Fall camp is closing in for Nebraska football, and the conversation around the Huskers is already circling the usual big-ticket items: the quarterback battle, the running back depth chart, and a defense that will look different under a new coordinator.
There’s plenty of attention on the obvious names, but a few players could end up mattering just as much once the season gets rolling. Matt Rhule said this was his best team, and with camp about to open, three under-the-radar Huskers stand out as players worth watching.
Bryson Webber is one of them. The sophomore cornerback barely got on the field last season, appearing in just two games, but the tools are hard to miss.
At 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, with a 10.5 in the 100-meter dash, he has the kind of length and speed Nebraska wants on the back end. That matters with teams like Ohio State, Oregon, and Indiana on the schedule.
Webber still has work to do to climb the depth chart, though. Andrew Marshall is the top corner, and Donovan Jones, Jamir Conn, and Dwayne McDougle are also expected to be in the mix in the secondary.
Jeremiah Charles and Danny Odem could also compete for the other corner spot, but Webber is a name to keep on the radar.
Cortez Mills fits the same mold in a different part of the field. The sophomore receiver played in all 13 games last season and finished with nine catches for 147 yards.
A former top-100 recruit, he brings speed - the 6-foot, 185-pound receiver is another sub-11 runner - and he flashed it against Houston Christian, when he caught three passes for 98 yards, including a 62-yard touchdown. Nebraska’s receiver room is crowded with Jacory Barney, Kwazi Gilmer, Nyziah Hunter, Mills, Quinn Clark, and others, so nothing is handed to him.
Even so, there’s a real path for Mills to become the Huskers’ big-play threat this season. That was the role Rhule had in mind when he signed him, and while it didn’t fully take shape last year, the opportunity is still there.
Then there’s Willis McGahee IV, who may be the best candidate of the three to benefit from a change in role. After spending the past two seasons at JACK in the 3-3-5 with limited success, he has moved to EDGE in Nebraska’s 4-2-5, a spot that should better fit his pass-rush ability.
The junior is 6-foot-1, 240 pounds, and he has appeared in 12 games as a freshman in 2024 and five last season. He has one career sack, but the new alignment gives him a clearer chance to make his mark.
Nebraska needs more pressure on opposing quarterbacks, and McGahee will get the chance to show he can help deliver it.
In Other News...
Dylan Raiolas Value Is Being Debated Again After Leaving Nebraska
Dylan Raiolas move from Nebraska to Oregon has already put his name back in the middle of the national conversation, and not just because of the pedigree he brought with him as a former five-star recruit. ESPN slotted the former Cornhuskers starter at No. 28 among college football transfers, a reminder that his value is still being weighed against a crowded market of quarterbacks looking for new starts and bigger roles.
For Oregon, the appeal is less about what Raiola is ready to do right now and more about what he could become with time. Dan Lanning has praised the way Raiola is growing into the Ducks system and has pointed to his intelligence as a separator, while Raiola has sounded comfortable with the idea of learning before taking on a larger job later. The question now is how quickly that upside turns into something more concrete in Eugene. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Faces A Blackshirts Test That Could Define Rhules Season
Riley Van Poppel is the kind of player Nebraska needs to keep trending upward if Matt Rhules defense is going to take the next step. The junior defensive tackle is entering his fourth year in the program, and the backdrop around him is hard to ignore: he has already had to adapt to a third defensive coordinator and a third defensive line coach, all while trying to carve out a bigger role in the middle of the Blackshirts front.
That matters because the Huskers problems last season were not subtle, especially once opponents got inside the 20. Nebraska gave up points on almost every red-zone trip, a level of breakdown that can erase everything else a defense does well. If the line can become sturdier and Van Poppel can keep developing, it could go a long way toward changing the shape of this season, even if the biggest answers still have to be earned on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska May Finally Have The Roster Fred Hoiberg Has Wanted
Nebraskas breakthrough 2025-26 season gave Fred Hoiberg something he had been building toward for years, with the Huskers winning their first NCAA Tournament game and pushing all the way to the Sweet 16. The bigger development now is that the program does not have to treat that run like a one-off, because the core that made it possible is set to come back while the staff has kept adding pieces designed for the way Hoiberg wants to play.
Pryce Sandfort and Braden Frager give Nebraska familiar production and continuity, and the newcomers are just as important to the picture. Trevan Leonhardt arrives as a guard who can help organize the offense, while Sam Orme adds the kind of shooting the Huskers have been looking for around their key returners. Hoiberg and his staff spent the offseason targeting players who fit the system rather than forcing the system to fit the roster, and that is usually where real progress starts. [Read more 🡒]