Watched one of the Spring Practices

[mwj98]

Was in lincoln visiting friends and stopped by the stadium. Forgot spring practice was taking place. Got my pass and headed in. Maybe the cold temperatures threw me off. Anyway....the team looked crisp. But it is practice. Just got to say one thing....Imani Cross is shredded!! My goodness.

 

Also saw some defensive lineman that looked pretty good. Lord knows we need it.

 

Very curious about the upcoming season.

[I am I]

Were they doing individual drills, or did u get to see them in team?

[HuskerNationNick]

Was in lincoln visiting friends and stopped by the stadium. Forgot spring practice was taking place. Got my pass and headed in. Maybe the cold temperatures threw me off. Anyway....the team looked crisp. But it is practice. Just got to say one thing....Imani Cross is shredded!! My goodness.

 

Also saw some defensive lineman that looked pretty good. Lord knows we need it.

 

Very curious about the upcoming season.

 

Cross is probably the player I am most excited to see play, besides seeing what Martinez can bring for his last year. Next would be Armstrong.

 

Defense, I really hope Valentine is everything that we have been hearing about for almost a year.

[wildman]

sounds like good news. But what I really wanna know is why isn't Knapp going in on a daily basis to accidently watch practice. Then report minute by minute updates lol.

[Husker from Kansas]

Was in lincoln visiting friends and stopped by the stadium. Forgot spring practice was taking place. Got my pass and headed in. Maybe the cold temperatures threw me off. Anyway....the team looked crisp. But it is practice. Just got to say one thing....Imani Cross is shredded!! My goodness.

 

Also saw some defensive lineman that looked pretty good. Lord knows we need it.

 

Very curious about the upcoming season.

 

Cross is probably the player I am most excited to see play, besides seeing what Martinez can bring for his last year. Next would be Armstrong.

 

Defense, I really hope Valentine is everything that we have been hearing about for almost a year.

 

Idk why but I think Cross will be the next Husker to be a big time success, theres just something about him that makes me think he'll play big time at the next level

[HuskerNationNick]

Idk why but I think Cross will be the next Husker to be a big time success, theres just something about him that makes me think he'll play big time at the next level

 

Exactly. With him cutting size, and gaining speed, that only makes him that much more of a game changer. Supposedly, he still hits like a freight train lol.

[QMany]

Idk why but I think Cross will be the next Husker to be a big time success, theres just something about him that makes me think he'll play big time at the next level

 

Exactly. With him cutting size, and gaining speed, that only makes me that much more of a game changer. Supposedly, he still hits like a freight train lol.

Right on cue:

Spring breakout player: Nebraska

Projected starter Ameer Abdullah might miss the rest of the spring with a knee injury, so there's a big opportunity for Cross to showcase his game.

 

Abdullah rushed for 1,137 yards last season and should get the lion's share of the carries this season, but there's some concern whether the 5-foot-9, 185-pound junior can take the physical punishment Big Ten defenses deliver. Cross has more prototypical feature-back size, and showed he can be effective in short-yardage situations last season. If he capitalizes on his opportunity this spring and shows the coaches he can be a complete back, he could really push Abdullah in fall camp and potentially work himself into a co-starter role.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/73319/spring-breakout-player-nebraska

[HuskerNationNick]

I wouldn't be surprised if he gets almost as many snaps as Abdullah.I will be shocked if he wins the #1 spot over a healthy Abdullah, just because of experience, but I think Cross will be our best back in over a decade. He has all the intangibles to be.

[The King]

I think AT and Newby might have something to say about that one.

[HuskerNationNick]

I think AT and Newby might have something to say about that one.

 

Say something about this? If so, I don't think either will touch the ball as much as Cross did last year, unless Ameer isn't 100%. 30-40 carries at most, with one of them RS'ing.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if he gets almost as many snaps as Abdullah.I will be shocked if he wins the #1 spot over a healthy Abdullah, just because of experience, but I think Cross will be our best back in over a decade. He has all the intangibles to be.

[iowahusker09]

I wouldn't be surprised if he gets almost as many snaps as Abdullah.I will be shocked if he wins the #1 spot over a healthy Abdullah, just because of experience, but I think Cross will be our best back in over a decade. He has all the intangibles to be.

