Talent Depth This Year

[girlknowsfootball]

Looking at the roster for this upcoming season, you can't help but get hyped about the amount of talent on this team. If Riley and his staff are truly great talent developers it is really exciting to think about what we could see on the field this fall. I don't know about you, but I am absolutely PUMPED for spring ball. I want to see what these coaches say once they have worked with some of the kids. I want to see what the kids say about their teaching styles and the new system. Heck, I want to find out what the new system is going to look like. In my excitement and lack of patience for spring ball to start, I went ahead and analyzed the 2015-2016 season depth chart assuming all signees make it to campus this fall.

 

Let's start with the Offense...

 

QB

- You have 5 guys here who can play. We know Armstrong has been the guy and will start out as the guy in spring ball. He has the experience. He has the work ethic, determination and leadership abilities to lead this team. Armstrong's problem has been his passing accuracy and his ability to find open receivers. Lucky for us, Langsdorf is going to be coaching him, and this guy's bread and butter is helping guys in these areas. He will fix the mechanics, help Armstrong see the field, and look in the right places at the right time. Then you look at Johnny Stanton, who many feel will be the best guy to compete for the #1 spot. Johnny has similar problems to Armstrong in mechanics, accuracy, and seeing the field. Johnny is a bigger guy, with a lot more oomf when he hits. He's harder to bring down and might even be smarter on the field. AJ Bush was raved about. He has a cannon, he's got the hight and the NFL body. It will be interesting to see how he develops under Langsdorf. I personally think the kid that has the smartest football IQ and best instincts for making good decisions is the one who will see the field. Throw in Darlington, Fyfe, and the others and you have a great race for a signal caller.

 

RB

- This spot is interesting to me. In Pelini's system we all hoped Newby or Wilbon would start this year, but feared it would be Cross since he was #2 coming out of last season. Many had lost a little hope in Taylor as he had a long injury history in football and he hadn't been talked about a lot. With the new staff, we really have no idea who will win this job. It is a shot in the dark. Will they go with the smaller/shifty back with the blazing speed who plays well in space, or will they go with the NFL prototype body back who can run the power and the up the middle game? Maybe they use some of both. But if you look at the backs they are trying to recruit, they are the 5'10"-6'1" 200+ guys. It makes you wonder if a Newby or Wilbon will fit this offense well. We could see Adam Taylor or Devine Ozigbo or Imani Cross start and surprise us all. We could even see Cross break out if the system changes to accommodate his size. I mean this is really a mystery spot to me. I've heard a lot about Wilbon being really really good. I've seen him running ladders with quick quick feet. He says he's gained weight. He was raved about on the scout team last year. I am really excited for this position because of the depth and versatility we have here.

 

OL

- We have a ton of guys at this spot on scholarship. We have the size and the skill set to have a strong two deep talent if their coach and strength coach are good developers. I have thought this position group has underperformed for a few years now. I didn't understand why one week coaches were talking about Knevel like he was a sure NFL talent and a sure starting Left Tackle, and then he hardly sees the field. There were a lot of head scratching moments with several players. Guys disappeared in the depth chart and were claimed to not be ready to play. Yet Riley comes in and Cavanaugh comes in salivating saying they have never had this much talent on a team at this position before. At tackle you have Lewis, Finnin, Johnson, Knevel, Sterup, Gates, Gaylord, etc. At Guard/Center you have Farmer, Foster, Hannon, Kondolo, Price, Reeves, Barnett, Decker, etc. There are a lot of scholarship bodies here and there is no reason we can't have a good two deep.

 

TE

- Imagine what would happen if the quarterback was throwing well and finding tight ends. Carter is good and was significantly underutilized in the last system. One thing I know, all these guys coming back know how to block well. That's most of what they did. Now they will be able to catch on top of blocking and will be set free. I am PUMPED for this. I think Snyder will be great after a year or two of added strength. Carter is good and this position looks bright for the future if we stay healthy.

 

WR

- Ohhhh Myyyyyy. This position will benefit so much with Riley and Williams. I have believed for a while now that we have had a TON of talent here that was not developed to its full potential. Kenny Bell came in killing it as a freshman, he wasn't developed to get a lot better as a senior. Now, I liked Fisher, he was a much better coach than what was here before him. But Williams is going to take this up a notch and give these kids coaching they've never had before. He will find the best talent and put it on the field. Moore's gonna get fixed and blow up. Westerkamp is going to be set free and will get a lot more balls. Morgan is going to play as a true freshman and kill it. Pierson El is going to erupt. Tolbert and Allen will be big body guys who will actually get to do what they do best. Not to mention Turner gets a 5th year, B Riley, Burtch, and Hovey were all contributing last year. I mean, this position will be deep and special.

