bulletbait Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I am one of Shawn Watson's biggest detractors. My friends know the vitriol I will spew on game day when things don't work out for the offense. But after thinking for awhile, I'm OK with him staying on, and feel good about the offense for the coming season. Here's why: Take one look at the players we're recruiting for offense. QB Bubba Starling and Jamal Turner are two of the fastest prospects at their position in a very long time. Sure, we're likely to only get Turner in the end, but I see what the coaches are trying to build. They want a 3 deep of Taylor Martinez's. Super athletic guys that can absolutely devastate a defense with their legs. Brion Carnes fits the mold as well, though he is less of a burner and more of a "quick" player. Think about why our offense REALLY struggled this year. After Martinez got injured, we lost that entire dimension of the offense. We had no other QB that was fast enough to run the same plays as Taylor. We can hem and haw about how Watson should be able to gameplan for the differing styles of Martinez and Green, but we all seem to forgot how truly difficult that is. No one does that. Not in college, not in the NFL. You build your program around a certain style, and you perfect it. That's impossible to do if you have to attempt to master two different skillsets, just because your #1 might get injured. I'm rambling now, but tl;dr We'll have more QBs that can run the same type of offense, which will make it vastly easier for the offense to start to click through practice. The same applies to our RB recruits. We've targeted two explosive "scat-back" types (much in the vein of LaMichael James) to pair with our existing "superman" at RB (who started with more of a scatback body-type, but filled out due to lacking top end speed). Aaron Green is lightning in a bottle, and Ameer Abdullah is amazingly underrated. I've only watched his 1 on 1 matchup videos from camps, but if he can translate any of that to the field- he'll be a good one for us. 3* scrubs don't get the offer lists that Ameer had before committing. And we're building a solid base for all of those playmakers with the absolute stud OL class that is coming in. They won't all pan out. Some may never even play a down, but when you've got an entire second string of 4* recruits, you're going to get 1 or 2 studs out of them. So there it is friends, the house is not burning down, the sky is not falling, Bo Pelini isn't leaving, and the Huskers will kick some ass in the Big 10 next year. Quote Link to comment
huskerscott Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Im worried, very worried. All those studs you are talking about. Well guess what they havent hit campus yet, let alone played a down of division I football. So lets tone down the expectations until those guys hit the field against Tenn-Chatt. 1 Quote Link to comment
Husker_x Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Well, the Offseason Optimism syndrome has finally begun. Let the excuse peddling begin! 1 Quote Link to comment
okaive Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 If we don't have an OL that can block, we are going to have the Big 12 and Holiday Bowl all over again. Won't matter how fast these guys will be able to run. Quote Link to comment
Ratt Mhule Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Im worried, very worried. All those studs you are talking about. Well guess what they havent hit campus yet, let alone played a down of division I football. So lets tone down the expectations until those guys hit the field against Tenn-Chatt. Actually Jamal Turner is on campus and will participate in spring ball which should really help with his progression. Quote Link to comment
bigg10 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 whats these kids 40 time? You do know that Michigans Robinson's 40 is like 4.3 right (he is fast)? You also know alot of line backers in the B10 are 230lbs not 180lbs yet still run the 40 in the 4.9's and even lower right? I know even tenths of a second matter but ......... Quote Link to comment
huskerscott Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Im worried, very worried. All those studs you are talking about. Well guess what they havent hit campus yet, let alone played a down of division I football. So lets tone down the expectations until those guys hit the field against Tenn-Chatt. Actually Jamal Turner is on campus and will participate in spring ball which should really help with his progression. right forgot about Turner. Quote Link to comment
