The expectations from most analysts for the Nebraska football team is that Year 3 of Matt Rhule's regime will be a big step forward. One reason the defense, especially could be quite good is transfer linebacker Marques Watson-Trent.
Watson-Trent, a standout defender who spent the first part of his career with the Georgia Southern Golden Eagles, has already been named as one of the top returning linebackers in the entire Big Ten. Now he's the only Nebraska representative on one of the most recent All-Conference teams.
Marques Watson-Trent named Nebraska football’s sole representative on HuskersOnline preseason All-Big Ten team
HuskersOnline recently released who they think will be the standout performers at every position in 2025. As it turns out, despite the Nebraska football team improving on its 7-6 2024 campaign, it has just Watson-Trent as a member of the list.
Watson-Trent was made the second-team All-Big Ten defense. That's it for the Huskers. That's all. That's the only guy who HuskersOnline believes will make either the first or second All-Conference team.
It's a big honor for the veteran linebacker. It should raise some eyebrows for the rest of the Cornhuskers team, which is supposed to have quite a bit of talent. Granted, when talking about individual positions, quarterback Dylan Raiola could be the third-best out of 18 starting quarterbacks and miss this All-Big Ten team.
That should serve as quite the indicator as to just how good the site believes Watson-Trent will be in his first season in Lincoln.
Granted, he's already shown how dominating he can be.
He ranked second in Georgia Southern history in total tackles with 363. Watson-Trent also put together three seasons with more than 100 tackles. He added 26 tackles for loss, eight pass breakups, six sacks, six forced fumbles, and two interceptions in his Golden Eagles career.
He even played in Georgia Southern's 2022 upset of the Nebraska football team, and he was among the best performers, racking up 10 tackles. Matt Rhule and company are certainly hoping he can keep his incredible streak going and live up to the hype.