 

 

Now the Defense...

 

DT

- Right now you have Collins, Maurice, Williams, Valentine all back with experience. Add in the Davis twins for 6 at this position. Now call me crazy, but in this new system I would not be surprised to see McMullen move inside. He is 280, and Banker has never played with big containment ends like Bo did. I also think McMullen was able to have the success he did partly because of Gregory drawing double teams on the other side. I also think we could see Newell move inside as well. Newell was projected as a DT coming out of high school by many analysts. He wanted to play end because thats what he had played in HS and we needed the depth there last year, but I think he is athletic and would make a good DT. We are DEEP here and have options. We could have a 4 deep of strong talent at this position.

 

DE

- McMullen and Gangwish are our returning starters at this position (with the loss of Gregory). If McMullen gets moved inside, I think we see a lot of new faces here. Banker is looking or pass rushers. He wants the 6'5 guys who can rush. I would not be a bit surprised to see guys like Stolenberg, King, Neal, Davis, Akinmoladun, Natter be the ones who play. Gangwish maybe too... but he may not fit this system as well as the old one. I would like see Davis and Neal redshirt, but Banker is pretty vocal about wanting that 6'4"-6'7" 240-260 pass rusher at those spots. I believe they have 4 in Stolenberg, King, Akinmoladun, and Natter.... but no experience and a lot of question marks. It will be interesting to see how these guys develop out of spring ball and who gets talked about. Regardless, we have the talent to have a 3 deep, barring no injuries.

 

LB

- It was interesting to me to hear banker say that the LBers we had on campus were all MLB's. He recruited the Mikes and Wills (as the old system called them). I want to see how Santos, Banderas, Newby, and Rose do with this new system. Will Rose come back as good after the blown knee? Will he be able to contribute at the same level this year? What about Santos? Will Newby fit this system better and rise up the charts? I have a lot of questions here. Then you throw in Young, Barry, Ferguson, Talan, and Reed (I think Reed ends up as a hybrid or Safety depending on how his body shapes up). We should have at least 6-7 healthy bodies at this position (If Rose isn't as good this season, if Reed plays safety, which is what Warren as discussed, and if one doesn't pan out due to academics). This may be the weakest position this season due to youth and lack of experience but we will have to find out. Lets see what Bray can do.

 

S

- This position looked really deep a couple years ago. You had Corey Cooper, LeRoy Alexander, Nate Gerry, Harvey Jackson, Drake Martinez, DJ Singleton, etc. But with the departures of Jackson, Martinez, and Singleton and the graduation of Cooper... I feel we are thin here. Gerry is back and will start and lead the defense, Alexander is back with experience and will do well here. But Who are the backups? Is Kieron Williams a Safety or do they make him a CB? Aaron Williams should Redshirt. Will Reed play Safety as a True Fresh? Does Cockerell move to safety? What about Boaz Joseph or Jonathan Rose? We have guys with size to play back there but who will get moved?

 

CB

- This is perhaps our deepest position on the defense. We have everyone back except Mitchell. Look for Charles Jackson, Chris Jones, Josh Kalu, Daniel Davie, Byerson Cockerell, Eric Lee, Avery Anderson, Boaz Joseph, Trai Mosley, Jonathan Rose, Kieron Williams..... any could see the field this year. We have 11 guys that could play here... there will be 3 positions up for grabs. Some will move back to safety. I am not worried about the CB position with Warren back.

 

 

 

I mean, I don't know about you guys, but I get fired up looking at all this!!! We really have the talent to put a great product on the field this year. I think Langsdorf is going to be phenomenal for the QB position which will spread through the rest of the offense to make everybody else look better.

[NUance]

Wow. Girl knows football! +1

 

[Warrior10]

Agree with most. Great post!

 

But:

100% disagree with McMullen. He is one starting DE for the next two years. He isn't flashy but makes plays.

 

Also disagree about safety being that thin. Gerry is an all-league safety for the next two years. Alexander was starting as a RSFR, he isn't a scrub. Cockrell filled in decently when Cooper was out. Williams has all the athletic ability in the world, just arrived late last year to really learn the system and was stuck behind a STUD and a 5th year captain. Also don't forget Kalu was a safety his HS career.

