Nebraska Football Player Power Rankings: Start of Fall Camp
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This season I will be publishing a weekly power ranking of Nebraska’s players.
This list will be completely subjective in several ways and may not follow a logical path. Or maybe it will.
This power ranking list will be a combination of the most important, most impactful, a recent contribution, waiting in the wings, rumors of greatness, rumors of not-so-great, players that made one great play to change a game (for better or worse) or any other type of metric that I think should go with this subjective list of ranking over 100 players on a football team.
To start I present the list below. The next list will come at the end of fall camp unless we hear enough through fall camp that I believe an additional fall camp list would be necessary. After fall camp I plan on publishing every week with maybe the exception of a bye week.
This first edition will likely be longer than all the others.
So without further ado, here is my definitive and completely subjective Nebraska Football Player Power Ranking for the start of Fall Camp.
10. Anthony Colandrea – Quarterback
Prior Ranking: N/R
The hope for Nebraska’s offense (with the exception of the offensive line which I will address below) is Anthony Colandrea. He will be a stark contrast from Dylan Raiola in terms of his playing style and according to Justin Evans he might be a stark contrast in terms of leadership as well.
There is a lot of optimism surrounding Colandrea going into fall camp from several of his teammates. But we have heard this before — including when Dylan Raiola was the starter at Nebraska.
What might make this time different is that Colandrea has played a lot of college football. He also is a playmaker and will take chances.
Part of me is expecting Colandrea to win a game for Nebraska that they shouldn’t win because of a great play he makes outside of the pocket. On the other hand I am expecting Colandrea to lose Nebraska a game that they shouldn’t lose because of an untimely interception.
If Rhule and Dana Holgorsen can find a happy middle then watch out. I put him at #10 because I want to give him a lot of room to rise in the ranking.
9. A Starting Running Back
Prior Ranking: N/R
For transparency’s sake, I want to admit that I wanted to throw both Jamal Rule and Tikey Hayes on this list. Jamal Rule is a true freshman and Tikey Hayes was planning on playing for Iowa Western Community College only a few weeks ago which makes me pump the brakes.
I am reminded that I was pretty big on Jordan Stevenson, if you remember him from the 2015 team so I am going to be slow on newcomers. Or at least I am going to try to be.
It doesn’t help that Mekhi Nelson was dealing with legal issues but apparently has been cleared of wrongdoing and is a full go for 2026.
Then there is Isaiah Mozee who is the wild card as he is probably the best pass catcher of the group.
What I am hoping for is that somebody makes a jump and separates from the pack. There should be a lot of carries to go around since Emmett Johnson is now playing for the Kansas City Chiefs.
8. Archie Wilson and Kyle Cunanan – Punter and Place Kicker
Prior Ranking: N/R
Kyle Cunanan might be one of the most underrated players from last years team. It should be said that he was perfect in extra points (45/45) in 2025. It was not long ago that we were bringing kids off of the street to kick field goals for us. Regarding actual field goals, Cunanan was 16/19 for 84%. He was perfect from 39 yards or less. I will take that consistency any day.
With Archie Wilson, there were definitely times he struggled last year but I do want to remind myself that the first time he ever played in a football game was at Arrowhead Stadium against Cincinnati. In that game he downed four punts inside the 15 yard line and two of those were inside the 10 yard line. On his 37 punts he averaged right under 40 yards per punt.
Another year with these two could pay huge dividends especially in the case of Archie Wilson.
7. Janiran Bonner – Swiss Army Knife
Prior Ranking: N/R
This one on the list might surprise you but I’ll never forget how upset Nebraska offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen was when he learned that Bonner would be out with a season ending injury. It was like it took all the air out of his lungs. You can tell Holgorsen had plans for Bonner.
In Bonner’s lone game against Cincinnati he had one catch and two carries before he was injured. I think also that Holgorsen was going to use Bonner to solve, what would become Nebraska’s offensive woes in the red zone.
Here’s hoping Bonner is healthy and Holgorsen can show us what he had planned for him in 2025.
