We’re about 10 days from the start of spring football in Lincoln and the Huskers will have a new-look roster heading into the spring at certain positions.
That’s particularly the case on defense, where Nebraska must replace a number of long-time contributors who either graduated or exited stage left via the transfer portal.
Nebraska will turn to a mix of transfer additions and young players already in the program to find its next batch of difference-makers. While some of these players on the list that follows are known entities, they represent strong candidates to see much bigger roles in 2025.
Andrew Marshall: The Idaho cornerback transfer was a coveted piece by the Huskers out of the transfer portal and will have an opportunity to come in right away and win a starting job in the secondary. Nebraska will be seeking a replacement for Tommi Hill and with a new coordinator and new position coach, Marshall will be sitting on close-to-equal footing with the other defensive backs in Nebraska’s group. We’ll also give a nod to Marshall, who is likely to get a long look as a potential return option for the Huskers in 2025 after making his name on special teams with the Vandals.
Keona Davis: The sophomore-to-be won’t count as an addition out of the transfer portal, but Nebraska getting Davis to pull his name out of the portal in December was an important win for the Husker defense. Nebraska will try its darnedest to replace Ty Robinson and Nash Hutmacher this coming season, and Davis has as high of a ceiling as any defensive end on Nebraska’s roster. Davis saw his workload increase in the second half of the season last year, and showed he was ready to take a step forward going into this year after playing strong against the run and generating a little pass rush on his own.
Donovan Jones: Most observers likely didn’t have Jones playing as much as he did in the bowl game win over Boston College, but the talented freshman from Omaha North was given an opportunity at corner and ran with it. Jones was one of the over-looked members of Nebraska’s 2024 recruiting class and was always a physical defensive back in his high school days. With the secondary being in a bit of a state of flux, Jones has another opportunity this spring to take on a bigger role in 2025, whether that be at safety or corner.
Willis McGahee IV: It should come as no surprise that head coach Matt Rhule declared McGahee “ready” this past week when it came to potential defenders who could step up into a bigger role in 2025. When you go back even to McGahee’s high school days, he had a knack for being around the ball and making a game-changing play. In extremely small sample sizes, McGahee was around the ball as a true freshman as well. 13 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack and one pass breakup. He also tied for the team lead with two forced fumbles. Nebraska will have Oklahoma transfer Dasan McCullough working at JACK this spring, but McGahee will also have plenty to say in terms of how things progress with the spot in Nebraska’s defense as the Huskers look to replace MJ Sherman.
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