Nebraska's 2025 Defensive Line Unit Preview

Now, moving on to expected contributors, Nebraska returns a wide variety of promising players for the upcoming season. While experience and age are two categories that Nebraska may lack in, this coaching staff has a certain quite confidence about them in regard to how they feel about the outlook of the defensive line group this season.

Eerily similar to the running back room situation, while the fanbase may have more questions than answers, the coaching staff has had opportunities to make changes to their rosters for the better and have, in both instances, proven they're willing to roll with what they’ve got.

Starting out with the veteran in the room, Elijah Jeudy is a familiar but under-the-radar player within the fanbase. Last season, as a junior, Jeudy played in all 13 games with one start at Iowa. Though he took reserve snaps last season, backing up Nash Hutmacher at nose, Jeudy is looking to improve upon his Pinstripe Bowl performance, and possible best game as a Husker, where he recorded 2 solo tackles and one fumble recovery.

Next, Cam Lenhardt, who Husker fans should be excited that this coaching staff was able to keep. After a phenomenal freshman campaign where he played in 10 games (sat out for injury in two) and started in four, Lenhardt had many believing he could be the next great Nebraska pass rusher. In his sophomore season, a mixture of added depth and situational substitutions got in the way of Lenhardt getting as much playing time as he did as a freshman.

From his time at the mic, Nebraska fans should be happy to hear that Lenhardt is ready to take on a leadership role this season. When asked how he felt about taking on more responsibility for the room, Cam said he’s “Taking pride in that [leadership]”.

Fans should also be very enthusiastic of Nebraska’s youth in the room. Sophomore’s Keona Davis and Riley Van Poppel are both highly respected players in the program already and are sure to see the field early and often in 2025. These two players have potential to start all 13 games for the Nebraska defense next season.

Nebraska also went into the transfer portal to help supplement the loss of production from last year. To the team’s success, they were able to add three expected contributors within this year’s class.

Starting out with the highest rated prospect of them all, Williams Nwaneri, who joins Dylan Raiola as the second former 5-star recruit on this year’s roster, looks to be the real deal, or at least on paper. The redshirt freshman is listed on Nebraska’s roster as a 6-7 255-pound defensive end. Using the four-game redshirt rule, Nwaneri saw four games worth of action last season while at Missouri where he totaled 1 TFL and 1 sack on the year.

Though his stats don’t jump out on paper, yet, from a peer potential standpoint, we could be seeing a reincarnation of Randy Gregory.

The offseason also brought the additions of first-team All-SoCon player Jaylen George out of East Tennessee State (FCS) along with wild card player Gabe Moore who transferred into Nebraska from Mississippi State after an injury in his sophomore season saw him total zero snaps in his career to this point.

Last but not least, Nebraska has retained the talents of junior Dylan Parrott. Parrott, who played in all 13 games last season, totaled two total tackles in his sparing reps during the 2024 season. Obviously, being trusted by the coaching staff, look for Parrott to factor into the depth chart this season.

A group filled largely with unknown but high-potential players, the success this group has is sure to have a big say in determining the outcome of Nebraska’s 2025 season.

Though many of these players will be stepping into newer, more demanding roles; size, talent, and feedback from the coaching staff all aim towards the fact that this group is ready to go to work against opposing offensive lines next season.

While this may be the position group with the most unknowns, particularly on the defense, but potentially on the entire team, look for a mix of old and young players alike to work together to clog the running lanes and rush the passer with the same effectiveness that Nebraska has come to expect under Matt Rhule.

Yes, there is obviously room, expectably so, to regress. But, as the year goes on I am confident this group will foster a strong foundation for the defense to find success in year one under defensive coordinator John Butler.