Senior defensive back Deontai Williams set to return to Huskers in 2021 | Football

Now, 2021 will be the 24-year-old’s sixth college season. 

Even still, Husker defensive coordinator Erik Chinander said he thought Williams was coming into his own during the 2020 season, considering it was his first full-time action at the Division I level. 

“Just to see a guy that loves football lose the ability to play football because of something out of his control, then being able to rehab that injury, get his surgery, stay locked in, stay a part of the team, be a good teammate, continue to learn football and study film and then have a chance to come back this year and play well is really exciting for me,” Chinander said in November. “I’m so happy for the young guy … I’m really happy for him that he gets to continue to do something he loves when it was taken away from him out of his control last year.”

The question becomes how many of his fellow defenders will return along with him. Already, the Huskers have senior outside linebacker JoJo Domann and junior defensive back Cam Taylor-Britt back in the fold. 

Three more decisions remain among 2020 starters, one at each level of the defense. They are safety Marquel Dismuke (Williams starting partner for all of this past fall), inside linebacker Will Honas and defensive lineman Ben Stille. 

Should each of those three decide to come back for 2021, NU would have potentially nine starters back on the defensive side of the ball. The only departures so far are senior inside linebacker Collin Miller (medically retired) and senior cornerback Dicaprio Bootle (NFL).