Eight days from now, the Big Red will start spring practices with nearly all of next year’s roster in place.

An early spring ball period provides Nebraska with the opportunity to see what it has faster than in years past. Whether that is an advantage for the coaching staff remains to be seen, but after ending the 2025 season with its tail between its legs, the Huskers are gearing up to wipe it from memory.

With 16 transfer portal additions and another 11 high school recruits signed over the offseason, NU’s roster has welcomed nearly 30 scholarship players onto next year’s team. With every unit seeing change, it’s time to go position-by-position to take a look at who’s gone, still here, and new to each room. Up next are the running backs.

Losing First-Team All-American running back Emmett Johnson leaves a more than sizable hole in running backs coach EJ Barthel’s room; however, the Huskers are walking into 2026 with belief in the players who were formerly behind him. Most notable, arguably, is soon-to-be sophomore Mekhi Nelson.

The 2025 season didn’t allow him to see much of a workload, as Johnson took over 75% of the carries coming from the position group for the entire year. Keeping in mind that it is without the future draft pick playing in NU’s bowl game, that number is even more impressive and daunting than it already was.

However, there’s still reason for optimism heading into the upcoming fall, as Nelson was one of the few bright spots on Nebraska’s side of a 44-22 loss to Utah on New Year’s Eve. In that game, earning the first start of his career, Nelson saw 12 carries for 88 yards and the second touchdown of his career. He also recorded a career-long rush of 38 yards, which accounted for the aforementioned touchdown.

In 2026, barring an injury, his workload will look drastically different. Though he won’t necessarily be asked to carry the ball an average of 20.9 times per game like Johnson was in 2025, he will, in all likelihood, average more than 10 a game. Though the group appears to be tentatively approaching production from a committee approach, Nelson seems fit to lead the charge. The reps obtained over the coming months will be paramount to his development before the biggest season of his career to date.

Currently projected to be next in line is will-be sophomore Isaiah Mozee. As a true freshman, the Kansas City native was one of, if not the most trusted, players in his entire class. Seeing action in all 13 games the Huskers played, Mozee totaled 26 carries and 14 receptions on the year. Production-wise, the 6-foot, 210-pound freshman produced 270 all-purpose yards in his collegiate debut.

The most interesting factor Mozee has to offer is his versatility as a player. Having gained experience in high school as both a wide receiver and a running back, the 19-year-old did the same for Nebraska in his first season. In spelling reps, by all means, he looked promising. Though the sample size is smaller than many would like, assuming he’s looking at second-string reps next fall.

He was already asked to bulk up a bit during the season in 2025, and it is fully expected he will continue to add muscle to his frame this offseason as well. Though he won’t likely be asked to be the Huskers’ short-yardage back, as Kwinten Ives appears fit for that bill, having the ability to bounce off would-be tacklers more reliably is needed to find success.

Mozee serves as another case of a player who enters the season valued more with projection than actual production, but so too was Johnson heading into last fall. The sophomore won’t likely develop into the Big Ten Running Back of the Year over the next couple of months, but with another year of collegiate strength and conditioning, and 13 games worth of experience gained, he should be significantly more advanced to start 2026 than 2025.

Ives is a bit of a wildcard heading into the spring and fall. Originally projected to be the RB2 last season, the then-sophomore suffered an injury in the spring that hampered his playing time throughout much of the fall. Because of that, other players already discussed were relied upon more heavily.

This upcoming year, however, could see him return to the originally predicted form. Listed at 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, Ives is undoubtedly the most physically imposing of all scholarship running backs on Nebraska’s roster, and it gives reason to believe that he will have a role in the rotation next season in some capacity. Whether he’s ever able to be viewed as an every-down back or more reliably used in short-yardage situations, the New Jersey natives time to step up has officially come.

If healthy, he’ll seemingly have every opportunity to take the starting role if other players on the roster, like Nelson and Mozee, have not separated themselves far enough. Averaging 6.7 yards per carry in 2025, regardless of what competition the stats were largely gathered against, he heads into his fourth season of college football as the oldest expected contributor in the room. Now he will need to show this staff they were right to make him Nebraska’s first signed running back recruit under the current regime back in 2023.

