Spring Look Back: Running Back

We continue our spring positional recaps today by giving our final take on Nebraska’s running backs.

Related: QB

It’s hard to make very many drastic takes about Nebraska’s running back position coming out of spring ball, but one thing you can probably say is freshmen Gabe Ervin and Marvin Scott head into the summer in a favorable position.

As we know, so much can change between now and August.

Injuries limited and/or kept out both Markese Stepp and Rahmir Johnson out. Sevion Morrison remains an unknown but showed some flashes this spring. Ronald Thompkins looked decent in the open practice, but we didn’t see him in the spring game. Jaquez Yant is a wildcard and could find himself in a position to play. Walk-on Cooper Jewett also had a nice spring.

With that said, the only thing today you can say is Ervin and Scott had solid spring and consistently took reps with the top offense. You get the sense Ervin has a really good chance to come out of this on top.

When Stepp came to Nebraska from USC, he was penciled in as the starting running back by most of us.

He was the only proven back at the Division I level in terms of taking quality game reps. However, the question with Stepp has always been durability dating all the way back to his junior year of high school.

When we found out he was going to miss the entire spring with an unknown foot injury he came to NU with, that wasn’t a good sign.

Foot injuries are tricky. Hopefully, Stepp can back at 100 percent, but he’s going to need to prove it in training camp.

The old Proposition 48 rule no longer exists in college football. The closest thing to it is taking an Academic Redshirt.

That’s exactly how NU was able to get Yant to Lincoln, as he arrived as an under-the-radar walk-on in 2020.

After a year of working on his academics and getting into shape, the 6-foot-2, 245 pound Yant has made himself a factor in the running back race.

At first, this felt like just a spring story, but the more I hear and see, it’s clear Yant is going to be in the mix this summer. The biggest thing now is he needs to pick up all the different protections and elements in the offense in order to gain the full trust of the coaching staff.

The challenge now for running backs coach Ryan Held, head coach Scott Frost and offensive coordinator Matt Lubick is building a defined running back depth chart.

All of these guys bring something to the table, the question is how do you use it to help Nebraska win?

In order for this offense to be where it needs to be, NU has to have a 1,000-yard type running back. They had that in 2018 with Devine Ozigbo and you saw what it did for quarterback Adrian Martinez.

This offense needs a consistent tailback running game. They cannot have another year where Martinez is forced to play quarterback and running back. Sure Martinez will put up big numbers, but I think we’ve learned that’s not a winning formula in the Big Ten.

This offense needs balance, and that starts with getting consistent yardage from its running backs.