Danny Bateman

Holly hell... Some time passes and you forget just HOW mediocre that last Cally team was. NEVER AGAIN! Neat chart Nuance. +1'd. Obviously our turnover problems have a lot to do with running a spread attack with a dual threat QB who's always been slightly fumble prone (but seems to be improving). The fumbles that are REALLY concerning to me and we absolutely need to get rid of are on the punts. Not only do they give away a possession but they're a total waste of field position as well. I was just discussing with my buddy yesterday... DO you remember the last time we blocked a kick? A punt? Or really walloped someone on coverage teams? Special teams (other than FG kicking, which has largely been, well, actually special under Bo) have seemed to have become of secondary importance to Bo's teams. Granted, they have of other glaring issues to worry about right now. But the ball security on returns is one of the most important IMO and it makes me sad we aren't drilling harder for a very overlooked 1/3 of the game that could potentially help put these teams that need the extra boost over the top.

He was projected as a safety...

I think he was thinking more along the lines of a one Mr. Vick...

You know how we tempted Knevel into signing with that giant cookie? Let's work that same magic on this kid. Only with a cheeseburger. Or a couple hundred of em. 6'1" 160 is a wee bit twiggy.

Good to know. Thanks for the update. Cmon Dorn, get in front of the ball. Don't give me this ole bullsh*t!

? Leverson would of been really good, but had some off the field issues.

Interesting news on the 1s and 2s man... Thanks. That situation will definitely bear watching as the spring and summer play out. I know seem REALLY high on Rose at S saying he should start right away, and obviously CJax just has that swagger that would seem to make him an ideal safety, so I'm very interested in seeing if HJax and Cooper can find a way to hold onto their starting spots. Then again, could just be the old MO of giving the most experienced guys the leg up initially...

lol. Kentucky. GTFO.

No problem. I was thinking of a way to say it so I wasn't quoting it word by word. Figured it out this morning. I like to sleep on my problems too before I confront them... Use that methodology with your exes?

AND.... Cue Big 10 Championship game film.

Holy #$%^ ... That is not the offer of a 3 star recruit!

Not sure where you're getting your math from bro. 13/33 = 39% Yeah, 39%...my bad. Must have hit a wrong number and didn't catch it. Thanks! No problem big guy. I've got your back! #nerdfriends

Not sure where you're getting your math from bro. 13/33 = 39%

This is TOO perfect. Forget Snoop's kid, I want Nate Dogg's!

I read much less into your reply than this. I assumed you were talking about slotting Baker at DT instead of OT. Still think we went the wrong way on that one. All conference type of DT (kind of), All American OL.

I don't think it is a fair question yet. We need a few cycles of "highly rated" OL to come and go in order to churn them out all the time. Competition breeds dominance. We are on the right track with this class. I suppose we'll wait and see. I agree I think we're moving in the right direction. This whole argument becomes one giant moot point though if Cotton has been removed of his OL responsibilities. I think the move really gives us the best of both worlds, because Barney excels in a big way at getting a very strong running game going. Hopefully Garrison and whoever else assists (Stai??) can be more successful at perfecting technique, improving pass pro, and overall cultivating more highly drafted lineman. It probably is too early to judge our returns on the OL in the program. However, of the kids we have had, ARod, Moore, and Klachko can now be considered busts, and though Yoshi turned into a very good lineman during his senior year, he was still undrafted. That's four four star OL who haven't panned out, though at least Yoshi was successful for a year for us.

In conclusion, why do we have such a hard time turning the highest rated kids we get into dominant college players on the OL?

Look, Polar, we're not trashing the staff or the walk on program at all. Both Enhance and I recognize that Long is a damn good lineman and we're lucky to have him. He's an AA and the walk on program deserves some recognition for that. On the other hand, it says something about the ability of the staff to develop talent if too much of the depth chart is filled with walk ons. The offensive line has traditionally been a very walk-on rich area of the team, as it is easier to find a cornfed Nebraska lineman who is willing to work his tail off, add the necessary size, and give everything he has to get playing time there than it is to find an elite athlete within Nebraska's borders who isn't highly recruited, walks on for us and ends up being a great success story. There just aren't the athletes in Nebraska to provide very many walk-on skill position starters. But let's not throw the recruiting services totally out the door. Players are ranked on a combination of size, athletic ability, projectability to the next level, and number of offers from big time schools. The reason the scholarship OL get more :star's than walk ons is because it is the consensus that they will be more successful at the college level than a small town Nebraska kid with only regional offers. If OSU, Florida, Bama, USC, and NU all offer a kid, it's a pretty good bet a lot of people think he will be a pretty good player at the college level. So lets not throw stars out the window. The reason kids get stars is because the recruiting experts believe they will have success at the college level. So what is wrong with questioning WHY a large number of those kids don't pan out when they come here, and WHY those "high potential" guys don't end up getting drafted higher when they're done at NU? And yes, it is a legitimate complaint about Moore and Klachko, because when they arrived here, they were the two most heralded OL recruits that year. Sterup and Reeves were both in state kids and thus more lightly recruited (I believe Iowa made a good push at Sterup but that's about it), and Mordi-Price was a late addition who was the lowest rated kid. I don't think either of us think Barney is a terrible OL coach. He's got the run game working damn good and their ability to grind defenses down throughout games is quite impressive. But we're questioning if he's the BEST we could be doing-- as having the BEST OL coach we can have will make it that much easier to get over the hump and finally win the big games-- as it appears Barney is not very skilled at developing lineman who pass protect well. Also, Barney's track record of improving and getting the most out of highly rated recruits (who SHOULD be easier to turn into dominant players) is suspect.

