Positions of Need

[DudznSudz]

Good morning, all,

Just a quick question/overview of the depth at all of our positions. Here is what I think so far:

QB - Great. We have two 4* guys competing to start, plus a 3rd backup option who isn't half bad at all himself. We have a 4 star recruit for 2019 and are about to sign a high 3 star Dual Threat QB for 2020 (Smothers).

WR- ridiculously stacked.

TE - Stacked.

RB - Stacked.

OL - Are we good here? We seem to have a darn good starting 5, plus Barnett, Wilson and Schictermann and a few others who can rotate in. Any thoughts?

DL - STAAAAACKED. It just occurred to me that we technically have 4 guys who can play NT right now (Stoltenberg, Vainuku, Newell, and Daniels), so the Davis twins, Freedom, Stille, and Neal can all play DE. That's friggin' great news.

So, this is where my knowledge kinda ends. I know that CB depth is probably the biggest problem on the team right now, right? How are we really doing there, at LB, and at S (I know we just picked up that guy from UCF to help out at S, just curious).

Thanks all!

 

[inWV]

Good morning, all,

Just a quick question/overview of the depth at all of our positions. Here is what I think so far:

QB - Great. We have two 4* guys competing to start, plus a 3rd backup option who isn't half bad at all himself. We have a 4 star recruit for 2019 and are about to sign a high 3 star Dual Threat QB for 2020 (Smothers).

WR- ridiculously stacked.

TE - Stacked.

RB - Stacked.

OL - Are we good here? We seem to have a darn good starting 5, plus Barnett, Wilson and Schictermann and a few others who can rotate in. Any thoughts?

DL - STAAAAACKED. It just occurred to me that we technically have 4 guys who can play NT right now (Stoltenberg, Vainuku, Newell, and Daniels), so the Davis twins, Freedom, Stille, and Neal can all play DE. That's friggin' great news.

So, this is where my knowledge kinda ends. I know that CB depth is probably the biggest problem on the team right now, right? How are we really doing there, at LB, and at S (I know we just picked up that guy from UCF to help out at S, just curious).

Thanks all!

Oline and CB are needs. Young is gone after this year, with Honas and Mo Barry gone after 2019. Heinrich is in the fold, don't know if Hannah is an ILB or OLB.

 

[DudznSudz]

Oline and CB are needs. Young is gone after this year, with Honas and Mo Barry gone after 2019. Heinrich is in the fold, don't know if Hannah is an ILB or OLB.

I meant more for this year specifically. Where will our team be weak personnel-wise for 2018?

 

[inWV]

I meant more for this year specifically. Where will our team be weak personnel-wise for 2018?

CB and OLB

 

[Huskerfan2112]

Kicker? Thats one I worry about because it can decide a close game. NU has had a long string of great ones.

 

[Headcard]

CB, OLB and OT are glaring needs. I'm also not sure if we have the kind of versatile TE's the staff wants yet.

 

[Joe M]

I meant more for this year specifically. Where will our team be weak personnel-wise for 2018?

How is QB and TE "stacked" for 2018? Very young/inexperienced/unproven at both positions.

 

[mpbrown27]

Respectfully, why are we so confident in the defensive line? Weren't we like #118 in sacks last year? I don't think there was a Power 5 school that was worse.

The only group where I think there is both depth and proven talent is receiver. The other groups are lacking one or both of those things.

 

[Headcard]

How is QB and TE "stacked" for 2018? Very young/inexperienced/unproven at both positions.

Agreed

 

[huskat]

How is QB and TE "stacked" for 2018? Very young/inexperienced/unproven at both positions.

I'd say the same thing about RB. CB, OL are biggest needs, but honestly, I wouldn't call any position "stacked", except for WR. It's not like we're returning a plethora of All-Big10/All-Americans (or any, for that matter). Most of these units underperformed last year...some severely.

 

[HuskerO58]

How is QB and TE "stacked" for 2018? Very young/inexperienced/unproven at both positions.

With the benefit of using hindsight, we haven't been stacked at the QB position for years.