husker_99 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I am one of Shawn Watson's biggest detractors. My friends know the vitriol I will spew on game day when things don't work out for the offense. But after thinking for awhile, I'm OK with him staying on, and feel good about the offense for the coming season. Here's why: Take one look at the players we're recruiting for offense. QB Bubba Starling and Jamal Turner are two of the fastest prospects at their position in a very long time. Sure, we're likely to only get Turner in the end, but I see what the coaches are trying to build. They want a 3 deep of Taylor Martinez's. Super athletic guys that can absolutely devastate a defense with their legs. Brion Carnes fits the mold as well, though he is less of a burner and more of a "quick" player. Think about why our offense REALLY struggled this year. After Martinez got injured, we lost that entire dimension of the offense. We had no other QB that was fast enough to run the same plays as Taylor. We can hem and haw about how Watson should be able to gameplan for the differing styles of Martinez and Green, but we all seem to forgot how truly difficult that is. No one does that. Not in college, not in the NFL. You build your program around a certain style, and you perfect it. That's impossible to do if you have to attempt to master two different skillsets, just because your #1 might get injured. I'm rambling now, but tl;dr We'll have more QBs that can run the same type of offense, which will make it vastly easier for the offense to start to click through practice. The same applies to our RB recruits. We've targeted two explosive "scat-back" types (much in the vein of LaMichael James) to pair with our existing "superman" at RB (who started with more of a scatback body-type, but filled out due to lacking top end speed). Aaron Green is lightning in a bottle, and Ameer Abdullah is amazingly underrated. I've only watched his 1 on 1 matchup videos from camps, but if he can translate any of that to the field- he'll be a good one for us. 3* scrubs don't get the offer lists that Ameer had before committing. And we're building a solid base for all of those playmakers with the absolute stud OL class that is coming in. They won't all pan out. Some may never even play a down, but when you've got an entire second string of 4* recruits, you're going to get 1 or 2 studs out of them. So there it is friends, the house is not burning down, the sky is not falling, Bo Pelini isn't leaving, and the Huskers will kick some ass in the Big 10 next year. I feel you are only optomistic cause you haven't seen a live husker game in about a month and having to live through Watson's crappy decisions. Until Martinez can throw really well and look off of receivers he is just a one trick pony. I wouldn't want a 3 deep Martinez's at qb. Quote Link to comment
bulletbait Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 whats these kids 40 time? You do know that Michigans Robinson's 40 is like 4.3 right (he is fast)? You also know alot of line backers in the B10 are 230lbs not 180lbs yet still run the 40 in the 4.9's and even lower right? I know even tenths of a second matter but ......... I think some in this thread may have missed the overall point of my post. I'm not hinging my confidence so much on the individual players, but that we seem to finally be recruiting to an identity. In the days of the "WCO," we were star chasers, grabbing highly touted guys without really knowing how we would use them. Our recent recruiting classes have seemed much more focused. Why do their 40 times matter? The point is not that our incoming recruits are fast, as much as they are all designed to fit a certain mold. They are all (potentially) great fits for an Oregon-style, run-based spread offense. Quote Link to comment
bulletbait Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 I am one of Shawn Watson's biggest detractors. My friends know the vitriol I will spew on game day when things don't work out for the offense. But after thinking for awhile, I'm OK with him staying on, and feel good about the offense for the coming season. Here's why: Take one look at the players we're recruiting for offense. QB Bubba Starling and Jamal Turner are two of the fastest prospects at their position in a very long time. Sure, we're likely to only get Turner in the end, but I see what the coaches are trying to build. They want a 3 deep of Taylor Martinez's. Super athletic guys that can absolutely devastate a defense with their legs. Brion Carnes fits the mold as well, though he is less of a burner and more of a "quick" player. Think about why our offense REALLY struggled this year. After Martinez got injured, we lost that entire dimension of the offense. We had no other QB that was fast enough to run the same plays as Taylor. We can hem and haw about how Watson should be able to gameplan for the differing styles of Martinez and Green, but we all seem to forgot how truly difficult that is. No one does that. Not in college, not in the NFL. You build your program around a certain style, and you perfect it. That's impossible to do if you have to attempt to master two different skillsets, just because your #1 might get injured. I'm rambling now, but tl;dr We'll have more QBs that can run the same type of offense, which will make it vastly easier for the offense to start to click through practice. The same applies to our RB recruits. We've targeted two explosive "scat-back" types (much in the vein of LaMichael James) to pair with our existing "superman" at RB (who started with more of a scatback body-type, but filled out due to lacking top end speed). Aaron Green is lightning in a bottle, and Ameer Abdullah is amazingly underrated. I've only watched his 1 on 1 matchup videos from