← the board · drewhoover.com · 2024–2026
Nebraska's best defenders since 2024
Vincent Shavers Jr. leads with 115 tackles in 30 games at Nebraska; Donovan Jones had 94.
Every defender with 5 or more games at Nebraska since 2024, ranked by tackles; the lines are each player's tackles game by game, the top 8 drawn. A link opens the player's page, where he has one, or his row on the board.
67 defenders with 5+ games at Nebraskatackles
| # | player | seasons | games | tackles | sacks | tackles for loss | interceptions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vincent Shavers Jr. | 2024–2026 | 30 | 115 | 4 | 15 | 0 |
| 2 | Donovan Jones | 2024–2026 | 23 | 94 | 2 | 9 | 2 |
| 3 | Rex Guthrie | 2025–2026 | 15 | 71 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 4 | Ceyair Wright | 2024–2025 | 22 | 68 | 1.5 | 3 | 2 |
| 5 | Andrew Marshall | 2025–2026 | 20 | 66 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| 6 | Owen Chambliss | 2026 | 6 | 46 | 0.5 | 4 | 1 |
| 7 | Caleb Benning | 2024–2026 | 12 | 43 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 8 | Dwayne McDougle III | 2026 | 7 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Keona Davis | 2024–2025 | 19 | 42 | 1.5 | 6 | 0 |
| 10 | Marques Watson-Trent | 2025 | 11 | 39 | 1.5 | 3 | 0 |
| 11 | Jamir Conn | 2025–2026 | 12 | 36 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| 12 | Williams Nwaneri | 2025–2026 | 16 | 34 | 4.5 | 9 | 0 |
| 13 | Stefon Thompson | 2024 | 10 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Kade Pietrzak | 2025–2026 | 16 | 22 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
| 15 | Dasan McCullough | 2025 | 11 | 21 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| 16 | Dexter Foster | 2026 | 7 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 17 | Jeremiah Charles | 2024–2026 | 16 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Dawson Merritt | 2025–2026 | 9 | 19 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| 19 | Justyn Rhett | 2025–2026 | 9 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | Victor Evans III | 2026 | 7 | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 21 | Anthony Jones Jr. | 2026 | 6 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Willis McGahee IV | 2024–2025 | 11 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 23 | Jahsear Whittington | 2026 | 7 | 14 | 3.5 | 5 | 0 |
| 24 | Derek Branch | 2024–2025 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 25 | Dylan Rogers | 2024–2025 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Owen Stoudmire | 2026 | 5 | 12 | 1.5 | 2 | 0 |
| 27 | Derek Wacker | 2025–2026 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Mason Goldman | 2024–2026 | 9 | 9 | 1.5 | 2 | 0 |
| 29 | Jacob Bower | 2024–2025 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Mario Buford | 2024–2026 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Danny Odem III | 2026 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 32 | Michael Booker III | 2025 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Gabe Moore | 2025 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 34 | Javin Wright | 2022–2025 | 29 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 35 | Cameron Lenhardt | 2023–2026 | 28 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 36 | Marques Buford Jr. | 2022–2025 | 27 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 37 | DeShon Singleton | 2022–2025 | 26 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 38 | Malcolm Hartzog Jr. | 2022–2025 | 26 | — | — | — | 8 |
| 39 | Elijah Jeudy | 2023–2025 | 22 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 40 | Isaac Gifford | 2022–2024 | 22 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 41 | Riley Van Poppel | 2023–2026 | 22 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 42 | Tommi Hill | 2022–2024 | 21 | — | — | — | 5 |
| 43 | Ty Robinson | 2022–2024 | 21 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 44 | John Bullock | 2023–2024 | 19 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 45 | Mikai Gbayor | 2023–2024 | 18 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 46 | Jimari Butler | 2022–2024 | 17 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 47 | MJ Sherman | 2023–2024 | 17 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 48 | Nash Hutmacher | 2022–2024 | 17 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 49 | Cam Taylor-Britt | 2018–2021 | 13 | — | — | — | 6 |
| 50 | Princewill Umanmielen | 2023–2024 | 13 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 51 | James Williams | 2023–2024 | 11 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 52 | Nate Gerry | 2014–2016 | 11 | — | — | — | 13 |
| 53 | Luke Reimer | 2019–2023 | 9 | — | — | — | 2 |
| 54 | Aaron Williams | 2016–2018 | 8 | — | — | — | 6 |
| 55 | Omar Brown | 2022–2023 | 8 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 56 | Quinton Newsome | 2022–2023 | 8 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 57 | Joshua Kalu | 2014–2017 | 7 | — | — | — | 7 |
| 58 | Lamar Jackson | 2017–2019 | 7 | — | — | — | 5 |
| 59 | Deontai Williams | 2018–2021 | 6 | — | — | — | 6 |
| 60 | Kieron Williams | 2014–2016 | 6 | — | — | — | 5 |
| 61 | Nick Henrich | 2020–2023 | 6 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 62 | Phalen Sanford | 2022–2023 | 6 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 63 | Sua Lefotu | 2023–2025 | 6 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 64 | Chris Jones | 2015–2016 | 5 | — | — | — | 5 |
| 65 | Chris Kolarevic | 2022 | 5 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 66 | Lane McCallum | 2019 | 5 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 67 | Myles Farmer | 2020–2022 | 5 | — | — | — | 4 |
Also at Nebraska: quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, kickers, punters. Every school and conference: schools, conferences. The games are ESPN's box scores since 2004 (the Method says where they fall short); a position is the roster's, else read off the box score, so a tight end from before 2014 may be listed with the wide receivers.