Under the Radar: Most Underrated Cornhusker Heading into the 2025 Season

After battling injuries and depth chart shifts, Javin Wright is poised for a breakout 2025, emerging as Nebraska’s most underrated defensive weapon in their scheme.

Inside linebacker Javin Wright takes part in a Nebraska football practice on Aug. 6, 2024. | Nebraska Athletics

For years, Javin Wright has been Nebraska’s quiet enigma, a gifted hybrid defender with tantalizing upside, yet a career defined by setbacks and shifting roles.

Injuries, schematic transitions, and a crowded depth chart have kept him from fully showcasing his potential. But as the Cornhuskers enter the 2025 season, Wright stands at the intersection of opportunity and readiness. With a deep understanding of John Butler's scheme and the physical traits to thrive in multiple roles, he’s no longer just a depth piece; he’s a breakout candidate hiding in plain sight.

Wright’s breakout came in 2023, when he played all 12 games and filled the stat sheet. The Chandler, Arizona, native logged 51 total tackles (20 solo and 31 assists), 1.5 tackles for loss, half a sack, one forced fumble, and two interceptions throughout the 2023 season. In 2024, heart complications delayed his season, but he returned to contribute in nine games, recording 34 total tackles (17 solo and 17 assists).

Javin Wright's Scouting Report

Javin Wright opens up on passion, patience, and chasing one last run with Nebraska football in 2025. https://t.co/NTJ11fkR5p

— 𝙷𝚞𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚛𝙼𝚊𝚡 (@Huskermax) August 9, 2025

Wright isn’t just a versatile athlete; he’s a schematic asset. His frame (6-foot-4, 215 pounds) and movement skills allow him to toggle between safety, nickel, and outside linebacker roles, making him an ideal defensive weapon. His combination of length and fluid movement allows him to blanket space in zone coverage. He’s able to carry vertical routes with ease, squeeze throwing lanes in the flats, and use his wingspan to disrupt timing and vision for quarterbacks.

Comfortable matching up with tight ends, big slots, and backs out of the backfield. Whether trailing seams or crashing the flats, Wright brings matchup versatility that modern defenses crave. Wright shows good pattern recognition in zone coverage, anticipating route combinations, and breaking early on the football. He showcases excellent ball skills, registering two interceptions and three pass breakups over the last two seasons. Wright plays with a nonstop motor, showing urgency in pursuit and impressive sideline-to-sideline range.

2025 Projections

With Nebraska's defensive depth chart shifting toward more hybrid looks, Wright projects as a starting nickel linebacker in sub-packages and a rotational coverage defender in base defense.

Wright is projected to handle 400 to 500 defensive snaps in 2025, with a heavy concentration on passing downs and sub-package alignments. Wright’s 2025 stat line could land around 45 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, an interception, 4 pass breakups, and a forced fumble—solid production for a hybrid defender in a coverage-heavy role. If he stays healthy and flashes in coverage against Big Ten tight ends, he could be one of Nebraska’s most quietly valuable defenders in 2025.

Nebraska Football 2025 Schedule

• Aug. 28 (Thursday) vs. Cincinnati (Kansas City) 8 p.m. ESPN
• Sep. 6 vs. Akron 6:30 p.m. BTN
• Sep. 13 vs. Houston Christian 11 a.m. FS1
• Sep. 20 vs. Michigan 2:30 p.m. CBS
• Oct. 4 vs. Michigan State 11/2:30/3
• Oct. 11 at Maryland TBA
• Oct. 17 (Friday) at Minnesota 7 p.m. FOX
• Oct. 25 vs. Northwestern TBA
• Nov. 1 vs. USC TBA
• Nov. 8 at UCLA TBA
• Nov. 22 at Penn State TBA
• Nov. 28 (Black Friday) vs. Iowa 11 a.m. CBS

Home games are bolded. All times central.

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