AndyDufresne

IMO, this isn't a huge blow. With Reed and Cotton, we should have decent depth for the next few years. From what I have heard on Kerr, he hasn't shown a lot of promise. This frees up a schollie that we can hopefully use to sign another TE this year. Historically, TE seems to be one of those positions where walk-ons have been able to consistently contribute (most recently, Teafatiller and Young). I still think we're miles ahead of where we were under Callahan when J.B. Phillips was the starter (did J.B. stand for "Just Blocking"?).

But it's not really a fair comparison to make. You give Bo Pelini a roster with as little depth and holes in it as the one Callahan inherited, and you might've seen a heavy influx of JUCOs as well. It's not as if Callahan's JUCO reliance continued at such a high level (was it?) Without such a radical approach, we wouldn't have had absolute studs like Zac Taylor, Mo Purify, or Carl Nicks, wouldn't have had starters such as Zack Bowman, Andre Jones (he was bad, but he did start), Barry Cryer, Ola Dagunduro. In recruiting - whether it's JUCO or not - it comes with the understanding that some guys pan out, some guys don't. But we obviously had a case where we needed all those guys to be there, and as we got to the end of Callahan's regime, we saw JUCOs being recruited to supplement the roster, not plug in all the front lines. Which is pretty much the same thing Bo is doing. Basically, the number differential is not that great when the rosters were equally deep. But this is just from memory. I could be wrong. I do agree on Hardrick. But whether his career success at NU is more like Zac Taylor's or Andre Jones', both of whom started a ton of games for us over their years, remains to be seen. The numbers differential is fairly great. Callahan's 2005-2007 classes never dropped below 22% being from the junior college ranks and twice were above 30%. Pelini's had one class where it was over 10% which was 2010 at 18.1%, and it is only so high because we added a 4 for 4 juco very late (Baptiste). Also, I think that you are mistaken that the roster Callahan inherited was lacking depth and full of holes. The defense he inherited was absolutely loaded, and provided 6 starters as late as 2006 when Callahan's juco talent had plenty of time to replace them. Obviously, the offense needed retooled but 4/5 of our offensive line (don't forget that Andy Christensen, Mike Huff, Nate Swift, and Ty Steinkuhler all committed under Solich before he was fired in 2004), the starting TE, and a starting WR were all inherited talent. Also don't forget that Pelini used a converted RB at linebacker, and a whole host of walk-ons throughout the defense in 2008 (Holt, Thorell, Wortman, O'Hanlon, Koehler, etc.). Do you think that it is unfair to say that the inherited offensive talent in 2004 was comparable to the inherited defensive talent in 2008? I don't.

Technically you could add Tyson Hetzer to the list, though he did verbal under Callahan and Pelini honored the commitment. Otherwise, nice breakdown. I've looked at a few teams from the Big 10, and Juco recruiting is pretty rare among them, although prep school players don't seem that uncommon.

Edit: Added Colton Koehler to the list of contributing walk-ons. I originally missed him because he joined the roster in 2006 as a redshirt freshman transfer.

I wouldn't be surprised to see West come in over Rickey. Don't count out Austin Cassidy. Also hearing really good things about both Corey Cooper and Harvey Jackson.

It is all a matter of opinion. I would personally tend to put more emphasis on impact during the time they played than longevity. I know that they are at different positions, but consider these facts: McNeill has started 26 games. He has 61 career receptions for 726 yards. Purify is credited with 9 starts. He had 91 career receptions for 1,444 yards. He ranks 6th in career receptions and 5th in reception yardage in Nebraska history. As for Allen, neither his career numbers nor impact are at superstar status yet. Perhaps you would argue that Purify should be a star rather than a superstar, and I really thought about this.

I agree with that. I initially wanted to do an analysis of each class that would make up the 2010 Huskers (which I still might do, but I'm not sure I want to do as much speculating as it would take to analyze the 2009 and 2010 classes). I already had done quite a bit of the research on the 2006 class and some on the 2007 class. Instead of just scrapping it and going back to 2005, I decided to finish the 2006 class and keep going with 2007. I can do pre-2006 classes at some point.

I'm happy to contribute something to the board that others enjoy, as I certainly like taking advantage of all of the great info available on individual propects. I actually like doing the research, as it makes slow times at work go a lot faster. I'll try to put out a 2007 version of this in a couple of weeks.

