Nebraska Football: The 7 Best Defensive Players

It's getting close now, isn't it? The calendar has turned to July, which means August is just around the corner. Fall camp will be starting soon, and then, it all begins again. We're getting oh-so-close to the start of college football, and that means it's time to start looking at rosters and figuring out who will be the playmakers in 2011.

For most teams, that would start with a look at the offense, the glamour boys of the team. But this is Nebraska. This is Bo Pelini's Nebraska. So, we're going to start with a look at the best Blackshirts of 2011.

No. 7: Courtney Osborne

Nebraska’s biggest position of uncertainty in 2011 will be safety.

With both Eric Hagg and Dejon Gomes graduating, new starters will be pressed into service. While there are a number of contenders for most promising, Courtney Osborne was the standout performer of the returning safeties.

Osborne, Austin Cassidy and the others will have large shoes to fill, and how they step into their new roles as starters will go a long way in determining how well Nebraska does in its inaugural B1G Conference season.

No. 6: Baker Steinkuhler

Sure, there’s this guy named Jared Crick playing next to him getting a lot of attention. But Baker Steinkuhler is growing into a force on the defensive line all his own.

With 46 total tackles, four tackles for loss and three sacks in 2010, Steinkuhler held his own and reduced the ability for opponents to double-team Crick. With another year of experience, Steinkuhler could pair with Crick as part of a solid defensive spine.

No. 5: Ciante Evans

Next man up. With the graduation of Prince Amukamura, a first-round NFL draft pick, Nebraska’s secondary takes an obvious loss in talent.

But Ciante Evans was pressed into duty as a starter in 2010, due to injuries, and performed admirably well. Evans will have his shot at earning the full-time starting job across from Alfonzo Dennard in 2011, and the experience he got last year will serve him well as he falls into that role.

No. 4: Cameron Meredith

While Nebraska’s strength in the middle of the defensive line is a known quantity, play from the defensive end is more of a question mark. Pierre Allen’s graduation puts more of a focus on Cameron Meredith, who was hindered by injuries in 2010.

Still, Meredith is a leader who has earned the trust of Bo and Carl Pelini. It was Meredith who was tasked with the “spinner” role by the brothers Pelini to neutralize offenses like Missouri. And a healthy season from Meredith, combined with a return to a more traditional 4-3 look from Nebraska going into the B1G Conference, will mean a bigger role for the defensive end in 2011.

No. 3: Lavonte David

Probably the biggest surprise defensively in 2010 was the standout play of linebacker Lavonte David, who was pressed into a starting role after injuries in fall camp. David responded with 152 (!) total tackles, leading the team by far and being a dynamic and explosive playmaker on defense.

Nebraska will likely be playing less Peso defense with linebacker-safety hybrids and more of a traditional 4-3 defense, as it transitions into the B1G Conference. But even though David doesn’t have the size of a traditional linebacker, there’s no way that his speed and playmaking ability will be coming off the field in 2011.

No. 2: Alfonzo Dennard

In terms of sheer athleticism, a strong case could be made that Alfonzo Dennard was superior to Prince Amukamura in 2010.

Regardless, Dennard’s decision to return in 2011 will mark him as the unquestioned leader of Nebraska’s secondary. Even with losing games to injury, Dennard still logged four interceptions and seven pass breakups in 2010. A full season should allow him to add to those totals.

No. 1: Jared Crick

Sometimes it’s easy to forget about Jared Crick. As a defensive tackle, he doesn’t get the flashy, highlight-reel plays that linebackers and cornerbacks can get. He’s not the athletic superman that Ndamukong Suh was, meaning he might always suffer a little in comparison.

But make no mistake, Crick is Nebraska’s single-best defensive player returning in 2011. Had he left school early, he almost certainly would have been a first-round NFL selection. He may be hoping for the kind of senior season Suh had, vaulting him up the NFL draft and securing his place as a Nebraska legend.

Quite honestly, the Children of the Corn are hoping for the same thing.

Honorable Mention

ERIC MARTIN: Martin made the transition from linebacker to defensive end in the offseason, both to increase Nebraska's playmaking ability at the position and to get Martin's disruptiveness onto the field. While Martin struggled with discipline and developed a bad reputation in 2010, the position change and a new conference may do E-Mart a world of good.

AUSTIN CASSIDY: It was a tough call between Courtney Osborne and Austin Cassidy in terms of who to have representing NU's new-look secondary. Cassidy began to emerge last year as a heady, gritty safety who will make the smart play. He lacks Osborne's athleticism, but Cassidy has every opportunity to make a huge impact for NU in 2011.

WILL COMPTON: Compton has the prototypical linebacker's body, and given that Nebraska will be needing that size and power more in the B1G Conference, that's a good thing for NU. Compton has not yet lived up to his billing on the field, due in part to injuries. If he stays healthy and puts everything together, he could be a huge rock in the linebacker corps, freeing Lavonte David up to be more disruptive from sideline to sideline.

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