3 Nebraska football players with surprisingly good spring games

Nebraska football spring game surprise number two: Princewill Umanmielen

Defensive Line
Freshman 

While Janiran Bonner at least had a year to get used to playing college football, Princewill Umanmielen is brand new to Nebraska football. The defensive lineman was one of the top gets for Matt Rhule in the 2023 recruiting class and then he was an early enrollee. That allowed him to be part of spring practice and at least for one day, he stood out as one of the best players on the field.

The Texas high schooler was causing all kinds of havoc all over the field on Saturday, including a play where he beat the offensive line badly and was able to get into the backfield, where he hit Heinrich Haarberg for a 16-yard sack. That wasn’t the only tackle for loss the true freshman recorded in the spring game, either. He finished the day with four tackles and three of those were for loss.

It’s hard to say that a spring game performance is ever going to translate to how a player will do once the games count in the fall, but it sure feels like Princewill Umanmielen is a name that Nebraska football fans are going to hear more about in the coming years.