Keem Green come on down!
- Thread starter 3fingershomer
- Start date
At this point we could use him. Who’s going to play nose for us? Polar Bear? Who else do we have there?
We keep churning though freakin WR and now have 5 QB on the roster… sure wish we’d take some Moe DL
We keep churning though freakin WR and now have 5 QB on the roster… sure wish we’d take some Moe DL
Singing my song. If you go back and look at Osborne's teams beginning with the "turn around" year of 1978, the one thing that stands out is that we had excellent offensive and defensive lineman, and that reached a peak in the dynasty years of the 90's. But Osborne knew that Nebraska would never be able to load up with four and five star skill position players the way Florida State, Miami, and even OU could. Yes, it is a myth that Osborne did not get his share of those players. He did. But not in the abundance that warm weather schools could. And so he invested in strength and conditioning, recruited kids with the right kind of frame for bulking up into lineman, and the rest is history. The moral of this story is this: Scott Frost will continue to fail as a coach so long as he focuses on trying to make NU the Oregon or UCF of the plains. And his failure to recruit really good talent to both lines is a recipe for our continuing mediocrity and irrelevance. People accuse me of being Mr. Doom and Gloom on here lately. But we have had 6 losing seasons out of the past 7. Frost has had four losing seasons in a row and had to be forced to fire most of his offensive staff just to keep his damn job. And as always, he is winning the off season kool aid wars with flashy skill position transfers. But none of those transfers will matter squat if the QB's are flat on their backs because our offensive tackles are horrible, and none of our running backs will be successful if the line can't open holes.
And none of it will matter either if our defensive line can't stop the run. Who do we have at defensive tackle and nose guard who can stop the run consistently? Robinson? What a joke. Polar Bear? Another joke. Neither one of those guys would start on any B1G team not named Rutgers or Maryland. Sorry... but I am not optimistic. We could go 8-4 or 4-8. And the optimist in me says 8-4 since maybe our line play will be better than I think it will be. Maybe I am too pessimistic. But then the pessimist in me looks at the past 7 years.
Below is NU's 2 deep at DL for the bowl game against Clemson (2009 Gator Bowl) in Pelini's first year. Coached by that reprobate Carl Pelini. Since NU is actually operating more with four man front, what the does the current 2 deep look like ?
DE - Nelson, Tannor (combined 7 years of experience coming into season) Tannor is more of a true OLB and the DE situation changes if they get Mathis.
DE backups - Butler, Gunnerson (combined 4 years of experience coming into season)
DT starters - Robinson, Rogers (combined 7 years of experience coming into season)
DT backups - Hutmacher, Feist (combined 6 years of experience coming into season)
I think the Dline will be fine.
DE - Nelson, Tannor (combined 7 years of experience coming into season) Tannor is more of a true OLB and the DE situation changes if they get Mathis.
DE backups - Butler, Gunnerson (combined 4 years of experience coming into season)
DT starters - Robinson, Rogers (combined 7 years of experience coming into season)
DT backups - Hutmacher, Feist (combined 6 years of experience coming into season)
I think the Dline will be fine.
| OPEN DE: | 95 | Pierre Allen*, 6-5, 265, So., Denver, Colo. |
| 56 | Shukree Barfield*, 6-4, 290, Sr., Camden, N.J. | |
| DT: | 43 | TY STEINKUHLER***, 6-3, 280, Sr., Lincoln, Neb. |
| 94 | Jared Crick, 6-6, 280, RFr., Cozad, Neb. | |
| NT: | 93 | NDAMUKONG SUH**, 6-4, 300, Jr., Portland, Ore. |
| 90 | Terrence Moore, 6-3, 275, RFr., New Orleans, La. | |
| BASE DE: | 98 | ZACH POTTER***, 6-7, 285, Sr., Omaha, Neb. |
| 88 | Clayton Sievers***, 6-4, 255, Sr., Elkhorn, Neb. |
I see nobody on your list at defensive tackle that is worth a plug nickel as a B1G caliber lineman. Robinson is just "serviceable" and is certainly no great talent. Rogers is always injured and will most likely get injured again. Hutmacher has proven absolutely nothing and was criticized by Chins in the spring for not translating his weight room prowess into on the field play. Feist is intriguing but is this another one of those feel good off season stories to pump sunshine and koolaid? The kid was a walk on and he has proven nothing on the field against offensive lines that are actually good instead of making some good plays against our questionable line in practice. I do not care how many years of experience these guys have collectively because none of them are proven. I like Nelson and Gunnerson and if we get Mathis that is great. But you need at least one athletic and strong dude who gets excellent leverage at that nose tackle position and you need the other tackle to be a solid run stopper who can last most of the game. I do not see that on our roster, nor do many others which is why almost every sports writer mentions the need for NU to try and get one or two defensive tackles out of the portal. And unless that happens I do not think the "Dline will be fine."
