J-MAGIC

I think we have a higher level of talent than fans are letting on and I'd love to see 6 wins and some sort of bowl, which I think is very achievable against our schedule if we don't catch insane bad luck again. But mostly I just want to see the beginnings of a program that pays attention to details, is maximizing its resources, and not constantly stepping on rakes (which seems to be happening so far in one offseason at least).

9 hours ago, Dr. Strangelove said:

Nebraska beat out Missouri Southern State for this one. 

 

Matt Rhule is going to have to turn Nebraska into the best developmental program in the country with the talent they're bringing in. This is pretty pathetic.

Double post, whoops

9 hours ago, Dr. Strangelove said:

Nebraska beat out Missouri Southern State for this one. 

 

Matt Rhule is going to have to turn Nebraska into the best developmental program in the country with the talent they're bringing in. This is pretty pathetic.

You're in all three threads today whining about this. It's three guys out of the class with a bunch of other highly rated dudes. It's also June, so after more coaches see them they'll probably end up with more offers. We blindly chased star rankings under the last two coaches and half of the players bounced when they weren't immediate starters or never developed because they were overrated. Rhule clearly has a process here that has delivered proven results at other schools, so maybe give him a chance to prove it instead of being a giant baby?

I'm always excited for Husker football but I have no idea what to expect and am some mix of terrified, mildly optimistic, and completely numb to whatever happens

LSU's defense that year was like not even top 70 nationally. I think you can make the case that '19 LSU offense is the best ever, but that should not even be sniffing best team ever.

The last time we saw Chubba Purdy play significant snaps he was completing 50 percent of his passes for 4.13 yards per attempt against ACC competition. I have no idea if/how much he's improved or how camp will go but Thompson (and Smothers) have been significantly better than him when asked to play actual football on a field instead of combine numbers or 7 on 7. 

FWIW modern football positional value is pretty universally regarded as: QB (big gap) --> WR, cornerback, pass rushers, offensive tackles (small gap) --> interior defensive line, safeties/nickels, tight ends (big gap) --> interior o-line, off-ball linebackers, running backs. The Bengals just had one of the worst offensive lines in recent NFL history but made it to the Super Bowl because they have three freak receivers who get immediate separation.

So personally I think it's great we just signed a super good and well-regarded player at one of the sport's most important positions, but I guess if some of you would like to be mad about that and use it as a way to harp on the same three things you complain about, you do you.

I had to be away from the internet for a few days and got one here expecting everyone to be stoked we signed one of the highest-rated receivers in our history and instead found the cranks complaining about the offensive line. This place really can be a parody of itself sometimes lol

12 hours ago, Dr. Strangelove said:

I'm not sure what this staff is doing on the recruiting trail. Adding a mid 3* receiver to a WR room with 11 current players seems odd. 

Probably because they think he's good and will help the team.

1 hour ago, Huskerfollower4life said:

True but if your a incoming freshman that is talented that knows he can help the team win bc that's why they brought them in the first place with the speech of hey we are close to winning but we need you to help contribute or we could use your talents how does that come across if they give that speech to recruits and then redshirt them. That's my question

Players who demonstrate in fall camp that they can help the team don't redshirt. Players generally know who can and can't contribute through practice. If somebody's redshirting it's because other players were demonstrably better than them. It doesn't matter if someone "thinks they can help" -- if they don't show coaches evidence of it, tough luck.

On 6/11/2022 at 10:55 PM, Huskerfollower4life said:

Exactly so how does Nebraska convince their most talented freshman that don't play to be ok to redshirt? I mean i know Nebraska's message to high school kids are hey i will give you every opportunity to play but after this major off season of bringing in transfers and such it be hard for me to understand how i would get that opportunity to play. Definitely don't want to see talented freshman leave bc Nebraska needs growth and development within the freshman class.

After fall camp ends and before prep begins for the first game week the head coach typically sits down with every player on the roster and discusses their role for the season. The redshirt guys get the "Hey, you competed hard during camp but there are a lot of talented and experienced guys ahead of you and it's in your best interest to develop for a year and you'll be more impactful to the team as a redshirt senior than a true freshman. Prioritize work outs and the scout team and we'll notice, etc. etc." speech. Nobody obviously likes being told they aren't good enough but some internalize it and use the year to get better and some have a bad attitude and don't.

Also, NU has finished ahead of K-State in the advanced rankings every year since Frost has been here. The only reason K-State has won more than us is because they play a patsy-a$$ noncon every year and then play in what is usually the worst or second-worst P5 conference. If they played in the Big Ten they'd get creamed. If going to a worse team that gets to play other worse teams is "wanting to win" then I don't really understand it and it seems pretty lame to me!

Listen I defend Adrian against a lot of the nonsense and doofus stuff on here but he pretty much singlehandedly cost us the Illinois, Purdue and Minnesota games by not being able to hit open receivers or turning the ball over. If he wanted to win more he should have played better.

15 hours ago, Toe said:

 

I see a lot of potential for Rattler.

 

To end up on a list of all-time biggest busts...

