Could Carter Nelson miss the 2025 Nebraska football season?

On Tuesday, Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule met wth the media, and one of the key topics was injuries.

Rhule announced there would be 18 players that would either be out for spring ball or limited. Carter Nelson was one of those Nebraska football players.

Nelson posted on social media about two surgeries he had this offseason to address an issue with his hip. Rhule said that Nelson, who played in all 13 games for the Huskers last season, woud be out, and some have wondered if he’ll be ready for the 2025 season.

I should have clarified that this is an opinion based on the injury, the timeline needed to get back to 100% and frankly, WR depth in 2025 https://t.co/3zSsC4nZIz

— Tim Verghese (@TimVerghese) March 13, 2025

Tim Verghese, who covers Nebraska football for Rivals, opined on Wednesday that Nelson could miss the entire 2025 season based on his injury and the wide receiver depth chart.

Nelson is listed as a wide receiver on the roster, but the expectation was that he would move to tight end. If he’s out, that will leave Heinrich Haarberg and Luke Lindmeyer as the top options. Rhule called Haarberg a “special athlete” in his press conference. He sounds excited to play Haarberg at tight end.

Even when he was playing quarterback, he didn’t run like one. He wanted to run through people’s facemasks, and he’ll get that chance as a blocker and a receiver when he gets the ball.

Back to Nelson. Verghese said, “If we get to see Carter Nelson this fall, I would love to see it. Nebraska needs to hit on special athletes like that to elevate their ceiling as a program.”

There haven’t been any reports about Nelson not being available for the fall, but you never know with injuries. Verghese might be right. Gunnar Gottula, who started at left tackle last season, will also miss spring ball, along with D-line transfer Jaylen George.

Yet, there haven’t been any suggestions that those players could miss the season. It won’t be the end of the world if Nelson missed 2025; he could redshirt and get back to 100 percent for the 2026 season, but I’d love to see his ability in this offense, surrounded by all of these other weapons.

For now, we’ll just have to wait and see. And hope.

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