Robinson is not thought of as "just servicable", at least from the media reports I take in. Rogers played in every game in the 2020 Covid shortened season and was taking a bunch of snaps at the end of last season. Hutmacher is entering his third season and hasn't had much of chance to play significant snaps. NU has generally had a walkon or two on the Dline depth chart. Feist was going to be in the DL rotation last year until he got injured.
I was on this board when Pelini took over after a horrific season for the NU D. Perhaps it was the board's trust in Bo's defensive genius (lol), but I do not remember gnashing of the teeth over whether a RS freshman like Crick could be a servicable backup. And one could have said the same thing about the Junior to be Suh that you've said about Robinson. Nothing special. He got owned a lot in the prior year.
If NU ends up getting Mathis, the Dline can be a strength of the team.
I hope you are correct! I really do not have much hope for Robinson. But, as you point out, folks were disappointed in Suh in 2007. I remember the USC game where he was literally blown off the line on almost every play and was just mauled and owned by the USC line. I don't know. I know hindsight is 20/20, but I highly doubt Robinson is another Crick or Suh. Suh was at least a highly sought after 4 star recruit out of high school which is why so many were disappointed when he did not blossom right away. I do not think Robinson is a below average player. I just think he is not a difference maker and should not be counted on to really be a solid run stopper over an entire game. But heck, I hope he proves me wrong.
Polar Bear is intriguing, but that is all. The fact that he still seems to be struggling is a red flag for me. I won't believe he is a B1G caliber lineman until he proves it. Ditto for Rogers and Feist.
I want to be as optimistic as you are. I really do. But I do not see the talent on the line that you do, and just because you can point to examples of unheralded guys in the past who have risen up to be quality lineman is no guarantee that that is what we will see here. It is just as possible to point to years in which our lineman did NOT rise to the occasion and we ended up being weak against the run. And until Frost proves he isn't a perennial 4-8 or 3-9 coach I see no reason to believe that somehow and magically this is the year when his team "gels" and an unheralded defensive line comes out of nowhere to prove folks like me wrong. People are placing a lot of faith in Chins, but quite frankly last year's defense, though much improved and pretty good in the red zone, still struggled to get off the field on third down, generated no pass rush, generated few turnovers, and gave up long drives on the ground at really critical times when we needed them to get a stop in our endless one score loss games. Beginning of second half against Illinois or the entire first half against Minnesota anyone?? This was Chin's best defense and it was just above average. Now we are down Stille, Daniels, and some DT backups. I see zero reason to think Chins and Dawson are suddenly going to create this good defensive line out of the material they have on deck.
Something tells me our OL will improve in the run game but will actually take a step back in the passing game. Have a good day.
There are no Suh's on the NU DL roster. But then again, there has only been one Suh. As far as replacing the starters, none of them were Suh's zip code as a player. Stille made some B1G all conference lists as a senior. I've watched a lot of defensive snaps from the last few games of 2021. Robinson and Rogers were paired in a lot of them. Can't say I saw a big drop off in play.
Rogers intrigues me more than Robinson. I think he is more athletic than Robinson. I hope he stays healthy and makes an impact. he has a good first step.
Here’s the real issue, IMO. I think most agree we need DL numbers.
More importantly, there hasn’t been great development by the staff of DL. Prior to this past season, we had several guys from the DL make the NFL either on 53 man rosters or practice squad. Yet we really didn’t dominate as if we had NFL talent. We were a bit more stout this last season as we had several 6th year super seniors at key spots, but that was more of an anomaly vs the first 3 seasons under Frost. I don’t feel great about our D this year. I have no idea what to expect from the O.
