DT Toby Johnson *

[StPaulHusker]

247 is reporting it in the twitter mentions but when you click on the link it goes to the BRR on Scout. Not sure if that makes a difference.

[Vince R.]

I will be following Toby's recruitment closely because I have a feeling a lot of teams have cooled off on him. Nebraska does have the luxury of taking him and giving him time for a full recovery. Maybe if Nebraska keeps showing him love then he will realize that Nebraska is ACTUALLY looking out for his best interest.

[BIG ERN]

We need to take a DT or 2 or 3 for next season.We obvi wont take 3, but I think 2 is a MUST at this point.

[nuhuskeralum]

I really could see us signing 3 DT's if the spacing works. If you have a solid 2 year guy that can play immediatley next year, Toby who will redshirt and rehab then play 2 years and then bring in a talented freshmen who redshirts and has 4 years left. It is completely in the realm of possibility. It would help the talent gap, we will be better next year but need immediate help and would give us a guy coming up in the future.

[HuskerShark]

I really could see us signing 3 DT's if the spacing works. If you have a solid 2 year guy that can play immediatley next year, Toby who will redshirt and rehab then play 2 years and then bring in a talented freshmen who redshirts and has 4 years left. It is completely in the realm of possibility. It would help the talent gap, we will be better next year but need immediate help and would give us a guy coming up in the future.

 

1. There is never assurance that these guys will translate into studs at DT, even from JUCO when they have established themselves at a higher level

2. I've heard doubt as to whether Toby will ever play football again. He's a big dude with a bad knee injury. If he does get back to playing, who knows if he will be able to play at the same level as he did before.

 

There's just never a sure-fire answer in recruiting because half of it is a guessing game as to how well the players are going to fit into big-time football. Just food for thought.

[RedRedJarvisRedwine]

I really could see us signing 3 DT's if the spacing works. If you have a solid 2 year guy that can play immediatley next year, Toby who will redshirt and rehab then play 2 years and then bring in a talented freshmen who redshirts and has 4 years left. It is completely in the realm of possibility. It would help the talent gap, we will be better next year but need immediate help and would give us a guy coming up in the future.

 

1. There is never assurance that these guys will translate into studs at DT, even from JUCO when they have established themselves at a higher level

2. I've heard doubt as to whether Toby will ever play football again. He's a big dude with a bad knee injury. If he does get back to playing, who knows if he will be able to play at the same level as he did before.

 

There's just never a sure-fire answer in recruiting because half of it is a guessing game as to how well the players are going to fit into big-time football. Just food for thought.

Yeah. I'm not saying I wouldn't welcome him here as a project if he were to committ but I'd rather see us move on to other options. If we had more stability at DT, I'd have no problem taking a flier on Toby, but its such a position of immediate need. Like Huskershark said, there's no guarantee Toby returns to form and even if he does that his skill translates to big time college football.

[flatwaterfan]

I really could see us signing 3 DT's if the spacing works. If you have a solid 2 year guy that can play immediatley next year, Toby who will redshirt and rehab then play 2 years and then bring in a talented freshmen who redshirts and has 4 years left. It is completely in the realm of possibility. It would help the talent gap, we will be better next year but need immediate help and would give us a guy coming up in the future.

 

That is a good scenario. That works for me.

[nuhuskeralum]

My thought was more about the comments that we would never take 3 or 4 DT's. We have a big class available and a position of need. Of course no one really knows if a guy is going to be a stud or not, that's why you take more than you normally would and let the cream rise to the top.

[why not]

It seems like there has been a lot of pessimism regarding the state of out DT position over the next couple of years and a feeling of near desperation in terms of getting some great talent this year to save us. Don't get me wrong, I would love to get some great talent this year. However, It seems like much of the young talent we already have is getting overlooked. The last three recruiting seasons, we have signed two DTs per year that have been ranked 4 star by at least one of the recruiting services (I think, I can't remember if Kevin Williams ever got his fourth star). Members of this board were every bit as stoked about Rome, Williams, Peat, and Valentine as they are now of the potential recruits that will supposedly save us from our alleged lack of quality DTs. I know I don't have a long history of posting on this board, but I've been reading Husker Board for about four years. I remember how thrilled everybody seemed to be that we were able to pull Rome out of U of Missouri's backyard. People predicted that Williams would be a beast based on his off the charts tackle numbers and his speed. Peat's recruiting process was watched intensely, and his commitment brought a lot of joy to the members of this board. We celebrated that we were able to beat out Florida, which has produced a couple NCs and a Heisman winnier in the last few years, for Valentine's services. Now it feels like collective amnesia. We've forgotten that we loved the young DTs we already have.

