Nebraska Football: Led by Nick Henrich, future is bright at linebacker

Nebraska football is stacked at the linebacker position.

When you take a look at the options Nebraska football has at linebacker, Barrett Ruud has a lot to play with. One player that I am sure will fit into the linebacker equation is Nick Heinrich.

As many of you may remember, he suffered an injury last spring that forced him to miss the 2019 season. With the way head coach Scott Frost managed his redshirts, there was a very good chance Henrich would have only played in four games. Nevertheless, the redshirt worked out in his favor, as now he can be a redshirt freshman with the opportunity to play many years in Lincoln.

More from Husker Corner

• Former Nebraska football star returns to the program in new role
• Travis Hunter injury uproar has some Nebraska football fans reminding Colorado about Adrian Martinez
• Nebraska Football: Freshman RB in line for big playing time
• Nebraska Cornhuskers News: Heinrich Haarberg has believer in Rhule, more
• Nebraska Football: Matt Rhule faces tough decision between Heinrich Haarberg and Jeff Sims

Brian Christopherson of 247Sports wrote an article on Wednesday that talked about Heinrich being a potential third guy at linebacker. Luckily, the linebacker position has some veteran leadership on it as Collin Miller and Will Honas figure to be a huge part of the equation at the position. Now, the question is who will step up and be that third guy?

The fact that Heinrich is a local kid will make it fun to follow him. As a senior for Omaha Burke in 2018, he recorded 96 tackles, including 19.5 tackles for a loss. He also managed to tally four sacks. For his efforts, he earned first team All-Nebraska honors courtesy of the Omaha World-Herald. He also managed to claim Super State accolades from the Lincoln Journal Star for the second year in a row. He was the top prospect in the state of Nebraska.

At the time Heinrich suffered an injury last year, he figured to be a huge part of the equation at the linebacker position. Since then, Nebraska football has added the likes of Eteva Mauga-Clements and Keyshawn Greene. It’s also worth noting that his classmate Garrett Snodgrass should also be able to figure into the equation a bit this year.

Now, Heinrich should hopefully have the chance to prove himself. Looking at the linebacker position as a whole, it’s extremely deep for the future. Sometimes when you have players like Miller and Honas in their senior year, the class is depleted following graduation.

This doesn’t seem to be the case with the Nebraska football linebackers. Given the fact that Heinrich is going to be a redshirt freshman, this will give him more of an opportunity to make an impact in Lincoln.

It’s exciting to think about how this particular group can shape the defense. It’s tough to find good linebackers these days, and Nebraska football certainly has stockpiled on them.  Building a strong defensive base is one major key in winning football games. For Nebraska football, that base is certainly at linebacker.