I might do more of these if anyone is interested (or I might even if you're not). Obviously the writeups and categorization of players is entirely subjective. Feel free to offer up your own opinions. 2006 22 total members = 7 from the junior college ranks (32%) and 15 from high school (68%) Rivals team ranking = 20th Rivals average stars = 3.27 Scout team ranking = 29th Scout average stars = 3.27 Players with major offers according to Rivals (I will define major offers as Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas, USC, and UCLA): 6 (27%) Cruz Barrett - Florida, Florida State, Oklahoma Major Culbert - UCLA Seth Jensen - Oklahoma, UCLA Andre Jones - USC Carl Nicks - Florida Kenny Wilson - Florida, Tennessee Superstars: 1 (5%) Maurice Purify - 9 career starts, 2nd team all-Big XII WR in 2006 - Purify was a weapon unlike anything we'd seen in Lincoln in quite some time. His terrific hands and ability to separate truly shined when they were utilized properly. Unfortunately for Maurice, the playcalling in the middle of 2007 all but relegated Purify to ghost status and he didn't rise from the dead until Ganz took over as the starting QB. Stars: 4 (18%) Pierre Allen - 25 career starts to date - For two years in a row, Coach Carl has predicted that Allen is going to have a breakout season. While he didn't rise to superstar status in 2009, Pierre had a very solid season. Hopefully, he puts it all together in 2010 to become the dominant force that many of us believe he can be. Mike McNeill - 26 career starts to date, 2nd team all-Big XII TE in 2009 - A little lacking when it comes to blocking, McNeill more than makes up for it when it comes to his pass catching ability. I've heard that as a receiver he's had a hard time getting separation from DB's during spring practices and summer drills, but hopefully he is able to make adjustments and is ready for his new role this fall. Regardless, he has been one of our most potent offensive weapons the last two seasons. Carl Nicks - 13 career starts, 2nd team all-Big XII OL in 2007 - Despite our defensive struggles, our offense was clicking on all cylinders in 2007. Whether it was pass blocking or opening holes for Lucky, Nicks was a force on the line. His success as a starter for the reigning super bowl champs only shows the talent that we saw start to emerge during his time in Lincoln. Keith Williams - 19 career starts, honorable mention all-Big XII OL in 2009 - IMO, Williams is the most talented offensive lineman that has started for us over the last several years, and that is including Slauson, Hickman, and Murtha. His problem has always been that he has the tendency to take plays (or maybe games) off. If he is motivated this year, look out. Starters: 4 (18%) Menelik Holt - 9 career starts - The heir apparent after Swift and Peterson graduated, it is hard not to label Meno as a disappointment. He seemed to shine brighter as the #3 guy in 2008 than he ever did being in the spotlight in 2009. Andre Jones - 13 career starts - The 5-star cornerback with a USC offer was a bust. His poor coverage skills were partially covered up by good defensive line and linebacker play in 2006, but he lost his starting job in 2007. Mike Smith - 26 career starts - Mike has been a starter for two seasons now, but it appears as if his role this year will be to provide solid depth as a backup instead of filling a starting role. Mike may not have been a star, but he has provided a vital role while we have continued to build depth along the line. Anthony West - 16 career starts - Anyone who can make Armando Murillo look like a lockdown corner has to be lacking in coverage skills. To be fair, West is more of a natural safety forced into a cornerback role because of depth issues in 2008. Major Contributors: (14%) D.J. Jones - 3 career starts - While I don't think that Jones will be a starter in 2010, I think that he will continue to be a solid backup. While filling in for an injured Marcel Jones, D.J. helped the offense to it's most impressive performance of the season against Arizona in the Holiday Bowl. Rickey Thenarse - 5 career starts - Rickey has always had enormous potential athletically, but has had some trouble grasping the mental side of the game. Still, he has been a special teams demon and even though he probably won't win one of the two safety spots up for grabs this year, he will provide experienced depth. Kenny Wilson - Had 75 carries in 2006 with nearly a 4.5 yard per carry average. Not too shabby. He should avoid Best Buy at all costs - too many televisions. Minor Contributors: 4 (18%) Major Culbert - A special teams contributor and back up both on the defense and offense, Major wasted his potential with a total lack of common sense. Victory Haines - Very small role as a backup on the OL. Honestly, this is more than I ever thought that he would do. Will Henry - Special teams contributor who has one career reception for one yard. Showed some promise in the spring game and hopefully will provide some depth at WR this year. Brandon Johnson - A special teams contributor and back-up in mop up duty, Johnson had 4 career assisted tackles. The beast certainly didn't live up to his nickname. Busts: 6 (27%) Steve Allen - Never made it to Lincoln. Cruz Barrett - He's listed on the roster at huskers.com, but I'm not sure he is still on the team. Ricky Henry - Did not qualify. His success as a player will be attributed to the 2008 class. Seth Jensen - Health problems led to other problems that led to him leaving the team. Ben Martin - No longer listed on the roster at huskers.com. Corey Young - Left the team after one year. Class Overview: This class has provided less contribution per player than any class in recent memory. The average career starts per commit as of the end of the 2009 season was 7.50. For comparison, with one less year of contribution the 2007 class was already at 7.00 after 2009. Each class from 2002 through 2005 has provided double digit average career starts per commit. To attain this level, we will need to play in 14 games in 2010; McNeill, Williams, and Allen will need to start every game; and either Will Henry, D.J. Jones, Smith, or West will need to earn a starting spot. Overall, this class certainly didn't live up to the hype but has still produced a few key cogs for our recent resurgence. Future Prospects: While 8 players from the 2006 class will still be on the team in 2010, I can only realistically see two players improve their status (i.e. move from star to superstar, starter to star, etc.). IMO, the most likely would be Allen asserting himself on the line and having a monster year, moving up to a superstar. The other that I could see happening (though not nearly as likely) would be Rickey finally putting it together and claiming a starting safety spot. Perhaps this is just wishful thinking, as I've always liked his intensity. 2006 Walk Ons: From looking at the roster at huskers.com, it appears that the only noteable walk-on in 2006 was Dreu Young. He has compiled 13 career starts, but only 15 career receptions. This doesn't tell the whole story as he is our best blocking tight-end by far. I would guess that many of his starts are attributed to us opening games in power sets. Edit: Looking at the roster from 2006, it appears that Colton Koehler was also a walk-on in 2006. He was a transfer from Nebraska Wesleyan who joined the team as a redshirt freshman. He was a major contributor with one career start who provided significant depth in late 2008 when our linebacking corps was riddled with injuries.

