Marcus Washington’s season-ending injury ramps up importance of young Husker receivers

Nebraska coach Matt Rhule has watched injury after injury impact his offense this season. Now, another one: Husker senior wide receiver Marcus Washington suffered a season-ending torn ACL against Illinois on Friday night in Champaign, Illinois.

He’ll have surgery once swelling subsides, Rhule told reporters Tuesday.

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Washington was critical to an offense that lacks explosive playmakers on the perimeter. This season, despite injuries in preseason training camp, Washington had eight catches for 176 yards (22.0 ypc). Last season, his first at Nebraska after transferring from Texas, Washington had 31 receptions for 471 yards and a touchdown.

Nebraska in August lost speedster Zavier Betts, who decided his heart isn’t into the sport. Then, in the season opener at Minnesota, Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda suffered a torn ACL. Washington, though, was the most productive of the three.

Matt Rhule says young receivers ready to roll

Now, Rhule will turn to a host of younger receivers, including true freshmen Malachi Coleman, Jaidyn Doss and Jaylen Lloyd. Each played in Nebraska’s 20-7 win against Illinois.

“I think all three of them have to be ready to go,” Rhule said. “All three of them have come a long way. They’ve gotten better and better and better. They appeared to be ready to go Friday night.”

Nebraska (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) is off this week.

“Those guys need to step up, and I’m sure they will,” Rhule said.

Lloyd (5-10, 160) has appeared in four games this season and has one reception, while the 6-4, 190-pound Coleman has one reception in five games. Meanwhile, Doss (5-11, 190) made his season debut Friday after recovering from a broken arm suffered in preseason camp.

“We actually called a reverse for him in the game — Satt (Marcus Satterfield) did,” Rhule said of his offensive coordinator. “They checked out of it because they were blitzing the corner. But Jaidyn is a really good player. Jaylen is a really good player. Malachi is a really good player.

“Ty Hahn stepped up. (Alex) Bullock made the plays we all know Bullock is capable of making. We’ll need those guys to go.”

This story will be updated.

The post Marcus Washington’s season-ending injury ramps up importance of young Husker receivers appeared first on On3.