This year is probably one of the better years since maybe 2010 when we had Taylor Martinez and Zac Lee. Before then..... oh boy....

 

[Redscarlet]

I wouldn’t say we are stacked at running back yet either in Frost offense...

Ozigbo and Wilbon are gone after this year and we don’t know how both will contribute this season.
Tre Bryant is coming off a severe injury and Maurice Washington has’t quilfied yet..

I feel good about Bell but we need quality depth at this position.

 

[TruHusker]

This entire thread with the use of the word "stacked" indicates we have AA's behind AA's which is not the case. We have a great deal of unproven players at most every position. And asking this about the "need" for this year is out of anyone's hands. This year is about to get started and will soon be in the books.

 

[RealTucoSalamanca]

I agree that 2018 is about to begin so "needs" is sort of irrelevant. Maybe potential weaknesses.

As far as looking at 2019 recruiting, I think the 3 main needs are OLB, CB and OT.

 

[Cornicator]

CB and OLB

THIS. Nebraska needs pass rushers and guys who can cover. Sadly, they need each other to be productive in order to be successful.

 

[Cornicator]

I'm also not sure if we have the kind of versatile TE's the staff wants yet.

Frost has been gushing about the tight ends. I think he's more than satisfied.

 

[IUHusker]

QB: Roster Potential - Need Proven Difference Maker
RB: Roster Potential - Need Proven Difference Maker
TE: Roster Potential - Needs Proven Difference Maker
WR: Proven Commodity - Has Proven Difference Makers
OL: Roster Weak Spot - Needs Improvement
DL: Roster Potential - Needs Proven Difference Makers
OLB: Unknown - Needs Improvement
ILB: Potential - Needs Improvment
CB: Roster Weak spot - Needs Improvement
S: Roster Weak Spot - Needs Improvement

 

[huskerssalts]

I know one thing, I’m not going to make any judgements on the defense and what we need or don’t need until after I see how they do this year. Last year under Diaco our defense fell apart and quit playing. We could have some great players in the DBs, LBs and Dline but we just don’t know it yet. I want to see how they do under a great DC. We honestly could be pleasantly surprised after this season. Same goes for the Oline. We definitely have talent there, was it just bad coaching or what??

 

[DudznSudz]

QB: Roster Potential - Need Proven Difference Maker
RB: Roster Potential - Need Proven Difference Maker
TE: Roster Potential - Needs Proven Difference Maker
WR: Proven Commodity - Has Proven Difference Makers
OL: Roster Weak Spot - Needs Improvement
DL: Roster Potential - Needs Proven Difference Makers
OLB: Unknown - Needs Improvement
ILB: Potential - Needs Improvment
CB: Roster Weak spot - Needs Improvement
S: Roster Weak Spot - Needs Improvement

Thanks! And I would say that S got a lot better with that transfer in of the grad guy from UCF.

And I only meant "stacked" in terms of "numbers are not low, we have plenty of scholarship players at the position." I don't mean, "Proven AA ready to go out there and rip heads off." We don't have THAT at really any position except WR.

As to some other points:

- QB = I just meant what I said; we have two 4 star guys competing to start, and their backup is actually pretty decent. This is NOT like when we have Tommy Armstrong, Riker Fyfe, and then NOTHING.

- RB = Again, we have numbers. Even if you don't think Ozigbo and Wilbon are good, we have Bell, Bradley, maybe Bryant, Mazour and Rose, plus other guys that will shift in and out of that role. Again, we have numbers to put capable players there.

- DL = We have a lot of skilled guys who are going to be bashing O-lines pretty hard and they aren't going to be using last years scheme. So I know they were ****** last year, but they were not playing the way they are going to play this year. I would call this position pretty well stacked.

All of the other weaknesses and concerns make sense to me, after that. I think ILB is pretty solid, but we have a lot of questions on OLB. But we'll see how everyone is used once Sept. 1st rolls around.

Thanks all!

