Pondering the portal: What positions might Nebraska add to with its final two scholarship spots? | Football

Frost said the Huskers expect Stepp to be healthy this summer and ready to go for camp. If that timeline holds, NU might be fine with him and the young, inexperienced group behind. It was a good spring for early enrollee freshman Gabe Ervin and walk-on 2020 freshman Jaquez Yant, in particular.

If there are doubts about Stepp’s availability beyond the next couple of months? Well, there are still a lot of backs available in the portal.

This choice is influenced heavily by Will Honas’ late-spring knee injury. Like tight end Thomas Fidone’s, it requires surgery and takes Honas out of the equation likely well into the season. Honas is also five years older than Fidone and has already had a major knee injury in his college career.

NU has a ton of inside linebackers on its roster, but its top three without Honas is clearly Luke Reimer, Chris Kolarevic and Nick Henrich. How many more is Barrett Ruud truly comfortable with putting on the field this fall? Garrett Snodgrass was the next man up in 2020 and Eteva Mauga-Clements looked like he made progress this spring. They’re candidates, as are Jackson Hannah and maybe one of the more experienced walk-ons.

One thing to consider here: All of the top three options have injury history in college. Henrich has had knee and shoulder issues, Reimer had a balky ankle last year and myriad minor problems and Kolarevic had a right foot injury that cost him the end of 2018 and beginning of 2019 at Northern Iowa.