Deontai Williams

ZJSARENOTFREE

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I agree that this guy needs to get some more playing time. He has looked decent in the times he has been in there and seems like he could be a playmaker. I think it is time for Dedrick, Mick, Jerald, Conrad, Farmer, and others all to sit. I'd rather have the effort of some of the younger guys vs. the mistakes of our seasoned folks. It can't be any worse.
 

oldjar07

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I agree that this guy needs to get some more playing time. He has looked decent in the times he has been in there and seems like he could be a playmaker. I think it is time for Dedrick, Mick, Jerald, Conrad, Farmer, and others all to sit. I'd rather have the effort of some of the younger guys vs. the mistakes of our seasoned folks. It can't be any worse.
Deontai Williams is a stud. I have no idea why he's not playing more.
 
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With all this discussion about guys that have no business being on the field, it brought me back to a thought I had the other day while watching the game. Newell catches a ton of crap on here for getting manhandled all the time. Where the heck is that big Somoan dude we got as a grad transfer from Utah? It seems several of our junior college and transfer guys were nothing more than shooting a scattergun and hoping one or two pellets would hit. That says a lot about what Frost was working with.
 

oldjar07

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I honestly think he's our best player. Every time he's come in, I've watched for him specifically and he plays his assignment perfectly. He's also big, athletic, and a playmaker. Is there any off the field issues with him because it makes no sense why he's on the bench.
 
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With all this discussion about guys that have no business being on the field, it brought me back to a thought I had the other day while watching the game. Newell catches a ton of crap on here for getting manhandled all the time. Where the heck is that big Somoan dude we got as a grad transfer from Utah? It seems several of our junior college and transfer guys were nothing more than shooting a scattergun and hoping one or two pellets would hit. That says a lot about what Frost was working with.
Yeah, that is why going the Juco route is always such a crapshoot. For every Lavonte David and Terrel Farley, there are 10 busts.
I am sure the coaches too would prefer to build this thing up with high school recruits. I commend Mike Riley for thinking that way too. I don't know if Riley was forced down that road or chose it but it is always smart, in my opinion, to build your program with high school guys rather than Jucos.

All that said... there ARE some Juco guys worth going after. Two examples mentioned above.

Glad these decisions are not mine! Because I wouldn't have a clue
 

bshirt73

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Yeah, that is why going the Juco route is always such a crapshoot. For every Lavonte David and Terrel Farley, there are 10 busts.
I am sure the coaches too would prefer to build this thing up with high school recruits. I commend Mike Riley for thinking that way too. I don't know if Riley was forced down that road or chose it but it is always smart, in my opinion, to build your program with high school guys rather than Jucos.

All that said... there ARE some Juco guys worth going after. Two examples mentioned above.

Glad these decisions are not mine! Because I wouldn't have a clue

Well, don't feel like the Lone Ranger. Everybody else strikes out on Jucos too. But "sometimes" they can be bloody awesome. Who knows?
 

Cornicator

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With all this discussion about guys that have no business being on the field, it brought me back to a thought I had the other day while watching the game. Newell catches a ton of crap on here for getting manhandled all the time. Where the heck is that big Somoan dude we got as a grad transfer from Utah? It seems several of our junior college and transfer guys were nothing more than shooting a scattergun and hoping one or two pellets would hit. That says a lot about what Frost was working with.

Trust me. The Samoan will never play a meaningful snap. He was a big body to fill a need in practice.
 
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HuskerO58

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Yeah, that is why going the Juco route is always such a crapshoot. For every Lavonte David and Terrel Farley, there are 10 busts.
I am sure the coaches too would prefer to build this thing up with high school recruits. I commend Mike Riley for thinking that way too. I don't know if Riley was forced down that road or chose it but it is always smart, in my opinion, to build your program with high school guys rather than Jucos.

All that said... there ARE some Juco guys worth going after. Two examples mentioned above.

Glad these decisions are not mine! Because I wouldn't have a clue
I believe Callahan did it the right way in terms of recruiting. Got a ton of Jucos his first full recruiting season, then each of the following years he took fewer and fewer Jucos so he could build the program with high school guys. You saw that with Frost last year which was good considering the short period of time to recruit. Maybe need to get 4-6 this year? Especially on the O-line.
 
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The only way JUCO Oline recruiting makes sense for 2019 is if they come in and fill the gaps in what will be the RSFr and Soph classes. Only 8 scholarship linemen returning, half of which will be juniors. If you add a couple of more JUCOs that are juniors eligibility wise, you are creating a huge number discrepancy. The classes need to be evened out.

I would take 3 more freshman OL and maybe 1 more JUCO, as long as he was a 3 to play 2. That would be a class of 7 Olinemen and would get you to 15 scholarship linemen and the distribution would be 1 Sr, 5 Jr, 3 So 1 RSFr, 5 FR.