 

Barring injury, I dont see Cross getting more than 15 percent of carries next year. Yes he cut and he gained speed, but lets not assume he can run like Helu just yet. He is still a big boy.

 

With that said....we all crab about recruiting, but we stole this guy from tennessee a few days before signing day. Bigtime get.

[HuskerNationNick]

I wouldn't be surprised if he gets almost as many snaps as Abdullah.I will be shocked if he wins the #1 spot over a healthy Abdullah, just because of experience, but I think Cross will be our best back in over a decade. He has all the intangibles to be.

 

Barring injury, I dont see Cross getting more than 15 percent of carries next year. Yes he cut and he gained speed, but lets not assume he can run like Helu just yet. He is still a big boy.

 

With that said....we all crab about recruiting, but we stole this guy from tennessee a few days before signing day. Bigtime get.

 

How do you figure he wouldn't get 15 percent of the carries, when he got 25% (55) of the carries that Ameer (226) got, when Ameer and Heard were healthy? That was also as a true freshman. I highly doubt, even with Ameer healthy, we will give him the same load he had last year, especially when its not needed.

[Hedley Lamarr]

I wouldn't be surprised if he gets almost as many snaps as Abdullah.I will be shocked if he wins the #1 spot over a healthy Abdullah, just because of experience, but I think Cross will be our best back in over a decade. He has all the intangibles to be.

 

Barring injury, I dont see Cross getting more than 15 percent of carries next year. Yes he cut and he gained speed, but lets not assume he can run like Helu just yet. He is still a big boy.

 

With that said....we all crab about recruiting, but we stole this guy from tennessee a few days before signing day. Bigtime get.

 

We didn't steal him they cut him loose. They are most likely regretting that now

[iowahusker09]

I wouldn't be surprised if he gets almost as many snaps as Abdullah.I will be shocked if he wins the #1 spot over a healthy Abdullah, just because of experience, but I think Cross will be our best back in over a decade. He has all the intangibles to be.

 

Barring injury, I dont see Cross getting more than 15 percent of carries next year. Yes he cut and he gained speed, but lets not assume he can run like Helu just yet. He is still a big boy.

 

With that said....we all crab about recruiting, but we stole this guy from tennessee a few days before signing day. Bigtime get.

 

How do you figure he wouldn't get 15 percent of the carries, when he got 25% (55) of the carries that Ameer (226) got, when Ameer and Heard were healthy? That was also as a true freshman. I highly doubt, even with Ameer healthy, we will give him the same load he had last year, especially when its not needed.

year

Ameer is not the only person on our roster who carries the football. Last year as a team we had 662 rushes. 15% practically doubles his workload. (up from 8 and some change last year)

 

We continue to pretend Ameer is a small back, incapable of handling a big ten workload. Forget that. He's a horse. Fast, elusive, great vision, and as strong as an ox. Total package.

 

Our offense is partial to speed anyway. I see Cross being a guaranteed 5 yards. But the odds of him breaking more than an 8 yard run? unlikely. The chance of him catching passes out of the backfield? unlikely. We need both in our offense.

[HuskerNationNick]

Ameer is not the only person on our roster who carries the football. Last year as a team we had 662 rushes. 15% practically doubles his workload. (up from 8 and some change last year)

 

We continue to pretend Ameer is a small back, incapable of handling a big ten workload. Forget that. He's a horse. Fast, elusive, great vision, and as strong as an ox. Total package.

 

Our offense is partial to speed anyway. I see Cross being a guaranteed 5 yards. But the odds of him breaking more than an 8 yard run? unlikely. The chance of him catching passes out of the backfield? unlikely. We need both in our offense.

 

Are you being serious about the bolded?

 

When Cross left high school he was at a 4.6 40, and he is much faster than he was then. He has also lost weight. A very low 4.5 is something I wouldn't be surprised about. Ameer also ran a 4.6 when he left high school. He has ran a 4.40, 4.49 and a 4.59 since. Coming off a knee injury, I wouldn't expect a 4.40 out of him until he is completely healthy and comfortable.

 

We continue to pretend Ameer is a small back and incapable of handling a big ten workload? Who has even said that? Its common sense, when you have another back, that is just as capable of being a game changer, you distribute the ball more, rather than overworking a player. Why would you count Martinez's rushes as part of the total? Had Rex not been injured, Ameer wouldn't have even seen 200, and Cross would have seen less.