Canadian Fan

To have 4-of-5 starting Offensive Linemen grade under "30" in pass protection is quite the indictment of Coach Austin. I would add that especially if Turner is battling an injury that is resulting in that type of performance, they need to give Banks all the #1 reps this week in an effort to get him ready for OU.

I'd rather see a 60%/20%/20% split as it's inevitable that one of the Top 3 will get knicked up and you need guys with real game snaps under their belt to be able to step in with confidence that they can do the job. Try to throw a guy intoa critical game who has been riding pine and you're far more likely to have them get anxious, get the 'yips' and fumble the rock.....

If there are two guys ahead of Stepp based on performance to date, that an optimistic sign!

With Benhart's slower feet (in fairness he was very young last year and a full offseason of S&C likely generated some improvement), I was wondering if Banks had any hope to unseat him at the RT position? Any thoughts on the guys who are 2's on depth chart and how close they are to making a move to at least be 1b's?

Yant?

Did Benhart slide to LT then?

That would be promising if we're actually 3-deep with Morrison, Ervin and Stepp.

He just needs to slow down a bit and play more in control....

E-4B Advanced Airborne Command Post based at Offutt.

Heinrich is a couple of inches taller, but I don’t think difference in weight is meaningful. I’d gladly trade good football instincts for a couple of inches of height any day of the week. That is not to say that Heinrich may not outperform Reimer in that area, just that I’d prefer the guy that recognizes the play faster to shoot the gap or beat the block, over the “taller” guy every time. That also leaves out the toughness factor. There were some pit bull ILB’s who were only 5’10” who were incredibly successful as they saw a 300lbs lineman and each time they believed they were tougher than them. Those are the guys you want on the field.

I would probably argue that QB depth means “multiple guys able to successfully execute the normal offence.” In this case the backups are extremely young and should AM2 go down for whatever reason (which we should all pray he doesn’t) I don’t think we’re anywhere close to that. That is not to say that if the OL executes to its potential that the backups can’t move the ball, just that the playbook needs to be drastically cut-down for both back up options (with Smothers likely requiring a higher run:pass ratio). Bottom line is if the OL was projected to be weak, this would be a bigger concert, but calling our QB Depth “good” requires a very optimistic world view.

So for the guys that know more about what is actually going on in Lincoln than I do.... In looking at the defensive roster, the more I dig into it, the more striking it appears the DL depth significantly exceeds the LB depth. More specifically, to my eye, it looks like you have 1 "sure thing" LB in Domann. Beyond that as you start looking for #2, #3 and #4, it appears there are a lot of significant question marks, especially after Honas's injury. On the other hand, when I look at the DL, it appears to me that there are 4-5 proven guys, and then you've got mooses like Nash who are showing glimpses of being pocket destroyers who have demonstrated enough talent that you have to get them on the field. My instinct based on both that depth chart and the size and strength of B1G offensive lines, is that we should be experimenting with 4-DL fronts (4-2-5?) as the base D for first and second downs, during Fall Camp to see how they perform versus the the formations that have traditionally been Chin's favourites. So my questions are: 1. Does anyone else agree (or disagree} with that assesment? 2. If it was your call (based on what you know now), what would you 2-Deep Defensive Depth Chart look like in your preferred base formation? 3. Do we think if Chin/Frost sees a similar talent split between the DL and the LB groups, is he flexible enough to build his base from there? Or as a 3-4 adherent, is it more likely he pushes talent development in his linebackers so he can run his preferred system?

I wasn’t sure if Banks was going to surprise and push Bernhardt at RT….

I agree....if you have a chance to add depth then you should.

You mean Lubick?