Running back, Nebraska, 2022–25
Emmett Johnson
- Number
- No. 21
- Height
- 5′11″
- Weight
- 200 lb
- Class (2025)
- Junior
- Hometown
- Minneapolis, MN
- Born
- Oct 10, 2003
Wikipedia readers: about 6,049 a month over the past year
Emmett Johnson played running back at Nebraska (2022–25). The Kansas City Chiefs took Johnson in round 5, No. 161 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft.
At a glance
Career highs
217rushing yards, career highvs. Iowa, 20253rushing touchdowns, career highvs. Michigan State, 20258catches, career highat Penn State, 2025103receiving yards, career highat UCLA, 20252receiving touchdowns, career highat UCLA, 2025Honors
All-America: Sporting News 2025; AP second team 2025; CBS Sports 2025; Sports Illustrated 2025
Players of the year, conference and regional honors: Wikipedia’s lists (CC BY-SA), each linked from its honor.
Rushing
Receiving
Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls.
On the roster
| Season | Team | No. | Pos | Class | Ht | Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Nebraska | 21 | RB | RS | ||
| 2023 | Nebraska | 21 | RB | Fr. | ||
| 2024 | Nebraska | 21 | RB | So. | ||
| 2025 | Nebraska | 21 | RB | Jr. | 5′11″ | 200 |
As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.
Per play
| Season | Team | Plays | EPA/play | Pctile | Median | Total | Usage | Adj. rush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Nebraska | 99 | 0.10 | 28th (n=450) | 0.17 | 9.4 | 19% | 0.13 |
| 2024 | Nebraska | 152 | 0.20 | 61st (n=434) | 0.16 | 29.8 | 19% | 0.08 |
| 2025 | Nebraska | 313 | 0.23 | 85th (n=576) | 0.10 | 71.3 | 40% | 0.20 |
Expected points added: how much the player’s plays moved the team’s expected score, per play and in total. Plays: total EPA divided by EPA per play, the plays the source credits to him (for a receiver roughly his catches and runs, not every target; for a passer, not every attempt), so it can differ from attempts plus carries. Percentile: against the position’s regulars that season across all divisions on file (quarterbacks with 150+ plays, backs 60+, receivers and tight ends 30+), with how many there were (n) and their median; a dash means too few plays to rank. A season in progress uses the full-season bar scaled by games played, never below 75 plays for quarterbacks, 30 for backs and 20 for receivers. The cohort grows or shrinks with the source’s coverage each season (2025 lists far more players), so compare percentiles rather than raw EPA across years. FCS seasons are marked. Usage: the share of the team’s plays the player was part of (shown from 20 plays). Adjusted pass and rush: EPA per play adjusted for the defenses faced (CollegeFootballData’s WEPA). From CollegeFootballData, 2013 on.
Rushing detail
| Season | Team | Success | Line yards | Second level | Open field | Stuffed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Nebraska | 53% | 3.70 | 1.20 | 1.30 | 8% |
Where his yards came from, per carry: line yards are the ones credited to the blockers (the first few, and losses), second level the yards 5 to 10 past the line, open field those beyond 10. Success: carries that kept the offense on schedule. Stuffed: carries stopped at or behind the line. From CollegeFootballData, FBS games, 2025 on.
Game by game
2025 Nebraska 12 games, 1,451 rushing yards, 12 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Car | Rush yds | Rush TD | Rec | Rec yds | Rec TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 28 | vs. | W 20–17 | 25 | 108 | 0 | 7 | 27 | 0 |
| Sep 6 | vs. | W 68–0 | 14 | 140 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
| Sep 13 | vs. | W 59–7 | 13 | 78 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| Sep 20 | vs. | L 27–30 | 19 | 65 | 0 | 5 | 32 | 0 |
| Oct 4 | vs. | W 38–27 | 13 | 83 | 3 | 6 | 37 | 0 |
| Oct 11 | at | W 34–31 | 21 | 176 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 0 |
| Oct 17 | at | L 6–24 | 14 | 63 | 0 | 5 | 37 | 0 |
| Oct 25 | vs. | W 28–21 | 27 | 124 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 0 |
| Nov 1 | vs. | L 17–21 | 29 | 165 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 0 |
| Nov 8 | at | W 28–21 | 28 | 129 | 1 | 3 | 103 | 2 |
| Nov 22 | at | L 10–37 | 19 | 103 | 0 | 8 | 48 | 0 |
| Nov 28 | vs. | L 16–40 | 29 | 217 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 0 |
2024 Nebraska 12 games, 598 rushing yards, 1 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Car | Rush yds | Rush TD | Rec | Rec yds | Rec TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 31 | vs. | W 40–7 | 8 | 71 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Sep 7 | vs. | W 28–10 | 1 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – |
| Sep 14 | vs. | W 34–3 | 4 | 50 | 1 | 3 | 43 | 0 |
| Sep 28 | at | W 28–10 | 8 | 50 | 0 | 2 | 35 | 0 |
| Oct 5 | vs. | W 14–7 | 14 | 33 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Oct 19 | at | L 7–56 | 8 | 24 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| Oct 26 | at | L 17–21 | 8 | 30 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 2 | vs. | L 20–27 | 7 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Nov 16 | at | L 20–28 | 10 | 55 | 0 | 7 | 36 | 1 |
| Nov 23 | vs. | W 44–25 | 16 | 113 | 0 | 6 | 85 | 0 |
| Nov 29 | at | L 10–13 | 18 | 71 | 0 | 6 | 25 | 0 |
| Dec 28 ✦ | vs. | W 20–15 | 15 | 75 | 0 | 4 | 24 | 1 |
2023 Nebraska 10 games, 411 rushing yards, 2 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Car | Rush yds | Rush TD | Rec | Rec yds | Rec TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 31 | at | L 10–13 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Sep 23 | vs. | W 28–14 | 2 | 6 | 0 | – | – | – |
| Sep 30 | vs. | L 7–45 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 0 |
| Oct 6 | at | W 20–7 | 7 | 29 | 0 | – | – | – |
| Oct 21 | vs. | W 17–9 | 12 | 73 | 0 | – | – | – |
| Oct 28 | vs. | W 31–14 | 13 | 76 | 1 | – | – | – |
| Nov 4 | at | L 17–20 | 13 | 57 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| Nov 11 | vs. | L 10–13 | 17 | 84 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
| Nov 18 | at | L 17–24 | 13 | 50 | 0 | – | – | – |
| Nov 24 | vs. | L 10–13 | 11 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 |
Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.
Before the draft
| Drill | Combine 2026 |
|---|---|
| Height | 5′10¼″ |
| Weight | 202 lb |
| Arm length | 30¼″ |
| Hand size | 9¾″ |
| Wingspan | 74⅜″ |
| 40-yard dash | 4.56 s |
| 10-yard split | 1.59 s |
| Vertical jump | 35½″ |
| Broad jump | 10′0″ |
| Bench press | 16 reps |
| 3-cone drill | 7.32 s |
| 20-yard shuttle | 4.29 s |
Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data).
In the NFL
1 season, 4 games with a stat; latest team: Kansas City Chiefs.
| Season | Team | G | Car | Yds | TD | Rec | Rec yds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (so far) | Kansas City Chiefs | 4 | 16 | 56 | 0 | 5 | 74 |
Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat.
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