Emmett Johnson Is Better Than You Think He Is & Which Huskers Will Live Up to Expectations in 2025?

Jack Mitchell and Josh Peterson discuss why Emmett Johnson is better than people think. Plus, they try to figure out why Nebraska has had so much trouble finding players on offense to live up to expectations in recent years.

Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson scores a touchdown against Southern California last season. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

On this week's I-80 LIVE, Jack Mitchell and Josh Peterson went football-heavy! They found themselves down a long and winding road of looking back at the last decade of Husker football, offensive futility, and how players haven't lived up to expectations in recent years. Why has this been the case? Who has matched or exceeded expectations?

They also looked back at Emmett Johnson's first two years and came to a conclusion: He's better than you think.

Below is a lightly edited transcript of their conversation on the podcast. 

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How long has it been since an offensive player lived up to expectations?

Jack: Isn’t it wild how many offensive players – skill position players – have ended up performing well below what we thought they would over the course of the last two or three years, starting with Jeff Sims. Any offensive skill player that came in that you had high expectations, can you name [one]? Trey Palmer, lived up to expectations.

Josh: Way above expectations. Would you say Casey Thompson met [expectations]? Was he at expectations? I don't think he over performed or underperformed. I thought Casey Thompson was pretty okay. So, he was what you would expect him to be.

Jack: Yeah. Who are guys that definitely lived up to what you thought they would be, or better, that are skilled position players on offense in the last five or seven [years]? Let’s say Frost and Rhule. Wan’Dale [Robinson]?

Nebraska's Wan'Dale Robinson carries the ball against Iowa in 2020. | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Josh: Yes. Wan’Dale was the first name that came to my mind in terms of matching or exceeding expectations. I thought Wan’Dale Robinson was very good. The knock on the Wan’Dale Robinson era, if you will, is that he left because he didn't like how he was used and he wanted to be a wide receiver, not a running back.

Jack: Even at Nebraska, you saw it to some degree in him, right? He didn't feel like he was under [performing].

Another one I would say did was JD Spielman.

Josh: Yes. Especially because according to a variety of sources that I have, they didn't like him. The coaches didn't like him. Jack, I heard a story from somebody. This is, this is like early days, spring ball of 2018. So, we're talking about a seven-year-old story now, right? Heard somebody who was tied in with another person on the staff. And I asked about JD. I said, “wow, they probably love JD Spielman, right?” Because you knew what his athleticism was. We saw him in 2017. He had the kickoff return for the touchdown, yada, yada, yada.

And the person was like, “no, they don't think he's good.” And I said, “what?” And then he ended up being good. He was on the 2018 team and he was on the 2019 team.

Jack: I was so mad when he transferred.

Josh: Jack, here are his numbers. Wow. I forgot that as a true freshman, he had 830 receiving yards.

Jack: He was legit as hell. And he looked the freaking part too. He fearless.

Josh: 55 [catches], 830 [yards], two touchdowns. Also had 73 rushing yards. Year two – this is Frost year one now – 66 catches, so he's up 11 [catches]. 818 yards, so he's down 12.5 yards-per catch. But Jack, eight touchdowns. And then, at this point, they don't think he is good. 2019, 49 catches, 898 yards, so his best year ever, most yards, biggest yards per catch easily; 18.3. And he had five touchdowns as well. And he was a returner.

Nebraska wide receiver JD Spielman (right) celebrates a touchdown against Iowa in 2019 with quarterback Luke McCaffrey. | Bruce Thorson-Imagn Images

Jack: Which Nebraska also hasn't been able to get since.

Josh: Correct.

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Can Emmett Johnson take a leap?

Jack: I think every year Emmett has kind of hit where he should. He has been right at where you hope he is, I think. He just needs to make the step from what we expected to slight slightly above, right?

Josh: Did he get to it, last year? Cause like he was close to 900 yards from scrimmage.

Jack: Frankly, I think Emmett gets a raw deal to some degree. I mean, I'll say that.

Josh: He exceeded expectations, Jack! I didn't expect this from him. Did you? 

Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson (right) and wide receiver Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda celebrate after a touchdown last season against Northern Iowa. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Jack: So last year rushing, he [had] 117 attempts for 607 [yards]. Damn! He had a 5.1 average last year.

Josh: I know. See, I think he exceeded expectations.

Jack: 286 [yards] receiving.

Josh: That's 900 yards basically from scrimmage.

Jack: He might be good! He was good the year before he was pretty good too

Josh: I haven't viewed this as like going into each individual season. Did they exceeded or not? I've looked at it as when Nebraska was able to land this player, how you felt in the moment, have they exceeded that expectation?

Jack: I don't remember what I thought of him when they landed him.

Josh: In my opinion, that's the point; We didn't even think of the guy. He was not supposed to do this.

Jack: He was not like a blue chipper, right?

Josh: We weren't ever talking about him! The only reason he took over is because Anthony Grant was bad and he was injured. And Rahmir Johnson was also injured. And whoever else was in front of Emmett Johnson was also injured. And so, Emmett ended up just kind of being the guy. And he was very steady. And then last year, I thought that he was better than steady.

Now, can he take another step? Can he become a 1,000-yard from scrimmage [running back]? Could he become a 1,000-yard rusher?

Jack: This is crazy. He's not elite or anything. He's delivered more than anyone since Devine Ozigbo at that position, right?

Josh: 100%. How about that?

Jack: There you go. Isn't that crazy?

Josh: It's nuts. It's absolutely nuts right now.

Jack: And we're going back to 2015 then, right? 2016?

Josh: The last time a running back was able to exceed the priors of them, was a Ozigbo and that was in Frost’s first season.

Jack: Josh, the only reason I do this exercise, kind of get into it, and it's interesting is sometimes you're like, “ah, it's this mystery of it might be the coaching, it might be the players. It might be the recruiting.” But one of the reasons Nebraska sucked is they haven't had offensive skill players that have done [stuff], right?

Josh: Jack, last week, what did we do? We sat down, we watched the 2010 Kansas State/Nebraska game. And what did we learn in that game? “Oh, wow! They were way more talented than we remember them being!”

Every time we watch a game – it can be 95, it can be 2010, it can be whatever year – you and I always come away [impressed].

Jack: All these old games are crazy. You almost forget that you can have multiple really good players, especially on offense, on the team. I think in defense, the last few years on defense, the last few years, they've achieved that.

Josh: They had Ty Robinson, they had [Nash] Hutmacher, they had James Williams, among others. They’ve had guys, they've absolutely had guys.

Nebraska defensive lineman Ty Robinson holds the ball after recovering a fumble against Maryland in 2023. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Jack: If you want to point out one thing that has been consistent for a decade is a lack of multiple good offensive skill players.

Josh: Yeah. 100%.

Jack: Who were, who you thought they were. And then even beyond that, if they were who you thought they were – I'm speaking of JD Spielman, I'm thinking of Maurice Washington, I'm thinking of Wan’Dale – even if they were, getting them to stay, or getting more than one year. Trey Palmer.

Josh: Well, let's apply this then to the 2025 season. Who are the most likely players that if you and I are doing this exercise in April next year, we say, “that guy exceeded.”

Jack: Great question.

Josh: I think Emmett is certainly a conversation starter.

Jack: Emmett’s got a chance, man. I'll tell you what; We talk about a player we do not talk about enough with this season riding on him it is Emmett Johnson. Because if he took a huge step and I think we can agree, even just in this conversation, as I looked at those stats – I’ve always been kind of a pro Emmett Johnson guy – His stats are always better than I think they are. They are always better than I think they are!

I remember doing this last summer with him. Remember that? And I was going through his yards per carry. And I'm like, dude, they're better than Blake Corum.

Josh: With nowhere near as good of an offensive line.

Jack, how about this quote? This is EJ Barthel late last week on Emmett Johnson. “He went from a guy who is developing in the room to now developing on the field to now progressing to now a guy he's solidified. He's at the top of his game right now. He's literally what we stand for as a program. If you look at what we talk about in recruiting and talk about trying to build a program, he's a guy that represents that.”

