Nebraska Football: Rahmir Johnson and the incredible shrinking role

When things were bright and cheery in the world of Nebraska football, one of the most intriguing stories of the preseason was how the running back room would shake out. Anthony Grant, Gabe Ervin, Ajay Allen, Jaquez Yant and yes Rahmir Johnson were all thought to be someone who could emerge as the starter.

And when it came to Rahmir, it seemed as if he didn’t get the starting job, there would be a role for him in the offense. That role even got a name. The Wide Back.

The position was supposed to be a kind of hybrid running back-wide receiver position that might look something like what the Huskers did with former scatback Wandale Robinson. The point was that if Rahmir wasn’t carrying the rock, there was a chance that he’d be catching passes.

In the preseason, the man who had been dubbed the Wide Back seemed to be quite excited about the possibility. He was, it appears also the only one who would be playing this role. It was a role that was created for him.

And then he didn’t see the field.

Earlier today, I put out the three questions that need answers after Northwestern, and this absolutely would have been number four. What in the world happened on the way to the stadium where the Nebraska football team decided it had no use for the Wide Back?

Against Northwestern, the Huskers had five players carry the ball as a runner. Grant led the pack with 19, followed by Allan and Yant with three. Top wide receiver Trey Palmer even had two carries. Logan Smothers, the third-string quarterback, even had a carry.

Rahmir? 0 carries.

Through the air, seven different Huskers had catches. Another four had at least one target.

Rahmir? 0 catches, 0 targets.

There are a lot of questions following the Huskers season-opening loss to a team that many predicted to be at the very bottom of the Big Ten this year. So far, “where was Rahmir Johnson” has not been getting asked enough.

There are some answers that would make sense here. Perhaps the Cornhuskers were going with a vanilla offense against a team it took a bit too lightly. Scott Frost and company wouldn’t be the first coaching staff to do something like that.

Maybe Frost was right in that the offensive playcalling needed a bit more originality and creativity on Saturday.

Whatever the reason, the fact that Rahmir did not even see one offensive snap against the Wildcats stands out, if only because of all the talk about how close the running back competition was and how much the offensive staff loved what the New Jersey native could do.

Why did the Nebraska football team completely ignore a position it had created out of whole cloth for one particular player? That question needs an answer if for no other reason than it might shed some light on what already appears to be some dysfunction among the Huskers coaching staff.