May 13, 2021
The Red team’s Gabe Ervin (22) runs the ball while being pursued by White team’s Phalen Sanford in the second half of the Red-White Spring Game on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
Phalen Sanford ended the spring on a high note, earning a ton of snaps in the Red-White Spring Game at cornerback on the White Team defense.
Turns out, he had a pretty good performance index testing output before spring ball ever got going, too.
Sanford, the Benkelman native and former Dundee County high standout, led all Huskers in the 10-yard split in the 40-yard dash, according to data Nebraska released on Thursday afternoon, covering the first quarter of the run in 1.51 seconds.
These are players I’ll be watching closely:
QB Heinrich Haarberg – The Kearney native may have the best arm talent on the team.
RB Gabe Irvin – The freshman could be Nebraska’s most complete back right now.
WR Omar Manning – Will the talented JUCO transfer put on another show in front of the fans?
WR Samori Toure – The Montana transfer broke a Randy Moss playoff record. How many others on NU’s roster can say something like that?
TE Austin Allen – The staff feels like he’s one of the top overall players on this roster right now.
OLB Pheldarius Payne – He has arguably made the biggest jump of any player from last season.
April 20, 2021
The battle for Nebraska’s starting corner opening is far from over, but through 10 spring practices, there appears to be an early leader in the clubhouse.
After playing 149 snaps defensive snaps in 2020, sophomore Quinton Newsome has pulled ahead of the pack according to secondary coach Travis Fisher.
“Right now, Quinton Newsome is doing a very good job at that spot,” Fisher said. “A lot of guys are doing great jobs, but Quinton Newsome is doing a great job at that spot.”
Newsome is in a three-man battle with sophomores Braxton Clark and Nadbab Joseph. It’s been Newsome’s attention to detail that has given him the early leg up.
Freshman quarterback Heinrich Haarberg (Sean Callahan)
Logan Smothers vs. Heinrich Haarberg
At this point, we know Adrian Martinez is going to be the starter in 2021 for Nebraska. The biggest question arguably right now with the offense is what will the QB position look like after Martinez?
Today will be the first real glimpse anyone on the outside has gotten of either freshman Logan Smothers or Heinrich Haarberg.
We’ve heard so much about Haarberg’s arm talent and potential. The chatter on Smothers has been pretty quiet to this point. What will the 4,000 in attendance leave Memorial Stadium thinking about hte No. 2 quarterback position?
April 1, 2021
With six senior starters returning for an additional year of eligibility this season and a wealth of other experience coming back, Nebraska’s defensive lineup was pretty much already set going into the start of spring practices.
One of the most obvious starting jobs belongs to cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt, who returned for another year after briefly flirting with an early jump to the NFL.
However, on the other side of the field is arguably the most significant remaining question mark on NU’s defensive depth chart.
With three primary candidates in sophomores Nadab Joseph, Quinton Newsome, and Braxton Clark, the competition has already begun for the starting cornerback job opposite Taylor-Britt this season.