Voting Criteria: Player's importance to the team in 2020, 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, KETV Sports Director Andy Kendeigh, and Mike'l Severe, Co-Host of Severe and Benning the Morning on 1620 The Zone.

Previous ranking: 36-40 | 31-35

Few Huskers have become as accustomed to winning over the past two years as junior defensive lineman Pheldarius Payne.

In 22 games as a freshman and sophomore at Lackawanna (PA) College, Payne's teams went a combined 21-1, including a stretch of 21 straight victories and a trip to the 2019 National Junior College Athletic Association National Championship Game.

Payne posted 30 tackles, 12.0 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks, five QB hurries, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup last season. His last game was one of his best, as he finished with seven tackles, 2.5 TFLs, and recovered a fumble in the national title game.

Few players made the most of their opportunities the way Braxton Clark did last season as a redshirt freshman.

Along with playing in all 12 games, Clark saw defensive snaps in six contests and ended up with 11 tackles, an interception, a fumble recovery, and he even made his first career start against Purdue.

At 6-4, 210, Clark is a big, physical corner who has proven he's not afraid of the spotlight. Given Nebraska's inexperience and limited depth at the position, the Orlando, Fla., native could have a big role in 2020.

There was plenty of talk about Ethan Piper last year as one of Nebraska's most impressive true freshmen offensive linemen. While the plan was always to redshirt him in 2019, he'll now jump right into the thick of a battle for a starting job.

While senior Matt Farniok looks entrenched as the Huskers' starter at right guard after moving inside from tackle, there could be a three-man competition on the other side at left guard.

Piper will go up against incumbent starters Boe Wilson and Trent Hixson, but some feel he might already be the best choice out of that group. If the former Norfolk (NE) Catholic standout can pick up everything mentally, he could establish himself as a fixture on NU's interior o-line for years to come.

Jordon Riley joins Payne as one of Nebraska's two junior college additions on the defensive line this season, and he too is expected to be an immediate factor.

After playing two seasons at North Carolina, Riley enrolled at Garden City (KS) Community College last year. He finished his lone JUCO campaign with 26 tackles, 2.0 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss on a defense that gave up less than 290 yards per game.

At 6-6, 290, Riley has all the physical tools to hold his own in the Big Ten, and he will compete for snaps immediately once fall practices get underway.

Everyone kept waiting to see what Rahmir Johnson could do last season, but it wasn't until the second-to-last game of the year at Maryland before he truly got the chance.

In the fourth and final contest of his allotted four-game redshirt window, the former four-star recruit racked up 55 yards on 18 carries, including his first-career rushing touchdown and first reception for 12 yards.

Johnson possesses track sprinter speed (he ran 10.50 in the 100-meter dash and 21.46 in the 200-meter dash in high school), which is an element that can always be utilized in Scott Frost's offense. The Huskers should be able to find several ways to incorporate him in 2020.