camps, but if he can translate any of that to the field- he'll be a good one for us. 3* scrubs don't get the offer lists that Ameer had before committing. And we're building a solid base for all of those playmakers with the absolute stud OL class that is coming in. They won't all pan out. Some may never even play a down, but when you've got an entire second string of 4* recruits, you're going to get 1 or 2 studs out of them. So there it is friends, the house is not burning down, the sky is not falling, Bo Pelini isn't leaving, and the Huskers will kick some ass in the Big 10 next year. I feel you are only optomistic cause you haven't seen a live husker game in about a month and having to live through Watson's crappy decisions. Until Martinez can throw really well and look off of receivers he is just a one trick pony. I wouldn't want a 3 deep Martinez's at qb. That's the rub, though. One trick ponies can work at the college level, provided that one trick is good enough. Was Crouch a talented passer? Vince Young? Michael Vick? Heck, Oregon's QB isn't much of a passer either. When Martinez was healthy and the QB run threat was fully realized, he was a successful (if not technically proficient) passer. Don't get me wrong, there are many problems with our offense, but if we actually ARE recruiting for a specific mold (obviously, none of us can truly know, we're outsiders), filling out our roster with QBs that can run that mold should alleviate many of our woes. Quote Link to comment
bigg10 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 whats these kids 40 time? You do know that Michigans Robinson's 40 is like 4.3 right (he is fast)? You also know alot of line backers in the B10 are 230lbs not 180lbs yet still run the 40 in the 4.9's and even lower right? I know even tenths of a second matter but ......... I think some in this thread may have missed the overall point of my post. I'm not hinging my confidence so much on the individual players, but that we seem to finally be recruiting to an identity. In the days of the "WCO," we were star chasers, grabbing highly touted guys without really knowing how we would use them. Our recent recruiting classes have seemed much more focused. Why do their 40 times matter? The point is not that our incoming recruits are fast, as much as they are all designed to fit a certain mold. They are all (potentially) great fits for an Oregon-style, run-based spread offense. I understand what you are saying now. But in all fairness you were the one who said "fast" "with thier legs" "qwick". I agree scouting talent that fits the needs of what you are trying to do is more important than going by how many stars the kid is rated at. Picking talent is a art form by itself and I think what you are saying is you are very happy with the way Bo and company are picking talent. Quote Link to comment
bulletbait Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 If we don't have an OL that can block, we are going to have the Big 12 and Holiday Bowl all over again. Won't matter how fast these guys will be able to run. Beware, what follows are the unfounded beliefs of a amateur football fan: How much of our blocking troubles are related to being "multiple" on offense? As a former OL player myself, I know that blocking is not as simple as many may think. By being "multiple", we're forcing our OL to learn too many schemes, and never become proficient in any of them. They're playing off of raw talent. Yes, Shawn Watson is responsible for that "multiplicity." But this is Bo Pelini's team. Bo has made it clear (through recruiting), that he wants a spread run offense. All of his QB recruits have fit this mold. Sure, not all have turned out to fit that mold (see Green, Cody), but the goal is clear. Bo wants a QB that is either 1. immensely fast, or 2. incredibly shifty. Of course, one cannot know if a recruit will fully pan out to that mold until you get them on campus. Cody, unfortunately, does not fit that mold. He's got decent speed, but not great, he's nifty at times, but will generally not make a defender miss. Cody was and (currently) is not the type of QB that they were hoping for, but he was the next best fit on the roster, earning him the #2 spot. Do I completely trust Shawn Watson to cut the sh#t and make the full time transition to a spread run game? Eh, I'm iffy there. However, I do believe that Bo will, if he has not already, make it clear that it is the identity the team should have next season. Quote Link to comment
Hujan Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Watson is a smart man. Do not underestimate his unmatched ability to squander talent. It takes a special man to make great athletes look average. Watson is that man. Quote Link to comment
suh_fan93 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 <-----Is definitely still worried. The Watson factor is still in full effect but I am optimistic about our recruting class coming in. The OL and skill players look like they have promise/potential. It's all about the Bears for me right now. lol I'll wait until our season starts to see if anything really has changed. Quote Link to comment
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