Amid front seven turnover, Chinander, Huskers look to length to help answer questions

At the outset of spring football, before anybody in Nebraska’s locker room knew it was destined to be just two practices before the coronavirus pandemic halted proceedings, the Huskers’ defensive coaches had a notable excitement level about what was ahead for their side of the ball.

Granted, there are many questions to be answered and now less time in which to answer them, depending on how the coming months play out. But it was easy to get the sense that the group of coaches felt at least relatively good about the process of finding the answers. There weren’t big proclamations or anything, and some — outside linebackers coach Mike Dawson, in particular — know they have challenging tasks at hand given the numbers and experience level at hand, but overall, a quiet optimism.

And why not? Spring is a time for it anyway, but going into Year 3, defensive coordinator Erik Chinander and his staff have recruited many of the players who are potential answers — emphasis on potential — to the questions at hand. If they’re not recruited by the current staff, they’ve made it through waves and waves of attrition.

Take, for example, when Chinander was asked about the narrative that Nebraska’s defensive line is in for a natural regression because its three starters have all graduated and gone on to pursuing NFL careers. That’s a lot to replace.

Chinander thought about the question for a beat before beginning his answer with an, “Ehhh.”

“I don’t know. If you listen to the fans and you talk like a fan, then you become a fan, right? I don’t know about the drop-off,” he said. “I know that we’ve got kids that we really like, that we recruited, that have done a great job since they’ve been here. And could there be a drop-off? Sure. Could there be improvement? Sure. Could it be the same? Sure.

“I like the group we’ve got and I think I’m very encouraged by watching them so far. … I’m hoping for big things out of that group.”

That, perhaps, could just as easily be a summation of the defense as a whole going into the fall.

It is a unit that faces some extremes by position in terms of experience. Three seniors and loads of returning snaps in the secondary. Questions abound at outside linebacker. Two returning senior starters at inside linebacker. A bundle of questions on top of senior Ben Stille and some rotational snaps up front.

Even in Year 2 of this coaching staff, 12 of NU’s top 15 tacklers were holdover players. Ready-made defenders are hard to come by, particularly outside of SEC country. Six of those 12 (plus graduate transfer Darrion Daniels) are gone. Nebraska is going to be younger, particularly in the front seven.

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Mostly, those younger players better fit the physical mold of what Chinander and company are looking for. Hence, the optimism.

“Carlos and Khalil (Davis) are exceptional athletes. Like, exceptional,” Chinander said of his departed defensive linemen, who checked in at the NFL Combine at 6-foot-1. “So they’re going to have nice careers in the NFL because of their athleticism and because obviously they can carry a lot of weight and they’re powerful and all those type of things. This next crew that we have coming is long, they’re all 300-pound kids plus, a lot of length and a lot of athletic ability.

“The thing about length and athletic ability is when you’re playing radius increases, the chance for error decreases. When you’re not as long, it’s harder to make up for some things when you get cut out of a gap or you get a bad jump or something like that. But when you’re longer, you can get away with some stuff.”

That’s been the premium in recruiting for the Huskers across the board defensively. Think Nick Henrich at inside linebacker (6-4, 220) and incoming Niko Cooper (6-5, 220), Jimari Butler (6-5, 220) and Blaise Gunnerson (6-5, 250) at outside linebacker. Keem Green (6-5, 300), Ty Robinson (6-6, 315) and Jordon Riley (6-6, 300) up front.

Overall, 10 of NU’s 13 scholarship defensive linemen are listed at 6-4 or taller, including eight of the nine signed since Frost arrived. Nine of the 10 high school linebackers on the Huskers roster that have signed over the same period are listed at least 6-3, with outside linebacker Caleb Tannor (6-2, 220) the lone exception.

It’s a safe bet to say that more of that recruited length will be on the field for Nebraska whenever it returns to the field. Even so, some of the most interesting front-seven players will be tweener-types, such as senior JoJo Domann (6-1, 235) and perhaps juco linebacker Eteva Mauga-Clements (6-2, 220) and defensive lineman Pheldarius Payne (6-3, 275). There is always a blending process.

Without a doubt, Chinander and his staff know the numbers. In Big Ten play last year, NU finished No. 11 in scoring defense (30 per game), last in rush defense (5.66 yards per carry), No. 13 in third-down percentage (43.2), No. 13 in tackles for loss (46), No. 10 in turnovers forced (12) and No. 9 in sacks (17).

It’s a group that has a long way to go and must make significant improvements in several departments in order to help propel the Huskers to where they want to go. If you’re wondering about Chinander’s confidence where his unit stands in that process, the influx of length is a good place to start.

“It’s trending that way for sure,” he said. "We’ve gotten a lot longer on all three levels, to be honest with you. Which is good. I don’t know if it will ever be where we want it, but it’s getting closer to what it’s supposed to look like.”