Running Back Injury Updates, The Favorite To Win Starting Job Ahead Of Camp And A Challenger For RB1

The confidence exuding from the Nebraska football program continues to be distinctly felt going into fall camp.

That excitement level is permeating from the top on down: From head coach Matt Rhule all the way down to the last player on the roster.

It’s also, of course, being felt by the Huskers’ assistant coaches. Running backs coach E.J. Barthel is simply the latest to indicate what the team believes could be in store in Year 2 of the Rhule Era.

“We’re fired up. This is a huge year for us,” Barthel said this week during an interview with Huskers Radio Network. “We’ve kind of figured this thing out as far as what Nebraska is all about, what it means to the people of this state. The running back position, specifically, and how we run the ball, it’s important to the people here. It’s important to me, it’s important to our running backs, and we have a chip on our shoulder. We’re excited for camp. This is a big year for our offense and our room, and we’re excited to get out there and compete. There’s no doubt about it.”

Barthel dove further into his own position room during that 15-minute sit-down session with HRN. He shared a pair of injury updates, gave a strong indication of who the starter is going into fall camp (or, at least, indicated who the pre-camp favorite is to win the job), discussed one main challenger to take the RB1 title and more.

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Just as the defensive backs room recently got some better-than-expected news on the injury front, there is good news in regard to the status of Nebraska’s two veteran running backs who missed the final nine games of the 2023 season.

Rahmir Johnson (shoulder) is fully cleared and ready to go for the start of camp, which kicks off with the first practice on Wednesday (July 31).

“Rahmir, I think this is the best he’s ever looked since I’ve been here,” Barthel said. “His body looks like he’s as big as he’s ever been. He’s maintaining his weight properly. Kristin does a great job with their nutrition, and he’s full head of steam right now. He’s in the weight room, we just did some testing (Tuesday). His numbers are the best they’ve ever been. So he’s on track.”

Gabe Ervin Jr. (hip), meanwhile, appears to have been physically cleared to practice. Barthel says it’s just a matter of Ervin getting back into the swing of playing and regaining confidence in his body.

“I think Gabe is in the last stage of that, too. Gabe is probably in the last stage of just getting his mentals back,” Barthel said. “Like, I had injuries in college as well. I think once you get cleared, then it’s part of getting your body back into routine and getting your self-confidence in how your movements go and all those things. It doesn’t come back (instantly). I think he’s at that final stage right now right before camp where he’s is ready to go. He had to get through this summer to get to where he’s at, and I feel really confident where he’s at right now.

“He was averaging about five yards per carry before he got hurt (5.2 yards per carry on 38 attempts). That’s an NFL body that’s running that way. It’s never been, from my standpoint and from our athletic training department with Coach (Corey) Campbell and Kristin (Coggin), we’ve been (telling him), ‘Here’s where you gotta go.’ And he’s responded. So we’re excited about where he’s at.”

Getting those two back in the mix will add value just with their overall presence. Barthel marked both of them and third-year sophomore Emmett Johnson as the primary voices in terms of leadership in the room.

“Rahmir Johnson has really been, I would say, the leader of the room the last six or seven months since we’ve gotten back together as a group,” Barthel said. “But Gabe and Emmett, those two guys have really kind of grown up a little bit. Gabe, kind of individually, went down his own path to get his body back to where he wants to be. He’s doing a great job of doing that. Emmett’s not vocally leading, which we don’t need him to, but he’s doing the things he’s supposed to be doing as far as he was coached to do.”

Ervin and Rahmir Johnson have eight seasons’ worth of in-game playing experience between the two of them combined. Both, however, have been hampered by injuries throughout their time in Lincoln, though Ervin has been hit much worse with an aggressive rash of injuries.

Ervin has been limited to just 255 career snaps and has only eclipsed the century mark once with 105 snaps as a true freshman in 2023. Rahmir Johnson has racked up 624 career snaps, though 60 percent of those (377) came in 2021 during his third season, but he still missed the final two games after getting hurt. Johnson saw just 65 snaps the next year in 2022 due to mismanagement from the coaching staff and an undefined role within the offense. Last season, though, was set to be a different story.

Johnson came out of the gates having tallied 65 rushing yards on 12 carries (5.4 ypc) and three receptions out of the backfield on 54 snaps across the first two games, in addition to a momentum-shifting 63-yard kick return to open the second half at Minnesota, which set up the Huskers’ lone touchdown on the night.