[BigRedBuster]

 

 

OL

- We have a ton of guys at this spot on scholarship. We have the size and the skill set to have a strong two deep talent if their coach and strength coach are good developers. I have thought this position group has underperformed for a few years now. I didn't understand why one week coaches were talking about Knevel like he was a sure NFL talent and a sure starting Left Tackle, and then he hardly sees the field. There were a lot of head scratching moments with several players. Guys disappeared in the depth chart and were claimed to not be ready to play. Yet Riley comes in and Cavanaugh comes in salivating saying they have never had this much talent on a team at this position before. At tackle you have Lewis, Finnin, Johnson, Knevel, Sterup, Gates, Gaylord, etc. At Guard/Center you have Farmer, Foster, Hannon, Kondolo, Price, Reeves, Barnett, Decker, etc. There are a lot of scholarship bodies here and there is no reason we can't have a good two deep.

 

 

I think this right here is the most interesting group of them all. We have so many bodies here and so many of those bodies were highly thought of coming out of HS. I can see why our new coaches are excited about them.

 

The question is, why were they so inconsistent before now? Is it because they aren't as good as thought of out of HS? Was it bad coaching? Was in the scheme they were being told to play in?

 

I am very interested to see what kind of blocking scheme and techniques they teach these guys. Hopefully, it is a scheme that they can truly show their abilities in and they develop as a unit to be dominant.

 

The entire rest of the team will look like they have elevated their play if this one group improves.

[junior4949]

 

OL

- We have a ton of guys at this spot on scholarship. We have the size and the skill set to have a strong two deep talent if their coach and strength coach are good developers. I have thought this position group has underperformed for a few years now. I didn't understand why one week coaches were talking about Knevel like he was a sure NFL talent and a sure starting Left Tackle, and then he hardly sees the field. There were a lot of head scratching moments with several players. Guys disappeared in the depth chart and were claimed to not be ready to play. Yet Riley comes in and Cavanaugh comes in salivating saying they have never had this much talent on a team at this position before. At tackle you have Lewis, Finnin, Johnson, Knevel, Sterup, Gates, Gaylord, etc. At Guard/Center you have Farmer, Foster, Hannon, Kondolo, Price, Reeves, Barnett, Decker, etc. There are a lot of scholarship bodies here and there is no reason we can't have a good two deep.

I think this right here is the most interesting group of them all. We have so many bodies here and so many of those bodies were highly thought of coming out of HS. I can see why our new coaches are excited about them.

 

The question is, why were they so inconsistent before now? Is it because they aren't as good as thought of out of HS? Was it bad coaching? Was in the scheme they were being told to play in?

 

I am very interested to see what kind of blocking scheme and techniques they teach these guys. Hopefully, it is a scheme that they can truly show their abilities in and they develop as a unit to be dominant.

 

The entire rest of the team will look like they have elevated their play if this one group improves.

 

On offense, I agree. On defense, we need quite an upgrade in LB play. If we see considerable improvement in those two player groups, we'll be completely fine this year.

[NebraskaHarry]

The talent is there, but I hope these guys can pick up Riley's system quickly.

[Detasselingthehuskers]

I think Riley and Langdorf's offense main changes will be use of TE's/FB's and even HB's in the passing game. The run game will be fairly simplistic, but with a more aggressive blocking scheme instead of zone blocking. Also I would expect cleaner routes by the WR's that threaten any defense. It seems to me that the past few years the offensive playcalling was more reactive than proactive. I would like to see the offense control what the defense is doing instead of vise versa.

Again this is all guessing by me and I'm no coordinator unless you consider yelling "RUN THE DAMN BALL!" at the tv experience as an OC.

[True2tRA]

 

 

 

OL

- We have a ton of guys at this spot on scholarship. We have the size and the skill set to have a strong two deep talent if their coach and strength coach are good developers. I have thought this position group has underperformed for a few years now. I didn't understand why one week coaches were talking about Knevel like he was a sure NFL talent and a sure starting Left Tackle, and then he hardly sees the field. There were a lot of head scratching moments with several players. Guys disappeared in the depth chart and were claimed to not be ready to play. Yet Riley comes in and Cavanaugh comes in salivating saying they have never had this much talent on a team at this position before. At tackle you have Lewis, Finnin, Johnson, Knevel, Sterup, Gates, Gaylord, etc. At Guard/Center you have Farmer, Foster, Hannon, Kondolo, Price, Reeves, Barnett, Decker, etc. There are a lot of scholarship bodies here and there is no reason we can't have a good two deep.

 

 

I think this right here is the most interesting group of them all. We have so many bodies here and so many of those bodies were highly thought of coming out of HS. I can see why our new coaches are excited about them.

 

The question is, why were they so inconsistent before now? Is it because they aren't as good as thought of out of HS? Was it bad coaching? Was in the scheme they were being told to play in?

