Nickens to DT

[Saunders]

Yes I am sure it does, but it is still recruiting failure. The kid stated we are light in the DT position, and last season we were told we redshirted the talent to do the job this year. Alas we are still light, no/less than needed talent here. Now they maybe coming in the fall, but howmany true freshmen start on the Dline?

 

And my guess is I have far more knowledge about running a team than you imagine. I have ran several very large teams, developed Olympic and World Class athletes. Please give me your credentials as to knowing more about it than me.

I trained Batman.

 

/eot

[SouthLincoln Husker]

I don't know what I think about this move. Part of me is scratching my head because I was under the impression that our youngsters were studs and ready to step in. Now we are moving a longtime OL player to the DT spot?

 

Is Nickens that good at DT or are we still that thin at DT?

 

Hopefully the Spring game clears this up a little bit

Hedley, we are still light. Other than VV, we avg. around 280. It appears to be a 1 year backup for VV or it might be a message to the your guys.

[kchusker_chris]

taking reps with the 2nd string DLINE, coming from reps with the 2nd offensive lline.

 

It's just as logical as anything to say that he's gone from being the #10 Olineman to the #8 d-lineman. At best, he was the #6 olineman moved to the #5 dlineman.

I'm not even sure he was 2nd string OL though. This is honestly the first I've heard of him. Maybe since Reeves is out at RG he's been w/ the 2nd string unit this spring? With the OL, and the way they shuffle things around - lets say he was a guard and he was in the mix with Long, Reeves, ARod, Cotton, and Givens-Price - maybe Mike Moudy?

 

I think ARod has moved to tackle. Reeves is out for the spring. Pensick is back to center. So Nickens essentiallyhas to beat out maybe 1 guy to make the 2 deep at guard?

 

Now, DT is maybe the same story. You've got Curry, Guy, Okuyemi who's never played, Randle, VV, Kevin Williams. So he had to beat out a few guys there.

 

Regardless, we're really thin at both I think. More thin at guard right now though. I expect Pensick to move back when Pelini comes back. Poor kid's been jerked around that line his whole career.

 

Right now, at this time, to me, all the players in the red could get a starting position, and/or adds great depth. OL does not look to be thin at all. All the black are kids that haven't been talked about at all, or very little, with the exception of Knevel and Hannon, with them being true freshman. They both will likely RS, but you never know. Especially with Knevel. If he can understand the offense fully after fall camp, you could see him as a front runner. 5 spots, with 15 possible starters, who have experience or are raved about by the players, media and/or coaches.

 

OL

----

Matt Finnin

Zach Hannon

David Knevel

Chongo Kondolo

Jake Cotton

Spencer Long

Mike Maudy

Mark Pelini

Cole Pensick

Givens Price

Brent Qvale

Ryan Reeves

Andrew Rodriquez

Jeremiah Sirles

Zach Sterup

Paul Thurston

Corey Whitaker

Chris Long

Dylan Utter

Brandon Thompson

Bobby Painter

Nick Ash

Brandon Chapek

Scott Chris

Garret Johns

Adam Kucera

Will Sailors

Landen Kubicek

Dustin Glaser

 

For DT, we are thinner, but you will only have 2 starters out of this whole group, while the remaining are backup players for relief or if they are having troubles. There was a lot of talk about Okuyemi last year, as well as Guy and Uher. Its not even fall camp yet and those guys can emerge to be a valuable players. Greg McMullen, I added, is because there has been talk, from him, about playing DT, as well as DE, because of his size and athleticism. If Randle becomes healthy by game time, it just puts us in better shape. Collins and Maurice could also pull starting positions, if they are healthy after fall camp.

 

DT

-----

Maleik Collins

Kevin Maurice

Broderick Nickens

Aaron Curry

Jay Guy

Tobi Okuyemi

Jeff Uher

Thad Randle

Kevin Williams

Vincent Valentine

Greg McMullen

 

Jason Ankrah, Randy Gregory, Greg McMullen Walker Ashburn, Donovan Vestal, Avery Moss, AJ Natter and Dimarya Mixon could be key on the defense as well. I am sure Natter and Mixon will RS, but we are pretty stacked on DE.

