Strategic Misstep at Running Back Could Hold Back Nebraska’s Offense in 2026

The Huskers chose not to tap the portal after All-American Emmett Johnson left for the NFL. With so little experience returning at running back, Nebraska is rolling the dice with its offense in 2026, Jeremy Pernell writes.

Mekhi Nelson had 249 yards from scrimmage on 35 touches last season as a redshirt freshman. More than half of that production came in the Las Vegas Bowl. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

During the Feb. 19 media availability ahead of spring football practice, offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen was asked what Nebraska’s offense might look like in 2026. His answer was honest.

“I don’t know exactly what it’s going to look like yet — we’re just trying to find out what we are as an offense and what fits best with the players we’ve got.”

Fair enough. It’s February.

But one thing is already clear: a top priority will be finding a way to replace the production of All-America running back Emmett Johnson.

Johnson wasn’t just productive — he was historic. His 1,451 rushing yards ranked top 10 in school history and were the most by a Husker since Ameer Abdullah in 2014. His 120.9 rushing yards per game led the Big Ten and ranked fourth nationally. He led all FBS running backs with 46 receptions. His 151.8 yards from scrimmage per game led the nation. Johnson is just the seventh Big Ten player since 1956 to have 1,400 rushing yards and 350 receiving yards in a season. He joined Penn State’s Saquon Barkley (2015) as the only Big Ten players to reach those milestones in the past 20 years.

One of the biggest questions entering the offseason was whether Nebraska would replace the NFL-bound Johnson with a proven transfer or stay in-house and lean on inexperienced returnees Mekhi Nelson (89 career snaps) and Isaiah Mozee (121 career snaps) to fill his massive void.

We got our answer when the transfer portal opened and closed without any public indication the Huskers offered a single running back. General manager Pat Stewart gauged the market and determined it was best to use resources on other positions.

I think that was a misstep.

Emmett Johnson got the lion's share of touches at running back during his banner season in 2025. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

During his press conference, Holgorsen bristled when the Omaha World-Herald’s Sam McKewon asked him about the running back room and the team’s decision not to add someone from the portal. Whatever his feelings about the running backs are — and he could be proven right that the room didn’t need help — his assertion that roster size was a reason it wasn’t addressed is ridiculous. When has roster space ever stopped a program from adding difference-making talent?

If anything, Johnson’s historic season created a unique sales pitch: immediate workload, featured role and national exposure. Nebraska could have sold production and playing time to almost anyone in the portal. Why not capitalize on that momentum?

Especially when Matt Rhule has repeatedly emphasized the importance of a dominant run game.

During his Oct. 2 “House Rhules” podcast, Matt Rhule had a nearly hour-long, in-depth conversation with On3’s Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman. Among several interesting topics, Rhule commented several times about the importance of having a “dominant” running back. Does this staff think Mekhi Nelson (28 career carries) or Isaiah Mozee (26 career carries) are that player in 2026?

This is where his strategy becomes difficult to reconcile.

On the surface, I like the addition of former UCLA WR1 Kwazi Gilmer. But Nebraska returns essentially the entire receiver room outside of Dane Key, whose production — 39 catches, 452 yards and five touchdowns — was underwhelming outside of a one-off game against a 2-10 Houston Christian team.

As a true freshman in 2025, Isaiah Mozee rushed 26 times for 115 yards and caught 14 passes for 155 yards. | Kylie Graham-Imagn Images

Could that production have been replicated internally by Janiran Bonner, Quinn Clark, Cortez Mills, Keelan Smith and Jeremiah Jones? Undoubtedly.

Can the combination of Mekhi Nelson and Isaiah Mozee match Emmett Johnson’s production? That’s a much heavier lift. I believe the staff should have allocated those resources toward bringing in one of the best running backs in the portal and gotten more bang for their buck.

According to On3’s Pete Nakos, who is essentially the Adam Schefter or Ian Rapoport of the transfer portal, the market for wide receivers this offseason was expected to be in the $400k to $1 million range, with the expected going rate for a starter in the $700,000 to $800,000 range. Running backs fell in a similar range, with $350K to $1 million believed to be the going rate, with the elite at the position pushing seven figures.

Prior to his decision to forgo his senior season and enter the NFL Draft, Nebraska made Emmett Johnson an NIL offer that would have made him one of the highest-paid backs in college football. Why not redirect that figure toward his replacement?

Right or wrong, this appears to be philosophical.

I've often drawn comparisons between the NFL and modern college football. A college program’s high school recruiting class is akin to an NFL team’s draft class. The transfer portal is equivalent to free agency. Matt Rhule and Pat Stewart are mirroring the modern NFL approach of not dedicating a large portion of their salary cap or rev-share/NIL pool to the running back position.

Nebraska seems content to recruit the position and develop it from the ground up. I can see the long-term vision if coaches can bring in a few solid classes in succession behind promising true freshman Jamal Rule. The Huskers currently have a commitment from four-star Amir Brown in the 2027 class — although his recruitment isn’t shut down — and are planning to sign two in this cycle.

Jamal Rule joins E.J. Barthel's position room this season as a true freshman out of Charlotte, N.C. | Jamal Rule

I understand the long-term logic, but I question the short-term gamble.

Spring ball is barely a week old and the spin cycle has already started. We’re reading columns and hearing local radio segments suggesting Nebraska is in the same place at running back as it was a year ago — that the coaches were confident then, they’re confident now and fans should once again take that confidence at face value.

We’re hearing about how much the staff loves Jamal Rule. We’ve been hearing steady praise for Mekhi Nelson, Isaiah Mozee and even Kwinten Ives all offseason. I admire the effort, but it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison to last offseason.

No one questioned Johnson’s talent entering last season. He had flashed repeatedly in 2023 and 2024, especially once Holgorsen took over play-calling duties in November 2024. In four games under Holgorsen, Johnson averaged roughly 121 all-purpose yards per game. The fit was obvious. The only real question was durability over a full season.

Nelson and Mozee don’t have that runway. Their most meaningful sample sizes came in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Nelson rushed for 88 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries while adding three receptions for 48 yards. Mozee contributed 32 yards on seven carries and had 48 receiving yards on four catches. Solid outings that came against a Utah defense that finished the season ranked behind the Huskers in both rushing defense (110th) and yards allowed per carry (115th).

Matt Rhule and Nebraska face a daunting schedule in 2026 after a disappointing finish in 2025. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Let’s also not gloss over the fact that despite seeing Johnson’s fit in the offense and going through spring practices, the Huskers still attempted to add another running back last April. They brought FCS Freshman of the Year — and Omaha native — CharMar Brown in for a visit after he’d rushed for 1,181 yards and 15 touchdowns at North Dakota State but were outbid by the Miami Hurricanes.

Matt Rhule has professed confidence in the players in the room at every opportunity this offseason. Maybe he’s right. I can certainly see their strategy of building the room from scratch and cycling through players they’ve recruited and developed. They just feel a year away from that being viable.

I think the Huskers should have targeted a proven upperclassman to act as a bridge player to a room that still feels a man short. It would have afforded the players another year of development before taking the reins next season, with another couple of high-end recruits joining the mix in 2027 as well.

There’s no reason this staff shouldn’t have added someone like Justice Haynes, Makhi Hughes, Caleb Hawkins, Hollywood Smothers or Isaac Brown to line up next to Anthony Colandrea. Ask yourself: Is this team better with Kwazi Gilmer or a proven top-end NFL-caliber RB? Is there any real doubt that the latter gives you more confidence trying to maneuver this year’s schedule? Matt Rhule is taking a huge gamble on that room, especially for a program trying to turn the corner.

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