Jack: Josh, if he's right, it's something the offense hasn't seen for a decade.

Josh: Seriously, it’s been since Ozigbo's last season is what it would be. It would the best running back season since Scott Frost's first year. It's been that long.

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Who will take a leap on Nebraska’s offense in 2025?

Jack: We’ve talked around Dylan Raiola a million times, right? But obviously, if he is significantly close to what we thought he was – what we think he can be – that changes [everything].

Josh: It’s the obvious one. It's the most important. It's the most obvious. If a quarterback takes a step forward, everything changes, right? He's certainly a candidate to do this.

Jack: Weirdly after this conversation, Emmett Johnson feels like the one I’m most confident on or bullish on.

You go to the wide receiver position. I'll tell you this. When have you had a guy that you're as confident as Jacory Barney as a wide receiver coming back for another year.

Nebraska wide receiver Jacory Barney Jr. runs the ball for a touchdown against Purdue in 2024. | Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

Josh: I was just going to say, when we asked the question a couple of minutes ago, Matt immediately responded. He actually said, “Barney, [Carter] Nelson, [Heinrich] Haarberg.”

But let's focus on Barney just for a moment longer, because Travis says, “If there is a player that overachieved more than Barney and was talked about less, I don't know who it is.” And that's interesting. Cause I don't think he's wrong. I think people really like to Jacory Barney and yet he has not been talked about as he should be. Why do we think that is? Is it his size? Is that he is a slight player? Is that why?

Jack: Because we don't know what to expect from Dylan. Because he was really good last year, but it didn't make a difference.

Josh: Well, you know why too, Jack? 55 catches for 447 yards, which is only 8.1 yards a catch.

Jack: Because they threw him all those short ass throws. I mean, come on.

Josh: Correct! It just didn't seem like they could always use him as well as we would like them to. How much of that is on him? I don't think [it is]. I think it's on the play caller that he had the majority of the year and the quarterback that was injured throughout the majority of the year. He also, by the way had ten carries for 130 yards. He scored all of his touchdowns last season on the ground, oddly enough.

Travis says, “Is he smaller than Palmer or Spielman?” Yes. He's only 170 pounds. He's super skinny. Trey Palmer was super, super thick. JD is a little thicker too.

Jack: So many of those receivers we talked about that had good years, especially in the last five, were transfers, right? Touré coming in as a transfer, Palmer coming in as a transfer. It's probably not since JD Spielman where you've had a receiver.

Josh: Like a returning guy?

Jack: Yeah, a returning guy. I mean, maybe we felt that way about [Jaylen] Lloyd last year. 

Josh: We did, but man, we were way wrong on that. And that was so much based off of the smallest of sample sizes.

Jack: Yes. Let’s say this: He had a more productive season last year than Lloyd did two years ago.

Josh: Yeah. Lloyd had bigger plays, but Lloyd was nowhere near as consistent on a game-to-game basis.

And Jack, if we want to stick with the receivers too, a player that needs to be good, if they're going to be good, is Dane Key. They bring this guy in, his wide receiver coach comes in from Kentucky.

Wide receiver Dane Key of Kentucky scores a touchdown against Vanderbilt. | Matt Stone/Courier Journal/USA Today Network / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Jack: Of course!

Josh: You know, we just mentioned all those wide receivers that they have brought in via the portal. He is this year's iteration of that portal wide receiver.

Jack: The answer to all these questions we have – when this freaking thing turns around – is when you have multiple guys in a single year that are at or above where you think or hope they will be. Right? It's such an obvious thing to say, but in some ways it's not because you go back and the problem was over and over, as we just displayed, that there were just tons of guys every year that weren't there for whatever reason.

And it might've been their fault. It might've been the coach's fault. It might've been whatever injuries. There are a million reasons on all of them, but they've got to have a year, specifically offensive skill positions, where you hit, you hit, you hit, you hit, hit on four, five, six guys. That's when it turns around to me.

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For more from this week's episode, including others on the 2025 roster that could take a leap in 2025, check out the view below!

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