The commitment of Jamal Turner forces us to ask a question about the offense..

[Enhance]

Where are we going with it?

 

Turner is the second quarterback commit that is a true dual threat quarterback. He ran for 1800 yards as a sophomore for 18 touchdowns, through for nearly 2,000 yards, and had 13 touchdown passes with 10 interceptions.

 

It seems apparent that we are moving away from pocket passers who are going to just sit in the pocket and not be overly mobile. We seem to be focusing on guys who can hurt people in the run game but also in the pass game.

 

Even though Pelini and Watson say they are on the same page, one must question if they really are. These aren't the type of quarterbacks Watson would want to run "his" schemes.

[Cdog923]

I think this means we're going to see more of a mesh of the WCO passing principles that Watson wants to run, with the power running game/threat of a running QB aspects that Bo wants. Don't forget about Beck's background with the spread option game as well.

 

Also, if you think about it, have we truely had a prototypical "drop back passer" as QB since Watson has been running the offense? Both Ganz and Lee have exhibited the ability to run the ball when needed, and Green, Washington, Spano and Martinez are all legit dual threat QBs. I'll argue that the last proto-DB passers we had were Taylor and Keller.

[WVhuskerXX]

I think this means we're going to see more of a mesh of the WCO passing principles that Watson wants to run, with the power running game/threat of a running QB aspects that Bo wants. Don't forget about Beck's background with the spread option game as well.

 

[RockyMountainOySker]

Where are we going with it?

 

Turner is the second quarterback commit that is a true dual threat quarterback. He ran for 1800 yards as a sophomore for 18 touchdowns, through for nearly 2,000 yards, and had 13 touchdown passes with 10 interceptions.

 

It seems apparent that we are moving away from pocket passers who are going to just sit in the pocket and not be overly mobile. We seem to be focusing on guys who can hurt people in the run game but also in the pass game.

 

Even though Pelini and Watson say they are on the same page, one must question if they really are. These aren't the type of quarterbacks Watson would want to run "his" schemes.

 

Huskerextra's article on Watson and QB recruiting:

 

“I’m actually well into the process for the next (2011) class. We’ve laid out a handful of possible offers for who I think are exceptional kids. And I don’t know what kind of star rankings they’re going to get and don’t care.

 

“I don’t want to be tainted by all that stuff.”

 

The 50-year-old Watson obviously trusts his instincts.

 

“After I evaluate the film, I do a rank and rate,” he said. “Pretty soon I come up with a list of, let’s say, my top 10 guys. I’ll take those top 10 guys, with my opinions, to the staff table.”

 

The offensive staff works together to decide which quarterbacks merit scholarship offers. That’s when head coach Bo Pelini gets involved.

 

“I’ll take those to Bo and let Bo see what we feel — what I feel, in conjunction with the (offensive) staff — in terms of what kids we want to offer, and he puts his 51 percent on it,” Watson said.

 

------------------------------------------------

 

It might not be Watson's full blown west-coast passing attack but it definitely sounds like him and Bo are "on the same page." Because of the physical nature of our defense, I feel both Watson and Bo realize a finesse passing game would not going to mesh well.

 

I believe we are heading in the direction of an Oregon or Oklahoma State zone-read spread type of offense with some power sets as well. I personally love this style of football and can't wait to see what Turner and/or Brion CRanes can do with it in a couple years.

 

For some talk....I would be very surprised if we don't with a NC within 5 years. The defense will be NC good every year and a ball control zone-read offense will fit very well.

 

 

Edit: I hate it when I try to write a good (too long) response and click submit, only to see someone say it faster (and probably better).

[typ3kal]

Where are we going with it?

 

Turner is the second quarterback commit that is a true dual threat quarterback. He ran for 1800 yards as a sophomore for 18 touchdowns, through for nearly 2,000 yards, and had 13 touchdown passes with 10 interceptions.

 

It seems apparent that we are moving away from pocket passers who are going to just sit in the pocket and not be overly mobile. We seem to be focusing on guys who can hurt people in the run game but also in the pass game.