 

I realize that the D line performance has not been as consistant this year (or in 2011 or 2010) as any of us would like, and we certainly haven't seen anybody come close to the type of dominance that Suh demonstrated his senior year. However, our last three recruiting classes represent today's sophomore, redshirt freshman, and true freshman classes. Does anybody remember what our defensive line was like when Suh was a third year sophomore? I remember USC opening up holes in our defensive line the likes of which I'd never seen before and haven't seen since against a Nebraska defensive line. And that was a line featuring Suh as a starter. Of course, it would be easy to blame our one time favorite punching bag, Kevin Cosgrove, for the poor performance. Yet, we actually had quite solid D-line performance in 05 and 06 under Cosgrove. This year (like in 07) we have a D line coach that is new to our system. We also have thin junior and senior classes at the DT position. Neither one of these issues should be long term. Our DTs should learn to mesh with our new DT coach, and I personally feel confident that at least 3-4 of our six underclassman scholarship DTs will mature into very solid DTs. I'm not willing to predict that any of them will reach Suh's level of excellence, but I wouldn't make such a prediction for any underclassman DT in any program in the country.

[HuskerHacker]

very well said two thumbs up

[HuskerFowler]

It seems like there has been a lot of pessimism regarding the state of out DT position over the next couple of years and a feeling of near desperation in terms of getting some great talent this year to save us. Don't get me wrong, I would love to get some great talent this year. However, It seems like much of the young talent we already have is getting overlooked. The last three recruiting seasons, we have signed two DTs per year that have been ranked 4 star by at least one of the recruiting services (I think, I can't remember if Kevin Williams ever got his fourth star). Members of this board were every bit as stoked about Rome, Williams, Peat, and Valentine as they are now of the potential recruits that will supposedly save us from our alleged lack of quality DTs. I know I don't have a long history of posting on this board, but I've been reading Husker Board for about four years. I remember how thrilled everybody seemed to be that we were able to pull Rome out of U of Missouri's backyard. People predicted that Williams would be a beast based on his off the charts tackle numbers and his speed. Peat's recruiting process was watched intensely, and his commitment brought a lot of joy to the members of this board. We celebrated that we were able to beat out Florida, which has produced a couple NCs and a Heisman winnier in the last few years, for Valentine's services. Now it feels like collective amnesia. We've forgotten that we loved the young DTs we already have.

 

I realize that the D line performance has not been as consistant this year (or in 2011 or 2010) as any of us would like, and we certainly haven't seen anybody come close to the type of dominance that Suh demonstrated his senior year. However, our last three recruiting classes represent today's sophomore, redshirt freshman, and true freshman classes. Does anybody remember what our defensive line was like when Suh was a third year sophomore? I remember USC opening up holes in our defensive line the likes of which I'd never seen before and haven't seen since against a Nebraska defensive line. And that was a line featuring Suh as a starter. Of course, it would be easy to blame our one time favorite punching bag, Kevin Cosgrove, for the poor performance. Yet, we actually had quite solid D-line performance in 05 and 06 under Cosgrove. This year (like in 07) we have a D line coach that is new to our system. We also have thin junior and senior classes at the DT position. Neither one of these issues should be long term. Our DTs should learn to mesh with our new DT coach, and I personally feel confident that at least 3-4 of our six underclassman scholarship DTs will mature into very solid DTs. I'm not willing to predict that any of them will reach Suh's level of excellence, but I wouldn't make such a prediction for any underclassman DT in any program in the country.

 

Good post, I agree.

 

The fact that we are after so many JUCO DT's is proof enough that the coaches see an area that needs immediate help. I do think we have some great up and coming talent but we really need 2 guys that can come in and give us some quality depth while the younger guys get some experience. Out of all the DTs we have had on campus not one of them (in an interview) have spilled the beans about the coaches plans to take one or two Juco DT. Hooks and Russell really hit it off this weekend, and became fast friends. He said they could see themselves playing next to each other next year. Gotta wonder if we are going to take two JUCO DT. We seem to have fallen off the map with all the HS DTs. Another JUCO DT Kyle Peko is visiting for the Minnesota game, and its sounds like Scout may have been wrong about Toby visiting,although no one seems to know either way. Georgia and Oklahoma need immediate help so they may back off Toby. Tenn might be going thru a coaching change, so we may be the team that nurses Toby back to health and see how he does once fully recovered. I think we can take a chance on him, if he fully recovers, he would be a steal.

 

Rumors from the scout team are saying Valentine is almost unblockable at times.

