Position Battles

[Danny Bateman]

The teaser on Rivals got me thinking. With nothing much else to discuss til the season gets here, why not discuss the perceived position battles going on?

 

Apparently, Yoshi and Jeremiah have been duking it out pretty admirably for the starting left tackle spot. Also, on second thought, Marcel and D.J. Jones always compete pretty well at right tackle.

 

It will be very interesting to see which receivers win the right to be the next on the field after Paul, Kinnie, and Mike. We're going to need someone to step up, perhaps Quincy? Get Curenski some stick? Just ideas. Maybe Will Henry steps up and finally has a big senior year... that frame would be hard to defend.

 

Obviously the QB spot is probably the most important battle in terms of determining the outcome of the season, and I was going to ask which battle you guys thought was the most important, but I was pretty sure everyone would just vote QB, so I left it off.

 

As far as OLB and Safety, it's pretty up in the air as to who will play, esp. at OLB. Gomes is more or less a lock at FS, but SS could be manned by a number of people, even though we've heard West is taking the reps with the ones. Another battle worth considering would be dime back, as I believe Eric Hagg is our peso back as well as our nickel guy, but I can't imagine we'd play much nickel this year. So, the backup corner spots behind Prince and Alfonso could be up for grabs, especially if Blue really is hurt. Let's hope not. I could see Andrew Green getting his foot in the door.

 

I was just wondering which were your favorite battles, your thoughts in general, and which battle you feel will have the most competition. By that I meant there is the most talent competing for the spot, or the spot where you would feel most comfortable no matter who wins.

[knapplc]

Kinda hard to keep up on these battles when Bo doesn't talk about his depth chart at all, isn't it?

[mmmtodd]

Kinda hard to keep up on these battles when Bo doesn't talk about his depth chart at all, isn't it?

 

sure is. darn guys acts like he runs the program or something. doesnt he know we fans need info to make our decisions about who should start? come on Bo!

[HuskerNMO]

If the season started today, Gomes and West would be the safeties in a 4-3 or "peso", or nickel. If we go dime Gomes would slide there and PJ Smith or Cassidy would move in at safety. Sirles is leading the LT race, Marcel is winning the RT race, QB is Lee's to lose, dunno about the 4/5/6 recievers (guessing Cooper, Gilleylen and Enunwa, Henry or Osborne at this point) and and LB's is too early to tell since Fisher's injury came in the final 5 minutes of practice yesterday.

[HuskerJosh]

Watching the most - QB, naturally.

Most hotly contested - S. I really like the talent there, so I expect it to be close throughout camp.

[Danny Bateman]

If the season started today, Gomes and West would be the safeties in a 4-3 or "peso", or nickel. If we go dime Gomes would slide there and PJ Smith or Cassidy would move in at safety. Sirles is leading the LT race, Marcel is winning the RT race, QB is Lee's to lose, dunno about the 4/5/6 recievers (guessing Cooper, Gilleylen and Enunwa, Henry or Osborne at this point) and and LB's is too early to tell since Fisher's injury came in the final 5 minutes of practice yesterday.

Marcel always seems to have the upper hand on D.J. on the right side, but I was kind of hoping Yoshi would win out at LT. Big old road grader, lots of intensity. Figured he could definitely help bring some mean to our offensive line, but oh well, if Sirles earns the job, he should have it. Perosnally, I'd be really happy with either of these guys.

[ESPY]

Here's a little blurb from today's Journal Star about Enunwa...

Enunwa in the mix: True freshman wide receiver Quincy Enunwa (6-2, 205 pounds) “has put himself in the hunt for depth at receiver,” Watson said.

 

A native of Moreno Valley, Calif., Enunwa possesses strong hands, Watson said.

 

“He plays big and he plays fast,” the coach said. “He has the ability to get in and out of cut. He functions very well in space and in tight proximity. He’s really a complete player. We’re really pleased with him."

 

Nebraska’s top three receivers are clear-cut: Niles Paul, Brandon Kinnie and Mike McNeill. “The competition for the other three spots has been pretty spirited, pretty tight,” Watson said.

Honestly if he's playing anything like his high school footage shows, then he stands a chance of at least getting some valuable PT this season. The question is do we really want to burn a redshirt on a kid who could very easily become the next Niles Paul?

[zoogs]

I'm not really watching the QB competition...since I don't believe there's really going to be much of one. If Lee doesn't start I will be completely shocked.

 

I will, however, be watching the LBs, S, and LT positions closely. Of these, the LBs are the least interesting to me. It'll still be interesting, but I figure we'll see Compton, Martin, Whaley, Lavonte David, and May filling in the 2 spots. How David is brought along will be a storyline to follow.

 

LT is where it gets interesting and that's the one I'll follow most. Most of us, me included, penciled in Hardrick as the starter. But redshirt freshman Sirles could be the #1? That to me makes this one to watch. Who's going to protect our QB's blindside this season? Most critical would be safety, IMO. Biggest question mark on a defense we are all counting on.

[Danny Bateman]

From what I've heard, Sirles is proving to have better technique whilst blocking than Yoshi (and presumably being the better pass blocker of the two), while Hardrick is probably the better, more aggressive run blocker. It definitely will be a good one to watch, I voted for LT as the most competitive spot.

[admo]

I like Caputo a lot at Center, but wow, there isnt a backup. Not with game experience. Even from G/T that could slide over if needed.

[Lil' Red]

I'm almost positive Lee will be the starter so I'm more focused on LB. I'm interested to see if Eric Martin can put it all together and be a good starter and how good Lavonte David is and how May and Whaley do.

[NUance]

Anyone hear anything out of Terrence Moore/Baker Steinkuhler at DT? Moore might make this more of a battle than expected.

[bleedNUred]

I'm watching the QB position the most but think the safety spot is the most competitive considering there's alot of talent trying to play that spot.

[AndyDufresne]

I like Caputo a lot at Center, but wow, there isnt a backup. Not with game experience. Even from G/T that could slide over if needed.

 

I hope we don't need him and I'm not sure how he's been practicing, but Pensick surprised me in the spring game with his solid play.

[bball_backer]

I'd love to watch the guys going at it competing for the safety jobs. There are so many guys with experience, talent, and huge upside that could be put in at safety... I think it'd be a blast watching them all selling out to be noticed every single rep.

As for QB, I'm one of those who believes it's only being called a competition to make Zac sweat a little and make sure he knows he needs to improve