Nebraska football post-spring D-line depth chart projection

Nebraska football is less than 100 days away from the season opener. Closer to 90 days and following spring practices, as well as the portal, we are taking a position-by-position look at the depth chart.

We have worked our way through the offense. Now, we are turning our attention to the defense. Nebraska football should have one of the better defenses in all of college football. A top-10 defense isn’t unrealistic, although it can be hard to define.

A top-10 scoring defense would be incredible. Tony White’s crew can do it and the defensive line is a big reason why. Nash Hutmacher and Ty Robinson both surpassed a chance at the NFL to come back for another season.

Nebraska football post-spring D-line projection

Starters: Nash Hutmacher, Ty Robinson, and Jimari Butler

Backups: Cameron Lenhardt, James Williams, Riley Van Poppel, and Sua Lefotu 

Robinson and Hutmacher will anchor the defensive line for the Huskers along with Jimari Butler, who doesn’t get talked about enough for his efforts last season. Butler led Nebraska football in sacks last season (5.5). He also had 34 tackles and led the team in tackles for loss (8.5).

Hutmacher had 40 tackles — an insane number for a nose tackle — to go along with five sacks and eight tackles for loss. Robinson had four tackles for loss and a sack, but he was equally hard to move and those three guys are why the run defense allowed just three yards per attempt.

At least a big part of it. Having all three starters on the defensive line back is huge. It’s especially interesting that Cameron Lenhardt, a freshman All-American, isn’t even starting. He’ll play a lot though. Lenhardt might be the best pure pass rusher on the team. His run defense was also better than I expected as a freshman.

The rising sophomore will essentially be a starter, just not in the base defense. James Williams is another pass rusher who should see more snaps in 2024. Riley Van Poppel is another name to know. He’ll play on the interior and I’m watching for a huge leap from him.

Van Poppel might make a bigger leap than any other player in the sophomore class. Elijah Jeudy also provided some solid depth for Nebraska last season and will be one of the first guys off the bench. Sua Lefotu, another sophomore, is another candidate to have an even bigger role.

Lefotu played in three games last season. He had two tackles and a fumble recovery last season and the 6-foot-3, 300-pounder should add even more depth to what’s frankly a loaded Nebraska defensive line.

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