Nebraska Football 2024 Spring Preview: Defensive Backs Huskers Isaac Gifford Tommi Hill

Everyone has heard the expression, “It takes a village,” but when it comes to the defensive backfield, the Husker coaching staff has given them the biggest damn house in the village.

Before we get into the gents who make this group up, let’s look at some numbers.

As of now, there are 100 scholarship players in spring ball. 24 of those 100 schollys are currently held by young men with a designation of “Defensive Back”. That’s 24%, almost a quarter of the roster.

One can be relatively sure that will not be the ratio once that roster has been trimmed to 85.

That presents difficulties since 24 of 85 scholarships would raise that percentage to 28.2%. Even if the DB’s along with the offensive line are the largest position groups, they each make up about 20% of the positions, but that only comes out to around 17 scholarships per position group if the scholarship count broke down by percentages – which they don’t have to – but they’d better be in the ballpark if they don’t want to see a deficit at another group.

It gets more interesting when you notice the following:

• They’ve brought in 16 DB recruits in the last two cycles, including 10 for the 2024 class who are not likely to be dropped before the 2024 season begins.
• They have arguably 6-7 sophomore thru senior class members who were significant contributors last season or just arrived thru the portal.
• I don’t want to be morbid and speculate on who won’t make the grade, but studying the list below shows there will be some hard cuts to even get the list down 20.

All that being said, let’s take a look at everyone:

Roster Changes/Losses

• Omar Brown – Brown transferred from Northern Iowa after the 2021 season and played in all 24 games during his time as a Huskers. He started 8 games his senior year and was a consensus Honorable Mention All Big 10 selection. He finished 2nd on the team in tackles, 3 for a loss, and picked one off as well.
• Phalen Sanford – Sandford transferred from Hastings College after his freshman season to walk on with the Huskers. The Benkelman, NE, native established himself in 2021 being named the Special Teams Player of the Year. He began to see the field in 2022 and in 2023 he played in all 12 games with 5 starts at safety. He recorded 9 tackles in his final game against the disgusting Iowa Hawkeyes.
• Quentin Newsome – Newsome was arguably Nebraska’s toughest defender during his senior season and was an Honorable mention All Big 10 selection in both 2022 and 2023. He is perhaps best remembered for the “high-five” blocked FG return for a touchdown against Purdue last season.

• Taymon Lynum – Lynum entered the transfer portal following the 2023 season with 2 years of eligibility remaining. The Orlando native played in all 12 games last season and signed with Pitt.
• Ashton Hausman – Hausmann is no longer on the roster and appears to have left the team.
• Corey Collier Jr. – Collier is no longer on the roster and has left the program. As of now, he has not yet entered the transfer portal.

Returning Contributors

Seniors

• Tommi Hill – 12 GP – 17 Solo – 9 Ass – 26 total – 0.5 TFL – 4 INT – 9 PBU
  Hill transferred from Arizona after his freshman 2021 season. Last season, after playing the first half as a 2-way player, he moved full-time to the defensive side and ended up an All Big 10 Honorable Mention selection. He finished with 9 pass break-ups and 4 interceptions. Those 13 passes defended tied for the Big 10 lead,
• Isaac Gifford – 12 GP – 44 Solo – 42 Ass – 86 total – 6.5 TFL – 0.5 Sack – 1 INT – 8 PBU
  Gifford only making Honorable Mention All Big 10 was nothing short of an I-80 robbery. He led the team with 86 tackles more than 30 ahead of the closest Husker. His 8 PBU’s were 2nd on the team and 6.5 tackles for loss were a career high.

Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

• DeShon Singleton – 5 GP – 8 Solo – 11 Ass – 19 total – 2.5 TFL – 1 PBU
  After playing in every 2022 game on special teams, Singleton won a starting job last season which he held for the 5 games before suffering an injury which ended up finishing his year. If fully recovered, there’s no reason to think he wouldn’t return to that role.