6. Andrew Marshall – Defensive Back
Prior Ranking: N/R
The 2025 honorable-mention All-Big Ten section is back for his senior year. He transferred here from Idaho prior to the 2025 season. Do you know who his defensive coordinator was at Idaho that in 2023? That would be new Nebraska defensive coordinator Rob Aurich who coached at Idaho until 2023 before going to San Diego State in 2024.
Andrew Marshall is likely going to be matched up with some great wide receivers in 2026 like Jeremiah Smith (Ohio State), Charlie Becker (Indiana), KJ Duff (Rutgers) and whoever Oregon throws at Nebraska.
Great opportunity for Marshall to take steps forward with his old defensive coordinator in town.
5. Anthony Jones Jr. – Defensive Lineman
Prior Ranking: N/R
I am definitely interested in watching Anthony Jones Jr. who is a transfer in from UCLA. Prior to UCLA he spent one season at Michigan State, one season at Indiana and one season at Oregon.
Just saying that should make your eyebrows raise but apparently it has been a string of bad luck for Anthony Jones because at each stop there was a coaching change which prompted his departure.
That should make you feel better and it sounds like he is expecting to make an impact and we all know that Nebraska needs to find difference makers on the defensive line. Another player that I thought about putting here was Jahsear Whittington, the transfer from Pittsburgh.
4. Jacory Barney Jr. – Wide Receiver
Prior Ranking: N/R
Jacory Barney Jr. is rightfully a fan favorite. He plays hard and ever time he catches it, it looks like he’s going to take it to the house. In 2025 he had 1,049 all-purpose yards with 484 receiving yards.
But there is that feeling that we should expect more. Or maybe that feeling is that we are waiting for the breakout from Barney. We can tell he has it in him but maybe it is just an arm tackle here or there that he needs to break.
Maybe a different quarterback who can move will give him more opportunities.
Luckily he will probably have the best receiving corps he has had since he got to Nebraska so the defense will have to respect them.
Barney was big both returning kicks and punts. Maybe he can turn into De’Mornay Pierson-El? Wouldn’t that be sweet.
3. Brett Maher – Special Teams Coordinator
Prior Ranking: N/R
Okay, I admit that this might be cheating but he WAS a Nebraska player at one time and is now tasked with taking over the Special Teams Coordinator position after Mike Ekeler jumped ship and went to USC. There are some huge shoes to fill but there is hope that Maher has learned under a great teacher in Ekeler and will be able to take those advantages and use them in a way which might not lead kickoff returners to bring it out when they catch it nine yards deep in the endzone.
2. Justin Evans, Brendan Black, Elijah Pritchett, Paul Mubenga and Tree Babalade – “The Unit?”
Prior Ranking: N/R
As far as position groups go, there probably is not a group that I am more excited to watch than the offensive linemen. Nebraska returns starting center Justin Evans who has started 38 games over the past three seasons. He is considered by some to potentially be an all-conference center this season.
Then Matt Rhule goes out in the transfer portal and spent a large sum of money to add Brendan Black, Paul Mubenga and Tree Babalade from Iowa State, LSU and South Carolina to shore up the unit. It shows where Rhule is placing an emphasis in improving the team for 2026.
This does not include left tackle Elijah Pritchett who probably has more talent than any other offensive lineman in the program.
This group was extremely successful last year in helping Emmett Johnson have so much success.
Then add Geep Wade as the new offensive line coach. We shall see but from the outside looking in, I believe Rhule will get a better coached offensive line in 2026.
1. Riley Van Poppel – Defensive Lineman
Prior Ranking: N/R
Alright. I do not mean to put the weight of the state of Nebraska on his shoulders but if Nebraska cannot stop the run or rush the passer with four then this season could be a long long long one, especially for those of us that get to write about it.
I know that I have Anthony Jones on this list, but I am looking at Riley Van Poppel to be the guy that takes a big jump on the defensive line. I also think he is more than capable of being “the man” on the defensive line.
Unfortunately, I have been on this train for one season now already. We don’t need him to be Suh but could he be Nash Hutmacher? Or even better could he be Ty Robinson?
Nebraska had one of the best pass defenses in the country last season. Unfortunately, they also had one of the worst rush defenses in the country.
I have hope in Rob Aurich and his direction for the defense but it is going to start with the defensive line for the Huskers in 2026.
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