 

[cubsker_rivals142943]

QB: Roster Potential - Need Proven Difference Maker
RB: Roster Potential - Need Proven Difference Maker
TE: Roster Potential - Needs Proven Difference Maker
WR: Proven Commodity - Has Proven Difference Makers
OL: Roster Weak Spot - Needs Improvement
DL: Roster Potential - Needs Proven Difference Makers
OLB: Unknown - Needs Improvement
ILB: Potential - Needs Improvment
CB: Roster Weak spot - Needs Improvement
S: Roster Weak Spot - Needs Improvement

This.

Stacked....no.

 

[cubsker_rivals142943]

Thanks! And I would say that S got a lot better with that transfer in of the grad guy from UCF.

And I only meant "stacked" in terms of "numbers are not low, we have plenty of scholarship players at the position." I don't mean, "Proven AA ready to go out there and rip heads off." We don't have THAT at really any position except WR.

As to some other points:

- QB = I just meant what I said; we have two 4 star guys competing to start, and their backup is actually pretty decent. This is NOT like when we have Tommy Armstrong, Riker Fyfe, and then NOTHING.

- RB = Again, we have numbers. Even if you don't think Ozigbo and Wilbon are good, we have Bell, Bradley, maybe Bryant, Mazour and Rose, plus other guys that will shift in and out of that role. Again, we have numbers to put capable players there.

- DL = We have a lot of skilled guys who are going to be bashing O-lines pretty hard and they aren't going to be using last years scheme. So I know they were ****** last year, but they were not playing the way they are going to play this year. I would call this position pretty well stacked.

All of the other weaknesses and concerns make sense to me, after that. I think ILB is pretty solid, but we have a lot of questions on OLB. But we'll see how everyone is used once Sept. 1st rolls around.

Thanks all!

I haven't seen anything to make me think our OL or DL is better than mediocre. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[Sinomatic]

Respectfully, why are we so confident in the defensive line? Weren't we like #118 in sacks last year? I don't think there was a Power 5 school that was worse.

The only group where I think there is both depth and proven talent is receiver. The other groups are lacking one or both of those things.

I was under the impression we didn't have an attacking 3-4, it was a bend don't break defense and meant to blanket an offense but not take it down behind the LOS so much. So not a lot of sacks to be expected. But theoretically constrict offensive production.

This was just my understanding of what Diaco was trying to create.

 

[HominidHusker]

I know one thing, I’m not going to make any judgements on the defense and what we need or don’t need until after I see how they do this year. Last year under Diaco our defense fell apart and quit playing. We could have some great players in the DBs, LBs and Dline but we just don’t know it yet. I want to see how they do under a great DC. We honestly could be pleasantly surprised after this season. Same goes for the Oline. We definitely have talent there, was it just bad coaching or what??

We have very little “proven” talent, but no question coaching held players back. The potential is there I would argue at every position. O-line, edge rush and secondary are concerns (esp OT depth) but still plenty of potential all around.
I worry about chemistry with so many new players and schemes, but the upside is that the team could be hitting its stride as the season progresses.
I like that Jerald Foster reiterated what was advertised about the O-line calls being easier. That will help a lot.

 

[Sporty]

For all we know we may need a different defensive staff next season. Offensively I think it is a little safer to assume the staff has what it takes. Defense both staff and personnel have something to prove.

 

[jflores]

Frost has been gushing about the tight ends. I think he's more than satisfied.

They told Hickman "he's the one" so they don't seem to be anxious to stack up on them

 

[bshirt73]

I know one thing, I’m not going to make any judgements on the defense and what we need or don’t need until after I see how they do this year. Last year under Diaco our defense fell apart and quit playing. We could have some great players in the DBs, LBs and Dline but we just don’t know it yet. I want to see how they do under a great DC. We honestly could be pleasantly surprised after this season. Same goes for the Oline. We definitely have talent there, was it just bad coaching or what??

Oh boy, that's a good question. It's surely safe to say our previous HC & staff were hardly competent at player development. There are at least 10,000 star gazers posting here telling us how recruiting is "everything" even though we have lost to almost everybody with lower recruiting rankings (for years and years).

Like you, I have no idea what if any great players we have at DB, LB, Dline and especially at OLine. Maybe a couple of WRs but that's about it that we know of.