Therefore I am thinking a typical head scratcher of a season with maybe 5 wins.
At least we can say we were the best 3 win team in history in 2021.
More importantly, there hasn’t been great development by the staff of DL. Prior to this past season, we had several guys from the DL make the NFL either on 53 man rosters or practice squad. Yet we really didn’t dominate as if we had NFL talent. We were a bit more stout this last season as we had several 6th year super seniors at key spots, but that was more of an anomaly vs the first 3 seasons under Frost. I don’t feel great about our D this year. I have no idea what to expect from the O.
Therefore I am thinking a typical head scratcher of a season with maybe 5 wins.
At least we can say we were the best 3 win team in history in 2021.
I think this is pretty accurate. I think Robinson and Rogers will be halfway decent starters. But we lack depth behind them despite having a number of big body type dudes as backups, none of whom are proven guys other than Polar Bear who got a few starts, and none of whom have even emerged in practice. This is why we need transfer portal guys at this position. There is no depth and quite frankly Robinson and Rogers will wear out and won't last the season unless they can get some meaningful game time relief.
And on offense... I know folks have drunk the Whipple, Joseph, Raiola koolaid, but no matter how good those guys are (and I think they are real upgrades) this is their first year. And history shows that it always takes a good half of a season before an offense with all new coaches begins to find its mojo. I expect things to be out of sync early with timing issues between QB and receivers, blown blocking assignments, and just some brain fart stuff like folks colliding in the backfield because they were not on the same page, play wise. And add in that we still do not seem to have offensive tackles that are worth a crap (maybe the injured guys will change that when they come back) and it seems to me that all of the optimism is a bit misplaced. I still say we go either 8-4 or 4-8. And so I agree with you that this is another head scratcher season. But if we pick up some guys for the defensive line in the portal, and if the injured offensive line guys come back healthy and are difference makers, then we can have a really good season. But the season is on a razor's edge too and could go south fast if those two things do not happen.
I think the key with that will be having a good run game. From what I could tell from the spring game, our run blocking looks most improved over all else offensively speaking. So hopefully we can lean heavily into the run game to start the season, which of course would pay dividends later in the season as the weather does it's thing throughout B1G country.
Mathis is all I care about. We need that one guy that can get to the QB. As for the rest of the guys, I'll take size and strength and we can work on the rest. I think this will be Nelson's best year and I don't see any reason why the other guys won't take a step forward as well. At the end of the day I almost don't even want to talk about the defense because if our offense doesn't finally get their **** straight everything else is 100% irrelevant.
You either know or you don't. As a former lineman myself, the push and scheme already look vastly improved - even in as little time as you pointed out. It can only get better on this trajectory... As compared to say, our pass pro.
Those that predict problems with our DL are doing so as the team stands today. I would hold off on saying we are in trouble until we see who may come in from the portal and I feel there will be one or two players who are good come in. Sometimes really good players don't want to sit behind a stud DL player they want to play now and often and with our lack of depth these players see their opportunity to transfer in. Let's see how this turns out before we paint a bleak picture.
OK, I get it, the word from current linemen has been the "push" is there, the LOS now moves. Does that (those words and actions from a few practices) necessarily translate to a better run game or improved O? Now the scheme piece, what ever that is, there is no way to tell. First it is a different O under Whips and they were, by their admission, running extremely routine stuff.
I am not debating "if" things can change but when and will they change. It is amazing to me that we went 4 years under Austin and most people were fine with the technique and "scheme". I was not since the day I heard he was coming along with Frost, especially after watching the UCF teams. Now, all of a sudden, he is gone, his system stinks, yadda yadda yadda. And its going to look "vastly" better in 15 spring practices with nearly half the starters gone.
Well **** what? You are disappointed that I like Rogers? Or that I think he is more athletic than Robinson?
This post didn’t age well…
Man.. we actually really do need Keem back at this point
That fact that Nebraska cannot recruit good to great defensive linemen after having the best!! The best defensive lineman to play college football just ******* baffles me!
It would "baffle" me more if we had the same coaches which we do not. I assume you are talking about over a period of time as there were different D coordinators and DL coaches.
Feel free to try that again Pennsy.
PS: My post wasn't anything negative towards you. Just the news that came out today.