Then in the 2020 class I would look to get a Juco or 2 to fill the short fall in the RSFr class. Assuming all 5 2019 true freshmen RS.
 

Headcard

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I honestly think he's our best player. Every time he's come in, I've watched for him specifically and he plays his assignment perfectly. He's also big, athletic, and a playmaker. Is there any off the field issues with him because it makes no sense why he's on the bench.
Not that I’m aware of. He’s just at a position that has three seniors. Neal know the defense and Williams played very well the first two games. Still, I suspect Williams will be a guy you can’t get off the field very soon. I wonder who will step up and be the other safety opposite him next year?
 

jarens

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I agree with Frost that it's no good to throw a college player under the bus, however Young really has struggled out there thus far. But if you're calling for Honas, he didn't exactly play like an All-American in Barry's absence against Troy. I agree with the Deontai Williams sentiment too. The only time he shows up on the TV screen, he seems to be making a play.

As far as I can tell, DiCaprio Bootle and Mo Barry are the only guys playing like Blackshirts. Tough to know, but how many losses does it take to reevaluate the depth chart? I guess we'll find out Saturday if 3 is the magic number.
 

oldjar07

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The only way JUCO Oline recruiting makes sense for 2019 is if they come in and fill the gaps in what will be the RSFr and Soph classes. Only 8 scholarship linemen returning, half of which will be juniors. If you add a couple of more JUCOs that are juniors eligibility wise, you are creating a huge number discrepancy. The classes need to be evened out.

I would take 3 more freshman OL and maybe 1 more JUCO, as long as he was a 3 to play 2. That would be a class of 7 Olinemen and would get you to 15 scholarship linemen and the distribution would be 1 Sr, 5 Jr, 3 So 1 RSFr, 5 FR.

Then in the 2020 class I would look to get a Juco or 2 to fill the short fall in the RSFr class. Assuming all 5 2019 true freshmen RS.
The classes don't need to be evened out. We're in desperate need of talent at the position and we need all the help we can get for who can be potential contributors right away.
 
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The classes don't need to be evened out. We're in desperate need of talent at the position and we need all the help we can get for who can be potential contributors right away.

And what happens when you have half of your oline finish their eligibility after 2020 and have no one to replace them?

You can't have it both ways, you can't say this is a slow process, everyone needs to have patience, then go and make quick fixes that kill the future depth. Either this is a quick fix or it isn't. But you can't make quick fix decisions for a slow process problem. You will never catch up.
 

oldjar07

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And what happens when you have half of your oline finish their eligibility after 2020 and have no one to replace them?

You can't have it both ways, you can't say this is a slow process, everyone needs to have patience, then go and make quick fixes that kill the future depth. Either this is a quick fix or it isn't. But you can't make quick fix decisions for a slow process problem. You will never catch up.
Well if you go the juco route, you have 2 additional years to figure that out. Having uneven classes is a relatively minor issue compared to the absolutely massive issue staring us in the face RIGHT NOW that we have absolutely no talent at the position. It's not like we don't have the room. At the rate Frost has been processing players, we could recruit 6+ total OL recruits this year, and we'd likely still have room to go after a 3 or 4 freshman OL each of the next couple years to catch up on the numbers and even out the classes.
 
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Well if you go the juco route, you have 2 additional years to figure that out. Having uneven classes is a relatively minor issue compared to the absolutely massive issue staring us in the face RIGHT NOW that we have absolutely no talent at the position. It's not like we don't have the room. At the rate Frost has been processing players, we could recruit 6+ total OL recruits this year, and we'd likely still have room to go after a 3 or 4 freshman OL each of the next couple years to catch up on the numbers and even out the classes.


That is where you are wrong. If you load up on juco OL, hoping to get an influx of talent that can play right away, you are taking away scholarships from other positions. You have a finite number of total scholarships and annual scholarships, and a finite number of oline scholarships, whatever that number is that the coach decided is enough. But if half of your OL graduate in one year, you don't have any depth built up. The amount of "processing" is irrelevant, you are still replacing seniors with freshman and have no one in between. Unless you live at the JUCO ranks, and that isn't going to happen.


It's just like having an inventory of parts you only have so much room for OL parts and you know you have to replace your parts every year. You can build the part yourself (freshmen) or buy them already built (juco). With the already built parts, you have to sell them quicker and you don't really know how well they were built. If you sell all of your already built parts, and don't build enough of your own, at some point you are either going to have to build more of your own and get behind on your orders, or you are going to have to continue to buy already built. This company was just sold, no one is expecting a profit for the next couple of years, especially after the first quarter numbers came out. So you go for the slow growth of inventory, and not the quick fix that may or may not help you turn a profit in year 2.
 
