Nebraskans

[huskers1]

Now I don't want this to sound like I am bashing all nebraska high school football players or saying they aren't worth of any offers or anything like that. But I was just thinking about some of the players that we have gotten from NU recently that are from Nebraska.

 

zach potter (stayed all four years and was a major contributor)

robert rands (left after one year)

jeff souder (left after one year)

ricky henry (will contribute for two years after juco)

dj jones (will have stayed five years and contributed)

ben martin (saw time as true frosh hasn't played much since)

corey young (left after one year)

jarred crick (stud, enough said)

niles paul (to this point probably a slight dissapointment but could be very good next year)

sean fisher (promising athlete will stay all five years more than likely)

micah kreikemier (don't think he's played a down yet)

john leverson (left after one year)

collins okafor (quit once, no impact yet)

baker steinkhuler (stud, will be a great one)

 

That's five since our 05' class that have left the program, and two that have no contributed hardly at all. Add on to the fact that a Mackovicka left the team! I keep hearing everyone saying we just need to recruit these nebraska kids and that's all fine and good but that alone isn't going to get it done. we had so many nebraskans back in the day bc we had by far the best weight program and we could take any farm kid and make him great. now every high school has some sort of weight program and every college worth anything has a big time weight program. I just don't think for the most part home grown huskers don't bleed red as heavily as they used to.

[TheCheshireCat]

Nebraska doesn't have as much athletic talent as CA, TX, and FL. Simple enough.

[huskers1]

Thats obvious, but the reason I wanted to post something like this is bc every time I post something like o man why are we offering Evans, or Cotton or someone like that I get the "just bc they are from nebraska" or some crap like that and I just wanted to make a point that yes on average in the 2000's the kids from nebraska haven't done a lot from a production standpoint.

[irafreak]

I'm actually excited about Niles as a kick/punt returner. Now that's he's learned to just go north and south he looked good the last 2 games.

[TheCheshireCat]

Once in awhile they'll turn out good - just look at O'Hanlon. But for the most part I'd rather not offer Nebraska kids unless they're standout talent. I'd rather not offer anyone unless they're standout talent. If they have the potential and the work ethic and the discipline then they'll rise to the top like many of our good players that were once walk-on.

[dylan]

Now I don't want this to sound like I am bashing all nebraska high school football players or saying they aren't worth of any offers or anything like that. But I was just thinking about some of the players that we have gotten from NU recently that are from Nebraska.

 

zach potter (stayed all four years and was a major contributor)

robert rands (left after one year)

jeff souder (left after one year)

ricky henry (will contribute for two years after juco)

dj jones (will have stayed five years and contributed)

ben martin (saw time as true frosh hasn't played much since)

corey young (left after one year)

jarred crick (stud, enough said)

niles paul (to this point probably a slight dissapointment but could be very good next year)

sean fisher (promising athlete will stay all five years more than likely)

micah kreikemier (don't think he's played a down yet)

john leverson (left after one year)

collins okafor (quit once, no impact yet)

baker steinkhuler (stud, will be a great one)

 

That's five since our 05' class that have left the program, and two that have no contributed hardly at all. Add on to the fact that a Mackovicka left the team! I keep hearing everyone saying we just need to recruit these nebraska kids and that's all fine and good but that alone isn't going to get it done. we had so many nebraskans back in the day bc we had by far the best weight program and we could take any farm kid and make him great. now every high school has some sort of weight program and every college worth anything has a big time weight program. I just don't think for the most part home grown huskers don't bleed red as heavily as they used to.

 

i haven't done the math, but that doesn't look that far off from the percentage of kids you expect to be significant contributors out of any group of recruits, though it has been surprising to see so many leave. (a shame levorson couldn't stay out of trouble, as he looked like he could have been a player).

 

as always, we should only be offering homestate kids if they are as good (or better) than our other options at their given position and we obviously need to recruit beyond our own borders to stay competitive, so i'm not sure what the point is here.

 

(by the way, imagine how good potter and niles could have been if they'd been redshirted instead of burning them for spot duty.)

[huskers1]

My point is there have been a lot of posts about people saying "back in toms day we had a minimum of 5 nebraskans in every class, it worked then it can work now". Then I just got to thinkin, man we've had a lot of nebraskans flop here lately. Some of them havent just not panned out they just flat out leave for whatever reason.

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

My point is there have been a lot of posts about people saying "back in toms day we had a minimum of 5 nebraskans in every class, it worked then it can work now". Then I just got to thinkin, man we've had a lot of nebraskans flop here lately. Some of them havent just not panned out they just flat out leave for whatever reason.

Valid point. I just gotta say Cotton better be first team all state to save face.

[Danimal]

Overall Neb-recruits workout at approximately the same rate as out-of-state guys.

