Grading the 2012 Season

[JTrain]

Here are mine. C is average. Copy and paste and add your own grades.

Offensive Line: C (75/100)

There were times when they really got into a rhythm and the run blocking looked legitimately good. Pass blocking was below average and at times awful.

2013 Outlook: C, I don't see any sure-fire recruits that will definitely improve things, and it appears Barney's back.

Wide Receivers: B+ (88/100)

It was a very good year overall for these guys. Bell is a star. Turner shows flashes of brilliance. Enunwa was inconsistent but made some big plays.

2013 Outlook: A-, Turner and Enunwa have eight months to improve their games. They both have a great niche to fill: Turner is the shifty punt returner type that you get the ball to in space, Enunwa the big body that can go up for the deep jump ball or endzone fade. There is potential to be the best group of receivers ever at Nebraska. It's a shame we can't expect much from the pass blocking.

Tight Ends: B (83/100)

Despite the drop in the bowl game and the crap he gets, Cotton is a good blocker and has some of the best hands on the team. Reed had a decent year and improved his blocking overall.

2013 Outlook: C-, Jake Long and who else? Someone will have to fill me in.

Running Backs: A (93/100)

Not much to add. Special year for this position.

2013 Outlook: A-, Losing Rex is painful, but Abdullah is very good and in my opinion the ceiling is a little higher for Heard. I could be wrong.

Quarterback: B (85/100)

There are plenty of fans that will hate Taylor no matter what. He improved a lot and without his running ability and clutch plays in several games, we would have been 7-5. Some of his big errors were just terrible choices and some were situations he never should have been put into.

2013 Outlook: B+, Here's to another off-season of improving.

Playcalling: B- (80/100)

Beck is a smart guy and he is learning and will be learning for several years. I think he can turn out to be a top ten FBS OC down the road.

2013 Outlook: B

OFFENSE OVERALL: B (83/100) (2013 Outlook: B+)

Defensive Line: D+ (68/100)

Eric Martin had a great year. Baker was solid but still not the breakout everyone kept hoping for. The rest were inconsistent to poor.

2013 Outlook: C-, I actually think Ankrah could turn out to be a great DE despite having some real issues at times this year. Other than that, I'm in the dark, but I know losing Martin stings.

Cornerbacks: B- (80/100)

There was some clear improvement and Evans looked great at times. The consistency wasn't quite there and losing Dennard was a big deal. SJB never broke out like I was hoping.

2013 Outlook: B, A lot is riding on just how good Charles Jackson will actually turn out to be.

Safeties: C+ (78/100)

Also pretty inconsistent. Stafford was all-conference at times and completely terrible at others. I think we'll miss both these guys but I hope the younger guys have higher ceilings.

2013 Outlook: C

Linebackers: D+ (68/100)

It seemed like there was some real improvement as the season progressed with these guys, particularly Whaley, but then they were totally outclassed in the CCG. Smart guys but the linebacker instinct and more importantly athleticism wasn't quite there.

2013 Outlook: C, Can't wait to get some young athletes in there, even with the growing pains.

Playcalling: C (74/100)

Supposedly Bo was calling the plays throughout although I haven't seen this officially confirmed. Unfortunately I did not often see defensive genius in this playcalling. Too many times it was too predictable in key situations (eg.the long TD middle screen when everyone knew we would bring the blitz again).

2013 Outlook: B-, Bo will go back to the drawing board and fix some things. I haven't lost hope.

DEFENSE OVERALL: C- (72/100) (2013 Outlook: C+)

Kick Returns: C- (70/100)

Kick Coverage: C- (72/100)

Punt Returns: D- (60/100)

Punt Coverage: D- (60/100)

Punting: D (63/100)

Kicking: C (76/100)

SPECIAL TEAMS OVERALL: D (64/100) (2013 Outlook: C-)

 

[The Dude]

I'll grade the 4 most important factors in football:

Offense:

Turnovers (giveaways): F

Big plays: A-

Defense:

Turnovers (takeaways): C-

Big plays (given up): F

 

[The Dude]

Offensive Line: C-

Defensive Line: C

Something seems a little off here. Our defensive line was mostly abysmal, and our offensive line led the way for one of the best rushing attacks in the nation. At worst, the handful of breakdowns in pass pro puts them in B territory.

 

[JTrain]

B means clearly above average. I wouldn't rank our offensive line as clearly above average by any stretch. You say they "led the way" for our rushing attack but I saw it more as having great running backs and a running QB who made big plays even with slim holes or having to creating their own holes. Also, I would say the pass protection against decent defenses was worse than just a "handful of breakdowns". But I could be wrong.

