HuskerGBR Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 Mike Caputo for Jacob Hickman. I like Hickman and everything, but I was really impressed with how Caputo blocked when he was in. I bet there will be no dropoff at center and it might even be an upgrade since Hickman was hurt most of last year. Quote Link to comment
ESPY Posted January 20, 2010 Author Share Posted January 20, 2010 Mike Caputo for Jacob Hickman. I like Hickman and everything, but I was really impressed with how Caputo blocked when he was in. I bet there will be no dropoff at center and it might even be an upgrade since Hickman was hurt most of last year. Good call on Caputo as Hickman's replacement. Dude's shown he can perform in spite of his slightly smaller size. Plus, he's tasted success on the Husker's O-line as Hickman's backup in '08. No doubt Caputo has to step up & deliver big if our O-line wants to see substantial improvement from last season. Quote Link to comment
Enhance Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 P.J. Smith or Eric Martin will be the best replacements. However, I still think Baker could have a monster season this upcoming year. All of them have potential to be extremely good. Quote Link to comment
bball_backer Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 on offense i look for Qvale to take someone's spot and really help solidify that line (of course that could just be wishful thinking). defense, i'm not going with a replacement necessarily, but i look for dennard to become more of a lockdown db. if that turns out to be the case, with two lockdown dbs in prince and dennard, the young safeties have a lot less pressure Quote Link to comment
zoogs Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 I think Caputo, Meredith/Ankrah, a RFr OL, or Yoshi will be in the running for best replacement. I'm high on PJ Smith and all, but he's going to have the toughest job living up to either O'Hanlon or Asante, who were both pretty darn good last year. Turner will be not too difficult to replace, and the same goes for Hickman or Mike Smith. For those saying Martin or Lavonte, I think it'd be hard just because Dillard also played at a pretty high level last year. Quote Link to comment
RunTheBall Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 I think we'll see a lot of guys emerge next year, as Bo gets his program kicked into high gear. The best new starter at the beginning of the season will probably be P.J. Smith. He played the most this year and looked at least as good as the departed seniors. However, by the end of the year we'll be talking about Eric Martin. He'll be the WLB, but I think by the end of the year he'll be the nickle and dime backer as well. He has the look of a big-time playmaker. Quote Link to comment
Apathy Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 With out a doubt Eric Martin with Meredith/Ankrah at a close second but I'm not going to rule out Mike Caputo either. Caputo is going to be a stud at Center come next year and will pancake people all season. Offense Mike Caputo Defense Eric Martin with Cameron Meredith/Jason Ankrah slightly behind Quote Link to comment
RedDenver Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Here's one people aren't talking about - Thenarse replacing O'Hanlon. And Austin Cassidy could very well be the next O'Hanlon (aka a quality walk-on player who makes an easy scapegoat for the fans and media). Quote Link to comment
ESPY Posted January 21, 2010 Author Share Posted January 21, 2010 Here's one people aren't talking about - Thenarse replacing O'Hanlon. And Austin Cassidy could very well be the next O'Hanlon (aka a quality walk-on player who makes an easy scapegoat for the fans and media). This is where having 2 lockdown DBs will help the most. Yes, Thenarse and Cassidy have some experience, but if I remember correctly, each guy has had some trouble with coverage and making open field tackles. Those of course are the 2 things O'Hanlon excelled most at, so there's a lot of room for improvement at this position, more so that Smith for Asante. Quote Link to comment
Huskerballz Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 I agree completely with PJ and I love Eric as much as any player on D but I think it might be another year before we see Mr. Martin starting at MLB. The coaches have said he doesn't know the defense well enough to be the guy out there calling plays. Let's just hope he works hard over the off-season so he does start b/c I can't wait for him to be on the field every play. I'm also very excited to see if Thad Randle gets any playing time next year. I forgot about Randle. Wow, we definitely have some depth on the D-line, don't we? In spite of Randle's potential, I don't see him getting significant PT till 2011. Did he get any PT last season? He redshirted last season. Quote Link to comment
carlfense Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Were the coaches talking about Randle when they said one of the DTs had the best feet they'd ever seen? I can't remember for sure . . . Quote Link to comment
robsker Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 I'm thinking whoever they replace Turner with will upgrade the position. I agree that PJ Smith will be fine as he kept the status quo whenever he was forced into duty. I'm not as sure about E. Martin. If we ever get into our base defense, he will be a killer middle linebacker, but I'm not as convinced yet that he can replace PD when he is the only backer on D. I'm not so sure he possesses the speed and athleticism needed for pass coverage. I hope he does. It is fun to watch him go down and blow up on kickoffs, but the intangibles he shows for middle linebacker (heart, big hitter) while performing that duty may not be enough. Not that I any of us can quantify this, but it seems to me that Martin is both quicker and faster than Dillard. Seems that way anyway. He is the gunner on the kickoffs and that is typically reserved for speedy guys w/o fear. Martin uis just that. Quote Link to comment
huskernation20 Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 A couple days ago, someone posted a poll focused on who would be the hardest to replace (Dillard, Asante, etc). So, let's focus on the other side of that discussion - the guys who will be filling the shoes of exiting '09 seniors. PJ Smith is my pick. He's set to replace Asante at strong safety, and based on what we saw from him as a redshirt frosh, I think the Pelini bros have another gem who will only add to the dynamic secondary already in place. He may not hit as hard as Asante (yet), but he's an athletic ballhawk with size and speed. Even better, he's already shown signs of noted improvement in Pelini's system. Keep in mind that there is still the possibility of Thenarse coming back next season. If he gets to return I am going to be even more excited about the defense! Another player that redshirted this year is Dijon Washington. He was a monster safety coming out of high school! Quote Link to comment
RunTheBall Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Were the coaches talking about Randle when they said one of the DTs had the best feet they'd ever seen? I can't remember for sure . . . Yep. That was Carl at a Big Red Breakfast, maybe mid-season. I think if any of the 3 DTs had gotten dinged that Randle would have been thrown in. He might be a situational guy in 2010, to rush the passer. Quote Link to comment
blessed2bahusker Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Were the coaches talking about Randle when they said one of the DTs had the best feet they'd ever seen? I can't remember for sure . . . I know that Carl Pelini said that Randle has the fastest first step he has seen for a defensive lineman in a long time. I'm guessing that's what you are thinking of. Quote Link to comment
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