior year.

There was a considerable amount of buzz surrounding Domann this spring, and for good reason.

The junior from Colorado Springs, Colo., was coming off of his most successful season as a Husker to date, and he reshaped his body to a solid 230 pounds when he returned for spring ball.

He also started working at a specialized position that no other player on the team was practicing, the "Cinco" - a hybrid outside linebacker/safety role that utilizes his blend of athleticism, tackling ability, and coverage skills.

Injuries have held him back throughout his career, but assuming Domann can stay healthy he should be a mainstay on Nebraska's defense from here on out.

Nebraska had some big shoes to fill at wide receiver this season with the loss of Stanley Morgan Jr., and it picked up a big piece with the addition of the Cal graduate transfer Noa.

The former three-star recruit is a native of Hawaii and caught 94 catches for 1,224 yards and six touchdowns for the Golden Bears from 2016 to 2018. In 2017, Noa had 76 catches for 788 yards but suffered an injury setback last year that limited him for most of the season.

He was a reliable possession receiver for the Golden Bears who wasn't afraid to make tough catches over the middle and in the red zone. He should immediately step into that role with the Huskers and provide Adrian Martinez with a quality security blanket.