 

Even though Pelini and Watson say they are on the same page, one must question if they really are. These aren't the type of quarterbacks Watson would want to run "his" schemes.

 

 

I believe that our class so far is 3 4 Star players. I think Tyler Moore will be in the 30-40 rank range, Turner in the 50-70's and Reeves will be around 120-150. Good start to the class so far. If we can get Green early, 30-60 player we'll have a huge jump on other teams. Not to mention we can probably use those 4 to leverage Westerman (top 10) in this coming class.

[EZ-E]

I believe that our class so far is 3 4 Star players. I think Tyler Moore will be in the 30-40 rank range, Turner in the 50-70's and Reeves will be around 120-150. Good start to the class so far. If we can get Green early, 30-60 player we'll have a huge jump on other teams. Not to mention we can probably use those 4 to leverage Westerman (top 10) in this coming class.

 

I disagree. I think that Tyler Moore is a 5 star player. The kid has offers from Penn State, Ohio State, and Florida. That right there will get him a 5 star ranking. As well as the quotes from the Florida OL coach saying "He is the best junior OT in the nation."

 

Back to the topic though:

 

Jamal is also open to playing WR. So we dont know for sure where he will play.

 

I still stand by my statements that we should look for something comparable to Bama next year.

[caveman99]

I don't think this is a big question, Watson has gone record as saying that he wants to run what we saw in 2008 and early 2009. The Bowl Game showed that with a few wrinkles. To run that offense you have to have a Dual Threat like Turner, but preferably one that is a passer first. I think we will see that with more power sets than we saw in 2008, but still will be a heavy dose of the Spread WCO we saw.

[illnino]

I believe that our class so far is 3 4 Star players. I think Tyler Moore will be in the 30-40 rank range, Turner in the 50-70's and Reeves will be around 120-150. Good start to the class so far. If we can get Green early, 30-60 player we'll have a huge jump on other teams. Not to mention we can probably use those 4 to leverage Westerman (top 10) in this coming class.

 

I disagree. I think that Tyler Moore is a 5 star player. The kid has offers from Penn State, Ohio State, and Florida. That right there will get him a 5 star ranking. As well as the quotes from the Florida OL coach saying "He is the best junior OT in the nation."

 

Back to the topic though:

 

Jamal is also open to playing WR. So we dont know for sure where he will play.

 

I still stand by my statements that we should look for something comparable to Bama next year.

 

 

That's good if he's open to playing WR, but I've heard Bama and OK were asking him about a position change and he chose NU because he really wants a legit shot to be a QB.

[Enhance]

I believe that our class so far is 3 4 Star players. I think Tyler Moore will be in the 30-40 rank range, Turner in the 50-70's and Reeves will be around 120-150. Good start to the class so far. If we can get Green early, 30-60 player we'll have a huge jump on other teams. Not to mention we can probably use those 4 to leverage Westerman (top 10) in this coming class.

 

I disagree. I think that Tyler Moore is a 5 star player. The kid has offers from Penn State, Ohio State, and Florida. That right there will get him a 5 star ranking. As well as the quotes from the Florida OL coach saying "He is the best junior OT in the nation."

 

Back to the topic though:

 

Jamal is also open to playing WR. So we dont know for sure where he will play.

 

I still stand by my statements that we should look for something comparable to Bama next year.

You mean an offense like Bama runs?

 

If so, I agree. I like Bama's style of offense. Bo brought us an SEC type defense, so I don't see why we can't get some SEC offense sprinkled in.

[EZ-E]

I believe that our class so far is 3 4 Star players. I think Tyler Moore will be in the 30-40 rank range, Turner in the 50-70's and Reeves will be around 120-150. Good start to the class so far. If we can get Green early, 30-60 player we'll have a huge jump on other teams. Not to mention we can probably use those 4 to leverage Westerman (top 10) in this coming class.

 

I disagree. I think that Tyler Moore is a 5 star player. The kid has offers from Penn State, Ohio State, and Florida. That right there will get him a 5 star ranking. As well as the quotes from the Florida OL coach saying "He is the best junior OT in the nation."

