Nebraska Football's All-Quarter-Century Team: The Linebackers

Jamie Burrow was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week twice during the 2001 season, helping him to second-team All-Big 12 honors at the end of the season. Burrow finished his four-year career with 116 total tackles, despite playing his first three seasons behind All-American Carlos Polk.

Will Compton played in 50 games over four seasons in Lincoln, including 37 starts. The 2012 Nebraska Defensive MVP earned second-team All-Big Ten honors while helping the Huskers to a Big Ten Championship appearance before a Capital One Bowl win over Georgia. Compton is No. 15 for career tackles.

Lavonte David made a giant impact in just two years with the Blackshirts. The two-time All-American was the top linebacker in the Big Ten in 2011, earning Butkus-Fitzgerald Big Ten Linebacker of the Year. In that final season, he led the team in tackles (133), tackles for loss (13), sacks (5.5), interceptions (2), fumbles caused (2) and fumble recoveries (2). David holds the record for most tackles in a season (152, 2010), passes broken up by a linebacker in a season (10, 2010), and is No. 5 on the all-time tackles chart.

Phillip Dillard suffered an injury midway through the 2008 season, costing him his position before he took it back in force as part of a dominant band of Blackshirts in 2009. The All-Big 12 selection had back-to-back games of 12 tackles against Texas Tech and Iowa State, as part of a run of eight games with at least five tackles.

JoJo Domann earned second-team All-Big Ten honors in 2021, despite missing the final two games of the year due to injury. At the time of his injury, he was one of only three Big Ten players to rank in the top 10 in the conference in both tackles and tackles for loss. He also ranked third among all active FBS players with nine career forced fumbles at the time of his injury. Domann is tied for No. 35 on the all-time tackles chart.

Corey McKeon was a tackles-for-loss machine in 2005, notching 22 on the year. That's good for third in a single season behind Jim Skow (1985) and Ndamukong Suh (2009). A second-team All-Big 12 selection that season, he followed that up with 13 starts in 2006 and 10 more in 2007. McKeon is No. 19 on the all-time tackles chart.

Garrett Nelson started every game from 2020 through 2022, seeing action in 43 games over his four years in Lincoln. His best year came in his final campaign, as he earned second-team All-Big Ten honors while leading the team with 9.0 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks and recording a career-high 65 total tackles.

Carlos Polk helped the Cornhuskers enter the new millennium with a bang, as he was named a first-team All-American in 2000. No Husker linebacker in history has made opponents lose more yards than Polk did in his career, with 32 TFLs for 134 yards.

Luke Reimer took advantage of an extra season from COVID-19 to jump up the record books at NU. Utilizing performances like his 19-tackle day against Purdue in 2021, he posted a top-10 season for unassisted tackles. That helped Reimer solidify himself near the top of the career tackles leaders, where he sits third behind Barrett Ruud and Jerry Murtaugh.

Bo Ruud has the second-longest interception return for a touchdown in program history, with a 93-yarder against Iowa State in 2007. He was dang good at that, as he holds the position record for touchdown returns in a season (2, 2007) and a career (3). A first-team All-Big 12 selection in 2006, Ruud ranks No. 30 on the all-time tackles chart.

Barrett Ruud is Nebraska's all-time leading tackler with 432 from 2001-04. A three-time All-Big 12 selection and 2004 third-team All-American, he also holds the single-game Husker record for unassisted tackles with 16 against Kansas State in 2004, which helped him set the single-season record that same year. Only Lavonte David has had a season with more total tackles than Ruud, who owns spots two and three on the single-season tackles list.

Demorrio Williams earned first-team All-Big 12 in 2003 to cap off a successful two years in Lincoln. He holds the position record for tackles-for-loss yards in a game (27), sacks in a game (3), sack yards in a game (27), TFL yards in a season (92) sacks in a season (11), sack yards in a season (77), and fumble recoveries in a season (4). Williams had the eighth-most tackles in a single season in 2003 and ranks No. 27 on the all-time tackles chart.

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