...have a monster senior season. Is it too far-fetched to say this kid could finish as a Top-5 linebacker in Husker History? Kind of seems like a stretch, but if he stays on his current trajectory and the Huskers have a turn-around season, I'd say it's possible.
Mo Barry could potentially...
- Thread starter jarens
- Start date
I like Barry, but he's not cracking the top 5 all-time LBs. Off the top of my head: Tom Novak, Jerry Murtaugh, Ed Stewart, Lavonte David, Terrell Farley, Travis Hill. Marc Munford, Jamel Williams.... and that's not even counting the 5-2 defensive ends who played like LBs, such as Willie Harper or Broderick Thomas.
Amazing to me how fast some people forget or ignore Husker history!!!!
Off the top of my head, I would certainly put his position coach in the top three. You forgot Barrett Ruud.
Regardless of his place in Husker history, he could certainly play his way onto an All-Big Ten First Team and potentially garner some All-American honors, as well.
Despite the record books, I think Mo is/has been the catalyst for DONU becoming what it once was. He is blue collar, take no ****, hit harder than the opposing attacker, kinda leader we have been needing since the early 2000s. He has fought to become a TRUE blackshirt even when those above him didn't understand blackshirt mentality. Mo should be remembered as an individual who put the "N" above and before the name on the back. He is truly the closest to a Blackshirt Husker than anyone we have seen in 15 years.
I have nothing against Barry - he's an excellent player. But the OP said "in Husker history" and the world didn't start turning in 2004.
I know you should tread lightly when talking about knocking NU All-Time Defenders down a peg, but admittedly I wanted to stir the pot a little bit. That said, I still think it's possible for Mo to finish high on the list, and I'm using Lavante David as the comparison. David was a special player, and rather quickly he was regarded by all as a top LB of all time with only 2 years of work. Barry may not have the same "look" or abilities on the field like David, but he can have as big of as impact for Nebraska as David did. He could match David's senior season statistically speaking, and have an All-American campaign if Nebraska ups the winning total. Factor in that he helped pull Nebraska out of the mud and back to its rightful place, as dew4red mentioned, and Barry will be fondly remembered. I'm too young pre-Terrell Farley, but I see how highly-regarded David is compared to the previous LB's and think that Barry could be not too far behind.
I like Mo a lot, but I don't know if he has the players around him to really get some All-American looks.
I know some of the names that have been mentioned earlier, but the in the 90's and early 2000's Nebraska had some dudes playing LB. Thomas, Croel, Hill, Alberts, Harris, Jones, Stewart, Williams, Farley, Foreman, Polk, Johnson, Shanle, Rudd, Stella, Williams, Bradley.
Mo could help turn things around, but to get some post season honors he needs to make some game changing plays during the season. Dudes who really did that were L. David, T. Farley and D. Williams.
Hope it happens.
If, and a big if, that D-Line plays up to a “new” potential, Mo could have a HUGE year!!!
Is that Corso’s O face/vinegar strokes? It’s funny and disturbing at the same time, kinda like Gretna’s avatar
If, and a big if, that D-Line plays up to a “new” potential, Mo could have a HUGE year!!!
He was neither. He was safety. I remember that inaugural Big 12 Championship game in 1996 where Texas upset the Huskers, safety Mike Minter played linebacker that game due to all the guys with the flu. I may be mis-remembering, but I think I am right.
If he has a great year, that will mean a couple things: i. our defensive line vastly improved; and ii. we could and probably should win the West. So, yeah I’m excited to see him have a huge year this year, but he won’t deserve to be placed in rarified air with one great season.
Although he won the Butkus Award, I always thought of Alberts as strictly a rush end. He was very rarely put into pass coverage and main assignment on every down was to get the QB. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t a great player, just that he wasn’t a linebacker.
Maybe it’s just me, but I never considered Willie Harper and Broderick Thomas as linebackers..They were Rushends in my book just as Trev Alberts..
You're probably right. Broderick Thomas was dropped into pass coverage from time to time but wasn't very good at it. I think Harper would have had a lot of pass coverage responsibilities if he would have played in a later era, but at the time he was mostly a DE - and an outstanding one at that.
Yep. OLB in a 5-2 is way different than it is in a 3-4. There's a good reason why our transition on the d-line when we went to the 4-3 was so smooth.
I love Mo and his attitude, but I think we may be forgetting how many good players we've had. I can't see Mo passing up any of these guys:
Novack
Alberts
Polk
Ruud
David
Foreman
Munford
Murtaugh
Demario Williams
Maybe he can get to the level of guys like:
Ortiz
Travis Hill
Ed Stewart
Farley
But even that might be a tall task.
Novack
Alberts
Polk
Ruud
David
Foreman
Munford
Murtaugh
Demario Williams
Maybe he can get to the level of guys like:
Ortiz
Travis Hill
Ed Stewart
Farley
But even that might be a tall task.