Retooled?.....or...Getting Schooled?

[Armistead]

The 05' Huskers have got to be the biggest mystery in college football.The Only way to look at the team right now is to make best guess assessments from this year to last,so lets do it.

 

Backfield.....Taylor can't be as bad as Dailey and Ross is a man , we also have great depth and talent.I think we have some NFL talent here.

 

O-Line.........The overall talent is not up alot from last year, the good news is that depth can and should be better,also Mann is a stud and he could really be the horse we need to whip this group together

 

Recievers......The overall talent level is up even with the loss of Herian.....Spain and Nunn will stretch the field and Brooks could be a very nice late season boost if he gets healthy...also I look for the tightends to better than advertised.....we may see an H-back emerg as well

 

D-line...........Talent level is up, but to me the additional depth could make for a real big year for the front four....We need to get better play from the D-line and more pressure on the QB.......

 

Linebackers.....Ruud is gone and that will leave a big hole......I like the talent and the speed seems to be there.I can't wait to see the depth chart next week because I think this group we be very young ,but very talented......I look for Cally to put speed on the field......these guys will get pressure on the QB when we blitz

 

Secondary.......Young , thats all we can say right now......the upgrades at the line should give this group time to mature and the talent is decent

 

Special Teams......Well, the Joke that was our return game last year makes this an easy call....we will upgrade here bigtime........Panico was a joke

 

 

The upcoming year should be a big lift from last year....we know that we are better in several Key areas......We also know that we have a better Home schedule than last year.......The Coaching staff has been around long enuff to get the lay of the land and the players have hit the bottom and now know that you got to play hard to win....I have said all along that if Dailey had only thrown 2 int's a game and had a fumble every other game we would have gone to a bowl game, thats a fact....Now bring that to this year's with the schedule and I can see the the Huskers goin 8-3.......7-4 at the worst...and look out in 06 and 07.

 

Pleae feel free to fill in any blanks or correct me if I am wrong

 

Peace

[bigbadred]

Very nice analysis. Nice to see some football intelligence still exists in Huskerland

[hoyamannn]

Blaming Panico for all the special teams atrocities is unfair. He had no time to do anything once he caught the ball last year. Getting more protection this year will be equally important as having a great returner.

[huskerstag]

I personally share the same viewpoint as Armistead but with some qualifications. I'm not too confident that we'll have that much more talent on the field this year. The D-line is deeper and that gives me confidence. But other than that, we haven't seen anything proven on the field in the way of developing a pass rush. Carriker is healthy, that's an upgrade in talent i suppose...but while Smith and Adams were strong against the run last year, they didn't pressure the qb much, maybe that wasn't their primary concern though. The speedy rush ends in Muhammad and the recruit from Tenn. (his name escapes me and I'm too lazy to look it up) may help, but again, I'm concerned this aspect won't be much better than last year.

 

I have the same concern with the WRs. Frantz Hardy has had some good things said about him and it appears the guys from last year (Nunn, Fluellen, etc.) are finally grasping the system, but again...until these guys prove they can make the reads and make the plays I'm still fearful that they won't be able to overcome the loss of Herian at TE.

 

That being said, I look for marked improvement on both sides of the ball, if for no other reason than more familiarity all the way around and a much improved attitude to start with. If things crumble early though, we'll see if the team's attitude holds up or if they take the mentality i fear many of the fans will take against the new staff.

 

I'm pumped to get it all started.

[IlliniHusker]

Really enjoyed Armistead's summary and agree that this team is a real mystery. Some of the things that puzzle me going into the opening game wkend:

1. Preseason college football magazines were very depressing. No one believes that NU can win the NC, which is still very weak.

2. Everyone agrees that recruiting class was great, but only 3 JC transfers made either the starting team or backups. No high school superstar could crack the top 2 depth chart. (Exception - Jordon Congdon, K) Did the returning players all improve that much?

3. The D-line was good against the run last year, but absolutely terrible when it came to pressuring the QB. This must improve this year, but D-line starters are essentially the same as last year. If they perform like last yr, our inexperienced D-backs will get burned.

4. Was the real problem last year team attitude and the QB?

5. Why are so many promising receivers injured? Can the remaining one's give us the needed balanced attack?

I fear our W-L record could be anywhere from 6-5 to 9-2. That is an unbelievable spread!

[BigRedJake]

Really enjoyed Armistead's summary and agree that this team is a real mystery. Some of the things that puzzle me going into the opening game wkend:

1. Preseason college football magazines were very depressing. No one believes that NU can win the NC, which is still very weak.

2. Everyone agrees that recruiting class was great, but only 3 JC transfers made either the starting team or backups. No high school superstar could crack the top 2 depth chart. (Exception - Jordon Congdon, K) Did the returning players all improve that much?

3. The D-line was good against the run last year, but absolutely terrible when it came to pressuring the QB. This must improve this year, but D-line starters are essentially the same as last year. If they perform like last yr, our inexperienced D-backs will get burned.

4. Was the real problem last year team attitude and the QB?

5. Why are so many promising receivers injured? Can the remaining one's give us the needed balanced attack?

I fear our W-L record could be anywhere from 6-5 to 9-2. That is an unbelievable spread!

When did we start to expect true freshman to start? I don't even think Congdon should be starting.

[kc_husker]

Really enjoyed Armistead's summary and agree that this team is a real mystery. Some of the things that puzzle me going into the opening game wkend:

1. Preseason college football magazines were very depressing. No one believes that NU can win the NC, which is still very weak.

2. Everyone agrees that recruiting class was great, but only 3 JC transfers made either the starting team or backups. No high school superstar could crack the top 2 depth chart. (Exception - Jordon Congdon, K) Did the returning players all improve that much?

3. The D-line was good against the run last year, but absolutely terrible when it came to pressuring the QB. This must improve this year, but D-line starters are essentially the same as last year. If they perform like last yr, our inexperienced D-backs will get burned.

4. Was the real problem last year team attitude and the QB?

5. Why are so many promising receivers injured? Can the remaining one's give us the needed balanced attack?

I fear our W-L record could be anywhere from 6-5 to 9-2. That is an unbelievable spread!

You have to work these kids in. They are very talented but very young. A little patience please.

[StuckinChicago]

Dillard cracked the two deep, and depth charts mean nothing.

[Pedro Guerrero]

2. Everyone agrees that recruiting class was great, but only 3 JC transfers made either the starting team or backups.  No high school superstar could crack the top 2 depth chart.  (Exception - Jordon Congdon, K)  Did the returning players all improve that much?   

Taylor, Hardy, J. Picou, Cryer, Ola, Dillard, Octavian, Bowman, Congdon, and Lucky. All these guys made the two deep. That would be 3 Offense, 5 Defense, and 2 Special teams. With Taylor, Hardy, Octavian, Congdon, and Lucky starting.(Lucky is a kick return guy) Slauson made the two deep also but he is towards next years class.