I'm talking about the guard positions - which at this point has maybe 4-5 guys...and you throw in center/tackle to make the position seem better off than it is. Even Sipple was commenting the other day how thin we are at guard. Sure, you can shift a guy over there - but that is half the problem with Barney IMO. 15 practices is all they get in the spring...and he'd rep a guy for 11 of them at tackle them move them. Guard is a different build, different player than tackle...just like DE is a different position than DT - which is why you didn't include all of our DEs in your list for DT. They made a whole movie about the LT position. Barney needed to acknowledge those tackle positions vary from the rest of the OL and aren't just some fat guy taking up space - plowing forward in an offense that runs 80% of the time. That's not us.

[The Dude]

How does having McMullen playing inside translate to more 3-4?

 

Stacked at LB? What's the basis for a statement like that? We don't have a single guy at the position who has proven anything significant. Not one guy, let alone enough guys to consider the position "stacked".

 

Yes, the depth chart is thin at DT, but that's been the case since Bo has been here.

 

We recruited tons of DTs, just struck out the first half dozen times or so. It certainly wasn't from a lack of trying.

 

I was just stating that we are making more hybrid players, because we are obviously going to see a variety of packages on defense.

 

Zaire Anderson, I believe has shown he has the capability to be a big game changer, as well as Santos. So, I wouldn't say not one hasn't proven anything significant. I was just stating I think we will see 3-4 this year, but not as a primary defense. If we run thin on DT's, I don't think we will have a choice but play more linebackers (3-4) with Gregory, Valentine and Ankrah on the front 3, with a mixture of McMullen and Moss. Especially if the LB crew is understanding the defense.

 

If we had Valentine at NT, guys like Curry and Williams at DE. Ankrah, Moss/Gregory at OLB, with Santos and Anderson in the middle. . . then we'd be cooking with peanut oil. Until we start seeing moves like that, I doubt we'll ever see anything more than a token amount of 3-4 mixed in. Not that it's ever been especially effective around here, not sure why so many people want to see more of it.

 

We have a lot of bodies at LB, but to me it doesn't seem like they're particularly suited to play OLB in a 3-4 defense. They seem more like 4-3 guys.

 

I agree with you about having some hybrid players. I like that package where we have 4 defensive ends rushing the passer on 3rd and long. I'd like to see more of that with guys like McMullen.

[Huskerlambs]

I hope they try this out and if it doesnt look like it will work immediately move him back to OL and let him work on getting higher on the depth chart there, I dont think it is a good idea to keep trying to make a player into something their not, or to keep switching players back and forth, seems to be extremely detrimental to the players attitude. I think that is a big reason why Heard is leaving.

I don't think the coaches made him do it. They are short on DT's and asked him if he would be willing to switch and give it a shot. He did the unselfish thing and said ok. He has the size and the coaches probably saw that having a veteran guy over there would help.

 

See, Nickens has the choice, and he obviously isn't against the switch. Heard was ok with moving to defense the first time. The second position change, wasn't a change at all. They were going to keep Heard at RB, but have him take reps as a WR to get him more playing time, while distributing the ball according to the game.

 

Every player has the choice to switch positions, the coaches, nor Bo, force them to play something they don't want.

Yeah, ok. When these players are asked to switch, how much of a "choice" do you think they actually have? For one, I'm sure they're worried about defying what, in the coaches' minds, is the correct position move. Also, it's kinda implied that "hey, you may have more opportunity at this other position than you do here; may be in your best interest to move."

They should have done this already. We have 20 offensive linemen, only seven or eight of which ever played last year, yet we were playing two 260-lb DT's. Why NOT move a couple over to DT?!

[kchusker_chris]

If we had Valentine at NT, guys like Curry and Williams at DE. Ankrah, Moss/Gregory at OLB, with Santos and Anderson in the middle. . . then we'd be cooking with peanut oil. Until we start seeing moves like that, I doubt we'll ever see anything more than a token amount of 3-4 mixed in. Not that it's ever been especially effective around here, not sure why so many people want to see more of it.

 

We have a lot of bodies at LB, but to me it doesn't seem like they're particularly suited to play OLB in a 3-4 defense. They seem more like 4-3 guys.

 

I agree with you about having some hybrid players. I like that package where we have 4 defensive ends rushing the passer on 3rd and long. I'd like to see more of that with guys like McMullen.

Me personally - mainly because of our lack of talent at DT. The last few years we've been able to sign stellar LBer classes, but only average DT classes. If that continues, I'd like to see us move to a 3-4, mainly just to ensure our best talent is on the field. Anyone know what the distribution of defensive schemes is in the B1G? Seems to be a lot of 4-3. I think we are building a unique offense which will give us an edge there, if we could have a defense that Wisconsin/Michigan don't see ever week that couldn't hurt.

