The Nebraska football team is scheduled to officially start spring practice on Tuesday, Mar. 30, as the Big Red will go five straight weeks before wrapping things up with the May 1 Red-White spring game.
As we get closer to the start of spring practice, it’s time to take an in-depth look at each position group.
Today we breakdown the inside and outside linebacker positions heading into the spring.
What we know now: This group is as deep as we’ve seen in years
Nebraska returns JoJo Domann, Garrett Nelson, Caleb Tannor, Damian Jackson and Pheldarious Payne at outside linebacker, while Will Honas, Luke Reimer and Nick Henrich are back at inside linebacker.
All eight of these players took meaningful snaps in 2020. The only departure at linebacker this spring is Collin Miller, who medically retired from the game. He’ll be replaced by Northern Iowa transfer Chris Kolarevic, who figured to step right in this spring.
You also need to factor in that for players like Domann, Tannor, Jackson and Honas, this will be their fourth year playing in the same defensive system.
One of the real issues with Nebraska over the last several years has been the constant coaching turnover, and that’s not allowed very many players to get familiar with coaches or a particular system on offense or defense.
This group of players has the potential on paper to be as good as we’ve seen at the position since the late Bo Pelini days when he was led by future NFL standouts like Lavonte David and Will Compton.
The depth also should give both Barrett Ruud and Mike Dawson two solid groups where they can rotate players in and out.
Biggest question: Where does Chris Kolarevic fit in?
When I look at this group of eight players that return, the big question now surrounds Kolarevic.
Word is Kolarevic has already shown he can be effective against both the run and pass. There’s no question he’s going to have a role in 2020, but more than likely Honas and Reimer will enter the spring as the starter.
I still think Kolarevic and Henrich will both factor in as well, as Ruud has stated he would like to have four players rotate in and out effectively at inside linebacker.
Spring dark horse: Javin Wright
One of the more interesting players to watch develop this spring is redshirt freshman Javin Wright, who has battled multiple injuries the last couple of years.
The Husker legacy recently shared on social media he’s now up to 6-4 1/2, 210-pounds. He added over an inch of height and 30 pounds since arriving at NU in 2019. Wright was a tweener when he got here, and it appears outside linebacker could be his permanent home.
When I talked with defensive coordinator Erik Chinander this off-season, you got the sense there’s still a lot to learn about Wright this spring and what his ultimate role can be on this football team.
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