With Nebraska’s 2026 season only days from getting underway, the search is on for the players who could go from overlooked to essential in a hurry. Every roster has a few of those names - the guys who don’t start the year as fan favorites, but by the middle of the season everyone is asking how the team would survive without them.
Anthony Colandrea, Kwazi Gilmer and Jacory Barney are not part of that conversation. Those players have already broken out for Nebraska and are expected to deliver big seasons. The focus here is on the quieter candidates, the ones plenty of fans may barely register until they start making plays.
One of the clearest possibilities is Jamir Conn. After transferring to Lincoln last year from Southern Illinois, where he spent two seasons at the FCS level, Conn wasn’t on the field enough to become a full-time force in the secondary.
Still, he found a way to matter. He played in all 13 games in 2025, finished with 10 tackles, a half tackle for loss, one pass breakup and two blocked punts, and ranked second in the nation with two blocked kicks.
Now he enters the season as one of the starting safeties next to either Dwayne McDougle or Rex Guthrie, and unlike a lot of Nebraska’s defensive backfield, his spot doesn’t come with an “or” attached. He’s had a strong lead-in to the season, and the setup is there for a real breakout.
Quinn Clark brings a different kind of intrigue. Nebraska fans have long liked the frame and upside of the receiver, especially with the way he could threaten defenses in the red zone.
But the numbers haven’t caught up to the buzz just yet. Clark, the son of former Husker running back Ken Clark, has only 5 career catches for 132 yards.
That said, offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen said earlier this week that Clark has “come miles” from where he was when Holgorsen first got to Lincoln. Holgorsen also noted that Clark is officially a backup, but there are packages where he’ll be the top target.
That kind of usage could put him on the path to a much bigger 2026.
Then there’s Cam Lenhardt, who feels like he’s been on breakout watch forever. This is the fourth straight year he’s entered a season with the look of a player ready to take off, and the production still hasn’t matched the promise.
As a freshman in 2023, Lenhardt posted 16 tackles and 3 sacks. In each of the last two seasons, he had just one sack.
Now the fourth-year senior gets another shot, this time in a 4-2-5 scheme that could reduce the attention he draws off the edge compared with the 3-3-5 looks he’s played in throughout his career. Lenhardt is listed as a starter opposite 5th-year Anthony Jones Jr., and Nebraska is hoping the two of them can spend plenty of time around the quarterback in 2026.
In Other News...
Justin Evans Just Became A Powerful Symbol Of Nebraska's New Culture
Justin Evans has become one of the clearer signposts of where Nebraska football wants to go under Matt Rhule, earning recognition from teammates and the coaching staff as the Huskers prepare for the 2026 season. A lineman by trade and now a more complete presence than he was when he first started reshaping his role in 2023, Evans has grown into the kind of steady voice and dependable figure a team wants setting the tone up front. He has also helped anchor an offensive line that brings back several experienced players, which matters for a program trying to build something more durable than one good week at a time.
The clearest measure of that respect came in the teams leadership voting, where Evans drew the most votes ever for an offensive lineman eligible for one of Nebraskas single-digit leadership jerseys. He still cannot wear that number on game days, but the distinction says plenty about how his teammates see him heading into a season that opens with Ohio and carries the usual pressure that comes with a program trying to turn culture into results. For Nebraska, Evans is not just part of the line - he has become a symbol of the line the Huskers want to be. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraskas Blackshirt Debate Is Back And Fans Know Why
Rob Aurich is still sorting out one of Nebraska footballs most recognizable traditions, and that alone has kept the Blackshirt conversation humming around the program. The new defensive coordinator has not decided when or how hell hand out the coveted Blackshirts, the symbolic gear reserved for starting defensive players, and he has made clear that the timing will depend on how the unit develops as the season unfolds.
For Nebraska fans, that uncertainty is part of the appeal and part of the debate. The Blackshirts carry real weight in Lincoln, so every delay invites more questions about the criteria, the rollout, and what Aurich wants to see before making the call. Until he settles on a plan, the speculation figures to keep following the defense wherever it goes next. [Read more 🡒]
Rutgers Just Gave Nebraska Fans A Very Different Reason To Look Closer
Rutgers opened its season with a home loss to UMass, a result that immediately rippled beyond the Big Ten East because of who was driving the Minutemen offense. Pop Watson, once a Nebraska commit, was sharp from the start and kept Rutgers on its heels while UMass snapped through a matchup many expected the Scarlet Knights to control.
For Nebraska fans, the relevance is obvious. Watson finished 19 of 22 for 197 yards and three touchdowns, a reminder of the arm talent the Huskers once had in their recruiting database, while Rutgers quarterback Dylan Lonergan never found rhythm and was eventually replaced late after a rough night. It was the kind of opener that leaves both Rutgers looking for answers and Nebraska followers wondering what might have been. [Read more 🡒]