Top 40 Huskers for 2021: 16-20

Voting Criteria: Player’s importance to the team in 2021, overall talent, and future potential for the upcoming season. A player’s long-term/NFL prospects were not taken into consideration.

Voting Panel: Publisher Sean Callahan, HuskerOnline.com senior writer Robin Washut, videographer Gregg Peterson, KETV Sports Director Andy Kendeigh, and HOL intern Abby Barmore.

Previous rankings: 36-40 | 31-35 | 26-30 | 21-25

While his road has been full of speed bumps and detours, Oliver Martin seems to have finally found where he belongs in Lincoln.

The former Michigan and then Iowa transfer joined the Huskers last year. Despite seeing limited practice reps and missing the first three games while the NCAA reviewed his eligibility waiver, Martin was cleared to play and saw action in NU’s final five games, starting the last four.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder caught five passes for 63 yards, posting a reception in four of the five games he played.

Now the fifth-year junior is projected to be one of NU’s top-three wideouts this season, working both in the slot and outside at the “Z” spot this spring.

Expectations have been high for Bryce Benhart since the day he set foot on campus, and last year was his first chance to show what he could do as Nebraska’s bookends of the future.

The 6-foot-9, 330-pound Lakeville, Minn., native started all eight games in 2020 played 579 snaps as a redshirt freshman at right tackle. He was the only NU offensive lineman to start every game at the same position last season.

Despite his consistency, Benhart went through some growing pains in his debut campaign. He only earned an overall offensive grade of 54.0 per PFF, and his pass-blocking grade of 51.6 was also the lowest of any starting offensive lineman.

But that experience, both good and bad, should only make Benhart better going forward, and he’ll once again be a fixture among NU’s best five up front.

At 6-3, 335, Damion Daniels is the prototype of a Big Ten nose guard.

The problem for the fifth-year junior early on in his career was that his conditioning made it difficult to stay on the field long enough to make a regular impact.

That changed last season, though, as Daniels appeared in all eight games with three starts. He still only played 177 snaps but set career highs with 20 tackles and 4.0 tackles for loss.

His tackling grade of 79.2 per PFF was the second-highest of any NU defensive lineman.

Daniels also showed his value at the nose and gives the Huskers a big body to match up against run-heavy offenses in 2021.

Chris Kolarevic joined Nebraska in January as a graduate transfer from FCS Northern Iowa, but he showed he’s every bit of a Big Ten talent in his first spring as a Husker.

The 6-foot-1, 230-pound junior didn’t play in 2020 since the FCS level postponed its season until the spring. But he was one of the Panthers’ top defenders as a sophomore in 2019, leading with 79 tackles to go along with 6.5 TFL’s and two sacks in just 10 games.

Kolarevic immediately established himself as one of the Huskers’ best overall athletes during winter workouts, and he backed that up with an impressive spring.

He was already pushing for immediate playing time this season, but he’s almost a lock as one of NU’s staring inside linebackers following the season-ending injury to Will Honas.

Garrett Nelson has all the makings to be a fan favorite at Nebraska between his flowing mullet, endless motor, and natural leadership ability.

Even better, his play last season lived up to his big personality.

The 6-foot-3, 240-pound native of Scottsbluff, Neb., started all eight games in 2020 as a sophomore and set career highs in tackles (30), TFLs (4.0), and sacks (1.5). His four tackles for loss all came in NU’s final three games.

He’ll have to continue to battle Pheldarius Payne for that starting job and snaps this season, but there’s no doubt that Nelson will remain one of the faces of the Blackshirts on and off the field.