Husker in WI

57 minutes ago, Decked said:

I imagine we land 2/3 of Sanders/Ruggeroli. Dylan Riley the Boise State RB is slated to visit as well. I don’t get the take on Sanders. We have so many DBs the last two cycles. 

 

Brings us to 29.  leaves us with no DL in this class. Wonder if they go after a portal DT. 

I know Cooper loves his under the radar athletes, but I'm really wondering if a few guys in the WR/DB mix in this class committed without waiting for confirmation on their spot. Wouldn't shock me if a few guys currently committed don't actually sign with us and end up flipping to G5 schools between the Dec and Feb signing days. No inside info though, just the only way the numbers and offers out there make sense to me. Also wouldn't shock me if they do sign and the lower rated guys pan out the best.

1 hour ago, MyBloodIsRed16 said:

I think he is close to graduating so he could be a grad transfer if he felt he needed to play another season. 

Could also transfer down a level I think - not sure if that's something he would be interested in, but he could dominate and probably have some actual fun playing QB again.

Just now, chamrocck said:

What’s the word on McCall?  I haven’t watched him much. System QB or could he play here?  

I think he's a bit of a system QB, could probably still play here - but has no reason to. The people talking about McCall coming here in the past were suggesting it if we hired his OC instead of Whipple, or HC instead of Rhule. As far as I know he has no ties here. And I guess neither did Thompson or Sims, but I just don't see it.

4 minutes ago, GSG said:

DJ Uiagalelei back in the portal. May try the draft though 

I'd guess it's the draft or following his coach to MSU.

I don't know how the voting works here. But it's weird to me that you have a unanimous first-team setter (Haworth), and non-unanimous first-team setter (Reilly) and the non-unanimous selection is the Setter of the Year. Seems like Reilly probably should have been unanimous as well - not that it makes a ton of difference, first team is first team.

10 hours ago, chamrocck said:

Omar Brown played well this season. Will miss him. Under the radar guy who balled out. 

Not to downplay any of the others, but yeah him and Q are the ones who will be tough to replace on the field. As long as Gifford comes back I still feel good about the secondary, but Brown and Q were undoubtedly our top Safety and Corner by pretty big margins. 

46 minutes ago, Huskerfollower4life said:

https://www.ketv.com/article/nebraska-husker-nick-henrich-retirement-football/45989420 Nick Heinrich retired!!! Multiple knee injuries 

Yeah, I would have been surprised if he tried to come back. Sounds like his last recovery was really difficult, and he's just been beat up his whole career. Grinding 9-10 months of rehab and then trying to get into playing shape to maybe play a game or two at the end of the year when you'll be 24 would be insane.

One thing to keep in mind if the commitments feel slow overall, only the players who've had a coaching change in the last month are actually in the portal right now. The others have announced their intention (and are undoubtedly being recruited), but won't announce a commitment until Monday at the earliest to make it clear that absolutely no tampering is going on. At all.

12 minutes ago, gossamorharpy said:

You'd think we could get creative and cook up a screen for bonner given his skillset.  

I do not have actual evidence to back this up, but I feel like most teams have gone away from screens under Center. It's hard to just let the DL by and attack second level guys when your QB has a one yard head start rather than five from the shotgun. And seems like Bonner was either out wide when we had 21 personnel and went empty, or in a regular FB position with the QB under Center. 

Not saying it can't or shouldn't be done, but feels like it would need to be from a pistol set or with Bonner as more of an H-Back. Even just incorporating him into the regular passing game, we're usually going for a deep shot if we're passing with a FB in the game. I do think the Offensive staff had to revert to what can we execute given who is able to play, instead of being able to really maximize skillsets - hopefully that changes this next year. 

1 minute ago, gobiggergoredder said:

The one for me is the routes the receivers run.  You can't tell me there is nothing that can be done to get our athletes wide open.  (Picks, Crossing, Screens....etc).

