Saunders
Heisman Trophy Winner
Bingo. Cav's first class are Redshirt Sophomores, so if the older guys are that un-talented, then they should be benched.
Riley Voices OLine Concerns
- Thread starter Mavric
- Start date
spurs1990
All-Conference
Coaches can just coach eh? Guess we better fire the staff because Tommy didn't turn into a pocket passer then. It's not a cop out. You recruit kids who fit the bill and you should be judged on that. Just because the nuances of offensive line aren't obvious to the average fan doesn't mean there isn't a style of player they want to recruit as opposed to who was already there. That's why coaches get time and not just a year or two (in rational fan bases). Cav is doing stuff right aka recruiting. Other coaches got canned because they weren't doing that. Cav just seems to be the next scape goat.
I guess going into this Fall they will be redshirt sophomores. They'll have their shot. Seems like good competition going on at this point.
Saunders
Heisman Trophy Winner
C It's not just the fans talking about the weakness of the OL, the local media guys have been on it too. Hell, Sean Callahan and crew have been talking about it almost weekly on their podcast.
The run game is average at best, they still can't block a screen, and without a mobile QB to bail out of sacks, the pass pro has to improve.
You can try to spin it by deflecting to Tommy, but the fact is, the OL hasn't improved (some would say it's regressed) at all from Cotton's units. Cav's recruiting farily well, sure. But you have to develop too.
Banker and Reed were let go for not producing, and at this point in time, Cav's in the same boat. He seems like a nice dude, but just being nice doesn't win football games.
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Dansker
Starter
Riley won't be either if he finishes .500 could very well end up becoming Solich 2.0 but worse. I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm trying to be optimistic but I know the kind of HC we have.
I don't care if he's naughty or nice, he has a proven record as a career loser not a proven winner. I need results, not talk and I need them this season.
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spurs1990
All-Conference
I wasn't spinning anything to Tommy. I was attempting to say that you have to recruit players that fit your needs. You can't turn a player into something they are not. Tommy did some things extremely well, but those great strengths didn't meet what the coaches wanted the offense to be. Definitely was not my intention to seemingly rip TA, more of you need to find players who fit your style. Development will only get you so far and TA was nothing more than my example of that. My bad, hopefully that is more clear than the first go around.
I like what Mav posted in a new thread where it stated recruiting for your system is overrated unless you look at QB and OL. It is very important to find the right kind of player to match your need. Not all 6'3 300 and above pound guys are created the same. We might like to think they can all be molded into exactly what you want, but the complexity of the position can not be understated.
Could Cav probably be developing them quicker? Maybe, but I'm not entirely sure who you want to come in here and fix the players that everyone is calling soft and not gifted (i.e. Knevel). I'm not sure we will be able to answer system vs. personnel. I guess maybe the only way to find that out would be to fire him and inevitably be disappointed that these same players are who they are.
Is it Fall yet? We need something else to talk about
Saunders
Heisman Trophy Winner
Follow up. Was it "nuances of the offensive line" that caused us to get stonewalled by a bad Tennessee defense that had given up 1055 yards rushing (6.46 ypr) against Kentucky, Missouri, and Vandy in the 3 games prior to playing us?
It's not like we're throwing a bunch of low 2* or 3* guys out there either. Here's the scholarship guys on the roster, excluding the latest class.
Broc Bando - 3* 0.8412
Jalin Barnett - 4* 0.9207
Brain Brokop - 3* 0.8847
Michael Decker - 3* 0.8544
Tanner Farmer - 4* 0.9021
Matt Farniok - 4* 0.9049
Jerald Foster - 3* 0.8708
Nick Gates - 4* 0.8929
Christian Gaylord - 3* 0.8882
David Knevel - 3* 0.8765
John Raridon - 4* 0.9435
Boe Wilson - 3* 0.8559
Not exactly garbage.
It's not like we're throwing a bunch of low 2* or 3* guys out there either. Here's the scholarship guys on the roster, excluding the latest class.
