LJS: State of the Huskers - Receivers

Mavric

Mavric

Yoda
Staff member
Experienced returners: Jordan Westerkamp, sr.; Brandon Reilly, sr.; Alonzo Moore, sr.; De'Mornay Pierson-El, jr.; Stanley Morgan, so.; Cethan Carter, sr.; Sam Cotton, sr.; Trey Foster, sr.

Significant losses: Taariq Allen, Jamal Turner.

Youth watch: Matt Snyder was a tight end Riley's staff recruited the heck out of, beating out Michigan's Jim Harbaugh for his services. He looks the part in practices. If he could start to find his groove this year during Carter's senior campaign, it would sure be a good sign for the future. Also, don't forget about Lavan Alston at wide receiver. He suffered a season-ending knee injury in fall camp and redshirted, but was another recruit Riley spent a lot of time on.

The conversation until spring ball is ... about how great this group of receivers could be if it finds its potential. Westerkamp, Reilly, Pierson-El, Morgan, Moore, Carter ... pretty nice list. The key will not be buying into their own hype. The guess is their position coach, Keith Williams, won't dare let them.
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LJS

 
Probably the strongest position group for talent and numbers. Close to 3 deep at every position if you include this years red shirts. Maybe deeper if we get a great class of freshmen.

 
I don't think we realize how lucky we are that we have who we have at WR.

The problem: Not having a QB to reliably feed them the ball.

 
I don't think some realize how lucky we are to have a QB athletic enough to extend plays long enough to make some of the throws he does.

 
Here's how I translate that personally. I realize it's not probably what you mean at all.

It means we have a QB so incapable of consistently finding his open man that his only hope is to improvise.

Tommy's throwing ability is not on par with a team that expects to live and breathe in the Top 25 with Riley's preferred offensive style. A game plan and his implementation like we saw against UCLA? That probably is good enough.

We'll see what happens next season. It's anyone's guess.

 
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Undone said:
Here's how I translate that personally. I realize it's not probably what you mean at all.

It means we have a QB so incapable of consistently finding his open man that his only hope is to improvise.

Tommy's throwing ability is not on par with a team that expects to live and breathe in the Top 25 with Riley's preferred offensive style. A game plan and his implementation like we saw against UCLA? That probably is good enough.

We'll see what happens next season. It's anyone's guess.
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Ummmm....no.

People on here scream and whine and cry wanting Tommy to "go through his progressions"...."find the second and third receiver"....bla bla bla.....

Well, that takes time. He knows very well where his first receiver is and can find him. His problem is that he makes a poor decision sometimes and throws to that receiver even if he is covered. When he does try to find the second or third receiver...you know...like we want him to.....he many times has to avoid a pass rush.

A much less mobile QB would have had WAY more sacks this year.

 
Fully agree that our line makes Tommy a "worse" QB than meets the eye at times.

Other times though, Tommy lobs the ball up for grab on those scrambles for interceptions, as opposed to just throwing it away when the pressure is on.

It's really on Riley at this point to fix things. The two options seem relatively clear in my opinion. Alter the game plan for Tommy a la our bowl game, or just throw O'Brien right in. No more of what we saw this season with trying to pound Tommy into a square hole.

 
Undone said:
Fully agree that our line makes Tommy a "worse" QB than meets the eye at times.

Other times though, Tommy lobs the ball up for grab on those scrambles for interceptions, as opposed to just throwing it away when the pressure is on.

It's really on Riley at this point to fix things. The two options seem relatively clear in my opinion. Alter the game plan for Tommy a la our bowl game, or just throw O'Brien right in. No more of what we saw this season with trying to pound Tommy into a square hole.
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Aren't you contradicting yourself? What you are describing is him making bad decisions instead of bad mechanics.

 
Undone said:
I don't think we realize how lucky we are that we have who we have at WR.

The problem: Not having a QB to reliably feed them the ball.
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You're taking this tangent pretty seriously.

Are you referring to what I'm quoting above? "Not having a QB to reliably feed them the ball" can boil down to inaccuracy, bad decisions, and not properly and consistently reading the field. Tommy embodies all three of those things, in my humble opinion.

The line is also to blame for our problems in the passing game. You were definitely right to point that out, and I agree.

 
If memory serves, the Illinois game was probably the foremost example. I remember many first downs where a pass was called on 1st down. Tommy had protection, didn't scan the field, and tried again and again to get the deep ball to Reilly.

A lot was wrong with our offense this season. Bad pass protection was a big one. Bad play selection was another. But I do stand by my take on Tommy's throwing abilities.

 
OK...I looked back at the other thread. I mistook you as the one that said "Mechanics" were the biggest problem for TA. I had said decision making is a bigger issue than "mechanics".

But...again...that was a comment to another poster...not you.

I think we probably are in agreement more than disagree.

 
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