Thanks for that. I also found this: Rivals calcs Looking at the formula, it is interesting that so much of the team ranking depends on the "N" variable, which only awards bonus points for position rankings and being in the Rivals 100 (or Juco top 50). Being in positions 101-250 of the Rivals 250 is basically meaningless, as are the numerical ratings (4.9-6.1). Kenny Bell was the #67 athlete and a 5.7 three star last year, but if the formula stands and bonus points are only awarded to the top 25 athletes he was worth less points than several players that were rated as 5.6 three stars because they were within some arbitrary number for position rankings. I was surprised that the formula was developed by one statistician from Cal. I would have guessed that they would have put more time and effort into developing the formula than to hire one guy to come up with a model for them still using position ranking cutoffs developed by Jeremy Crabtree nearly a decade ago.

I have read the descriptions and understand what the numbers represent. I am more interested in the reasoning for the assigned values and calculations, which I'm not sure anyone not affiliated with Rivals really knows. I'm hoping someone has some insight.

I don't understand Rivals rankings. The very base measure of a recruit is the stars. Now one would assume that a 4-star is twice as likely as a 2-star of finding success on the field, given basic mathematics. Now Rivals throws out their numerical ratings. The highest rated 2 star is given a 5.4. The lowest rated 4 star is given a 5.8. Using these numbers, the 4 star is only 1.074 times more likely to succeed. What does Rivals see as the true measure of value? Why use both units of measure? Why start a 2-star at a 4.9 and end with a 5-star getting a 6.1? Seems kind of odd starting and stopping points to me. Add to this the team rankings, which I don't understand at all. Last year, Oregon and Notre Dame both had 23 recruits. They each had 10 four stars, but Notre Dame had 12 three stars and 1 two star while Oregon had 1 five star, 9 three stars, and 3 two stars. They both had the exact same star average, and the total of the numerical ratings (5.5, 5.8, etc.) both were 131.2. And yet Oregon's team ranking is 233 points higher in the team rankings, or nearly 15% higher than Notre Dame's. With things being so equal, why the disparity?

It looks like the chart stops after January 2010. In 2010, approximimately 600k jobs have been added. The unemployment rate actually fell slightly from May to June. While things certainly aren't rapidly improving, they aren't progressively getting worse like one might infer from watching the linked presentation.

