Former running back at Nebraska. 2025: 1,451 rushing yards, 12 rushing TD, 46 catches.
5′11″ · 200 lb · Minneapolis, MN
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
How he plays
Hits the crease and outruns the angle.
Success rate: 86th percentile.
The full scouting readThe numbers
rushing yards · 2025
12 TD · 5.8 per carry · 46 catches
Backed by 29 car · 217 yds · 1 TD -- top 1% rushing yards game.
Swing playSwung Nebraska from 64% to 93% to win.Northwestern at Nebraska · 28-21
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Former running back at Nebraska. 2025: 1,451 rushing yards, 12 rushing TD, 46 catches.
Aura™ · Him Watch
-16aura tax
72nd pctl our rushing-value metric (wEPA) RBs · 140 qualified, n=38
— the discourse is fair.Buzz vs Tape
His own fans are far more bullish than the rival fanbase.
Here's a video I made showing the progression of top 10 rushing seasons at Nebraska. Nice to see Emmett Johnson get there at the end! submitted by /u/ohyeahtt [link] [comments]
Also worth knowing:
“Congrats Emmett Johnson, B1G RB of the year”
Fan claims · every quote verified verbatim
I wish we could afford to do that against Akron tomorrow…..but we need to find out who the hell can play running back besides Emmett Johnson
Based on 1 comment from 1 poster across 1 thread · Sep 6, 2025 · via CFB
Emmett Johnson
Hits the crease and outruns the angle. This is his third year in the same backfield at Nebraska. 2025 brought the first one: All-America (CBS). The receipt on tape: 217 rush yds, 22 rec yds against Iowa, Week 14, 2025.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
How it ended
Three seasons at Nebraska, 2,460 rushing yards, an All-American season (2025) — drafted at #161 overall by Kansas City.
His career
Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.
Career arc
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-AMERICA
Named All-American (2025)
3 selectors honored him
ALL-BIG TEN · 1ST TEAM
All-Big Ten 1st team (2025)
Coaching lineage · 2023–2025
1 coachPlayed his entire career under Matt Rhule.
Where He Ended Up · NFL
Kansas City2026 NFL rookie season
Season context · Team result + system
3 seasons under Matt Rhule — 19-19 over that span.
Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort
Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles
Elite: success rate (86th percentile). Strength: yards / carry (80th percentile).
Real play-by-play efficiency
Season trend
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).
Situational · Carry shape (PBP, full season)
Yardage DNA
Stuffed (≤0)
Grind (1–3)
Chunk (4–9)
Explosive (10+)
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 125 | 6.2 | 1.6 |
| Road5g | 116 | 5.4 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 108 | 6.4 | 1.2 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 134 | 5.4 | 0.8 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Matt Rhule
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Player standing · 2025
Named to an All-America team by a recognized selector.
Recognition
Production · CFB Index Score
Three-star recruit. Now #3 at the position.
Selector Grid · 2025
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 9 · 2025
W 28–21
vs Northwestern
124 rush yds (27 car) · 2 TD
A wire-to-wire battle — won by 7 at home.
With K. Williams — 1 TD · 62 AVG · 95 LONG · A. Wilson — 55 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 58 LONG
Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|
The plays that mattered most
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 12 games
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 20-17@ Cincinnati | 25 | 108 | 4.3 | 0 | 16 | |
| Wk 2 | W 68-0vs Akron | 14 | 140 | 10.0 | 2 | 47 | |
| Wk 3 | W 59-7vs Houston Christian | 13 | 78 | 6.0 | 2 | 17 | |
| Wk 4 | L 27-30vs Michigan | 19 | 65 | 3.4 | 0 | 14 | |
| Wk 6 | W 38-27vs Michigan State | 13 | 83 | 6.4 | 3 | 23 | 3 rushing TDs |
| Wk 7 | W 34-31@ Maryland | 21 | 176 | 8.4 | 0 | 50 | 176-yard day |
| Wk 8 | L 6-24@ Minnesota | 14 | 63 | 4.5 | 0 | 12 | |
| Wk 9 | W 28-21vs Northwestern | 27 | 124 | 4.6 | 2 | 15 | |
| Wk 10 | L 17-21vs USC | 29 | 165 | 5.7 | 1 | 23 | 165-yard day |
| Wk 11 | W 28-21@ UCLA | 28 | 129 | 4.6 | 1 | 13 | |
| Wk 13 | L 10-37@ Penn State | 19 | 103 | 5.4 | 0 | 52 | |
| Wk 14 | L 16-40vs Iowa | 29 | 217 | 7.5 | 1 | 70 | Season-high 217 yds |
| Total | 251 | 1451 | 5.9 | 12 | 70 |
Play style
Cuts upfield fast. Designed to find the crease, not run through the line.
CFB Index positional classification
Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape
Steady, not spectacular
Just 17.6% of his season rushing yards came on his 5 best carries — remarkably even — and he's stuffed on 8.5% of his carries. 14 carries for 63 yds vs Minnesota; 28 for 216 vs Iowa.
Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share
Not actually a closer
61.0% of carries overall (250/410) → 40.5% of Q4-with-lead carries (17/42) — 100.0% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
20 of 27 on 3rd/4th-and-2-or-less (74.1%). 15 of the team's 23 inside-the-5 carries (65.2%).
Player DNA
Cuts upfield fast. Designed to find the crease, not run through the line.
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Travis Dye’s 2022 season.
Matches Travis on
Through 3 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Xavier Brown’s path through Virginia.
Matches Xavier on
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to George Pettaway's junior season at James Madison (2024).
Matches George on
Differs from George on
Player DNA
Heisman Trajectory · 2025
Peaked at #58 this season.