Nebraska Defense: Two-deep projection
Zack Carpenter • InsideNebraska
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Insider Notes: Camp, scrimmage
Nebraska is now two-thirds of the way through its 15-practice fall camp that wraps up on August 14. There is still some time to go before the Huskers open the season 18 days from now, but that time is dwindling with just five fall camp practices remaining.
The Huskers held their 10th practice on Monday morning, and we met with defensive coordinator
Erik Chinander, defensive backs coach
Travis Fisher and a handful of defensive players. They provided some crucial background and information – especially Chinander – on how the competitions at different positions is going as players try to lock up spots.
"I think there is a lot of good and a lot of stuff to clean up," Chinander said. "I am pretty happy with how the ones operated. Pretty happy with how they tackled. I think the twos and threes we need to tighten up a little bit. We have to have a little more separation on who is going to be those next guys up. We rotate a lot of guys in with the ones so it wasn’t just a pure one mix. It was kind of a 1a, 1b mix, and I think a lot of those guys showed great competition. There’s a few guys that kind of separated themselves, but there’s still a lot of competition at just about every position.”
Beginning on Aug. 15 is when the Husker staff will be taking the most time to lock in game preparations for Northwestern and who will be lining up at each position on the two-deep roster.
We have already started to get a better picture of the players who are emerging on both sides of the ball, though, throughout our time watching one open practice and getting a chance to speak with offensive and defensive coaches and players. Inside Nebraska staff writer
Steve Marik gave
his projections of the offensive two-deep on Monday morning, and today I'm giving my projections for the defensive two-deep depth chart as it stands on August 9.
EDGE
1 – Garrett Nelson
2 – Blaise Gunnerson
Nelson is easily the the spot we can lock down with the most confidence at EDGE and probably on the entire defense (no shade thrown at the two linebacker spots). He's the team leader and a potential college football star who has already entrenched himself as one of the Big Ten's best defensive players.
After him, I like Gunnerson to lock up the No. 2 spot behind Nelson, and
Jimari Butler would slot in behind him. Chinander on Monday said, unprompted, that Gunnerson and Butler were having "tremendous camps" and that he expects both of them to be in the rotation at EDGE along with Nelson, Caleb Tannor and Ochaun Mathis.
Defensive line
1 – Ty Robinson
2 – Stephon Wynn Jr.
Just like Nelson, no debate about Robinson's top spot on the interior defensive line. The other three linemen are also known, but their place in the pecking order is up for debate and is still to play out over the next week of camp.
Defensive line
1 – Colton Feist
2 – Nash Hutmacher
Outside of defensive back, there is not a position group that has more of an interesting flavor as to the main two-deep spots than defensive line. Other than Robinson's spot as the one who will get the most snaps, who is named the starter and who is named as a backup does not matter quite as much here as it does at other spots with a heavy rotation expected under Chinander and
Mike Dawson.
Feist might be the biggest surprise in terms of how he has elevated himself up the depth chart over the offseason and throughout camp. Chinander heaped a ton of praise on him this week for his work.
“Colton Feist is a guy who came in here as a walk-on guy that not many people outside the program knew about," Chinander said. "And he’s just worked and worked and worked, and he’s put himself in a position to play a ton of snaps this year — whether he gets to be a starter or whether he’s the first guy in the rotation. He’s done an unbelievable job with technique, he’s a powerful guy, he knows what’s going on, he’s got good anticipation of the game. He can really run for a big guy. He’s playing on some special teams for us as well.”
Chinander made it a point to say that Feist has "shown that he belongs with the starters and/or that first rotation," so it wouldn't surprise me if he winds up being listed as a starter opposite Robinson by the time the season opener rolls around.
Hutmacher and Wynn are continuing to battle it out as well. Wynn is behind Hutmacher right now because Hutmacher knows the ins and outs of the Huskers' system better and is better positioned right now for the majority of snaps in the early portion of the season over Wynn. But it's a neck-and-neck fight between those two for reps, and that's one of the more intense position battles that Nebraska will watch play out.
EDGE
1 – Caleb Tannor
2 – Ochaun Mathis
Let the Ochaun Mathis hype train continue to roll. He was
unveiled at Monday's press conference after a standout scrimmage, and the excitement level is high for the TCU transfer to make a substantial impact from day one. Tannor will still get the starting nod, but him, Mathis and Nelson will be the three highest in terms of snaps throughout the season. We have written it and said it a dozen times already, but that trio is as dynamic of a pass-rushing rotation that the Huskers can put on the field.
This is a hard one to peg the order of because Tannor and Mathis are each going to play a lot – plus, Tannor is more of an outside linebacker who would be the top EDGE here in a 3-4 scheme while Mathis is going to be used as more of a traditional defensive end and would be the top EDGE in this spot in a 4-3 front.