 

Back to the topic though:

 

Jamal is also open to playing WR. So we dont know for sure where he will play.

 

I still stand by my statements that we should look for something comparable to Bama next year.

 

 

That's good if he's open to playing WR, but I've heard Bama and OK were asking him about a position change and he chose NU because he really wants a legit shot to be a QB.

 

We are going to give him his chance at QB. But he has said that he would be open to changing if all else fails.

[EZ-E]

I believe that our class so far is 3 4 Star players. I think Tyler Moore will be in the 30-40 rank range, Turner in the 50-70's and Reeves will be around 120-150. Good start to the class so far. If we can get Green early, 30-60 player we'll have a huge jump on other teams. Not to mention we can probably use those 4 to leverage Westerman (top 10) in this coming class.

 

I disagree. I think that Tyler Moore is a 5 star player. The kid has offers from Penn State, Ohio State, and Florida. That right there will get him a 5 star ranking. As well as the quotes from the Florida OL coach saying "He is the best junior OT in the nation."

 

Back to the topic though:

 

Jamal is also open to playing WR. So we dont know for sure where he will play.

 

I still stand by my statements that we should look for something comparable to Bama next year.

You mean an offense like Bama runs?

 

If so, I agree. I like Bama's style of offense. Bo brought us an SEC type defense, so I don't see why we can't get some SEC offense sprinkled in.

 

To your first question: yes.

 

Bo has stated that he wants to be a power running team. I loved the option back in our days, but I just dont think you can run it like that anymore. IMO Alabama has a great combination of Spread and Power.

[Enhance]

I believe that our class so far is 3 4 Star players. I think Tyler Moore will be in the 30-40 rank range, Turner in the 50-70's and Reeves will be around 120-150. Good start to the class so far. If we can get Green early, 30-60 player we'll have a huge jump on other teams. Not to mention we can probably use those 4 to leverage Westerman (top 10) in this coming class.

 

I disagree. I think that Tyler Moore is a 5 star player. The kid has offers from Penn State, Ohio State, and Florida. That right there will get him a 5 star ranking. As well as the quotes from the Florida OL coach saying "He is the best junior OT in the nation."

 

Back to the topic though:

 

Jamal is also open to playing WR. So we dont know for sure where he will play.

 

I still stand by my statements that we should look for something comparable to Bama next year.

You mean an offense like Bama runs?

 

If so, I agree. I like Bama's style of offense. Bo brought us an SEC type defense, so I don't see why we can't get some SEC offense sprinkled in.

 

To your first question: yes.

 

Bo has stated that he wants to be a power running team. I loved the option back in our days, but I just dont think you can run it like that anymore. IMO Alabama has a great combination of Spread and Power.

Can't is maybe too harsh a word. It could still be done, but you would need to find the right coaches and the right players, which means you would need to retool the entire team.

[whateveritis1224]

I really think that what we saw during the Holiday Bowl is the exact offense that Watson wants to run, just maybe with more power formations. We see what that offense can do when it works (most of '08, the Sun Belt and bowl game in '09), and I really think the biggest reason that the offense didn't work last year is because of O-Line depth and skill. There were some shaky things with the WRs and QBs, but I think things could've gone way better, at least in the running game, if the O'Line had been healthy and had more than a 7 man rotation.

 

I really don't see too many problems in the coming years about having our offense at least be competent and not perform like this years version.

[ESPY]

Considering all that's been said about the direction of our offense, I think the thing I like most is the fact that Bo is becoming a major cog. He's owning this team, not just the defense. He sees where he wants the offense to go, and he's working closely with Wats to achieve just that. IMO the more Bo makes his mark on this team, the better off it will be because he is a fierce competitor who lays it all on the line to win. He has a chip on his shoulder and coaches with a contagious fire that needs to spread to all facets of this team.

[CornHunka]

IMO, Tyler Moore will not be a five star recruit, at least initially next year. Players who commit during their junior year don't 'sell', 5 star recruits sell subscriptions because fans want to think there is a chance that he could attend their school. He'll be the highest 4 star available and ranked in top 100, but won't have that 5th star.