Nebraska Spring Look Back: Inside Linebacker
Next in our spring football positional recaps, we will be giving our final take on Nebraska's inside linebackers...
WHAT WE LEARNED: The ILB depth might be better than we thought
Amid all of the pressing questions that Nebraska hoped to answer during spring ball, the inside linebacker position seemed like somewhat of an afterthought.
Returning starter Luke Reimer missed the spring with an injury; top backup Chris Kolarevic moved to nickel, and fellow reserve Garrett Snodgrass also was out with an injury.
The Huskers also lost veteran Will Honas, who transferred to Kansas State in January.
Yet there still wasn't a lot of conversation about the competition after fellow starter Nick Henrich.
In many ways, that could be considered a good thing.
Based on reports from coaches and players, there weren't many glaring concerns about the group despite an overall lack of experience.
If anything, a guy like Eteva Mauga-Clements eleviated some of those worries with a strong showing in his opportinty. The Huskers also seemed pleasantly surprised with younger players like walk-on Grant Tagge and early-enrollee freshman Ernest Hausmann.
BIGGEST SPRING CONCERN: Who will emerge as the clear No. 3?
When fully healthy, Henrich and Reimer will continue to handle the lion's share of the snaps at inside linebacker this season.
Reimer played a whopping 745 snaps while Henrich saw 727, ranking third and the fourth on the defense, respectively.
The next-highest snap total at the position was Kolarevic at 157. No other player had more than 26.
Considering that Honas is gone and Kolarevic is now at nickel, the inexperience was significant at inside linebacker going into the spring.
The silverlining to Reimer sitting out was it opened the door for increased reps for the rest of the room. Not having Snodgrass available was disappointing, but Mauga-Clements made the most of his opportunity.
Tagge got a decent amount of praise as an under-the-radar walk-on, and Randolph Kpai and Mikai Gbayor both showed flashes. Even Hausman impressed in his first taste of college action.
But are any of those players ready to step up as the clear No. 3? Considering both Reimer and Henrich have missed time to injury in their careers, the Huskers have to find a player (hopefully more than one) that they trust to play in a game when needed.
SPRING SURPRISE: Kolarevic's move to nickel
One of the most surprising position changes this offseason was Kolarevic's move to nickel.
By far the third option at inside linebacker last season, the former Northern Iowa transfer decided he wanted to find a bigger role on Nebraska's defense.
Heralded for his athleticism at 6-1, 230, Kolarevic hoped to fill the void left by hybrid standout JoJo Domann.
While that effort will continue into fall camp, it also left ILB coach Barrett Ruud's group trying to get several young guys up to speed as quickly as possible.
Given how green the inside linebackers were this spring, it's hard to wonder if Kolarevic didn't second-guess his decision at all?
LOOKING AHEAD: The competition will continue
Both Reimer and Henrich will be ready to go for the start of fall camp, so the practice reps won't be quite as plentiful for Nebraska's younger inside 'backers.
Snodgrass will also be looking to hit the ground running after missing important time this spring.
That means every snap in camp will be critical in deteriming who will round out the depth chart. Snodgrass and Mauga-Clements seem like the top candidates right now, but for others like Kpai, Gbayor, and Seth Malcom, there is still plenty to prove this fall.
The staff appears to be high on Hausman's long-term potential, and it will be interesting to see if he can continue that rapid development.
Also, will Tagge be able to work his way into the equation and possibly follow Reimer's path from walk-on to scholarship player before all is said and done?