Nebraska

2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Emmett Johnson (RB – Nebraska)

Published

2 months ago

January 26, 2026

FantasyPros will be taking a look at early NFL Draft scouting reports before the Combine in February. Here’s a look at Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson.

2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Emmett Johnson

Emmett Johnson (RB – Emmett Johnson)

5-foot-11 | 200 Pounds

Background

Emmett Johnson was a three-star recruit who redshirted in 2022, then worked his way into the running back rotation over the next two years, finishing with 90-411-2 (4.6) in 2023 and 117-598-1 (5.1) in 2024, also catching 39-286-2 that season. This past season, Johnson took over as the team’s workhorse and put together a huge 251-1,451-12 (5.8) line with 46-370-3 receiving.

Positives

Established himself as the lead back in Nebraska’s balanced rushing attack in 2025. Shows nice flexibility and knee-bend, with a naturally low center of gravity. Bread and butter are one-cut concepts where he can stretch the defense laterally before planting his foot and getting upfield. Has solid speed to outrun defenders to the corner on sweeps, tosses, etc. Makes very clean, crisp cuts as a runner.

Johnson skinnies through congestion, with a good feel for pockets of space. Shifty jitterbug type with impressive suddenness and lateral quickness to make defenders miss in a phone booth; very difficult to tackle one-on-one, and was rarely brought down by the first defender in range. Has a lot of creativity in his game and can salvage something out of nothing at times. Mixes in a lot of different moves, from stutter-steps to jukes to spins to back-jukes, with outstanding stop-start movement skills.

Not the most powerful back, but shows the ability to work through some arm tackles. Good competitiveness and leg drive in short-yardage situations. Ball security has been very solid, with only three career fumbles as a runner, plus one as a receiver. Johnson’s role as a receiver expanded significantly this past year, where he showed reliable hands. Has ideal quickness/creativity to scheme into space against opponents.

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Negatives

On the smaller side for a feature back, with a thinner build than usual. As his size might suggest, Johnson doesn’t bring a ton of power as a runner and isn’t going to consistently push the pile. Rather than burrowing ahead for what he can get, his tendency to escape and bounce runs can compound problems when the blocking isn’t there.

Johnson’s pad level rises on contact. When combined with his competitive finishing, it leads him to take a lot of punishment from opponents. Struggles in pass protection. Doesn’t have the ideal contact balance when taking on opponents in blitz pickup. Might not be the ideal choice to protect the quarterback on third downs, which may limit his usage in the passing game overall.

Summary

A very quick, agile back who makes crisp cuts upfield and shows excellent creativity to make defenders miss in space. His impressive, statement-making 2025 campaign put him on the map.

While Johnson is not a very powerful back and struggles in pass protection, he should be able to contribute as a change-of-pace type at the next level. Looks poised to be among the first handful of backs off the board on draft day.

Projection: Round 4

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Nebraska

Loper Wrestling Win Second Straight, Sixth National Title

Published

7 hours ago

March 15, 2026

Press Room

Loper Wrestling Win Second Straight, Sixth National Title

Junior Otgonbayar Batsuuri won the 174-pound national title to help third-ranked Nebraska secure the 2026 NCAA Division II National Championship Saturday night in Sioux Falls.

UNK finished with 83.0 points while Wisconsin-Parkside (78.0), McKendree, Ill. (76.5) and league rival Central Oklahoma (76.0) were very close behind. The Lopers entered the finals with a 79.0-72.0 edge over UCO. To secure a second straight and a sixth overall national title, UNK needed to win one of three title matches or see the Bronchos lose one of two.

Now three-time national champion Gabe Johnson of UCO didn’t let that happen at 157 pounds as he won in overtime. Fifth seeded Trenton Munoz (Santa Clarita, Calif.) was up next and trying to pull off a third straight upset. Already beating the fourth and first seeds in the 165-lbs. class, he couldn’t get by now three-time champ David Hunsberger of Lander (S.C.). The second seeded Hunsberger recorded a takedown six seconds in to record a 9-4 win.

That pitted third seeded Batsuuri (Mongolia) vs. top-seeded Hunter Jump of UCO in the 174-lbs. finals. The two met during the regular season with Jump winning 1-0 in January and Batsuuri leading a February match 3-2 in the third period. However, Jump was about to score and then won via fall at 6:24. A two-time national champion at Fort Hays State Northwest Tech, Batsuuri didn’t let things linger this time as he tallied a takedown 17 seconds into the match. He was up 4-1 late in the third before tallying another takedown to win, 7-3.

Finally, graduate and second seeded heavyweight Crew Howard (Clarinda, Ia.) squared off with top seed Doran Crosby of Gannon (Pa.) in the tourney’s final match. A two-time NCAA Division I qualifier for Bucknell (Pa.), Crosby edged Howard in last year’s third place match, 4-2. He did it again with a takedown in sudden victory, 4-1, to cap a six-year career. Meanwhile, Howard leaves a storied career as a three-time All-American.

The Lopers had six All-Americans with this title race the closest since 2021 when St. Cloud State (107.0) nipped the Lopers (105.05) thanks to a win in the 285 lbs. match. Finally, head coach Dalton Jensen, part of UNK’s 2012 and 2013 title teams as a wrestler, was tabbed as the National Tournament Coach of the Year.

