Will Nebraska football be able to make its mark on the Big Ten West?

The Huskers hired former Carolina Panthers coach Matt Rhule to take up the head coaching spot once held by Scott Frost. Rhule, who made impressive runs at turning around the Temple and Baylor football programs, has earned a 47-43 record as a coach over 90 games, according to Sports Reference.

The Wisconsin Badgers made a move of their own, signing Luke Fickell to a contract that will make about $7.9 million per year over seven years, per Pete Thamel of ESPN.

After six-straight losing seasons, will the Cornhuskers be able to turn it around? And what will be the biggest position battles to watch as Nebraska football goes through its transitionary period?

Quarterback

Who will end up taking on the starting mantle for a new-look offense under Rhule and offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield?

Senior Casey Thompson is likely to take up the role for Nebraska after playing in 10 games for the Cornhuskers last season. He earned just over 2,400 passing yards and 17 passing touchdowns for a Nebraska offense that finished with 344.2 yards per game, good enough for 10th in the Big Ten.

Junior quarterback Jeff Sims, a Georgia Tech transfer from Jacksonville, Florida, may not be too far behind him. A former four-star recruit out of Sandalwood High School, Sims garnered 4,464 total passing yards and 30 passing touchdowns during his three recorded seasons at Georgia Tech.

Defensive Line

Nebraska's defense tied with Michigan State at 41 total touchdowns allowed last season, two less than Northwestern and seven more than the Maryland Terrapins.

Four edge rusher prospects have already enrolled with Nebraska, including two four-star recruits in Princewill Umanmielen and Cameron Lenhardt, according to 247Sports. Umanmielen gathered 65 total tackles and 22 tackles for loss in his senior year with Manor High School, according to MaxPreps.

Lenhardt said he wanted to help recapture the old-school form of Nebraska's football defense during a January interview with On3.

“I’ve definitely seen Nebraska different (under Rhule),” said Lenhardt. “We have a great recruiting class, like our recruiting class jumped a lot. We’re gonna change a lot of things in Nebraska.

“The whole culture is gonna change and the way we do things in Nebraska. We’re gonna get back to that top defense and that old-school Nebraska football and (the) dominant powerhouse that we used to be back then.”

Edge rusher MJ Sherman, one of the team's three transfers from the University of Georgia, played a role on special teams and on kick coverage in 14 of 15 games, according to the Bulldogs' website. He saw action in 39 total games, recording 15 total tackles in three seasons with Georgia.

Elijah Jeudy will enter as a three-star transfer from Texas A&M. A former four-star recruit out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Jeudy has played in four total games for the Aggies, earning one assisted tackle during the 2021 season.

Wide Receiver

It will be tough to replicate the production of Trey Palmer, who declared for the NFL draft in late November. Palmer set school records in receiving yards for a single season and a single game.

Senior Marcus Washington, the team's second leading receiver with 471 yards, can take up a starting role after he played in 12 games for Nebraska last season.

Multiple wide receivers joined the Cornhuskers' ranks via in the 2023 recruiting class. Josh Fleeks transferred in from Baylor, while Billy Kemp moved in from Virginia. Fleeks, a five-year member of the Baylor Bears, saw action in three games for Baylor as a fifth-year senior in 2022. Kemp finished fourth all-time on UVA’s career receptions list with 192 and has the 10th-most career yards receiving in Virginia history, according to the team's website.

Four-star recruit Malachi Coleman, a standout from Lincoln East High School in Lincoln, Nebraska, signed his letter of intent in December.

Sophomore Zavier Betts, who was the No. 1-rated recruit out of the state of Nebraska in 2020, returned to the roster following a stint in the transfer portal. He utilized his redshirt and sat out of the 2022 season after playing in 18 games and earning 417 receiving yards on 32 receptions in his first two seasons with the Cornhuskers.