Which Nebraska rookies are impressing in camp and who could start in 2024

That line held up about 2023 Nebraska.

Five Husker freshmen — two receivers, two defensive linemen and a kicker — started games. Two more burned their redshirt while appearing in more than four games. NU finished 5-7.

Forty-eight true frosh dot the roster now as Nebraska plows toward the halfway point of training camp. Only one — quarterback Dylan Raiola — appears likely to start the Aug. 31 opener. A few others are in the mix as rotational players or stand perhaps an injury away from playing time.

Rhule, the second-year Husker coach who once played for Paterno, is playing plenty of talented teenagers in practice. But even if they’ve learned the base schemes, he said, most won’t adjust quickly enough to the intricacies of major college football.

“They’re just in the maturing process mentally as much as physically,” Rhule said. “But we have enough good players to win.”

A few such newcomers will be on the field early and often. Here’s the freshman intel from camp, based on feedback from coaches and players along with firsthand observations from open workouts:

Nebraska continues to play its quarterback competition close to the vest. There’s a good chance a question specifically about Raiola will get a general response about the position group overall. But Raiola wowed fans at the open practice earlier this month with pinpoint deep passes and decisive, accurate throws to playmakers on more routine short plays. Smooth footwork and elite arm talent add to a consistency rare for such a young player — another reason he commands major NIL resources.

Rhule, who started true freshman QBs at both Temple and Baylor, said last week on a national podcast that Raiola would be ready if he’s taking snaps from the jump. Other Huskers also identify the clear poise in No. 15 directing the offense.

“He’s just really mature for his age,” NU senior receiver Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda said. “He’s a young guy, obviously, but he’s way ahead of his time, in my opinion. His football IQ is excellent. He’s real natural. It’s not like he’s forcing things out there on the field. He prepares, he puts the work in beforehand. He goes out there and you can tell he has a sense of confidence.”

The electrifying Miami native may not be atop the first depth chart at wide receiver, but he’s not far off. Barney was the only Husker in the spring to touch 22 mph as a sprinter and he could find an early niche as an impact returner. Remember his kickoff return in the spring game?

Barney’s on-ramp to college could mirror that of Coleman and Lloyd, who appeared in double-digit games last year. The Huskers are more stacked at the position now.

Said receivers coach Garret McGuire: “I think his biggest challenge is to make the routine plays routine.”

The former three-star prospect from Miami was a late-December add to the class who enrolled in classes a few weeks later. His name came up during spring practices as a playmaking linebacker and continued through the offseason — no freshman appeared more on Nebraska’s summer Elite List that measures various off-the-field ways players go beyond the standard to compete and improve.

Opportunity awaits at ‘backer, which will rotate upperclassmen John Bullock, Javin Wright and Mikai Gbayor, with junior transfer Stefon Thompson perhaps next up. Then it’s Shavers, whose homing-missile tackling skillset could also earn him regular action on coverage units.

“He’s a dynamic young player,” Rhule said Saturday after a team scrimmage. “He’s a guy that I don’t foresee much use for redshirting unless he needs to.”

That the Ainsworth native could play right away is more impressive considering he only arrived on campus this summer and is transitioning out of eight-player football. The 6-foot-5, 230-pounder has been so explosive that Nebraska shifted him from tight end to receiver to get him on the field quicker. Husker coaches have praised his competitiveness and compared his dominating perimeter blocking to that of another positionless weapon, Janiran Bonner.

Expect Nelson all over in his debut college year. The Huskers have a clear No. 1 tight end in Thomas Fidone and a stacked receiver room mixing height and speed. Nelson is a hybrid — visions of the 7-foot high jumper clearing the pile in a goal-line handoff situation aren’t entirely far-fetched either.

“Year one, it’s going to be a lot of jack-of-all-trade-type plays for him,” McGuire said.

He looks the part of a Big Ten trench enforcer at 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds. His position coach added to the buzz by comparing the teen’s physical potential to that of Nebraska’s most famous defensive lineman, Ndamukong Suh.

“He’s a young guy — he has no clue what’s going on right now,” Terrance Knighton said. “He’s just doing everything he’s asked to do and he’s a sponge for everyone in the building trying to learn as much as he can. When he leaves here he’s going to look like 93 that used to play here. That’s what I feel — he’s going to be a big guy.”

The ceiling for Davis in the coming months is probably as last year’s Riley Van Poppel, who saw 113 defensive snaps across 11 games in some key spots as a freshman. D-line is so deep for Nebraska it could literally name 10 other players who deserve to play. Watch the four-game redshirt with the Arizona native and late NU class add.

The battle for second-team cornerbacks remains spirited. And while it could be junior Marques Buford and redshirt freshman Jeremiah Charles, Rhule has also name-dropped freshmen Amare Sanders, Larry Tarver and Mario Buford at times during camp. Any could be an injury or two away from major time on the edge if they don’t win the jobs outright.

“You go to one-on-ones and they all can cover,” Rhule said. “… It’s just about can you mentally day in and day out handle the rigors, handle the amount of stuff that we do. I can’t answer that yet, are they ready to play. But from a talent standpoint, they’re unbelievably talented.”

These players may not see much time on the big stage in 2024 for various reasons. Receiver Keelan Smith — Missouri’s reigning Class 6A offensive player of the year — has drawn praise for his physicality and ball skills while drawing some reps with the top offense but is battling at a loaded position. Willis McGahee IV has shown out as a “Jack” linebacker but is at least behind established players MJ Sherman and Princewill Umanmielen.

Offensive linemen Gibson Pyle and Grant Brix are projected future mainstays, but not right away. Germany native and 22-year-old freshman David Hoffken, at 6-6 and 255, is a physical “freak of nature,” Knighton said, but still learning game speed, the playbook and fundamentals on the fly. Coaches also like running back Mekhi Nelson as an “instinctive” future playmaker, though he’d be fifth or sixth on the pecking order now.

Meanwhile, quarterback Daniel Kaelin has flashed his potential as a leader and fast processor. Punter Kamdyn Koch and kicker Nico Ottomanelli are at most an injury away from immediate prominent work.