133 lbs. – 9th seed Zach Ourada (14-7) scored 2.5 team points

Prelim – Zachary Ourada won by decision over Drew Stanfield (Central Mo.) 17-8 (Dec 8-1)
Champ. Round 1 – #5 James Joplin (Lander, S.C.) won by decision over Zach Ourada (Dec 10-6)
Cons Rd 1 – Zach Ourada won by tech over Eli Carrington (Belmont Abbey, N.C.) (TF 6:00; 19-4)
Cons. Round 2 – #6 Jakob Romero (Adams State) won by decision over Zach Ourada (Dec 5-3)

141 lbs. – 5th seed Joseph Airola (26-6) placed 5th and scored 9.0 team points

165 lbs. – 5th seed Trenton Munoz (26-7) placed 2nd and scored 15.0 team points

Champ. Round 1 – Trenton Munoz won by decision over Kole Marko (Minnesota St.) (Dec 6-1)
Quarterfinal – Trenton Munoz won by decision over #4 Grant MacKay (Gannon, Pa.) (Dec 4-1)
Semifinal – Trenton Munoz won by decision over #1 Nolan Gessler (Tiffin, Ohio) (Dec 10-5)
1st Place Match – #2 David Hunsberger (Lander, S.C.) won by decision over Trenton Munoz (Dec 9-4)

174 lbs. – 3rd seed Otgonbayar Batsuuri (21-7) placed 1st scored 21.0 team points

Champ. Round 1 – Otgonbayar Batsuuri won by dec over Cole Ritter (Maryville, Mo.) (Dec 9-3)
Quarterfinal – Otgonbayar Batsuuri won by dec over #6 Emilio Arellano (Tiffin, Ohio) (Dec 14-10)
Semifinal – Otgonbayar Batsuuri won by fall over Kydyn Lima (San Francisco State) (Fall 4:04)
1st Place Match – Otgonbayar Batsuuri won by decision over #1 Hunter Jump (Central Okla.) (Dec 7-3)

184 lbs. – 5th seed Kaden Hart (18-9) placed 6th and scored 9.5 team points

Champ. Round 1 – Kaden Hart won by decision over Oliver Byerly (West Liberty, W.V.) (Dec 2-1)
Quarterfinal – #4 Damon Ashworth (Central Mo.) won by decision over Kaden Hart (Dec 4-1)
Cons. Round 2 – Kaden Hart won by tech fall over Cole Casilio (Kutztown, Pa.) (TF 7:00; 15-0)
Cons. Round 3 – Kaden Hart won by decision over #1 Cole Glazier (St. Cloud State) (Dec 4-2)
Cons. Semi – #2 Keegan Gehlhausen (Chadron State) won by decision over Kaden Hart (Dec 6-4)
5th Place Match – Sullivan Ramos (Wisconsin-Parkside) won by decision over Kaden Hart (Dec 11-8)

197 lbs. – 4th seed Jackson Kinsella (21-8) placed 6th and scored 9.0 team points

Champ. Round 1 – Jackson Kinsella won by major decision over Ethan Farnell (Indianapolis) (MD 12-4)
Quarterfinal – #5 Logan Kvien (McKendree, Ill.) won by decision over Jackson Kinsella (Dec 1-0)
Cons. Round 2 – Jackson Kinsella won in sudden victory over Tyson Meyer (St. Cloud) (SV-1 4-1)
Cons. Round 3 – Jackson Kinsella won by decision over #9 Jeremiah Larson (Maryville, Mo.) (Dec 7-2)
Cons. Semi – #6 Mason Villwok (Chadron St.) won in tie breaker over Jackson Kinsella (TB-1 2-1)
5th Place Match – Joey Lyons (Gannon, Pa.) won in tie breaker – 1 over Jackson Kinsella (TB 1-1)

285 lbs. – 2nd seed Crew Howard (26-3) placed 2nd and scored 17.0 team points

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Nebraska

Watch: Smoke arises from Nebraska wildfires | Latest Weather Clips | FOX Weather

Published

19 hours ago

March 14, 2026

Press Room

Watch: Smoke arises from Nebraska wildfires

Video from Nebraska State Patrol shows a helicopter flying over a wildfire in Dawson County. Multiple wildfires are burning in Nebraska as high winds and low humidity create critical fire danger across the state.

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Nebraska

Purdue 74, Nebraska 58: Postgame Video

Published

1 day ago

March 14, 2026

Press Room

Hey, good things happen when Purdue plays defense!

Through four halves of basketball in Chicago Purdue has finally, mercifully, gotten back to playing defense and making teams work on the opposite end of the floor. Should that continue, it will be playing basketball for a few more weeks.

Purdue didn’t absolutely need this win. It was already in the NCAA Tournament comfortably. Much of the season has seen the Boilers struggle with top 10-15 teams. It has lost to Michigan, Iowa State, Michigan State, and Illinois. Purdue has shown it is good, but it struggled to beat elite teams.

Well, at least they can still beat Nebraska.

Much like last night against Northwestern, Purdue jumped out to an early lead and never really looked back. Once it got the lead to double digits Nebraska got no closer than 8 the rest of the way.

With the win I think Purdue locked up at least a 3 seed in the NCAAs. I say that because Nebraska was a team in direct competition with them for said seed and the Boilermakers now have two wins over them, one on their home floor.

Purdue Postgame Press Conference

Nebraska Postgame Press Conference

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