[Count 'Bility]

Why not just do what we did in the early nineties? Move our CB's to Safety, move our safeties to OLB, and move our OLB's up to DE. Seemed to work fine then.

[4skers89]

If we had Valentine at NT, guys like Curry and Williams at DE. Ankrah, Moss/Gregory at OLB, with Santos and Anderson in the middle. . . then we'd be cooking with peanut oil. Until we start seeing moves like that, I doubt we'll ever see anything more than a token amount of 3-4 mixed in. Not that it's ever been especially effective around here, not sure why so many people want to see more of it.

 

We have a lot of bodies at LB, but to me it doesn't seem like they're particularly suited to play OLB in a 3-4 defense. They seem more like 4-3 guys.

 

I agree with you about having some hybrid players. I like that package where we have 4 defensive ends rushing the passer on 3rd and long. I'd like to see more of that with guys like McMullen.

Me personally - mainly because of our lack of talent at DT. The last few years we've been able to sign stellar LBer classes, but only average DT classes. If that continues, I'd like to see us move to a 3-4, mainly just to ensure our best talent is on the field. Anyone know what the distribution of defensive schemes is in the B1G? Seems to be a lot of 4-3. I think we are building a unique offense which will give us an edge there, if we could have a defense that Wisconsin/Michigan don't see ever week that couldn't hurt.

 

Sounds like Wisconsin is moving to a 3-4 http://host.madison.com/sports/college/football/badgers-football-david-gilbert-to-miss-spring-after-foot-surgery/article_91e5a7ac-8c4b-11e2-897f-001a4bcf887a.html so they can see it in practice.

 

Unfortunately for Gilbert, who is moving from defensive end to outside linebacker in the new 3-4 alignment, that time won't come during spring drills.

[The Dude]

If we had Valentine at NT, guys like Curry and Williams at DE. Ankrah, Moss/Gregory at OLB, with Santos and Anderson in the middle. . . then we'd be cooking with peanut oil. Until we start seeing moves like that, I doubt we'll ever see anything more than a token amount of 3-4 mixed in. Not that it's ever been especially effective around here, not sure why so many people want to see more of it.

 

We have a lot of bodies at LB, but to me it doesn't seem like they're particularly suited to play OLB in a 3-4 defense. They seem more like 4-3 guys.

 

I agree with you about having some hybrid players. I like that package where we have 4 defensive ends rushing the passer on 3rd and long. I'd like to see more of that with guys like McMullen.

Me personally - mainly because of our lack of talent at DT. The last few years we've been able to sign stellar LBer classes, but only average DT classes. If that continues, I'd like to see us move to a 3-4, mainly just to ensure our best talent is on the field. Anyone know what the distribution of defensive schemes is in the B1G? Seems to be a lot of 4-3. I think we are building a unique offense which will give us an edge there, if we could have a defense that Wisconsin/Michigan don't see ever week that couldn't hurt.

 

In 3-4 defenses, defensive ends are essentially 4-3 defensive tackles, and outside linebackers are 4-3 defensive ends.

 

So if we're short on defensive tackles, moving to 3-4 seems to be the worst possible way to get the talent on the field. Considering you would now have to add a nose guard. That's literally taking an already thin position group, and stretching it thinner.

 

Our perceived depth at LB would be concentrated mostly at the middle linebacker spots, as players like Moss and Gregory would be taking up the the two outside linebacker spots. That would be taking a deep position group and compressing it down to two positions. Again, not a good way to ensure the best players are on the field.

[zeWilbur]

In 3-4 defenses, defensive ends are essentially 4-3 defensive tackles, and outside linebackers are 4-3 defensive ends.

 

So if we're short on defensive tackles, moving to 3-4 seems to be the worst possible way to get the talent on the field. Considering you would now have to add a nose guard. That's literally taking an already thin position group, and stretching it thinner.

 

Our perceived depth at LB would be concentrated mostly at the middle linebacker spots, as players like Moss and Gregory would be taking up the the two outside linebacker spots. That would be taking a deep position group and compressing it down to two positions. Again, not a good way to ensure the best players are on the field.

 

Sweet Jesus someone else gets it. +1 to you sir

[kchusker_chris]

If we had Valentine at NT, guys like Curry and Williams at DE. Ankrah, Moss/Gregory at OLB, with Santos and Anderson in the middle. . . then we'd be cooking with peanut oil. Until we start seeing moves like that, I doubt we'll ever see anything more than a token amount of 3-4 mixed in. Not that it's ever been especially effective around here, not sure why so many people want to see more of it.

