Projecting Huskers' Week 1 Starting Lineup After First Week of Fall Camp

Week two of fall camp is underway and there could be some potential new names emerging as starters going into the first game on September 5.

Cameron Lenhardt runs through a drill during Nebraska football preseason camp on Aug. 10, 2026. | Nebraska Athletics via X

Week one of the college football season is under a month away as the Nebraska Cornhuskers have made it through their first week of fall camp. The Huskers have a few position battles that have been the talk of fall camp so far.

That raises the question of who will step into the starting role when week one comes around. Here's what we think who is going to do so before Nebraska takes on the Ohio Bobcats on Saturday, September 5, at Memorial Stadium

Offense

Quarterback

Projected Starter: Anthony Colandrea (Sr.)

Quarterback Anthony Colandrea at practice Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026 | Nebraska Athletics via X

This hasn't changed since the last time we did this, as the former UNLV Rebels and Virginia Cavaliers quarterback is expected to be the starter.

Anthony Colandrea was the 2025 Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year while playing for coach Dan Mullen in Las Vegas and made him a top 25 quarterback in the portal. Obviously, if you are playing quarterback at Nebraska comes with expectations, but Colandrea should be able to manage those.

Colandrea does a good job of getting out of the pocket to make plays. The senior threw for 3,459 yards on 275 of 417 passes with 23 touchdowns along with 649 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns.

He will have to beat out sophomore quarterbacks TJ Lateef and Daniel Kaelin, but Colandrea seems to still be the favorite.

Running Back

Projected Starter: Isaiah Mozee (So.)

This is still an ongoing position battle, as realistically three players could be competing for the most carries. In fact, the position battle could go through the first couple of weeks of the season as the Huskers are trying to find a replacement for now Kansas City Chiefs running back Emmett Johnson.

The three main players competing have been sophomore Isaiah Mozee, redshirt sophomore Mekhi Nelson, who was cleared to practice before the start of fall camp and true freshman Jamal Rule. Rule once again is a dark horse for this position group and could be a serious contender to get snaps throughout the season with a good performance during the rest of fall camp.

Wide Receiver

Projected Starters: Nyziah Hunter (Sr.), Jacory Barney Jr (Jr.) and Kwazi Gilmer (Sr.)

Nyziah Hunter wide receiver 2026-03-10 Nebraska football practice | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

This position group's starters have not changed and are not expected to change, as Nyziah Hunter and Jacory Barney Jr. return as starters from a season ago, along with the addition of Kwazi Gilmer, who was a starter at UCLA last season.

Hunter was the leader of the receiver room last season with 43 catches for 617 yards and five touchdowns, while Barney Jr. caught 45 passes for 484 yards and five touchdowns. While with the Bruins, Gilmer caught 50 passes for 535 yards and four touchdowns.

Tight End

Projected Starter: Luke Lindenmeyer (Sr.)

The La Vista, Nebraska native is expected to be the starting tight end for a second straight season after a career best season. Luke Lindenmeyer caught 29 passes for 312 yards and two touchdowns and is expected to do great things in 2026.

A couple names to watch below Lindenmeyer is junior Carter Nelson, freshman Luke Sorensen and even senior tight end/full back hybrid Janiran Bonner.

Offensive Line

Projected Tackles: Elijah Pritchett (Sr.), Tree Babalade (Jr.)

Projected Guards: Paul Mubenga (Jr.), Brendan Black (Sr.)

Projected Center: Justin Evans (Sr.)

The Huskers' offensive line is easily one of the best offensive lines on paper they have had in the past decade. It has been a process in rebuilding the group over the past few seasons and new offensive line coach Geep Wade has done a great job doing so.

Nebraska has two returning starters in seniors Elijah Pritchett and Justin Evans, who are both on All-B1G watch and potentially could hear their names called in the next NFL Draft . The Huskers brought in three portal players in former South Carolina junior tackle Tree Babalade, junior LSU guard Paul Mubenga and senior Iowa State guard Brendan Black. All three fill in major holes on the offensive line and are players that the underclassmen can learn from for the future.

Defense

Defensive Line

Projected Edge Rushers: Williams Nwaneri (So.), Cameron Lenhardt (Sr.)

Projected Defensive Tackle: Jahsear Whittington (So.)

Projected Nose Tackle: Riley Van Poppel (Jr.)

Nebraska defensive lineman Riley Van Poppel warms up ahead of the game against USC. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Defensive coordinator Rob Aurich has spoke very highly of this group as of late, saying that the competition has been strong, especially in the interior. When asked, Aurich spoked highly of Pitt transfer defensive tackle Jahsear Whittington, who could be pushing to be a starter week one. Another player to watch to be a starter is Boston College transfer Owen Stoudmire.

Edge rushers are expected to be sophomore Williams Nwaneri, who started in 2025 and is expected to make a jump in 2026, and senior Cameron Lenhardt. A couple of players who could be rotational pieces and could potentially start are senior UCLA transfer Anthony Jones and sophomore Kade Pietrzak.

Linebackers

Projected Starters: Owen Chambliss (Sr.), Vincent Shavers Jr. (Jr.)

The Huskers' linebacker core is one of the best position groups on this defense and will be lead by senior San Diego State transfer Owen Chambliss and junior Vincent Shavers, who started for the Huskers last season. Both are expected to have vital roles for Nebraska's defense in 2026 and will help shore up the run game, while being solid against the pass.

A couple of other players to watch who are expected to have rotational roles include senior Oregon State transfer Dexter Foster, sophomore Dawson Merritt and redshirt freshman Iowa State transfer Will Hawthorne.

Defensive Backs

Projected Cornerbacks: Andrew Marshall (Sr.), Jeremiah Charles (Jr.)

Projected Safeties: Dwayne McDougle (Sr.), Jamir Conn (Sr.)

Projected Nickel: Donovan Jones (So.)

The defensive backs are an interesting group to watch the rest of fall camp and into the season. Aurich has stated that he wants the five best guys on the field at all times, which creates an interesting competition at all positions.

Former Idaho transfer and starter from last season Andrew Marshall is one of main leaders of the defensive back room. Former senior San Diego State transfer Dwayne McDougle is a plug and play guy at safety along with senior Southern Illinois tranfer Jamir Conn. Sophomore Donovan Jones is slated to start at the nickel, who saw the field a lot in his freshman season.

The CB2 battle will be the position battle to watch as there are few in the running for the starting position for week one. Junior Jeremiah Charles is the leader at the moment, as he was taking first team snaps during the spring. Behind Charles is senior FIU transfer Victor Evans III, former five-star true freshman Danny Odem and even sophomores Amare Sanders and Kahmir Prescott.

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.