Inside linebacker (Mike)
1 – Nick Henrich
2 – Eteva Mauga-Clements
Inside linebacker (Will)
1 – Luke Reimer
2 – Garrett Snodgrass
Reimer and Henrich represent one of the Big Ten's top linebacker duos, so their spots are solidified. But Chinander did mention that they have had three linebackers rotating in with the ones. Mauga-Clements and Snodgrass were the top backups a season ago, and both looked impressive when we watched them at the open practice last week – especially Mauga-Clements, who was aggressive and flying around during individual drills.
The time is coming for
Ernest Hausmann, the vaunted freshman who already has sky-high expectations centered around him in Lincoln, but I don't expect him to supplant either for one of the top backup roles – at least not early in the season and certainly not for the season opener. But I think Hausmann has a shot at getting snaps this season if he continues to progress.
Cornerback
1 – Quinton Newsome
2 – Malcolm Hartzog
And now we arrive at the defensive backs: the place where the top spots seem to be determined from the outside looking in but still have guys jostling for position.
Fisher was asked if he has the top four already set at cornerback and safety, to which he firmly and succinctly replied, "No," and Chinander said the team has three cornerbacks, three safeties and three nickels all rotating in with the first-team. So there is a lot left to play out here.
It speaks to the lack of depth at cornerback that I'm penciling in a true freshman in Hartzog to be on the two-deep. Truthfully, I doubt he winds up on the two-deep for the season opener or the early portion of the season. But based on rumblings of how impressive Hartzog has been, I will go ahead and slide him into that spot. In reality, though, the loser in the battle between Braxton Clark and Tommi Hill would be the backup to Newsome.
I would place Omar Brown there, but his move to safety has me placing him on the two-deep behind Farmer. But I'm curious whether or not Brown would move back into a cornerback role in a pinch.
Brown was practicing with the first-team on Monday, and Fisher said that he has been practicing with "pretty much every group that we’ve got," which I took to mean that he's practicing with multiple defensive back groups and practicing with the ones and the twos.
Cornerback
1 – Braxton Clark
2 – Tommi Hill
I badly want to project Hill as the top cornerback opposite of Newsome. I believe that he will eventually take over that spot from Clark, but I think it's the Husker veteran who will get the nod against Northwestern. The hype for Hill has been heavy, and that hype is for real so far.
“Tommi’s come a long way. He’s progressing," Fisher said on Monday. "The kid has so much passion and enthusiasm at practice. He plays with his heart on the outside of his jersey. I’m just talking about he’s into it every rep, very passionate about competing, flying around, sparking the defense, doing what you ask him to do. To be a young guy, it’s very rewarding for a coach for a guy who day to day just keeps showing up.”
Those are some heavy words and gives a glimpse into Hill's ceiling. Now, it's about putting those days together consistently and grasping the Huskers' defensive schemes. It won't surprise me if Hill does wind up as the opening-day starter at one cornerback spot, but my official prediction as of today is Clark.
Safety
1 – Myles Farmer
2 – DeShon Singleton
Farmer and Buford, it would appear, will lock up the two starting safety spots.
Safety
1 – Marques Buford Jr.
2 – Omar Brown
However, Fisher refuted the notion that they each have those cemented.
“No," Fisher said when asked if Farmer and Buford are firmly entrenched as the top-two safeties. "I got guys that are coming along. I’ve got guys that are a little bit banged up that are just coming back, and I’ve got guys that could easily be in that first group. It just depends how much they can get ready for this first game. I’ve got new guys that are coming in. It’s competitive throughout this whole deal. It’ll probably be like that throughout this whole season. Overtaking the (safety) position isn’t happening today, especially how tight the secondary is and how they’re competing.”
Nickel
1 – Isaac Gifford
2 – Chris Kolarevic
Javin Wright is the player I want to slot into this two-deep, but I can't. He has been impressive throughout practice,
according to Greg Smith's insider report, and Chinander sang his praises this week. It still feels, however, like Wright will need more time to get his legs back under him as he nurses his way back to full health and comfortability on the field. That leaves Kolarevic as the guy I'm slotting into that No. 2 nickel spot. In the end, it may not matter who is listed as the backup since Wright and Kolarevic serve different roles as nickel corners and will be on the field in different packages and situations.
“Right now, there’s three guys that are all running with the ones: Isaac (Gifford), Javin (Wright) and Chris Kolarvic, and I think those guys are doing a really good job," Chinander said. "I think it’s gonna be really hard to see who’s gonna be the starter. But I think all of those guys are gonna earn the right to be on the field. Those guys need to make a huge impact on special teams, too, because we’ve got three legitimate guys that can all play there. So we can keep those guys fresh and they can operate on special teams as well.”
