Top 40 Huskers for 2025: 1-5

With Nebraska’s 2025 season around the corner, the HuskerOnline team voted on the Top 40 Husker players going into Matt Rhule’s third season in Lincoln.

The voting criteria were to rank the players based on their importance to the team, overall talent, and future potential for the upcoming season. Our voters focused specifically on the 2025 season, not future seasons, a player’s long-term importance, or future talent.

The voting panel consisted of HuskerOnline publisher Sean Callahan, columnist Steven Sipple, senior writer Robin Washut, and staff writer Abby Barmore. Each voter submitted their own Top 40 list from which the votes were tallied.

We conclude our annual Top 40 Huskers series with players 1-5, the best and most important players to Nebraska’s success.

Series: 36-40 | 31-35 | 26-30 | 21-25 | 16-20 | 11-15 | 6-10 |

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5. Dasan McCullough, LB, Sr.

Dasan McCullough has been exactly what Nebraska has needed so far. He rose to the top of an experienced and talented linebacker group to be a sure-fire starter.

The Huskers lost five of their top linebackers from the 2024 season. The addition of McCullough and former Georgia Southern LB Marques Watson-Trent was critical. Nebraska needs the duo, who are both projected to start, to produce.

The 6-foot-5, 235-pound linebacker spent 2022 at Indiana and two seasons at Oklahoma (2023 and 2024). He played in 22 games with 12 starts over the three seasons. McCullough recorded 79 tackles, 10.0 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks and six pass breakups. At Indiana, McCullough was a freshman All-American.

Sean	Sipple	Robin	Abby
5th	8th	5th	6th

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4. DeShon Singleton, DB, Sr.

DeShon Singleton is Nebraska’s returning leading tackler. He had a career-high 71 tackles in 2024, which was second on the team behind Isaac Gifford’s 73 tackles. Singleton added 1.0 tackle for loss, a career-high three pass breakups, one interception and one fumble recovery.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder has the Huskers’ rover position locked down heading into the fall. 2024 was Singleton’s first full season as a Husker. He suffered a season-ending injury in 2023 after starting the first five games at safety. After a full season of health and experience, Singleton could take another step.

Nebraska lost three of its top four tacklers. In his final season, the Huskers need Singleton to be a leader in many ways on the field.

Sean	Sipple	Robin	Abby
4th	7th	7th	5th

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3. Emmett Johnson, RB, Jr.

Junior Emmett Johnson is Nebraska’s No. 1 running back. The Huskers have operated via a running back committee over Rhule’s first two seasons. But Johnson is by far the most experienced running back on Nebraska’s 2024 roster.

Johnson has started 11 games as a Husker, including five last season. He and Dante Dowdell were Nebraska’s leading rushers in 2024. Johnson had 598 rushing yards on 117 carries. Dowdell, now at Kentucky, led NU with 614 rushing yards on 143 carries.

Johnson and sophomore Kwinten Ives are Nebraska’s top two backs this season. Ives has very limited experience with just six career carries. Johnson, a 5-foot-11, 200-pound rusher, needs to be dominant and explosive for NU to be successful.

Sean	Sipple	Robin	Abby
2nd	6th	3rd	3rd

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2. Dane Key, WR, Sr.

Nebraska football desperately needs a dominant wide receiver on its 2025 team. They added Kentucky transfer Dane Key to be that guy.

Key spent three seasons at Kentucky and played in 38 games and started in 35. He caught 126 passes for 1,870 yards and 14 touchdowns. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound receiver finished his UK career ranked fifth on Kentucky’s all-time receptions list and 13th in career receiving yards.

The Lexington, Ky. native quickly established himself as the Huskers’ go-to target. Nebraska hasn’t had a receiver record over 600 receiving yards since Trey Palmer eclipsed 1,000 yards in 2022.

Sean	Sipple	Robin	Abby
3rd	2nd	2nd	2nd

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1. Dylan Raiola, QB, So.

Quarterback Dylan Raiola was HuskerOnline’s unanimous selection for the most important player on Nebraska’s 2025 roster. He laid a solid foundation as a true freshman in 2024, but Raiola and the Huskers are expecting more from him next season. Nebraska will go as far as Raiola can take them.

As a freshman, Raiola set Nebraska’s freshman passing yards record (2,819) and freshman completion percentage (67.1). He went 276-of-410 and threw 13 touchdowns and rushed for two TDs. The top QB in the Class of 2024 led the Huskers to their first bowl game in eight seasons.

After an impressive freshman season, Raiola is due for a big jump as a sophomore. He has slimmed down, has better weapons, and has had time to nitpick his weaknesses. Offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen took over with four games left of the regular season. Now, he and Raiola had an entire off-season to get on the same page.

Sean	Sipple	Robin	Abby
1st	1st	1st	1st

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