The Suh Line 25: Who will be the Blackshirts' disruptor?
It ain't easy matching the 7 TFLs and 4.5 sacks Ndamukong Suh posted against Texas in 2009. Not even over a full season.
Once a year or so, I feel a duty to remind anyone who needs it that Ndamukong Suh had 7.0 tackles for loss, including 4.5 sacks, in one game at Nebraska. A conference championship game, no less. A conference championship game against the No. 3 team in the country, Texas, which had three All-Big 12 offensive linemen.1
It’s an insane performance and the only way I’ve found to convey the wonder I still feel about it today is to note that 7 tackles for loss-plus-4.5 sacks has been a good season for a Husker over the last 15 years. I call this “The Suh Line” and over the last 15 seasons—going back to 2010, the first year The Suh Line could exist—just 14 Blackshirts have matched or exceeded what Suh did against the Longhorns. In three seasons over that stretch (2015, 2016, 20202), no Husker crossed the line.
You can do the math on that and know Nebraska has averaged about one3 Suh Line finisher per year. Identifying who that player might be, or if there might be multiple, is a tricky task for 2025, but that doesn’t mean we won’t try.
Matt Rhule’s Nebraska got off to a strong start in relation to The Suh Line. Defensive linemen Jimari Butler (9 TFLs, 5.5 sacks) and linebacker Luke Reimer (8/5) made it, marking the first time since 2010 that the Huskers had two players make it over the line in the same season.
The Suh Line, 2010–24
2010: DL Jared Crick (15 TFLs, 9.5 sacks), LB Lavonte David (13, 6)
2011: LB Lavonte David (12, 5.5)
2012: LB Eric Martin (17, 8.5)
2013: DL Randy Gregory (17/9.5)
2014: DL Randy Gregory (9/7)
2015: None
2016: DL Ross Dzuris (11/5.5)
2017: None
2018: LB Luke Gifford (11/5.5)
2019: DL Khalil Davis (11/8)
2020: None
2021: DL Garrett Nelson (12/5)
2022: DL Garrett Nelson (9/5.5)
2023: DL Jimari Butler (9/5.5), LB Luke Reimer (8/5)
2024: DL Ty Robinson (13/7)
The Huskers were arguably better positioned to have multiple above-the-line finishers in 2025. Only defensive lineman Ty Robinson (12.5/7) made it, but a cadre of defenders were close in linebacker John Bullock (10/4) and linemen Butler (7/2) and James Williams (5.5/5).
None of those players are still in Lincoln, meaning Nebraska’s best Suh Line candidate in 2025 is . . . complicated.
Let’s run through some options.
DL Cameron Lenhardt (3 TFLs, 0.5 sacks last season): If you want an under-the-radar pick for key players for NU this season, Lenhardt might fit the bill. Given the production Nebraska has to replace on the line in 2025, Lenhardt probably has to be a factor. Maybe a major factor. His true freshman season in 2023 showed a lot of promise with 5 TFLs, including 3 sacks. In 2024, the attention (based on production) went elsewhere, but there are fewer place for it to realistically go this year.
DL Riley Van Poppel (2 TFLs, 0.5 sacks over 16 career games): Based on ceiling, I think Van Poppel is actually Nebraska’s best Suh Line bet on the defensive front, but he’ll (presumably) be a first-year starter and the Huskers are unlikely to have the d-line depth they did a year ago. Even if Van Poppel is as good as I think he can be—and is that right away—that might lead to declining totals as the season wears on. If I had to back a player in this race (that maybe only I care about) it would be Van Poppel, but that’s as telling as anything because there’s not a ton to go on.
LB Vincent Shavers Jr. (2.5 TFLs, 1 sack last season): The talented Floridian is another player Nebraska probably needs to be pretty good in 2025 for the Blackshirts to at least hold serve from where they were the previous two seasons under defensive coordinator Tony White. Shavers played in all 13 games last season, but all of his TFLs and sacks came in the final four games of the season, including 2 TFLs, including a sack, against Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl. We’ve seen NU linebackers cross the line before.
LB Dasan McCullough (2.5 TFLs in 7 games at OU in 2025): The Oklahoma transfer (by way of Indiana) has moved around a lot in his career, on the field and school to school. As a veteran player with an enviable skill set, can McCullough lock down an edge-rusher role in Lincoln in 2025? As a true freshman in 2023 he almost crossed the line, making 6.5 TFLs with 4 sacks for the Hoosiers. Nebraska is hoping it gets that sort of player.
LB Marques Watson-Trent (7.5 TFLs, 1.5 sacks at Georgia Southern in 2025): I love the Sun Belt. Really do. It has somehow been able to maintain its identity as a largely regional conference—the way they all used to be—while avoiding having its members picked off4 in the Realignment Wars. Watson-Trent was the 2024 Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year and ranks second at Georgia Southern in career tackles. He was a do-everything player5 for the Eagles. Watson-Trent has never been a high-sack-total guy, but he also has never had to be the glue-guy-in-the-middle prior to this year. He might now have that luxury.
I’ll stop listing guys now in the interest of (your) time, but the honorable mention list here is long. Want to nominate linebacker Javin Wright? What a story that would be. Like the 5-star pedigree of Williams Nwaneri? I get it. Want to be even more bold and peg true freshmen linebackers Dawson Merritt or Christian Jones as Suh Line candidates? They were the top- and third-rated signees in Nebraska’s 2025 class, both 4-stars.
I stumbled upon The Suh Line in 2019, the 10-year anniversary of his dominant performance against Texas. It’s always been a way to just appreciate what we all watched in 2009, but I also think it’s meaningful in a predictive sense. The question when considering candidates is “Who does Nebraska have who can just wreck things on occasion?”
That’s an important question. Few can do what Suh did in his final college season, but a good team typically needs someone to get close. We’ve seen players make it over the line by talent, effort or some combination thereof, but the best bets are hard to identify in 2025.
The safe bet is somebody needs6 to get there.
Speaking of All-Big 12 in 2009, the first-team defensive line group included Suh (5x Pro Bowl, 5x All-Pro), Oklahoma’s Gerald McCoy (6x Pro Bowl, 3x All-Pro) and Texas A&M’s Von Miller (8x Pro Bowl, 7x All-Pro). Not bad, Big 12. Not bad at all.
I’m a big proponent of throwing 2020 out for stats purposes wherever possible, and you can do that here, though it must be mentioned linebacker Will Honas probably would’ve made it under normal circumstances. He had 6.5 TFLs with 3 sacks in seven games.
Just one more moment of awe about Suh. The Suh Line couldn’t exist prior to the Texas game, but if it had Nebraska’s starting four on the line all crossed it: Suh 21 TFLs/12 sacks, Jared Crick 13/9.5, Barry Turner 12/5.5 and Pierre Allen 9/5. That’s how good Suh was.
Minus Texas State, which is jumping to the Pac-12, but I think the Sun Belt will have G5 schools in the southeast clamoring to replace the Bobcats.
Watson-Trent had 10 tackles in Georgia Southern’s 2022 upset of Nebraska, which ended the Scott Frost era.
Nebraska’s record without a Suh Line player: 13-20.
I'll say Nwaneri . . .
Joe Ganz appreciation offseason, Suh appreciation eternity