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oldjar07

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Not that I’m aware of. He’s just at a position that has three seniors. Neal know the defense and Williams played very well the first two games. Still, I suspect Williams will be a guy you can’t get off the field very soon. I wonder who will step up and be the other safety opposite him next year?
For how well Neal knows the defense, he sure doesn't play like it, and he's awfully slow too. I haven't been impressed with him at all. Aaron Williams has done some good things though. I'd like to see the Williams show at safety.
 
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oldjar07

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That is where you are wrong. If you load up on juco OL, hoping to get an influx of talent that can play right away, you are taking away scholarships from other positions. You have a finite number of total scholarships and annual scholarships, and a finite number of oline scholarships, whatever that number is that the coach decided is enough. But if half of your OL graduate in one year, you don't have any depth built up. The amount of "processing" is irrelevant, you are still replacing seniors with freshman and have no one in between. Unless you live at the JUCO ranks, and that isn't going to happen.


It's just like having an inventory of parts you only have so much room for OL parts and you know you have to replace your parts every year. You can build the part yourself (freshmen) or buy them already built (juco). With the already built parts, you have to sell them quicker and you don't really know how well they were built. If you sell all of your already built parts, and don't build enough of your own, at some point you are either going to have to build more of your own and get behind on your orders, or you are going to have to continue to buy already built. This company was just sold, no one is expecting a profit for the next couple of years, especially after the first quarter numbers came out. So you go for the slow growth of inventory, and not the quick fix that may or may not help you turn a profit in year 2.
We haven't been close to filling our scholarship numbers for several years now. If we have to over-recruit at a position in desperate need for talent, then we should do just that. Our OL is making our whole team look bad and killing their confidence. And besides a couple project freshman and a juco, we have the exact same level of talent we do this year.
 

bshirt73

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We haven't been close to filling our scholarship numbers for several years now. If we have to over-recruit at a position in desperate need for talent, then we should do just that. Our OL is making our whole team look bad and killing their confidence. And besides a couple project freshman and a juco, we have the exact same level of talent we do this year.

Absolutely. For at least one year we need to load up on OLine freshmen "and" some OLine jucos (assuming we can find and get potential real animals). Roll the dice.....there's no other choice.
 
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Absolutely. For at least one year we need to load up on OLine freshmen "and" some OLine jucos (assuming we can find and get potential real animals). Roll the dice.....there's no other choice.

BS, the other choice is to recruit high school players and develop them. The problem is that you all preach patience, and this isn't going to be fixed overnight, but then want the same instant gratification by rolling the dice on a bunch of Juco Olinemen, which does nothing but set you back in OL development.

When you look at just scholarship numbers in August, you don't see the whole picture. On signing day, in almost every year, Nebraska has been at 85, sometimes a couple of more, sometimes a couple less. The problem comes during spring ball and summer conditioning. That is when your attrition happens. Until they cycle players out in December, you won't fix that problem. Secondly, Frost has already said he is going to keep a couple of open scholarships for walkons.
 

oldjar07

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BS, the other choice is to recruit high school players and develop them. The problem is that you all preach patience, and this isn't going to be fixed overnight, but then want the same instant gratification by rolling the dice on a bunch of Juco Olinemen, which does nothing but set you back in OL development.

When you look at just scholarship numbers in August, you don't see the whole picture. On signing day, in almost every year, Nebraska has been at 85, sometimes a couple of more, sometimes a couple less. The problem comes during spring ball and summer conditioning. That is when your attrition happens. Until they cycle players out in December, you won't fix that problem. Secondly, Frost has already said he is going to keep a couple of open scholarships for walkons.
There's always going to be attrition in spring and summer. For as much attrition as there has been, we need to be well over 85 on signing day.
 
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There's always going to be attrition in spring and summer. For as much attrition as there has been, we need to be well over 85 on signing day.

How much attrition? Is it 4 guys 7, 11 or 14?

So you are of the thought process that bringing in a 86th guy that is a reach is smarter than saving the scholarship for the next year? I have never understood the rationale of filling spots just for the sake of filling spots. Guys 75-85 on the list typically aren't going to be difference makers. To me it makes more sense to five Mazour a scholarship than it does to give one to Vaha.
 

bshirt73

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BS, the other choice is to recruit high school players and develop them. The problem is that you all preach patience, and this isn't going to be fixed overnight, but then want the same instant gratification by rolling the dice on a bunch of Juco Olinemen, which does nothing but set you back in OL development.

When you look at just scholarship numbers in August, you don't see the whole picture. On signing day, in almost every year, Nebraska has been at 85, sometimes a couple of more, sometimes a couple less. The problem comes during spring ball and summer conditioning. That is when your attrition happens. Until they cycle players out in December, you won't fix that problem. Secondly, Frost has already said he is going to keep a couple of open scholarships for walkons.

You're missing the VERY obvious point in that we most desperately need improvement with our OLine. Without at least a somewhat competent OLine we have nothing. Which is precisely what we have if you haven't noticed.