 

I am very interested to see what kind of blocking scheme and techniques they teach these guys. Hopefully, it is a scheme that they can truly show their abilities in and they develop as a unit to be dominant.

 

The entire rest of the team will look like they have elevated their play if this one group improves.

 

Totally 1,ooo,ooo % agree.

 

This is where it's at. Not just because of the obvious effect the offensive line has on the game, but because of some of the young talent waiting in line for their shot, and the simplification in offense. The offensive line will be coached far better than they have been in a long time and their jobs will be much more clear. If you watched Oregon St. at all, you see a bit of Wisconsin in them. They commit a lot of power to the point of attack. Not overly complicated, but very effective. It's time we get back to the glory days up front and I agree, this is where I'm most interested to see who does what.

[cg_8]

I think Riley and Langdorf's offense main changes will be use of TE's/FB's and even HB's in the passing game. The run game will be fairly simplistic, but with a more aggressive blocking scheme instead of zone blocking. Also I would expect cleaner routes by the WR's that threaten any defense. It seems to me that the past few years the offensive playcalling was more reactive than proactive. I would like to see the offense control what the defense is doing instead of vise versa.

Again this is all guessing by me and I'm no coordinator unless you consider yelling "RUN THE DAMN BALL!" at the tv experience as an OC.

Most definitely was. I wrote a post regarding how Scott Frost and Oregon wants to dictate the game and how that compares to Beck's "reactive" offense. I remember reading Beck's whole conversation he had with someone and how the offense is "read and react". Having watched this last season, and his love of zone blocking and read routes, it most definitely was that type of offense, and his play-calling reflected that. There is always a time and place to "read and react" during the course of a football game, but Beck's mentality seemed to emphasize it to an extreme. I think that was some of the root of the issues we had. Turnovers, mental mistakes, etc. I think those may have stemmed from each player needing to read the field, and read the play in "real time" rather than just flat out "running a post" in lieu of running a read route dependent on the movement of the safety after the snap.

 

I've complained about this a lot on here. Don't get me wrong though, Beck had plenty of plays that were more of an attack approach, but I just saw too many mistakes that caused issues due to "reading".

 

So in other words:

 

"I agree with you!"

[mnhusker]

Man great post and detail ............... for me the two groups that I am most anxious to see develop are the running backs and line backers, both groups seem like they could go either way although I figure the running backs will find a way to keep up the tradition.

[True2tRA]

The talent is there, but I hope these guys can pick up Riley's system quickly.

I think this staff understands coaching a bit better than the last staff. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

Yes, these players have a lot to learn/unlearn but I don't think they're going to have it all thrown at them at once. Yes, Riley and staff want these guys to run their system, but they understand that takes time.

 

They'll ease into the transition. They'll give the guys what they can handle and if it goes well, they'll give more. If it's not going well, they'll pull back a bit It won't be like the same garbage we're used to seeing around here where we watch the coach bitch for the next seven years how the guys "just aren't executing his system".

[True2tRA]

I think Riley and Langdorf's offense main changes will be use of TE's/FB's and even HB's in the passing game. The run game will be fairly simplistic, but with a more aggressive blocking scheme instead of zone blocking. Also I would expect cleaner routes by the WR's that threaten any defense. It seems to me that the past few years the offensive playcalling was more reactive than proactive. I would like to see the offense control what the defense is doing instead of vise versa.

Again this is all guessing by me and I'm no coordinator unless you consider yelling "RUN THE DAMN BALL!" at the tv experience as an OC.

Imagine it! A fullback in the game as a lead blocker! Glorious!

 

I hope this staff heads that direction with the run game. Imagine it? A north and south run game with a QB under center. Amazing.

 

An offensive line that understand their assignments because they know where the run is going and they attack the defense in that spot? Crazy thinking, I know.

 

As far as WR's, how about attacking the middle of the field? Using mismatches with opposing defenses? Running crossing routes and exposing the middle of the field like every other team in the world does instead of chucking it deep for forty yards every time we're in a passing situation? Or how about dumping it off to the HB or running the HB on a crossing route when he's matched up against a opposing linebacker? HB screen against overly aggressive defenses?

 

Simple stuff really. The stuff every other team in the country did that Tim Beck didn't even know exists.......

 

Sorry. This thread got me a little excited. Good stuff.

[NU5XChamps]

Excellent post.

[TheSker]

If you watched Oregon St. at all, you see a bit of Wisconsin in them. They commit a lot of power to the point of attack. Not overly complicated, but very effective. .

 

The obvious question is, if Oregon State's OL play was "very effective".....and Riley is known for quarterback development......why no championships?......why losing records?

[Stumpy1]

In chimes the peanut section