A Look at Past Classes - 2006

[AndyDufresne]

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.

[RockyMountainOySker]

+1 Good stuff. I love these types of posts and will always read it. IMO, very fair assessment across the board.

[carlfense]

+1 as well! Great breakdown. That looks like a lot of work. Thanks!

[AndyDufresne]

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.

[RedDenver]

I love these posts, but it makes more sense to do them after all the players have finished their NU career.

[HuskerJosh]

I liked this, but I really have a hard time putting Purify over McNeill and Allen. His star may have burned brightest at his peak, but the other two have contributed more overall, in my opinion.

[AndyDufresne]

I love these posts, but it makes more sense to do them after all the players have finished their NU career.

 

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.

[AndyDufresne]

I liked this, but I really have a hard time putting Purify over McNeill and Allen. His star may have burned brightest at his peak, but the other two have contributed more overall, in my opinion.

 

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.

[GMoose]

I especially agree with you about Rickey. If he has considerable PT this year (which sadly I don't think he will) he could have a good Asante-type role. Since our Corners should be absolute studs and the LB play should be improved, it takes a lot of pressure off the safeties kinda like Asante and O'Hanlon last year. Which should allow him to do what he does best, roam and headhunt, and lay out some viscous licks when the opportunity presents itself.

[huskalova]

Also +1. If you want to go to the work to post this I for one certainly find value in reading it. Your assessment was fair and well thought out. I mostly agree. Good work.

[GMoose]

I especially agree with you about Rickey. If he has considerable PT this year (which sadly I don't think he will) he could have a good Asante-type role. Since our Corners should be absolute studs and the LB play should be improved, it takes a lot of pressure off the safeties kinda like Asante and O'Hanlon last year. Which should allow him to do what he does best, roam and headhunt, and lay out some viscous licks when the opportunity presents itself.

I also forgot to mention, +1! This is good stuff, I'm an analytical type and I love stuff like this.

[Husker_x]

Excellent, excellent, excellent.

 

It's valuable, interesting posts like these that make a message board worthwhile. I remember talking to a friend of mine who took me through the (I believe it was) 2005 Iowa Hawkeye class, explaining who had been kicked off, busted, etc. When you got to the bottom of the list you suddenly realized why their HC was on about a hot a seat as Callahan at the time. Don't ever buy an argument from anyone that recruiting doesn't matter. The stars aspect of it is very overrated, but you don't want to find out what will happen to a team when an entire year's worth of recruiting efforts don't produce even a fraction of a success rate.

[whateveritis1224]

My thoughts this year for the Safety positions will be Smith and Gomes winning them, but Gomes will slide over to the Dime position and Rickey will come in whenever Nebraska uses 6+ DBs. He'll contribute, just not as much as he probably would've last year (where he would've been the 7th DB and came in on the Dime downs when Dennard was hurt, moving Gomes outside).

[Husker S Thompson]

Awesome post.

 

Hopefully McNeill will have more success when he's covered by guys not named Prince or Alfonzo or DeJon or Eric or PJ or....

[NUance]

Great stuff, Andy! I agree with most, but think you’re a bit harsh on Andre Jones. The guy was our starting CB in 2006 after getting on campus only a few weeks before. (Bowman blew a knee, remember.) Jones had 74 tackles and 7 pass breakups for the season, both second on the Blackshirts. He had 52 solo tackles, most on the team. If we wouldn’t have had Andre Jones when Bowman blew his knee out we would have been boned. The cupboard was pretty much bare of CBs back then.