Assuming he’s able to see his role increase, it would give NU a reliable option on third-and-short. And also, a player with the ability to wear defenses down via the ground game. If that is able to happen, it can only bring good news to a room with question marks hovering over its metaphorical head. Until then, Ives will presumably take the third-string spot.

Nebraska welcomed in a lone running back in the 2026 class, but if the staff is right, he could be expected to factor in as early as this year. An early-enrollee, Jamal Rule was a consensus three-star recruit with a welcomed blend of power and home-run ability via his high school tape.

Besides Ives, due to injury status, the will-be true freshman is arguably the player with the most variance in terms of expected workload in the room. He could very well see a meaningful role this upcoming fall, or redshirt and see little to no action at all. Only time will tell. But, for now, he appears to be a player with the capability to earn reps in his first season with the Big Red. If history is any indication, many of the best running backs in the Huskers’ past have seen the field as early as year one. If he were to see the field, it wouldn’t necessarily mean he would go on to be remembered as a Nebraska great, but it would likely mean good news for his future in the scarlet and cream.

Projected Depth Chart

1. Mekhi Nelson | Sophomore or Isaiah Mozee | Sophomore 
2. Nelson or Mozee
3. Kwinten Ives | Junior
4. Jamal Rule | Freshman

This section is largely opinionated, but when taking a guess, the depth chart for the Huskers features the four players already discussed in the order above. Based purely on the available resources we gained last fall, Nebraska will feature three to four running backs in the rotation in 2026.

As it currently stands, Nelson and Mozee will compete for the starting job, with the capability to be interchangeable throughout the year. The duo of sophomores will presumably handle the bulk of the workload, with others being used in more situational roles.

Belief in the players already in the room worked well last year, producing one of the best single seasons for a running back in school history for Johnson, and Nebraska is preparing to do that once again. It won’t likely see awards for a single player as it did in 2025, but Barthel’s room will once again be putting immense trust in the guys already on the team. Time will tell if that was the right choice.

Departures in the room

1. Emmett Johnson | NFL draft
2. Kenneth Williams | Junior
3. Jamarion Parker | Redshirt Freshman

Most notable of the departures is obviously Johnson, who will forego his senior season for the NFL. After rushing for 1,451 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2025, the Minnesota native is viewed as one of the best players at his position heading into the draft. It is almost certainly the biggest loss the Huskers suffered over the offseason, though one the current staff hopes will help entice blue-chip recruits to join the program in future years.

They also lost rising junior running back Kenneth Williams. While the majority of his stats accumulated at Nebraska were during his time as the kickoff returner, the loss stings for Barthel’s room, nonetheless. Earning six total carries in his career, Williams heads to Michigan State with two years of eligibility remaining, having totaled 27 rushing yards.

The other transfer portal departure the Huskers saw was from redshirt freshman Jamarion Parker. He did not see the field in his lone season at Nebraska and will have four years of eligibility remaining in his career. Once a four-star recruit, the Missouri native will play for Grambling State in 2026.

Overall, the running back room seems to be in wait-and-see mode heading into 2026. Losing the production from a player like Johnson will be hard to replicate for one running back alone, so Barthel’s room will need several players to step up.

With a bigger emphasis on addressing the offensive line this offseason, Nebraska is hoping lanes for the backs will be more easily identifiable next fall. In 2025, Husker running backs averaged 5.6 yards per carry, and even though that number is solid, without Johnson, the number falls to 5.1. The All-American also averaged 5.8 on his own. Seeing that number trend back up would do well for a group that has a lot to prove.

For now, spring practices are sure to tell a lot about not only who has the early lead for the starting job, but how optimistic the fan base can be as the season draws nearer. Several expected contributors are now a year older and have gotten to witness what a dynamic running back does, so if some of Johnson’s magic were to dust off on any of the players in the room, it would be good news for the Big Red. Until then, speculation will ensue, but expect this position to continue to be a major talking point throughout the next several months.

More From Nebraska On SI