As for the defensive line, Eric Martin had a huge year and Baker was pretty reliably good throughout. Meredith actually improved a little I think even though he still had his bad moments. I would definitely not agree with "mostly abysmal" if we're discussing the season as a whole (CCG was a different story).

 

[The Dude]

I'd hate to be an offensive lineman here. To have a very good season by most standards only to have a fan base unwilling to give you any credit. Last year it wasn't that we had a good line, it was that Rex is great at making something out of nothing. Then Rex goes down - it's not that we have a good line, it's that we have 3 other guys who are also great at making something out of nothing.

At some point we just have to admit our guys had one hell of a season. It won't hurt anything to admit it, because it's true. Demonstrably so.

Maybe it's because our defensive line made the most mediocre offensive lines look elite. By contrast, our offensive line does look ordinary.

 

[JTrain]

...a fan base unwilling to give you any credit.

There were times when they really got into a rhythm and the run blocking looked legitimately good.

 

[HANC]

I don't disagree with any of the OP grades...fairly close I guess.... I would mayber change a few, but not enough worth posting.

I would change a few projections for the 2013 outlooks though:

OL : I really think that it will be Barney's best chance of having a great line. If not, he should be looking. 5 seniors return, with a healthy Jake Cotton as a junior (who looked pretty good).... and Pelini may not even start at C, if Pensick stays there. I will be shocked if the expecatations are very high for this group !! I would project a B+

QB: A fair grade for this year, but as a 3 year starter, with probably his best OL and best WR yet, I would expect at least an A-

CB: I think that you made a mistake by making your "outlook" a lower grade than this year. Our top 4 CBs are back. Evans, Green, SJB, and Jackson. They led the nation in pass efficiency (in a running league of course), but to think that they will get "worse" is a little harsh. A few of the plays in the Cap 1 bowl, they were in position and jsut missed ball by fractions

of inches. Wasn't like guys running open all over field because of CBs.

Other than that, not much to add

 

[JTrain]

I don't disagree with any of the OP grades...fairly close I guess.... I would mayber change a few, but not enough worth posting.

I would change a few projections for the 2013 outlooks though:

OL : I really think that it will be Barney's best chance of having a great line. If not, he should be looking. 5 seniors return, with a healthy Jake Cotton as a junior (who looked pretty good).... and Pelini may not even start at C, if Pensick stays there. I will be shocked if the expecatations are very high for this group !! I would project a B+

QB: A fair grade for this year, but as a 3 year starter, with probably his best OL and best WR yet, I would expect at least an A-

CB: I think that you made a mistake by making your "outlook" a lower grade than this year. Our top 4 CBs are back. Evans, Green, SJB, and Jackson. They led the nation in pass efficiency (in a running league of course), but to think that they will get "worse" is a little harsh. A few of the plays in the Cap 1 bowl, they were in position and jsut missed ball by fractions

of inches. Wasn't like guys running open all over field because of CBs.

Other than that, not much to add

For some reason, I thought Evans was a senior. That definitely changes my projection for next year. chuckleshuffle

 

[The Dude]

...a fan base unwilling to give you any credit.

There were times when they really got into a rhythm and the run blocking looked legitimately good.

Duly noted.

To me it just seems comical that anyone would say our defensive line did better than our offensive line this year.

Besides Martin, who I agree had a great year, there was very little to write home about on the defensive line. As a group they consistently got pushed off the ball, struggled getting off blocks, and we generally had a porous rush defense with virtually no pass rush beyond Martin.

On the other hand, our offensive line consistently did a good job matching up with defenders ("getting a hat on a hat" in coach-speak), and they generally did a good job sustaining their blocks, which gave our running backs every opportunity to find a crease and go. Yes, our running backs did a good job taking those opportunities, but that doesn't take away from the offensive line and the job they did.

You can nit-pick their pass protection, specifically I think our tackles lack the athleticism to match up with speedy rush ends, but generally I think they did a pretty good job with pass protection too. It's hard to put all the blame on the offensive line when we know Abdullah struggled at times picking up the blitz, and it seems Martinez still has sub-par pocket awareness. He still gets gets happy feet at times when his line has a perfect pocket set up for him.

 

[beanman]

I give the cheerleaders a B+ and the Scarlets a B. If they show some more skin next year I'll up their grades.