His season then ended prematurely with a dislocated shoulder after playing six snaps against Northern Illinois.

There were questions externally, from both the media and fans, about whether or not Johnson would move on from the Huskers. Internally, there was never a doubt.

“Since the first day I got here, the first conversation I had was with Rahmir. … I know he was disgruntled in certain situations with his experience,” Barthel said, referencing Johnson’s frustrating 2022 season. “So for him to come back (is big). When we first sat down and talked – Coach Rhule, Rahmir, myself, (Marcus Satterfield) and all those guys – we (showed that) we had a plan for Rahmir.

“He got kind of derailed (with the injury last season), but I believe he trusts in what we see in him and what we say to him. So I don’t think it was too much of a (tough) decision for him to make. I think he knew, ‘Hey, these guys told me what they need me to do, and I’m gonna stand by that.’ So I don’t know if it was too much of a hard decision for Rahmir because I know he trusts in us, and we trust in him. So we’re excited.”

While either Rahmir Johnson or Ervin – perhaps even both – could carve out a significant impact role on the Huskers’ offense, there remains a hierarchy in the RB room heading into fall camp. Barthel did not say those words exactly, and he hasn’t named a starter.

The crystal-clear indications, though, are that Emmett Johnson is the noticeable favorite to land the starting job going into preseason camp.

That’s not exactly going out on a limb to suggest. Emmett Johnson has been the Huskers’ most consistently reliable running back over the past two seasons. Emmett Johnson’s 2023 campaign was the best for a Husker RB in terms of combining dependability, durability and ball security since, ironically enough, Rahmir Johnson ran for 492 yards and four TDs on 111 carries with no lost fumbles during that 2021 breakout year.

Emmett Johnson played in all of the Huskers’ final nine games last year. He saw his first college snaps in Week 4 against Louisiana Tech, got his first extended action in Week 6 against Illinois, earned the starting job for Week 8 against Northwestern and never relinquished the reins thereafter.

He had one blemish on his résumé when he fumbled in the fourth quarter as Nebraska drove deeper into Illinois territory. After that, he never put the ball on the ground and finished with the most rushing yards in the Huskers’ RB room (411) with the second-most carries (89) at the position and an efficient 4.6 ypc average to tag with a pair of rushing TDs.

Every other Nebraska RB during the 2022 and 2023 seasons either missed multiple games due to injury, put the ball on the ground multiple times or had issues following blocks to take what the defense gave them. (All with the exception of the coaching staff’s mismanagement of Rahmir Johnson in 2022.)

Emmett Johnson was Mr. Reliable in the RB room, even if he wasn’t flashy or explosive. He’s the RB1 incumbent and sits atop the depth chart going into Wednesday.

Johnson knows it, Rhule knows it, and Barthel knows it. You can tell with how Barthel says he has challenged Johnson that he strongly believes in Johnson’s talents and that he expects him to take the next big step in his career in 2024.

“He’s not a young back anymore that we can say, ‘Oh, that was a good game. Great job, Emmett.’ Now the expectation (has risen) for him,” Barthel said. “Our staff has risen (the expectation for him), and the expectation has risen from himself. I think he’s put action behind that with everything he’s done in the offseason. I think he’s really focused in on his body. I’m challenging him every day to make sure he’s staying over 200 pounds. He’s gotta be (in the Big Ten). That’s kind of the next level for college players. When they start focusing on the diet and they start focusing on how important their body is maintained, that’s when they’re really starting to grow up. You can see like, ‘OK, I’m really bought into the details of what it takes to be the man here. And my job, really, is to manage that room but also push each and every running back individually and keep them together collectively. That’s my role.

“With Emmett, I’ve gotta do a great job of making him, or helping him, become the best running back in the Big Ten while also making sure Kwinten is on the same path, making sure Dante’s on the same path and so on. Emmett has really responded. He’s really taking it on his own, I would say he’s become more accountable in all areas of being a college football player.”

When it comes to Johnson’s status as RB1 right now, as Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast, my friend!”

Oregon transfer Dante Dowdwell had the strongest showing of any Nebraska RB in April’s spring game. It was just an exhibition game, sure, but if that’s the viewpoint then we also need to throw out Dylan Raiola’s performance as anything of significance or excitement. You don’t want to do that, do you? Good. Neither do I.

Dowdell led all ball carriers with 76 yards rushing on just seven carries, added four catches for 11 yards as the target on multiple screen passes, and he showcased two striking flashes of what makes him a dynamic weapon added to the backfield.

