Pair of Nebraska football freshmen leap onto official depth chart

Nebraska football might see a couple more freshmen get more time on the field as the Huskers look to fix the offense moving forward.

While quarterback play has obviously been the focus of fans’ ire through the first two games of the season, Jeff Sims – contrary to popular belief – is not the only issue the offense has.

With Zavier Betts leaving the team just before the season started and Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda tearing his ACL in the first half of Nebraska football’s first game, the Huskers’ wide receiver room is quite thin.

In an effort to get more production out of the younger impact players, two freshmen are listed on the Nebraska football depth chart for the game against Northern Illinois for the first time. Malachi Coleman and Jaylen Lloyd are now listed as co-backups to Alex Bullock.

Just how much more playing time that means for either Coleman or Lloyd is obviously not known, though it certainly hints that they’ll see more field time than they have so far.

Nebraska football freshmen in the mix

So far, both Coleman and Lloyd have gotten on the field, but it’s been extremely sparingly. Coleman has seven snaps under his belt over the first two contests. Lloyd got four snaps against Minnesota but didn’t appear against Colorado.

That both are listed on the depth chart is interesting in particular because Rhule has made it clear that he doesn’t inherently trust freshmen out of the gate. So far, Cameron Lenhardt has been the big exception, as he started against the Buffaloes and recorded two sacks. Even his expanded playing time was more out of necessity than anything else since Ty Robinson was suspended for the first half.

Robinson’s lost time was due to a targeting call in the second half of the Minnesota game.

We’ll see whether Malachi Coleman and Jaylen Lloyd have made their way into the Nebraska football circle of trust. Big games against a lesser opponent would certainly be fun ways to announce their presence with authority.