 

We really do have some good talent waiting in the wings, but i think 2 good JUCO DTs would really help with depth. We didnt even have enough depth at DT to play the spring game without moving some guys around. Can never have enough big bodies.

[Danny Bateman]

It seems like there has been a lot of pessimism regarding the state of out DT position over the next couple of years and a feeling of near desperation in terms of getting some great talent this year to save us. Don't get me wrong, I would love to get some great talent this year. However, It seems like much of the young talent we already have is getting overlooked. The last three recruiting seasons, we have signed two DTs per year that have been ranked 4 star by at least one of the recruiting services (I think, I can't remember if Kevin Williams ever got his fourth star). Members of this board were every bit as stoked about Rome, Williams, Peat, and Valentine as they are now of the potential recruits that will supposedly save us from our alleged lack of quality DTs. I know I don't have a long history of posting on this board, but I've been reading Husker Board for about four years. I remember how thrilled everybody seemed to be that we were able to pull Rome out of U of Missouri's backyard. People predicted that Williams would be a beast based on his off the charts tackle numbers and his speed. Peat's recruiting process was watched intensely, and his commitment brought a lot of joy to the members of this board. We celebrated that we were able to beat out Florida, which has produced a couple NCs and a Heisman winnier in the last few years, for Valentine's services. Now it feels like collective amnesia. We've forgotten that we loved the young DTs we already have.

 

I realize that the D line performance has not been as consistant this year (or in 2011 or 2010) as any of us would like, and we certainly haven't seen anybody come close to the type of dominance that Suh demonstrated his senior year. However, our last three recruiting classes represent today's sophomore, redshirt freshman, and true freshman classes. Does anybody remember what our defensive line was like when Suh was a third year sophomore? I remember USC opening up holes in our defensive line the likes of which I'd never seen before and haven't seen since against a Nebraska defensive line. And that was a line featuring Suh as a starter. Of course, it would be easy to blame our one time favorite punching bag, Kevin Cosgrove, for the poor performance. Yet, we actually had quite solid D-line performance in 05 and 06 under Cosgrove. This year (like in 07) we have a D line coach that is new to our system. We also have thin junior and senior classes at the DT position. Neither one of these issues should be long term. Our DTs should learn to mesh with our new DT coach, and I personally feel confident that at least 3-4 of our six underclassman scholarship DTs will mature into very solid DTs. I'm not willing to predict that any of them will reach Suh's level of excellence, but I wouldn't make such a prediction for any underclassman DT in any program in the country.

 

Good post, I agree.

 

The fact that we are after so many JUCO DT's is proof enough that the coaches see an area that needs immediate help. I do think we have some great up and coming talent but we really need 2 guys that can come in and give us some quality depth while the younger guys get some experience. Out of all the DTs we have had on campus not one of them (in an interview) have spilled the beans about the coaches plans to take one or two Juco DT. Hooks and Russell really hit it off this weekend, and became fast friends. He said they could see themselves playing next to each other next year. Gotta wonder if we are going to take two JUCO DT. We seem to have fallen off the map with all the HS DTs. Another JUCO DT Kyle Peko is visiting for the Minnesota game, and its sounds like Scout may have been wrong about Toby visiting,although no one seems to know either way. Georgia and Oklahoma need immediate help so they may back off Toby. Tenn might be going thru a coaching change, so we may be the team that nurses Toby back to health and see how he does once fully recovered. I think we can take a chance on him, if he fully recovers, he would be a steal.

 

Rumors from the scout team are saying Valentine is almost unblockable at times.

 

We really do have some good talent waiting in the wings, but i think 2 good JUCO DTs would really help with depth. We didnt even have enough depth at DT to play the spring game without moving some guys around. Can never have enough big bodies.

It is rather telling when we have to shift Meredith inside to have enough bodies at DT.

 

Now, perhaps it's a case of Cam being the best we have available there even if we have other DT's ready to go (i.e., Peat, Williams, Guy). The coaches have shown a propensity for trusting the upperclassmen a lot more than the younger guys, unless their hand is forced. Cam was so atrocious off the edge for most of last two years (to the naked eye), it's good we found a role for him!

 

Next year we lose a 3-year starter at DT in Stein, so it will be interesting to see who steps up. One would be inclined to think it would be one of these JUCO's or VV stepping into the starting role unless someone takes over and makes the spot theirs next year.

[nuhuskeralum]

I also have great hopes for the futures of the young men you are talking about. But I also have great hopes for next season as do the coaches who are heavily recruiting a JUCO DT.

[Ed Helms]

Sounds like Toby is going to try and make it for the game this weekend.

['SkerNation]

Anybody know if others have backed off on his recruitment since his injury?