We run a some mesh and it is so terrible every time.

This quote from his HS head coach the OWH article made me laugh:

Quote

“He’ll have to work on his pass pro and I can’t speak to that at all,” Straight said.

They only threw the ball 45 times all year. I've just never heard a coach say something like "can't speak to that at all" regarding something as basic as pass protection. But props for knowing what he knows, I feel like a lot of coaches would claim something like "his pass protection is incredible, we just don't need it" or some BS. I'd guess the lack of pass protection reps on film is a large part in some projecting him as an interior guy. I think he can be a tackle, but he's not going to be a day one starter there.

Gotta assume this is related:

1 minute ago, admo said:

I don't get the idea of 15 more practices thing.  I never did.  Usually at the end of the year, the starters are looking to heal up injuries and not go full out and practice more.  Sure, they would love to enjoy a trip to California or Florida, play a game with smiles. 

 

But also, many bowl games are not as viewed as how important the game used to be. Since McCaffery skipped his bowl game with Stanford to get ready for the NFL draft, tons of players have done the same thing since (and to avoid injuries).  It's really gotten bad the last 2 years.  Remember when KSU was to play Alabama, and several players from the Tide chose not to play?  Alabama still rolled over KSU.  

 

It really stinks when you get a matchup the looks fun on paper, and the QB for the other team chooses not to play, and their RB and 3 best players on defense.  

 

The extra Husker practices from Bowl games is just some extra conditioning for the healthy Husker players, and gives the staff something to do (and Nebraska writers something to write about).  For the fans it's another game to look forward to and another reason to drink in mid December lol.  I'm joking, I'm kidding... but there is a little truth in that.  

Bowl games also don't count for redshirts though, so especially being a lower tier bowl if we went 6-6 it's still really helpful for development. Honestly more so if guys sit out - the game itself is kinda secondary, an extra 15 practices for guys like Jaidyn Doss would be great.

Especially with the playoffs expanding, I think the rest of the bowl games will turn into more looks at the young guys on your roster. Even if your seniors want to play, why not use a free game to get game reps for your underclassmen?

21 minutes ago, DevoHusker said:

salty language opinion

 

 

 

 

 

I am not sure where that 40 number is coming from, there are 12 DL on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd teams. Half are edge players - so are there 6 better DTs in the Big Ten? Quite possibly. I'd put them over both of the OSU DTs on the 3rd team, but that was a top-3 defense in the country so they get the benefit of the doubt.

7 minutes ago, BlackHillsHusker said:

Weird that White didn't even seem to get an interview there.  

Even if the defense was good while he was there, I think ties to the previous regime are a negative in this case.

One of the problems is the top-4 scoring defenses are all in the Big Ten too, and 23 out of the 33 selections come from those schools. Then you've got some obvious guys like Newton from Illinois and Nubin from Minnesota, and there's just not a lot of spots left. I do think Nash and Ty deserve at least 3rd team though, and it is kinda dumb that your potential accolades depend on how other players perform.

It's apples to oranges, but Reimer did not have as good a year as the DL or several members of the secondary. He did have a good year though, and LB was relatively weak in the Big Ten.

3 minutes ago, soup said:

Also is an indicator of how deep the BIG10 is in defensive talent.  My goodness.

Michigan had 3 defensive tackles between the first and second teams, and honestly it's deserved. I do think Hutmacher/Robinson should have made 3rd team easily though, and there's an argument for Newsome and Gifford.

2 minutes ago, ChubbaWubba said:

Fire and hire before next week’s transfer portal bonanza. Not a quality QB on earth that would come to be in Satterfield’s offense

I mean, Cade McNamara had options and chose to play for Brian Ferentz. Anything is possible.

7 minutes ago, The Murphinator said:

Nobody really talking about it much but we need a linebacker or two.

