Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports
The Nebraska Cornhuskers have one heck of an offense, especially with quarterback Taylor Martinez, running back Ameer Abdullah and receiver Kenny Bell all returning. Needless to say, they won’t have a problem putting points on the board against Big 10 opponents in 2013. However, they may have a problem stopping their opposition from doing the same. Nebraska lost a truckload of defensive starters heading into 2013, so reloading that unit will be key to the Cornhuskers’ success going forward.
Nebraska will likely start Jason Ankrah, Avery Moss, Chase Rome and Vincent Valentine up front with Ankrah really being the only one with solid experience returning. Moss has a ton of potential, but there are many who doubt he’ll ever reach it.
At linebacker, the Cornhuskers have no returning starters, so David Santos, Zaire Anderson and Jared Afalava will all enter 2013 as first-year starters, which doesn’t bode well for Nebraska’s run defense.
Andrew Green is the only returning starter in the secondary, and although the Cornhuskers will get help from Auburn transfer Jonathan Rose, first-year starters Corey Cooper and Charles Jackson will both be big question marks as the 2013 season begins.
So where does Nebraska go from here? Well, for starters these younger players need a million reps this spring and then throughout the summer because if any of them go into 2013 cold, that could be disastrous for Nebraska, which starts out as a top-25 team. However, if the Cornhuskers don’t figure out how to play defense with new face quickly, that could change in a heartbeat.
Jeric Griffin is the Director of Content for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JericGriffin, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
