Dawson Merritt holds the WLB · Backup spot in Nebraska Cornhuskers’s linebacker room. Where he sits among the room’s front-line roles:

Dawson Merritt is a 6'3", 225-pound walk-on linebacker for Nebraska from Stilwell, Kansas. A unanimous four-star recruit ranked 121st nationally in the 2025 class, Merritt was a three-year starter at Blue Valley High School, recording 141 tackles, 14 sacks, and 28 tackles for loss across his junior and senior seasons. As a senior in 2024, he earned first-team all-state honors with 58 tackles, 11 TFLs, and seven sacks. In his 2025 freshman campaign, Merritt appeared in eight games with two starts despite battling injuries. He accumulated eight total tackles and 1.0 TFL, including his first career sack and quarterback hurry against Houston Christian. Merritt started against Michigan State and Maryland before missing November and bowl play due to injury.

Nebraska2025 — present