 

We have a lot of bodies at LB, but to me it doesn't seem like they're particularly suited to play OLB in a 3-4 defense. They seem more like 4-3 guys.

 

I agree with you about having some hybrid players. I like that package where we have 4 defensive ends rushing the passer on 3rd and long. I'd like to see more of that with guys like McMullen.

Me personally - mainly because of our lack of talent at DT. The last few years we've been able to sign stellar LBer classes, but only average DT classes. If that continues, I'd like to see us move to a 3-4, mainly just to ensure our best talent is on the field. Anyone know what the distribution of defensive schemes is in the B1G? Seems to be a lot of 4-3. I think we are building a unique offense which will give us an edge there, if we could have a defense that Wisconsin/Michigan don't see ever week that couldn't hurt.

 

In 3-4 defenses, defensive ends are essentially 4-3 defensive tackles, and outside linebackers are 4-3 defensive ends.

 

So if we're short on defensive tackles, moving to 3-4 seems to be the worst possible way to get the talent on the field. Considering you would now have to add a nose guard. That's literally taking an already thin position group, and stretching it thinner.

 

Our perceived depth at LB would be concentrated mostly at the middle linebacker spots, as players like Moss and Gregory would be taking up the the two outside linebacker spots. That would be taking a deep position group and compressing it down to two positions. Again, not a good way to ensure the best players are on the field.

I didn't mean we lacked bodies, we just lack the talent to hold up inside. Just because our guys aren't as suited to play inside, doesn't mean plenty wouldn't make solid DTs in a 3-4 scheme - Curry/Guy/Randle/Williams are 280/290/290/275 respectively. Ideal body sizes to line up left-right of VV/Nickens. Even our young guys, Collins/Maurice are 285/270. 270/275 just doesn't cut it in the middle. We saw that with Cam inside last year. They are giving up 50 pounds most weeks.

 

If we put 2 of them in the middle at the DT position...at least 1 if not both of them will be undersized. Williams/Curry have a leg up when it comes to experience considering Randle is out. 280 & 275 isn't going to do much up front on their own. 290/280/275 is not exactly the 300/285/290 rotation of Suh, Crick, Stein. We just seemed really undersized at DT last year - and look to be even more so this year. I think the talent we have would be better suited to stop the rush if they didn't have to give 50 pounds to the guy across from them.

 

 

265-280-275-230

-230--225--220-

 

OR

 

-290--325--280-

270-225-220-285

 

 

1725lbs OR 1895lbs

[The Dude]

265 -280-275-270

-230--225--220-

 

OR

 

-280--325--275-

265-225-220-270

 

 

. . . would be more realistic.

 

Although Moss would probably have to cut a little weight to be an effective ROLB. 260ish would be about right. The idea of McMullen lining up there is kind of out there haha. And I don't think it's a given Valentine would only play if we switched to a 3-4. At the very most you'd be looking at a 95-100lb difference in any realistic scenario.

 

Line up Valentine in the 4-3 and Gregory at ROLB in the 3-4, and you're not looking at much difference at all, as far as overall weight goes.

 

 

I do agree we'll be undersized at DT if Curry and Williams are our main guys. I'm hoping Valentine gets significant action, and do we have any time frame on Randle's return?

[HuskerNationNick]

do we have any time frame on Randle's return?

 

As far as I heard, he is out all Spring.

[HuskerNationNick]

Brodrick Nickens had been hearing it from his roommate for years, but he would usually just roll his eyes and ignore him.

 

His roommate kept telling the senior offensive lineman that he needed to move over to the other side of the ball and give defense a shot. That roommate was also senior quarterback and team leader Taylor Martinez.

 

Despite the countless suggestions from Martinez, it wasn't until Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini and defensive coordinator John Papuchis approached Nickens last week about making the move that it ever became a legit possibility. After weighing his options, the Alliance, Neb., native finally conceded that his roommate was right all along, and he officially made the switch to defensive tackle last Friday.

[kchusker_chris]

"Effort is something we can all control. I'm going to make mistakes. I'm going to make a lot of mistakes. But I promise you I'm going to give 110 percent while I'm making those mistakes. As along as you're making those mistakes at 110 percent, we can fix the mistakes. Coach can't coach your effort. That's on you. That's your own heart."