1. Braveheart 2. The Shawshank Redemption 3. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 4. Office Space 5. Good Will Hunting 6. Cinderella Man 7. The Matrix 8. The Usual Suspects 9. Fight Club 10. There's Something About Mary The best movie I've seen fairly recently is The Illusionist with Edward Norton, Jr. I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it.

You realize Baker Steinkuhler was a 5 star and is just going to be a redshirt sophomore this year, right?

After close to 50 hours of gameplay, I finished Mass Effect 2 last night. The story was engrossing, the characters were interesting, there were plenty of epic moments, and the gameplay was solid. IMO, it is easily one of the best games this generation. Also, I started Assassin's Creed II. I'm only about an hour in, but it seems fun even if a step down from Mass Effect 2. I'm sure that given time, it will grow on me.

If it happens that Jalen and Xavier head to Nebraska(and that is a big IF - I would guess that LouisianaHusker over at RSS is batting .500 on his predictions at best), I think it is very likely that it will be soon. It would make sense for Xavier to transfer immediately and sit out this year so he will be ready when Jalen arrives next year.

We have a top 10 class right now, but it's really early in the game. However, we have grabbed a lot more recruits in the top 250/500 this year. So while our class may only be 5-10 (10 being on the far end this year) we have a lot more solid players than last year's class. Because class ranks are based on the rating and star's attached to each recruit, a player ranked 170 could give the same points as say a player ranked 250- although there is a talent difference between the two. So what recruits from this class and last year's class would you consider "not solid"? How much talent differential do you really think there is between a player ranked 170 and a player ranked 250? How are you determining a top 500? I would really like to see it. IMO, there is certainly value in the recruiting services, but you seem to be placing entirely too much importance in them and are definitely overestimating their accuracy.

Michigan did quite well in Texas in 2007 and 2008. In 2007, they signed the #1 player in Texas. In 2008, they signed the #5, #34, and #38 players in Texas. All of these were 4 or 5 star players.

That . . . is . . . just . . . wrong. You deserve one of these for putting that imagery in my head

Iowa actually has 5 commits. Until we get to a point where most schools have double digit commits, it is going to be hard to compare. The only Big 10 schools that have 10 or more commits are Nebraska, Ohio State, and Indiana. They must have picked up a few recently. They picked up an instate 3* TE with an Iowa State offer and an unrated Texas WR with offers from Arkansas and Arizona. That makes two TX WR's for Iowa this year. The only recruit committed to Iowa worth much is Austen Blythe a 4 guard with offers from stanford, kansas, kansas state, wisconsin, and iowa state. Other than that kid their class is lacking so far. But Ferentz always does alot with the minimal talent he brings in. So are you saying that Dylan Admire, Daniel Davie, and Aaryn Bouzos are not worth much (your words)? They are all 5.6 three star or lower players with minimal offer lists. Would you consider them to have minimal talent? No I didnt mean it that way, I was just making a point that they dont have as many highly rated recruits as we do, but like I said Ferentz does alot with the talent he brings in. I wouldnt trade Admire, Bouzos, Davie. I wasnt trying to start an arguement, sorry. I wasn't trying to start an argument either. I was just curious about your statement.

Iowa actually has 5 commits. Until we get to a point where most schools have double digit commits, it is going to be hard to compare. The only Big 10 schools that have 10 or more commits are Nebraska, Ohio State, and Indiana. They must have picked up a few recently. They picked up an instate 3* TE with an Iowa State offer and an unrated Texas WR with offers from Arkansas and Arizona. That makes two TX WR's for Iowa this year. The only recruit committed to Iowa worth much is Austen Blythe a 4 guard with offers from stanford, kansas, kansas state, wisconsin, and iowa state. Other than that kid their class is lacking so far. But Ferentz always does alot with the minimal talent he brings in. So are you saying that Dylan Admire, Daniel Davie, and Aaryn Bouzos are not worth much (your words)? They are all 5.6 three star or lower players with minimal offer lists. Would you consider them to have minimal talent?

Iowa actually has 5 commits. Until we get to a point where most schools have double digit commits, it is going to be hard to compare. The only Big 10 schools that have 10 or more commits are Nebraska, Ohio State, and Indiana. They must have picked up a few recently. They picked up an instate 3* TE with an Iowa State offer and an unrated Texas WR with offers from Arkansas and Arizona. That makes two TX WR's for Iowa this year.

Iowa actually has 5 commits. Until we get to a point where most schools have double digit commits, it is going to be hard to compare. The only Big 10 schools that have 10 or more commits are Nebraska, Ohio State, and Indiana.