Juniors

• Malcolm Hartzog – 12 GS – 26 Solo – 14 Ass – 40 total – 1.5 TFL – 6 PBU
  Mississippi native Hartzog enters his junior year as one of the most experienced Blackshirts after playing in all 24 games his first two seasons and starting 18. He showed his versatility in ‘24 by starting 7 games at corner and 3 at safety.
• Koby Bretz – 9 GP – 1 Solo – 2 Ass – 3 total
  Westside product Bretz began seeing the field more his sophomore year appearing in 10 games and recording 3 tackles including 2 against Michigan.
• Marques Buford Jr. – 4 GP – 15 Solo – 3 Ass – 18 total – 3 TFL – 1 Sack
  In 2022, Buford started 11 games at safety before suffering a season ending injury. He continued to rehab through the eighth game of the 2023 season before returning to play in the final 4 games including 2 starts.

Sophomores

• Blye Hill (@ FCS St. Francis) – 9 GP – 17 Solo – 4 Ass – 21 total – 1 TFL – 2 INT -6 PBU
  Hill transferred to Nebraska after his first season as a freshman for the Red Flash. He played in 9 games and hails from Baltimore.

Waiting in the Wings

Sophomore

• Ethan Nation – 7 GP – 1 Ass – 1 total
  During his true freshman season, his significant contribution was being added as a punt returner bringing back 7 for an average of 3.3 yds/per.

Redshirt Freshmen

• Dwight Bootle II – 3 GP – 2 Ass – 2 total
  Bootle earned limited playing time early before going down with a season-ending injury after the third game. He comes from Miami and is the younger brother of former Husker Dicaprio Bootle.
• Jeremiah Charles – Charles, an On3 3-star prospect, played at Arlington Martin HS, TX. He won the football team dunk contest this year.
• Syncere Safeeullah​ – Safeeullah starred at Hillsboro High School in Nashville before transferring to the IMG Academy in Florida for the 2022 season. He was the #1 ranked defensive back in Tennessee before moving to IMG.
• Brice Turner – HC Matt Rhule’s first recruit came to the Huskers from Texas as a wide receiver but switched to DB mid-season 2023. After receiving his Husker offer, he was rated as a 3-star prospect.
• D’Andre Barnes – Played for Regis Jesuit High School, CO, where he was also a 200m state champion in track. He was a 3-star prospect as a recruit.
• Rahmir Stewart – Comes from Imhotep Institute in Philadelphia where he was a 2-way player starring at RB as well as safety. He was rated as a 3-star prospect.

New Faces

• Mario Buford – Buford, the younger brother of current Husker Marques Jr., is a 4-star prospect from DeSoto HS, TX, and the overall #180 prospect nationally.
• Evan Taylor – Taylor comes from Cuthbertson HS, NC, and is an On3 3-star prospect.
• Larry Tarver Jr. – Tarver comes from Miami Norland HS, FL, and is a Rivals 4-star prospect.
• Amare Sanders – Sanders comes from Miami Gulliver Prep HS and is a Rivals 3-star prospect.
• Caleb Benning – Benning comes from Omaha Westside and is a Rivals 3-star prospect. He is the son of former Husker Damon Benning.
• Roger Gradney – Gradney comes from Rice Consolidated HS, TX, and is a Rivals 4-star prospect.
• Rex Guthrie – Guthrie comes from Heritage HS, Littleton, CO, and is a Rivals 3-star prospect.
• Donovan Jones – Jones comes from Omaha North and is a Rivals 3-star prospect.
• Braylen Prude – Prude comes from Shadow Creek HS, TX, and is a Rivals 3-star prospect.
• Kahmir Prescott – Prescott comes from Neumann Goretti HS in Philadelphia and is a Rivals 3-star prospect.

The Walk-ons

A quick shout out to those guys trying to make the dream come true in Lincoln.

*Blake Closman
*Derek Branch – 1 GP – 1 Solo – 1 total
*Javon Kinchen
*Gage Wager
*Mason Jones
*Cooper Wilson
*Preston Okafor

The Starters (??)

There’s a pile of bodies the size of a landfill at this position group. Okay, not a great comparison, let’s say a large, grassy hill instead.

But in any case, for all the numbers involved, there are only five with significant starting experience and barring a big move from one of the redshirt freshmen (Bootle?), these are the five I will predict to be on the field when the Blackshirts come trotting out:

Isaac Gifford
Tommi Hill
DeShon Singleton
Marques Buford Jr.
Malcolm Hartzog

However, history, the nature of the game and the likelihood of someone or someones from the athletic freshman (redshirt and true) group separating themselves from the pack makes it highly unlikely there won’t be several others before 2024 is done.

Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

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