Sure, to be an elite program you have to have excellent results with both. But it seems to me that good coaching is easily as important as good recruiting. We almost certainly having great coaching now. Recruiting is good but should get even far better if we start having successful field results.

 

[TruHusker]

"There are at least 10,000 star gazers posting here telling us how recruiting is "everything" even though we have lost to almost everybody with lower recruiting rankings (for years and years)."

I don't believe anyone said it is "everything" but the data all points to the fact that every NC team has had highly successful recruiting rankings. Your attempt at dismissing and interpreting facts failed.

And I don't think there are a bunch of "star gazers" but rather people who understand the data and probabilities. Naturally, there will be outliers as the article points out, that has been established. Perhaps this article will help explain it better.

 

[bshirt73]

"There are at least 10,000 star gazers posting here telling us how recruiting is "everything" even though we have lost to almost everybody with lower recruiting rankings (for years and years)."

I don't believe anyone said it is "everything" but the data all points to the fact that every NC team has had highly successful recruiting rankings. Your attempt at dismissing and interpreting facts failed.

And I don't think there are a bunch of "star gazers" but rather people who understand the data and probabilities. Naturally, there will be outliers as the article points out, that has been established. Perhaps this article will help explain it better.

You're missing the extremely obvious point. The data does not support NU losing so much to teams with far less impressive recruiting rankings (for years!). Sorry genius, but you can't have it both ways.

 

[bshirt73]

I guess that's why UCLA, Texas, TAM, Michigan, etc keep winning NCs almost every year.

 

[Sinomatic]

How about what was the lowest ranked class to win the NC in the last 20 years?

 

[RealTucoSalamanca]

I guess that's why UCLA, Texas, TAM, Michigan, etc keep winning NCs almost every year.

Holy crap This is a simple concept.

Having 4/5 star players doesn’t guarantee titles. No one said that. No one said A team with more talent will win every game against teams with lesser talent. Or even that teams with lessor talent can’t win a lot of games.

However, no matter how you slice it, over the past decade plus, no team has won a title without having at least 50% of their scholarship players be 4/5 star players.

Having 4/5 star talent doesn’t guarantee a title, however not having it you won’t win it.

 

[dinglefritz]

I think it was Washut (if not him one of the other guys we all know) on 590 a few days ago that said that people need to not worry too much about star rankings based on junior film and performance. Kids can change a bunch AND sometimes those high 4s and 5s go backwards their senior year while you often have 2 and 3 star kids moving up boards. He gave Jalin Barnett as an example. After more of the Rivals guys saw his performance at the All American game they all agreed that he needed to be re-evaluated and moved down in ranking.

IMO, you're left with the FACT that in most cases you had better trust your coach to do the evaluations instead of what in many cases is a young guy with zero coaching experience working for an internet service. Personally I think Frost has WAY more relevant experience at evaluating talent and predicting what they'll turn in to than any of the recruiting analysts. That's not a slam on them. Let's see how some of the 3 stars end up after their senior year before we get our panties in a wad about Frost's recruiting.

 

[TruHusker]

You're missing the extremely obvious point. The data does not support NU losing so much to teams with far less impressive recruiting rankings (for years!). Sorry genius, but you can't have it both ways.

duh, the conversation was about recruiting ratings for teams winning the NC. Not every team and how their win/loss record during the year. The bottom line is the parallel to top ten or better recruiting and winning the NC THAT is the point!

 

[oldjar07]

Holy crap This is a simple concept.

Having 4/5 star players doesn’t guarantee titles. No one said that. No one said A team with more talent will win every game against teams with lesser talent. Or even that teams with lessor talent can’t win a lot of games.

However, no matter how you slice it, over the past decade plus, no team has won a title without having at least 50% of their scholarship players be 4/5 star players.

Having 4/5 star talent doesn’t guarantee a title, however not having it you won’t win it.

Nebraska's never going to win a title by out-recruiting everybody else. That's just not going to happen. We can have top 10 or even top 5 classes some years but there's always going to be a team that's recruiting better than us.