Buster, don't cherry pick points to support your argument. I think you're missing the point. Long is an anomaly for the walk ons and we're lucky to have him. But look at Choi and Jackson. Neither garnered national pub. They weren't world beaters, but they WERE the best we had. That is telling. I think the running game stats are a by product of the offense we run and having a fantastic running QB and one of the best stable of RBs NU has had in years. When evaluating something, look at the strengths AND weaknesses. Totally agree with Enhance. We're questioning Barney's proficiency in perfecting pass pro and developing and improving kids with good potential. To a lot of us, it seems they show up in the program with that potential, and it goes largely untapped while here. They don't tend to get noticeably better, and thus aren't highly valued in the eyes of NFL scouts.

Nice info man. That's actually really funny to hear about one of the guys I had almost forgotten about...

Well, this whole conversation piqued my interest, so I looked up all of our scholly OL since BO has gotten here. They are as follows: 2008: Baker, David Grant, Ricky Henry, Brandon Thompson 2009: Nick Ash, Jesse Coffey, Qvale, Sirles 2010: Yoshi, Mike Moudy, ARod, Jake Cotton 2011: Klachko, Tyler Moore, Sterup, Mordi-Price, Reeves 2012: Corey Whittaker, Paul Thurston 2013: Zach Hannon, David Knevel, Matt Finnin, Chongo Kondolo, Dwayne Johnson Now, it's a bit too early to judge the kids from the last two classes, so I'll omit them. But I would lump them as follows: Hits: Yoshi, Cotton, Qvale, Sirles, Henry Misses: Baker, Grant, Thompson, Ash, Coffey, Moudy, ARod, Klachko, Moore Unproven but hopeful: Mordi-Price, Reeves, Sterup, and everyone from the last two classes. I suppose if you were to make it into a contributor/non-contributor list, you could definitely include ARod and Baker on the hit list, but Baker never contributed a thing to the OL (which is what this thread is about), so for our intents and purposes he's a miss. ARod is just straight up a bust at this point in my mind. I'm least hopefuly that Mordi-Price will make a contribution of the hopeful list at this point, based on those rumors of him transferring a while back. Where there's smoke, there's usually fire, and if he hasn't cracked the two deep at this point I doubt he ever will. The point is, we've had a larger number of recruiting misses than we have hits at this point in Bo's OL recruits. Some of that is likely out of coach's control-- like with Klachko and Moore and their respective situations-- but you have to question how much of it lies on Barney's shoulders, development wise. Even with Moore going out like he did, throwing a temper-tantrum and storming off because he wasn't handed a position, I still wonder if there is any creedence to the thought that any of his frustration was precipitated by Barney playing favorites and getting a little goofy with his OL rotation. That would lead me to believe he's just not a very solid OL coach. Also, with a player like ARod, or even Sterup or Klach for that matter, they were given four stars basically based on their projectability to continue to grow and develop into good college o-linemen. I think lineman to a greater degree than skill positions players, probably earn stars based less on what they SHOW on film in high school vs. their frame and how their athleticism projects them going forward. ARod was given 4 stars, even though he was an extremely raw football player in HS, because he had the body to develop into a solid offensive tackle at the college level. As you can see, he now looks overweight and too slow to play T in our scheme, and most of you would agree he would appear to be be better suited as a G at this point. But who knows how much of his mismanagement falls on Barney, the strength or nutrition staffs, or Andrew himself not doing what he needs to do (I get the sense the last is to blame). The point of my rant is that with the high number of highly rated guys not excelling and mid-tiered guys not contributing at all, it is only natural for us to question how much Barney is at fault. It IS his unit, after all. There will always be busts at every position, but at Nebraska where we're at a huge recruiting disadvantage anyway, we will always have to overacheive and squeeze 110% of the recruits we do get anyway. And consistently failing to do so on the OL is seriously hindering our leap to the next level. If Barney cannot get the most out of the guys we give him (and though we're NU we HAVE given him his fair share of very talented prospects), it is about #$*@ time we had him take on other duties and find someone who can.