Nebraska Cornhuskers Football: Who Will Be Leaders For Nebraska In 2013?

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Leaders are important to any football team, both on and off the field. With so many leaders from last years squad gone, who will lead The Nebraska Cornhuskers in 2013?

Featured Columnist Jimmie Allen, Staff Writer Joshua Shaw, and I got together for a group discussion on fall camp and some of the questions that are storylines. Yesterday we looked at position battles. Today we look at leaders.

Which Huskers need to assert themselves as leaders in 2013?

Joshua Shaw: Ciante Evans is proving to be a leader for the upcoming season. Thad Randle and Jason Ankrah will both need to guide the young guys this year. If somehow David Santos can be a leader amongst the linebacker core. It would be huge for all the youngsters in the group.

Jimmie Allen: The loss of Rex Burkhead to the NFL might not be a huge blow to production, but it’s a huge loss from a leadership stand point. Taylor Martinez will be a big leader in the locker room for the offense. As a 5th year senior, this is his team, no question. This is also his last year in Lincoln,  and that means underclassmen like Imaini Cross, Terrell Newby, and Jordan Westerkamp need to step up, and make there presence felt on and off the field.

As far as The Blackshirts, if Michael Rose ends up being as good as advertised, he will be the leader of the defense after Zaire Anderson has left the program. He was a very vocal person during his recruitment, in attempting to get other players to come to Nebraska. Bo Pelini, said one of his best characteristics was leadership. There is no question the Blackshirts struggled last season. Someone needs to make sure all players are accountable, and that is a leaders job. Rose will need to be that guy on defense.

John Ackeren: Taylor is the obvious leader for Nebraska’s offense, but he will need help for 2013 to be a success. One of the things that made Rex Burkhead a great leader was the willingness to bring in younger players and mentor them. I would like to see the same out of Ameer Abdullah. In order for guys like Terrell Newby and Adam Taylor to really develop into the running backs of the future, Abdullah needs to play a big part in it.

When it comes to Nebraska’s defense, it has to be Jason Ankrah and Thad Randle. With so many young defensive lineman on the roster, these two have to set the tone early in camp. It’s their last chance to make an impression on this team, so they need to be vocal leaders and lead the way on the field with aggression.