Nebraska Football: 5 breakout freshmen to watch in 2018

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MINNEAPOLIS, MN – NOVEMBER 11: Jack Stoll #86 and Devine Ozigbo #22 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers celebrate a touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium on November 11, 2017 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Minnesota defeated Nebraska 54-21.(Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images) /

5. Greg Bell

Nebraska’s rushing offense last season was abysmal. They couldn’t find a feature back, and struggled to get anything going with any consistency. The good news is that all three of their top backs return. Devine Ozigbo was the best back last season, and will likely shoulder much of the load this season. Mikale Wilbon and Tre Bryant return as well.

Bryant, in limited time, flashed quite a bit last year. I wouldn’t be shocked to see him jump his fellow backs for the majority of carries this season. With that being said, none of these guys are sure things by any means. Enter Greg Bell. Bell comes to Nebraska as the best JUCO back in the country.

He was excellent at Arizona Western last season, and looked good in the spring game a couple of weeks ago. There’s a reason Frost went out and landed several running backs in this class, and Bell is the most ready of any of them.

Does that mean he’ll start right away? Probably not. He may not start at any point this season. But Frost obviously isn’t confident in his returning backs, and Bell could be the solution.

He’d be higher on this list, but there is an obstacle. Freshman Maurice Washington. He was one of the best backs in the class of 2018. If he can avoid off the field issues, Washington may win the job outright. I’ll have more on this in a bit.

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