Yeah, I like Wright and Gbayor, and Bullock started slow but I thought was solid at the end of the year. But there is no depth, especially if Gbayor stays at Jack rather than true LB. Rhule had some nice things to say about Dylan Rogers and maybe Eric Fields grows into LB instead of Rover. But it's still scary thin, and I don't think the 2024 class will be much help. Prude is interesting but needs development time, and McGahee/Lee seem like Jacks and not LBs. We need at least a rotational guy from the portal.

3 minutes ago, VectorVictor said:

 

It's too bad we have such inept leadership (specifically--the regents) at DoNU that we can't get our academics up to snuff to get in line in front of a 5-7 Minnesota team. 

 

What happened to the pride of our academic All-Americans? We haven't heard **** about that in some time...

We still lead the country in the as far as I know, but the number of Academic All-Americans has no bearing on APR. It's all about retention - even graduation is a different metric. So it favors schools with stability.

The APR is calculated as follows:

• Each student-athlete receiving athletically related financial aid earns one point for staying in school and one point for being academically eligible.
• A team’s total points are divided by points possible and then multiplied by 1,000 to equal the team’s Academic Progress Rate.
• In addition to a team’s current-year APR, its rolling four-year APR is also used to determine accountability.

Academic All-Americans also have no bearing on quality of the education. They're awesome, and a thing to be proud of, but it just means the student-athletes do really well in the classroom - not that the school itself is academically excellent. Nebraska is fine academically, Minnesota is better. Which doesn't matter at all for bowl game consideration. All that matters for APR is your scholarship athletes staying in school and staying eligible to play (which is a pretty low bar).

16 minutes ago, gobiggergoredder said:

What happened to Chief Borders?  He was on all the accolades in fall camp and he hardly made the field at all.

 

Given they played so many people on D, that can't be a good sign for him. 

2 minutes ago, Crusader Husker said:

Wasn't there injury issues?

That was my recollection - a couple guys played less down the stretch, and I expect many were due to injuries. The ones that weren't will probably clarify some things by entering the portal.

I'll be that guy - related to Ryan? 

Just now, BigRedBuster said:

I thought only recruits with an offer could come on an official visit.

 

I'm sure he does have an offer, it just may not be committable pending how he looks on campus. Everyone has an offer these days, just not everyone has the green light to take it.

16 minutes ago, TGHusker said:

It is frustrating seeing non-traditional football schools or basketball schools being ranked in the Top 25 and while Nebraska is far beyond the horizon.   

I hope Rhule can turn it around by year 3 so we can see our name on that list again.   I thought Rhule was a great hire at the time.   The last 4 games have shaken my confidence in Rhule.  I like what he is saying and the culture he's trying to build but man - some of the in game decisions have me baffled.  We really need that 2nd year jump - but it will have to come with a much harder schedule. 

People keep saying this, and I'm not sure I buy it. You trade one game against a truly elite team (Michigan) for 2 next year (OSU and USC), but USC also won't have Caleb Williams. They are still way better than us, but probably not actually comparable to Michigan/OSU. The hardest games on the schedule are harder next year, but the low end is easier and the way it breaks down is so much better. Non P5 opener, no road game until week 5. It is a schedule set up to build momentum.

Here's my guess at most difficult to easiest, with the benefit of hindsight for 2023. Also trying to take into account how teams were performing at the time and when the game happened, which adds quite a bit of subjectivity and is impossible to project for 2024. For example, Minnesota was pretty bad but drawing an experienced Big Ten team on the road for week 1 was brutal. There is a huge step down from the toughest to 2nd toughest both years, but next year does have a couple better teams and then another drop.

As has been the case for a long time now, 4-8 is possible. But 9-3 is completely attainable too, and we could be bowl eligible before we face any of the toughest teams on our schedule. Our first 7 games are the 7 easiest - so if we're sitting at 4-3, it's not going to end well. But if we're 5-2 or 6-1 we'll have some momentum. I actually like how the schedule sets up, it at least gives us a chance to get rolling and see what happens.