Nebraska wide receiver Janiran Bonner to miss rest of season with ACL injury (2025)

One of the Nebraska football team’s top leaders and offensive weapons will miss the remainder of the 2025 season due to injury.

Head coach Matt Rhule announced on Monday that junior wide receiver Janiran Bonner will undergo surgery after suffering an ACL injury in Nebraska’s season-opening victory over Cincinnati.

Bonner handled two carries for 4 yards and caught a 4-yard pass before a Cincinnati defender’s blow to the knee forced him to exit the game in the second quarter.

“It’s a tremendous loss on the field; he’s a great football player who plays on all the special teams," Rhule said of Bonner.

"He’s a wideout, he’s a running back, he’s a fullback, he’s a tight end; he can just do it all. He’s selfless, he’s a great teammate and I’m sure he’ll continue to inspire his teammates with his attitude. I just know how much he means to everybody.”

Voted as a single-digit jersey recipient by his teammates prior to the season, Bonner was set for his biggest role yet in the Husker offense after appearing in all 13 games last fall.

Offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen’s evaluation in August was that the physical 225-pound blocker who’d previously played fullback was a “Swiss army knife,” while wide receivers coach Daikiel Shorts called Bonner a “unit.”

Plans to utilize Bonner’s physicality as a lead blocker will now be adjusted as the junior wideout begins his recovery process.

Bonner's absence will mean a larger workload for junior Luke Lindenmeyer and senior Heinrich Haarberg, who featured heavily against Cincinnati, and for Nebraska's other options at tight end.

Rhule said he's confident that sophomore Cayden Echternach and redshirt freshman Eric Ingwerson can step up if needed, adding that redshirt freshman walk-on Danny King “is going to play here” at some point in his Husker career.

Opportunity knocks largest of all for sophomore Carter Nelson, who Nebraska coaches had previously been patient with in his return from an offseason hip surgery.

“Now’s the time for Carter to really step up with (Bonner) being down, because he can do a lot of things that (Bonner) did,” Rhule said. “With those guys being down, it’s his time.”

Nebraska has now lost five players to season-ending injuries: Bonner, tight end Mac Markway, offensive lineman Gibson Pyle, cornerback Blye Hill and linebacker Gage Stenger.