Nebraska Football: Projecting the Cornhuskers' 2-Deep Depth Chart

Nebraska football fans want the calendar to read August already. Projecting what Nebraska’s two-deep depth chart will look like is the next best thing, of course, to a time machine that can fast forward through basketball and baseball to the start of another college football season.

So, take a look at this still-way-too-early look at what Nebraska’s two-deep might look like in August 2013. If nothing else, it will help you through those long days of winter. And spring. And summer.

Returning starters are noted in italics.

Offensive Line

Nebraska returns three starters on the line, although there are still big questions at tackle. Look for Cole Pensick to take over the center position and for Spencer Long to again be the class of the line. With not much (at least at this point) in field-ready talent coming through the recruiting lines, look for Nebraska’s offensive line to be pretty familiar.

LT –  Brent Qvale, Jeremiah Sirles

LG – Jake Cotton, Broderick Nickens

C – Cole Pensick, Mark Pelini

RG – Spencer Long, Ryne Reeves

RT – Jeremiah Sirles, Andrew Rodriguez

Offensive Backs

Quarterback is about as settled as it can be, with Taylor Martinez preparing for his senior season and Tommy Armstrong as the backup after his redshirt year. The big surprise is at running back, where I have planted my flag on Braylon Heard winning the starting job from Ameer Abdullah. Look for sophomore Andy Janovich to win the starting fullback job, with Mike Marrow rebounding from a disappointing 2012.

QB –  Taylor Martinez, Tommy Armstrong

IB –  Braylon Heard, Ameer Abdullah

FB –  Andy Janovich, Mike Marrow

Offensive Receivers

Don’t be shocked to see Nebraska end 2013 with the best wide receiver corps in the Big Ten, and maybe one of the best in the country. Tight end will be more of a mystery after losing Ben Cotton and Kyler Reed to graduation. Jake Long should start, but don’t be surprised to see a wide receiver slide over to tight end. According to HuskerOnline’s Robin Washut's Twitter, Quincy Enunwa has ruled out a move. Taariq Allen, however, could be an intriguing possibility.

WR X – Kenny Bell, Tyler Wullenwaber

WR Z – Quincy Enunwa, Taariq Allen

WR A – Jamal Turner, Jordan Westerkamp

TE – Jake Long, Taariq Allen

Defensive Line

Nebraska will have a whole bunch of new faces on the defensive line in 2013—and given how the line performed last year, that may be a good thing. Jason Ankrah will be the most experienced returning lineman, with NU giving looks to a lot of young players throughout the rotation.

DE – Jason Ankrah, Randy Gregory

DE – Avery Moss, Greg McMullin

DT – Chase Rome, Kevin Williams

DT – Vincent Valentine, Thaddeus Randle

Defensive Linebackers

You’ve read about positions where Nebraska has a little returning experience. At linebacker, Nebraska has almost no returning experience, or at least starting experience. Zaire Anderson had one start. That’s it for NU’s experience at linebacker.

What Nebraska will have, however, is a lot more athleticism to play with. Thanks to a soft schedule to open the season, it’s possible that the 2013 corps of linebackers could be something special.

MIKE – David Santos, Michael Rose

WILL – Zaire Anderson, Thomas Brown

BUCK – Jared Afalava, Max Pirman

Defensive Backers

Good luck predicting Nebraska’s secondary in 2013. Andrew Green is the only one with starting experience coming back, and it’s not at all certain that he will keep his job come next autumn. Look for the secondary to be extremely fluid as Nebraska mixes and matches players between corner and safety trying to find the right mix. About the only sure thing seems to be Jonathan Rose, the transfer from Auburn, being a starting cornerback.

S – Corey Cooper, Stanley Jean-Baptiste

S – Charles Jackson, Mohammed Seisay

CB – Jonathan Rose, Josh Mitchell

CB – Andrew Green, LeRoy Alexander

NICKEL – Ciante Evans, Corey Cooper

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