Nebraska football RB Dante Dowdell is making his move

Running back is one of the most intriguing positions on the Nebraska football offense. You have four guys who seem capable of being the starter and leading the team in rushing.

Rahmir Johnson has made a push and has been having his best camp as a Nebraska football player. Gabe Irvin looks as good as he ever has, which is something I can also say about Emmett Johnson.

Johnson put in work during the offseason. He was impressive in the spring, but many pundits have been predicting that Dante Dowdell would win the starting job.

Dante Dowdell is making a move

The top-10 running back recruit in the 2023 class, got limited opportunities with Oregon last season but averaged 5.3 yards per rush on 17 attempts.

Oregon wasted his redshirt — playing him in five games — and giving him just 17 carries. It was foolish and one of the reasons he left the program. There’s been an adjustment to Nebraska football, but it feels like the light is coming on for Dowdell according to OC Marcus Satterfield.

“The last seven or eight practices, he’s run the ball really, really hard,” Satterfield said on Friday. “He’s hard to tackle. If he gets past that box, DBs do not want to tackle him. He’s getting downhill.”

That was good to hear from Satterfield and it’s understandable. Dowdell is 6-foot-2, 225 pounds. Would you want to tackle him if he’s able to get downhill?

It’s interesting because when it comes to running backs, it doesn’t really matter until the pads come on, so I take it as a good sign that Dowdell is turning heads a few weeks into camp.

Satterfield also said this:

“He had two really good blitz pickups in the last two days. So, he’s improving (to where) he can stay in there on third down. He’s understanding pass protection. But he’s just a very physical runner. Gets downhill.”

Blitz pickups and pass protection will be critical for Nebraska football running backs. If you can’t block, you won’t get the rock. Dylan Raiola is the focal point of the offense and if any of the backs struggle with pass protection, it will be tough to play them.

Dowdell is a talented runner but the fact that he’s improving and understanding pass protection is huge in terms of where he stands on the depth chart.

It’s hard to say exactly how it will work out, but it’s safe to say Dowdwell is on the rise.

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