Nebraska Football: Gabe Ervin in a unique position this spring

A Nebraska football freshman is in a unique position.

When you take a look at the Nebraska football running back room, there are a lot of uncertainties at the position. Sure, you have returners like Marvin Scott, Sevion Morrison, and Rahmir Johnson. You even have a bona fide college football veteran in Markese Stepp. However, beyond Stepp, you have a group of running backs that need to prove themselves.

This is where a player like Gabe Ervin comes into focus. Although I really like Scott, Morrison, and Johnson, they don’t have the luxury of having starting spot in the running back room secured. My guess is that will go to Stepp when all is said and done. This is where that limited sample size of the other running backs could help Gabe Ervin in his quest to climb up the depth chart.

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Ervin has the type of power running style that Nebraska football is looking for. That was evident as soon as he committed to the program. However, he is not a one-dimensional running back. He also has a little bit of speed. He definitely fits the mold of a Nebraska power back. However, he also has the quickness to not make himself too predictable. He has a rare combination of elusiveness and power running.

When you watch his highlights, that combination is certainly impressive. This is something I think will benefit him heading into the spring. The combination of the returners not producing much last year in the running game, as well as what he brings to the table is going to be important for him if he wants to turn heads.

I’ve always thought of spring ball as a chance for newer players to emerge and really begin to make a name for themselves in the program. Now is the time for Ervin to do just that. As far as I’m concerned, the running back position is wide open after Stepp. There’s nothing that the other three did last year that should not warrant at least opening up the competition.

Whatever the scenario is, this is a big spring for Ervin. He has a great chance to make a good first impression, and I suspect that he will. The battle at the running back position is one of the many position battles that I am looking forward to watching and following, and the position battles are a good thing.

Nebraska football has depth once again, and I’ll be interested to see what they do with it, and how they evaluate that depth as the spring progresses.