What's going to work at Nebraska is finding top talent in certain areas, but in most areas we're going to have to develop and coach better than everybody else. I think that's the path Frost is choosing to follow, and I don't think he'll settle for anything less than championships.

 

[Nebyank_rivals]

I know one thing, I’m not going to make any judgements on the defense and what we need or don’t need until after I see how they do this year. Last year under Diaco our defense fell apart and quit playing. We could have some great players in the DBs, LBs and Dline but we just don’t know it yet. I want to see how they do under a great DC. We honestly could be pleasantly surprised after this season. Same goes for the Oline. We definitely have talent there, was it just bad coaching or what??

Yes, it was just bad coaching. Give this coaching staff a little time and you will be amazed at the improvement. Actually, even this year will be far different ( in a good way ) from what we have been stuck with over the last 15 years. The future is bright. If we had Iowa's schedule this year we would have a shot at 9 or 10 wins.

 

[RealTucoSalamanca]

Nebraska's never going to win a title by out-recruiting everybody else. That's just not going to happen. We can have top 10 or even top 5 classes some years but there's always going to be a team that's recruiting better than us.

What's going to work at Nebraska is finding top talent in certain areas, but in most areas we're going to have to develop and coach better than everybody else. I think that's the path Frost is choosing to follow, and I don't think he'll settle for anything less than championships.

FFS no one said you had to have the number 1 class in the country. The discussion is about pct of your scholarship athletes that are 4/5 star players. That’s it, nothing more. Hell, you can have a bunch of top 15 classes and still get to 50%. Stop trying to make it out to be more than it is.

 

[Pennsyhusker_rivals246774]

Outside of the wide receivers, where we have proven top flight players, there isn't a position on this team that doesn't worry me.

This is going to be an interesting year where we find out if we have a decent amount of talent that was simply poorly coached in the past, or if we truly lack talent. Throw out the stars and the recruiting rankings. These guys, except for the receivers, played like total **** from the end of 2016 all the way through 2017. So I need to be convinced by their play on the field, and not by the feel-good stories in the local media. So Frost is "gushing" about the Tight Ends? Great. I mean that. But Riley "gushed" about Tanner Lee.
He sucked

 

[DudznSudz]

Holy crap This is a simple concept.

Having 4/5 star players doesn’t guarantee titles. No one said that. No one said A team with more talent will win every game against teams with lesser talent. Or even that teams with lessor talent can’t win a lot of games.

However, no matter how you slice it, over the past decade plus, no team has won a title without having at least 50% of their scholarship players be 4/5 star players.

Having 4/5 star talent doesn’t guarantee a title, however not having it you won’t win it.

Correlation does not equal causation! It isn't impossible, just less likely! :-D

 

[Cloud_a_Heart]

Whoever lives closest to PennsyHusker needs to swing by his place, pet his livestock, and force him to drink a couple of pitchers of red kool-aid! The sooner the better, as he isn't acting like himself the last few days......

 

[Pennsyhusker_rivals246774]

Whoever lives closest to PennsyHusker needs to swing by his place, pet his livestock, and force him to drink a couple of pitchers of red kool-aid! The sooner the better, as he isn't acting like himself the last few days......

Lol. My sheep and dairy goats hate visitors. Truly. They run like gazelles when approached. The only way I get close is when I bring them their daily grain. Then they act like I am the greatest person on earth.

As for the red koolaid.... I have drunk that stuff by the gallons before each season for the past 20 years. And I am now drinking gallons of red Frost aid. I am as excited about his hire as anyone. I see big things ahead for this program. I think we go 8-4 or 9-3 this year.

BUT .......... I am not drinking the red koolaid this year for the players. They have to prove it on the field to me this year. I think they will (which is why I think we go at least 8-4), but I ain't gonna be bangin' the drums and tambourines and getting all loopey-doopey excited this year (for once). EVEN WITH the Frost hire a huge part of me just thinks we are in for another year of disappointment. Those are my emotions. My head says otherwise, but I have been beaten down emotionally to where I just don't expect much.