It could very well take three or more years to put a decent OLine on the field using the traditional method you suggest. For something as critical as this, an exception needs to be made.
 
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dinglefritz

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Trust me. The Samoan will never play a meaningful snap. He was a big body to fill a need in practice.
Well at the time we took him Frost didn't have a great idea about what we had the trenches and a HUGE body like his with D-1 experience is tough to turn down. Personally I thought he might fill a need for depth at OG. Is he not even on special teams in the middle of D for extra points? One would think he could push the pile back if nothing else.
 
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You're missing the VERY obvious point in that we most desperately need improvement with our OLine. Without at least a somewhat competent OLine we have nothing. Which is precisely what we have if you haven't noticed.

It could very well take three or more years to put a decent OLine on the field using the traditional method you suggest. For something as critical as this, an exception needs to be made.

Then you have a coaching problem on the Oline, 6 of your top 10 linemen are Sophomores or Freshmen.
 
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bshirt73

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Then you have a coaching problem on the Oline, 6 of your top 10 linemen are Sophomores or Freshmen.

Nope. Or at least very highly doubtful.

We previously had an OLine coaching problem. When Nebraska last year ranked 119th in rushing yards a game it should give you a big hint. All those pick sixes last year might give another hint.

If we had anything even remotely close to decent Oline play of course I would agree with you. But there is exceptions to every rule Tuco. Sometimes for a very good reason.
 
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HuskerO58

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Nope. Or at least very highly doubtful.

We previously had an OLine coaching problem. When Nebraska last year ranked 119th in rushing yards a game it should give you a big hint. All those pick sixes last year might give another hint.

If we had anything even remotely close to decent Oline play of course I would agree with you. But there is exceptions to every rule Tuco. Sometimes for a very good reason.
What's the problem this year?
 
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Nope. Or at least very highly doubtful.

We previously had an OLine coaching problem. When Nebraska last year ranked 119th in rushing yards a game it should give you a big hint. All those pick sixes last year might give another hint.

If we had anything even remotely close to decent Oline play of course I would agree with you. But there is exceptions to every rule Tuco. Sometimes for a very good reason.

What does that have to do with having the ability to develop the 6 soph and freshmen current players on the 2 deep and recruiting high school players to take their spots over the next 3 years? Cavanaugh isn't here anymore. The bodies are reshaped, or so we are told, the weight room is being used, Austin is coaching the team now.

How many of the JUCO players that were brought in, by Frost for this season, are playing right now? You seem to believe that an influx of JUCO linemen are going to automatically fix the issue. No guarantees.
 

dinglefritz

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What does that have to do with having the ability to develop the 6 soph and freshmen current players on the 2 deep and recruiting high school players to take their spots over the next 3 years? Cavanaugh isn't here anymore. The bodies are reshaped, or so we are told, the weight room is being used, Austin is coaching the team now.

How many of the JUCO players that were brought in, by Frost for this season, are playing right now? You seem to believe that an influx of JUCO linemen are going to automatically fix the issue. No guarantees.
no guarantees but we have immediate depth concerns for next year on our O line that are only answerable by bringing in either Power 5 ready freshmen or top JUCOs. It doesn't appear that the young guys we have on the roster are likely help at OT specifically. Frost knows what he has and if he's bringing in JUCO O linemen it's because he thinks he needs an immediate upgrade on the depth chart.
 
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no guarantees but we have immediate depth concerns for next year on our O line that are only answerable by bringing in either Power 5 ready freshmen or top JUCOs. It doesn't appear that the young guys we have on the roster are likely help at OT specifically.

7 of the top 10 return, 4 of them are at OT. Wilson, Raridon and little Farniok in the middle. Plus Hunter Miller.
 

oldjar07

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How much attrition? Is it 4 guys 7, 11 or 14?

So you are of the thought process that bringing in a 86th guy that is a reach is smarter than saving the scholarship for the next year? I have never understood the rationale of filling spots just for the sake of filling spots. Guys 75-85 on the list typically aren't going to be difference makers. To me it makes more sense to five Mazour a scholarship than it does to give one to Vaha.
There's no reason that 86th guy has to be a reach. Frost should probably already even know at this point there's going to be a lot of attrition from now until fall of next year. We could recruit 30 guys this year and I still think we'd be under the roster limit by fall next year. This staff should already know we need 10 + more quality recruits this year. There's no reason for any of them to be reaches.
 

oldjar07

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7 of the top 10 return, 4 of them are at OT. Wilson, Raridon and little Farniok in the middle. Plus Hunter Miller.
Some of these guys on the offensive line, especially ones who've been here for a few years and haven't pushed for playing time on a historically bad Oline are going to be candidates for attrition. That leaves room for both a couple more jucos and freshman.