Broc Bando - 3* 0.8412
Jalin Barnett - 4* 0.9207
Brain Brokop - 3* 0.8847
Michael Decker - 3* 0.8544
Tanner Farmer - 4* 0.9021
Matt Farniok - 4* 0.9049
Jerald Foster - 3* 0.8708
Nick Gates - 4* 0.8929
Christian Gaylord - 3* 0.8882
David Knevel - 3* 0.8765
John Raridon - 4* 0.9435
Boe Wilson - 3* 0.8559
Not exactly garbage.
Saunders
Heisman Trophy Winner
And for the record, I don't put all of the rushing game troubles on the OL. We have the least imaginative running game I've seen at Nebraska in a long time. We run the dive plays with our fast guys, and when we finally break out a toss, it's with Ozigbo to the short side against Ohio State.
spurs1990
All-Conference
Could have fooled me by reading a lot of posts on here!
I could be way off on this, but aren't those projections of where the players will be by the time they exit the program? Like what their contribution level could be? If so, our line at this point is still filled with juniors and under. Should they have been expected to be at their optimal performance level by their sophomore year last year? Kids have ups and downs. Inconsistency and drop offs are to be expected. Last year seems like a whole lot of growing pain and things to learn from.
I just see too many reasons personally to give more time. My opinion doesn't really matter in the end and I traditionally lean towards more time than not enough. Could be a fault, but I'm fine with that.
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TonyStalloni
All-Conference
I remember this play. I don't remember if it was Tommy or Ryker behind center. Is it possible that an audible was called since OSU knew Oz was the running back and had loaded the middle? I'd like to give the coaches more credit than your statement. The results of any one play are often more than the coaches play call.
Saunders
Heisman Trophy Winner
Maybe? It would be a weird time to break out a play that we've never used before, but IDK.
I have that game on my youtube channel, but I don't wanna watch that bludgeoning again to find the scenario.
Nebraska fans, on the whole, have been incredibly patient the last two decades. The droning of doomsayers on the internet isn't really a fair way to color any fan base.
I think Cav deserves some more time, but in my opinion, his unit has yet to perform at the level they need to. We're continuing a trend that's been prevalent around Nebraska for awhile - average to slightly above average line play. And, personally, I've been underwhelmed by Cav's unit thus far. The recruiting is making up for it in some capacity.
He very well could be the next scapegoat if there isn't marked improvement, but I think Riley would like to avoid that for a few reasons, most notably that several of the guys he brought here to build this program have been let go. It shows a desire to win but I think it also shows some judgement errors.
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I'm pretty neutral on Cav at the moment. I think the line has been underwhelming but I think a lot of that is the scheme we run so I don't know if a lot of the blame can be put on him. My biggest complaint is I don't think his reasoning for his player selection holds water but that more of a minor issue.
However, I think he is getting a bit too much credit for his recruiting. For sure as it pertains to who we've actually signed. He seems to be well-liked by recruits and he had us in on a couple bigger guys but the guys he's actually been responsible for bringing in haven't been all that highly-rated. Perhaps they will out-perform their rating but it's kind of an unknown at this point.
Star talent is looking good and should continue to get better
The players listed above are:
Freshman - Bando, Brokop, Farnoik, Rairdon, Wilson
Sophmore - Barnett, Decker, Gaylord
Junior - Farmer, Gates, Foster
Senior - Knevel
The bigger concern is that most of these players are young and the 3 top rated players are all underclassmen. Healthy players and talent that has been around the program an additional year will make Cav look better in 2017 - 2018 will be even better with the combination of talent and upperclassmen depth.
spurs1990
All-Conference
This isn't directed at you, necessarily, but at the theme of your post. It's one that's been around the program for a long time now.
At some point, talented youth and getting players healthy is no longer an excuse for the current line under performing. We've had almost two decades of not getting important recruits, certain recruits not panning out, linemen transferring and various injuries. "Next year," as it relates to offensive linemen, has grown old.