Dowdell gave us a sampling of what his role may look like this fall during those two plays: A one-yard, power-back plunge from the 6-foot-2, 225-pounder in a goal-line formation for one touchdown and a 49-yard touchdown run on a delayed handoff in which he outraced defenders up the left sideline.

That speed caught many off guard, including his head coach.

“Today, I saw burst from him,” Rhule said after the game. “I haven’t seen that long run from him in the other scrimmages.”

Perhaps the speed caught Barthel by surprise, too, but Dowdell’s multi-faceted skillset certainly did not. Barthel noted to HRN that the plan is not to pigeonhole Dowdell into a third-down, short-yardage back and that he believes Dowdell can be a lot more than that.

“He’s developing those skills as an inside and outside runner,” Barthel said. “When he got here, he was very raw as far as where are your eyes are supposed to be in pass protection? Where do they start? Just like I think any freshman would. But he’s made a jump from beginning of spring to the end of spring and really shown that he can be a guy in this conference, and he continues to get better. He continues to get better. That’s the key with him, and we’re fortunate enough to have him for the next three years.

“It’s funny when you first see him because – I think he just did, like, 31 reps at 225 pounds (on bench press) or something like that. He’s a 550-pound squatter. I mean, he’s a powerful young man. But he’s a young man. That’s the part where you’re like, ‘Oh, man.’ Because you look at him, he’s such a powerful kid and he works that way. He works. He’s very coachable. And when you’re around him, he acts like a veteran. So, sometimes, some of the mistakes he may make in practice, you kind of gotta say, ‘He’s supposed to make that mistake because he’s never done it before.’ But he’s really progressing. He’s a workaholic, so he’s gonna challenge everyone in that room – just like everyone else – he’s gonna challenge the room to become the starting running back here.”

Barthel on Kwinten Ives:

“I would compare Kwinten a lot to Emmett last year as far as coming into a spring, starting to realize how good he actually is, and the developing process for Kwinten is really almost identical to where Emmett was. Right now, the biggest jump for Kwinten is gonna be the actual game experience. He’s gonna need that experience to take him to the next step, and the more reps, the better. The beautiful thing about our room is right now we have some depth. So it’s not gonna be as easy as just going to get reps. He’s got all the talent in the world to, if he was the guy, he can do it. He’s fast enough, he’s powerful enough, and he’s now learned how to pass protect which was the big thing for him – not just the physical part but the understanding part. He is in the middle of his development, and I think that this camp is gonna be really important for him. Really important.

“Kwinten has followed in (Emmett’s) footsteps, and I’m really challenging Kwinten to chase Emmett. And, for Emmett to, ‘Hey, don’t let Kwinten catch ya. And the reality is, Dante comes in, he brings a whole mix of the bunch. He brings a whole different element to the room, just power and blue-collar mentality. Kid works. He’s a really hard worker. Then you have Maurice who’s kind of down there that’s as talented as most running backs in college football. He could play pretty much anywhere in the country. He’s good player. He’s a powerful kid, and he’s at the tail end of our room pushing it. Then a new addition with Mekhi Nelson coming in this summer, and we have the non-scholarship guys who continue to, again, just push the tail end of the room.”

Barthel on Maurice Mazzccua:

“Then you have Maurice who’s kind of down there (on the depth chart) that’s as talented as most running backs in college football. He could play pretty much anywhere in the country. He’s good player. He’s a powerful kid, and he’s at the tail end of our room pushing it. Then a new addition with (2024 signee) Mekhi Nelson coming in this summer, and we have the non-scholarship guys who continue to, again, just push the tail end of the room.”

“I actually just had a conversation with Maurice about just making sure he tries to identify a role on special teams. My job as a running back coach is to teach these guys how to become NFL players. And being a contributor on special teams comes with being a running back in the NFL unless you’re a draft pick or you’re a one or two running back, you’re gonna make that roster based upon your special teams ability. That’s really where I’m challenging all those guys to make sure they’re getting with Coach (Ed) Foley and making sure they’re finding their role on special teams. Because you’re gonna play with three running backs, you’re probably gonna carry five (on a travel roster) with a fullback in there. So the amount of touches to go around is very selective, so you have to find a role on special teams. That’s gonna be big for Maurice this camp is finding a niche there and making sure he’s competing. Actually, (that’s an emphasis for) the whole room.”