IDK the "Rattler sucks" stuff is pretty wildly out of proportion. He was one of the best QBs in the country as a freshman and was a more efficient passer than Williams last year and has a tremendous ability to create out of structure, which would have been great for us considering our O-line. I know that won't be popular because of his personality but I would have loved to have brought him from a pure on-field standpoint.

I think we would all be better off if we acknowledged that outside from a few serious/good/insightful writers, ESPN at this point is mostly a Disney-backed click and engagement farm and that they say and write outlandish things to get video and page views. Casey Thompson is obviously not as bad as his ranking but getting in a froth about this stuff is silly and is giving them exactly what they want. 

12 hours ago, The Dude said:

 

What does this look like?  We win only two games instead of three?

It looks like us not being in the OU, MSU, Michigan or OSU games where he kept our offense afloat because our tackles couldn't block a third grader. Sound like a lot worse season to me but don't let me stop you from getting in some smarmy whining.

1 hour ago, Xmas32 said:

 

I expect 2AM will play pretty well at KState.  Slightly less physical conference schedule as a whole and I think Martinez is an upgrade as a passer over Thompson while maybe not being quite the runner.  The main reason why I think 2AM does well is I think Chris Klieman is a pretty significant upgrade at HC over Frost and has a well established scheme.  Martinez is going to know exactly what's expected out of him and will be put in a position to succeed.  Klieman's teams generally do not beat themselves so I'll be interested to see if Martinez cuts down on his turnovers.

 

Side note, Duece Vaughn is Darren Sproles 2.0.  Man, he's so much fun to watch.

He'll fit in with the "Klieman Offense" (really just the Snyder offense because Klieman is completely coasting off his coattails in every sense) very well because it plays to AM's strengths (option run game, play action shots) and doesn't ask him to do the things he struggles with (quick game and 3-step passing concepts) very much.

Adrian played his a$$ off for us through injury and I think a lot of our fans are about to realize he was covering up a lot of deficiencies and was not really part of the problem. Wish him nothing but success personally, even if I want to see K-State lose every game as a KU alum. Getting upset about some player speak on his new team is very silly.

9 hours ago, Moiraine said:

 

 

Did you watch any games last year?

Why watch the games when you can just get on the internet and write slightly different variations of the same whiny post and not understand math?

He needs to make a bowl at the bare min to get another year for me. The team has outplayed its record and there have been reasonable excuses each year for his lack of success, but after Year Five those are done now. This is all about results.

So does this mean Betts is officially gonzo? (Not that I expected him back)

1 hour ago, Huskerfollower4life said:

Even with all these great portal additions some Husker fans still won't be happy bc of how they have put this team together. Yes I know they have to develop within the high school recruits that they bring on but I believe that's they are going to build this team from season to season. Bringing in 14 transfers is alot I hope all of them work out

I was one of those people who was like "healthy programs build through high school recruiting/development" and then I watched Michigan State pull a top-10 team out of its a$$ last year by hitting on a few transfers at key spots. This is absolutely the way to go as long as they are going to allow it and plenty of great programs like Alabama and Georgia are making full use of it. I'm all the way onboard.

But wait ... I thought our defensive line and season were hopelessly screwed after we lost two depth defensive line pieces to the portal???? You're telling me that the transfer portal has changed how we should think about player acquisitions and departures and we don't need to wildly overreact to marginal players leaving??? No way.

On 5/13/2022 at 8:54 PM, Savage Husker said:

Iowa doesn’t have the $$$ to keep up. Barta’s worried and protecting his own.

To be honest I don't have a ton of sympathy for any P5 team complaining about NIL;  obviously some are going to have more money than others but they all have boosters with big money they could be using to put out competitive deals to retain or attract players. I feel badly for like MAC or Sun Belt teams with this but like Iowa State fans complaining about Hunter in basketball and Pitt fans complaining about Addison is ridiculous. This is the game now; get your boosters to stop being cheap if you want to not get left behind.

On 5/10/2022 at 11:24 PM, floridacorn said:

 

JoJo was IMO significantly better last season than the season before, so I agree, his play will be hard to replace, but his versatility is going to be perhaps even more challenging to replace.  

 

Nobody else currently in that role is going to play nickel and seamlessly slide up to 3-4 OLB versus a power or jumbo formation.  

 

And, is that even part of the defense currently?  That role may slide into a true 4-3 Will now, I don't think we'll know till we see it.  Even still, outside of Kolarevic, I don't see any of these guys holding up in the box whether at Will or on the edge.  

 

I would still like to see somebody with corner skills like a Buford at Nickel on true passing situations, but they seem determined to make it an every down role and I didn't particularly even love seeing JoJo caught in man vs a post or seam from time to time.   

This is spot on. I think a big part of why our "4-2-5" D worked last year was because team's couldn't punish the light box because our "nickelback" could also moonlight as an outside linebacker if people went heavy personnel against us. I think that's potentially a big issue but it also might not matter much because basically everyone lives in 11 personnel now. Gifford seems like he's a good coverage player, too, so I don't know how I feel.