Huskers’ depth at RB tested for third straight year; what will the coming weeks bring? | Football

“It’s one of the positions that take the most pounding, so at one time or another, I think they’ve all been nicked up with something, so you’ve got to play a lot of guys,” offensive coordinator Matt Lubick said this week. “The way we schedule practice reps, we let all those guys take reps, and our job as coaches is to keep it simple enough so those guys can all take reps and go in there and compete.

“We feel good about that. It’s one of those positions that we’re trying to get completely healthy, but the guys that have played have done a good job for us.”

The Huskers are no strangers to working down the depth chart at running back in recent years.

When Frost and his staff first arrived in 2018, they signed running backs Greg Bell and Maurice Washington and a versatile player in Miles Jones, too. Holdover Tre Bryant medically retired due to knee troubles just before the season, and Bell transferred after four games. Washington was in and out with minor injuries. Eventually, Devine Ozigbo took over and finished his senior season off in style before heading to the NFL.

In 2019, Washington’s legal trouble compounded his on-again, off-again availability before he eventually left the team midseason and was dismissed from the program postseason. Jones transferred, too.

For the 2019 recruiting class, Nebraska signed Mills, Johnson and Thompkins. Johnson played in four games and redshirted, but found himself down the depth chart to begin this year due to inconsistent play, Held said recently. Thompkins came back from multiple knee surgeries but hasn’t stayed in his No. 2 spot in the rotation, either.