 

[kchusker_chris]

Special Teams: D

Could have been a D- or F, but Maher responded to a horrid start with a much better finish, however the shanked punts early in the seasons were too much to overcome to finish the season in "C" territory. Fielding punts looked to be an almost impossible task for the better part of 7 games, which led to us fair catching every single punt for the second half of the year. This meant opponent punt coverage could be relaxed, and ultimately we saw that in the bowl game w/ a blocked punt for what should have been a TD.

2013 Outlook: D+, new kicker, freshman long snapper, same coaching, same returners. Don't expect much improvement, but can't imagine it being as bad as this season.

 

[junior4949]

Putting the defensive grade at a C seems extremely generous. Statistically, this was the second worst defense Bo has put on the field since being at Nebraska as head coach. If one goes back through the total defensive stats in his time here, the average total defensive rating is 38.4. Our total defensive rating this year was 56. Then, one has to look at some of the performances this year where we had somewhere around three of the ten worst in Husker history. An F might be a bit harsh, so I'd put them at a solid D-.

 

[Duke Silver]

Offensive Line: A-

2 1,000 yard rushers since when??? anything less than an A is a joke on the fans behalf. Could use a little better pass protection.

Wide Receivers: A+

Best in b1g and coming back

Tight Ends: A+

cant ask much more of the TE

Running Backs: A+

Def A+++++ no need to explain

Quarterback: B

Better decision making

Playcalling: A-

Stick with the run to set up the pass

Defensive Line: B-

Starts up front, if you cant accept that you dont know football sorry

Cornerbacks: A-

Always seemed to be in position, QB always had time to pass- see above

2013 Outlook: B, A lot is riding on just how good Charles Jackson will actually turn out to be.

Safeties: A+

Always in position, QB had too much time to pass, see D LINE

Linebackers: A-

hard to tackle when DLINE getting thrown in your face, seems like we just need to add 1 more guy to the box, which isn't their fault, great year by compton

Playcalling: ??????????????

Considering at the very least 90 percent of you don't know what play was even called on defense, I hope you dont even grade this

The scheme works when the DLINE can make plays. Just was not the case this year or last. Doesnt help when STEIN goes down.

DEFENSE OVERALL: B-

 

[JTrain]

...a fan base unwilling to give you any credit.

There were times when they really got into a rhythm and the run blocking looked legitimately good.

Duly noted.

To me it just seems comical that anyone would say our defensive line did better than our offensive line this year.

Besides Martin, who I agree had a great year, there was very little to write home about on the defensive line. As a group they consistently got pushed off the ball, struggled getting off blocks, and we generally had a porous rush defense with virtually no pass rush beyond Martin.

On the other hand, our offensive line consistently did a good job matching up with defenders ("getting a hat on a hat" in coach-speak), and they generally did a good job sustaining their blocks, which gave our running backs every opportunity to find a crease and go. Yes, our running backs did a good job taking those opportunities, but that doesn't take away from the offensive line and the job they did.

You can nit-pick their pass protection, specifically I think our tackles lack the athleticism to match up with speedy rush ends, but generally I think they did a pretty good job with pass protection too. It's hard to put all the blame on the offensive line when we know Abdullah struggled at times picking up the blitz, and it seems Martinez still has sub-par pocket awareness. He still gets gets happy feet at times when his line has a perfect pocket set up for him.

You swayed me a bit. I don't claim to be an expert on line play and the only time I really focus on the offensive line in particular is when I re-watch the games on DVR/PC, which I only got the chance to do with 6-7 games this season. I still get the feeling you're overrating pass protection a bit, as the guards had their share of missed assignments too. But that's maybe nitpicking.

D-line--yeah, I sobered up and reassessed. Forgot how really awful the run D was. Martin's highlight real was sticking out in my mind and it put my overall grade off balance.

 

[JTrain]

Putting the defensive grade at a C seems extremely generous. Statistically, this was the second worst defense Bo has put on the field since being at Nebraska as head coach. If one goes back through the total defensive stats in his time here, the average total defensive rating is 38.4. Our total defensive rating this year was 56. Then, one has to look at some of the performances this year where we had somewhere around three of the ten worst in Husker history. An F might be a bit harsh, so I'd put them at a solid D-.

Yeah, you could argue lower. But you can't ignore the pass defense was legitimately good until the bowl game. And the rest of the guys had their moments (particularly Martin), albeit they got exposed against the top-level competition.

I still think a low C is reasonable, taking into account the season as a whole. Three games were very solid Fs for sure, but there were plenty of moments of decentness in the other eleven.