[macroboy]

I think alot of this is perception. The idea that TO's teams were full of Nebraskans gets exaggerated (I think) and it is a different day anyways.

 

I don't like using scholly's on kids that will walk on but living in Colorado, the coaches here are always getting blasted for letting the in-state talent walk.

[AndyDufresne]

I think that Niles is only a disappointment when compared to expectations based off of his Rivals top 100 ranking. He was an honorable mention all-conference WR by the coaches and an honorable mention all-conference all-purpose player by the AP this year. I also think it is WAY too early to pass any judgement on redshirt freshmen that haven't seen the field yet. Now let's take a look at recruits from Texas during the same time period that you used (2005-2008):

 

Wallace Franklin - did not qualify

Cody Glenn - stayed four years and was a contributor all four, including major contribution as a senior before he was dismissed from the team

Brodrick Hunter - did not qualify

Will Henry - no significant contributions to date, but has seen limited playing time in a back-up role

Anthony Blue - played in all 12 games in 2007, including 2 starts - playing time mainly limited to special teams in 2009 after sitting out after surgery in 2008

Quentin Castille - major contributor in 2008, dismissed from team in 2009

Currenski Gilleylan - contributor in first half of 2009, benched mid-season

Adi Kunalic - contributed every year he has been here, limited to kick-offs

Marcus Mendoza - no significant contributions to date, but has seen limited playing time in a back-up role

Shawn Sullivan - left team

Patrick Witt - left team after very limited participation

David Grant - did not qualify

Courtney Osborne - no significant contributions to date

Steven Osborne - no significant contributions to date

Kody Spano - no significant contributions to date, injured in 2009

Brandon Thompson - no significant contributions to date

Lester Ward - no significant contributions to date

Alonzo Whaley - no significant contributions to date, but has shown much promise on the scout team

David Whitmore - did not qualify

Josh Williams - no significant contributions to date

 

Now from 2005-2008, we have signed 104 scholarship players. 14 of these players have been from Nebraska, which is 13.5%. 3 of these scholarship players are among the 22 offensive and defensive starters right now, which is 13.6%. Seems the contribution of in-state players is right in line with expecations. Also, these three starters were all recognized as at least honorable mention all-conference by either the coaches, the AP, or both in 2009. Zach Potter is included in the 14 scholarships, but not in the 3 starters. I am also not including Matt O'Hanlon in the calculations as he initially walked on. Account for these players (or at least Potter) and the percentage of starters goes up fairly significantly.

[NoKoolAidForME]

I think that Niles is only a disappointment when compared to expectations based off of his Rivals top 100 ranking. He was an honorable mention all-conference WR by the coaches and an honorable mention all-conference all-purpose player by the AP this year. I also think it is WAY too early to pass any judgement on redshirt freshmen that haven't seen the field yet. Now let's take a look at recruits from Texas during the same time period that you used (2005-2008):

 

Wallace Franklin - did not qualify

Cody Glenn - stayed four years and was a contributor all four, including major contribution as a senior before he was dismissed from the team

Brodrick Hunter - did not qualify

Will Henry - no significant contributions to date, but has seen limited playing time in a back-up role

Anthony Blue - played in all 12 games in 2007, including 2 starts - playing time mainly limited to special teams in 2009 after sitting out after surgery in 2008

Quentin Castille - major contributor in 2008, dismissed from team in 2009

Currenski Gilleylan - contributor in first half of 2009, benched mid-season

Adi Kunalic - contributed every year he has been here, limited to kick-offs

Marcus Mendoza - no significant contributions to date, but has seen limited playing time in a back-up role

Shawn Sullivan - left team

Patrick Witt - left team after very limited participation

David Grant - did not qualify

Courtney Osborne - no significant contributions to date

Steven Osborne - no significant contributions to date

Kody Spano - no significant contributions to date, injured in 2009

Brandon Thompson - no significant contributions to date

Lester Ward - no significant contributions to date

Alonzo Whaley - no significant contributions to date, but has shown much promise on the scout team

David Whitmore - did not qualify

Josh Williams - no significant contributions to date

 

Now from 2005-2008, we have signed 104 scholarship players. 14 of these players have been from Nebraska, which is 13.5%. 3 of these scholarship players are among the 22 offensive and defensive starters right now, which is 13.6%. Seems the contribution of in-state players is right in line with expecations. Also, these three starters were all recognized as at least honorable mention all-conference by either the coaches, the AP, or both in 2009. Zach Potter is included in the 14 scholarships, but not in the 3 starters. I am also not including Matt O'Hanlon in the calculations as he initially walked on. Account for these players (or at least Potter) and the percentage of starters goes up fairly significantly.

The only critique of this argument is most of the talent we grab from Nebraska is the top talent where as in Texas the same cannot be said. Also there was discussion of bleeding NU red. It is more shocking to me for a Nebraska kid to quit NU than it is for a Texas kid.