Riley on What He's Looking for in QBs

[Enhance]

 

 

 

 

 

If we get the pipeline rebuilt, the QB jabber will become all but nonexistent. Taylor Martinez would be remembered quite differently by most fans had he been behind a dominant OL. The QB just needs to be a game manager with few mistakes. We have more than capable QB's on the roster already. We just need better OL play.

I'm 100% behind you that we need better OL play, but, I would also argue QB is still huge no matter what. Nebraska hasn't had a truly elite QB since Eric Crouch I think you could argue. You could say TM got close but his turnover problems held him back, and there were times when even his freak athletic ability couldn't make up for the team's poor play. It's also tough to characterize someone as 'elite' when they were responsible for helping put the team into a deep hole.

 

Anyways, aside from Martinez, I would say we still need to have more than a game manager. OL play is definitely a big concern and I would love for them to be one of the best in the country, but a really good QB would mean a ton to this program and could mean the difference between getting to a conference title game and actually winning a conference title game.

 

 

If Martinez would have had the luxury to play behind the OL that Crouch did, most fans would be saying Eric who? We had one of the nation's best OL anchored by Fonoti.

 

I disagree. How many WTF moments did Crouch have? Martinez seemed to have many more of those if my memory is correct.

 

Sure...but how many of those WTF moments were due to the OL?

 

 

I don't think you can blame careless ball handling and many of those fumbles on the O-line... Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of both Martinez and Crouch.

 

Agreed. Martinez led the nation in turnovers and a lot of ball security issues. It's up to each individual player to protect the ball. Even if an OL misses an assignment the ball carrier has to be responsible for holding on. I definitely think we would've had more success with Martinez with a better OL, but idk if it would've changed his turnovers much.

[Redux]

Ok lets take experience out of the equation. Who would sell more calendars? Rank QB's in order of studliness.

[Enhance]

 

The quarterback is important.

 

The offensive line is important.

 

The QB can make his offensive line look better than they are.

 

An offensive line can make a QB look better than he is.

 

There is no law that makes one or the other certain.

 

It's why you watch the game and make a determination on your own. Clearly Nebraska's offensive line has been a weakness for quite a long time now. Some of Martinez's and Armstrong struggles have clearly been due to lack of protection from their offensive lines.

 

Then again, some of those mistakes were on nobody but themselves.

 

Some of the mistakes were due to miscommunication between the QB and WR's.

 

As a coach, it's your job to limit the possibilities for mistakes and make each of those areas feel comfortable in their duties.

 

I feel like the previous staff over-complicated a lot of aspects in the passing game when it comes to the QB's and WR's both making reads and altering routes.

 

I don't think the offensive line ever looked like a cohesive well coached unit that understood their assignments on a regular basis.

 

Our QB's looked overwhelmed many times, checking with the sideline nearly every play and making changes constantly. Getting 11 guys on the same page seemed impossible.

 

I think the new staff is putting effort into eliminating many of the variables and letting the guys play football again.

This is a slight detraction from the conversation of QB vs OL deficiencies, but I think it addresses the underlying problem.

 

The previous staff's biggest problem (at least on the field) was they attempted to run the perfect offensive and defensive play versus whatever the other team was doing at all time. This lead to over complicated assignments and confused player. As a result, if one player was out of position or a simple miscommunication occurred, there was no one to cover up that deficiency, and the play busted and picks, fumbles, TFL, and giving up long plays or TD occurred.

 

They could not maximize the players' potential (at least consistently) because no one can play absolutely perfectly all the time.

 

I think some of this too has to do with talent. BP inherited a better group of kids than MR has by far. Interestingly enough, Bo's best defenses were those early groups and I think a lot of that had to do with talent. His staff wasn't consistent in doing a lot with a little (like a Bill Snyder at KState, for example).

[Mavric]

I think some of this too has to do with talent. BP inherited a better group of kids than MR has by far. Interestingly enough, Bo's best defenses were those early groups and I think a lot of that had to do with talent. His staff wasn't consistent in doing a lot with a little (like a Bill Snyder at KState, for example).

I'm not sure it's "by far". I think the defensive talent gets a lot of talk - and deservedly so - but there wasn't a whole lot there on offense.

 

It's tough to know what to use to judge talent level but looking at the NFL draft should give a decent idea. In the three year after Callahan left there were three Huskers drafted in 2009, three in 2010 and seven in 2011. However, one of the of the 2011 guys was a JUCO (Gomes) recruited by Pelini. So that's 12 guys drafted in three years but only Helu and Paul were offensive skill players. There were three OL but only Slauson ended up doing much.

 

I'd say Carter, Valentine, Collins, Gerry and DPE are basically locks to be drafted. And I'd put Lewis, Davie, T. Newby, Westerkamp, Banderas, Rose-Ivey and Alexander as having a decent shot along with another WR and possibly OL depending on who emerges. If those five get drafted, along with 4 out of those seven plus a couple more, that's pretty much on par with what Pelini started with. There might not be that many but I don't think it's out of the question.

Edited May 14, 2015 by Mavric
Missed Paul

[True2tRA]

Two of the best changes I've heard coming to Husker football:

 

1. The offense will be huddling. I'm 100% on board with this.

2. Langsdorf will be on the sideline, not in the booth like Beck.

 

This is what I heard anyway.

[Enhance]

 

I think some of this too has to do with talent. BP inherited a better group of kids than MR has by far. Interestingly enough, Bo's best defenses were those early groups and I think a lot of that had to do with talent. His staff wasn't consistent in doing a lot with a little (like a Bill Snyder at KState, for example).

I'm not sure it's "by far". I think the defensive talent gets a lot of talk - and deservedly so - but there wasn't a whole lot there on offense.

 

It's tough to know what to use to judge talent level but looking at the NFL draft should give a decent idea. In the three year after Callahan left there were three Huskers drafted in 2009, three in 2010 and seven in 2011. However, one of the of the 2011 guys was a JUCO (Gomes) recruited by Pelini. So that's 12 guys drafted in three years but only Helu and Paul were offensive skill players. There were three OL but only Slauson ended up doing much.

 

I'd say Carter, Valentine, Collins, Gerry and DPE are basically locks to be drafted. And I'd put Lewis, Davie, T. Newby, Westerkamp, Banderas, Rose-Ivey and Alexander as having a decent shot along with another WR and possibly OL depending on who emerges. If those five get drafted, along with 4 out of those seven plus a couple more, that's pretty much on par with what Pelini started with. There might not be that many but I don't think it's out of the question.

 

Drafts are one way to look at it, but I think you have to look at it a bit more than just number of picks. There's no Suh or Amukamara on this roster - two guys who went in the 1st round. The majority of players drafted from then on were 5th round and up. Now, that's probably the case for most schools - that most of their draftees come in higher rounds. But, it says a lot to me about the talent on your team if you're only having a couple players drafted and it's all in the late rounds (i.e. Burkhead and Stafford in 2013). No picks higher than 6th round. So, just something to keep in mind.

 

I look at team statistics too as a talent judgement. Again, I think draft is a very viable argument, but also consider that following the 2010 season our defense went downhill and never really recovered. We went from being Top 5 in 2009, to Top 20 in 2010, to spending our time in the 30's and lower. I believe we finished the 2014 season ranked around 40-50 in ppg and total defense.

 

I'd say what BP inherited vs was MR has inherited is pretty substantial, but BP also was never a great developer of talent across the board, in fairness. It's possible some of our guys could grow into 1st round talent but I think the vast majority of the players you mentioned are mid-to-late round draftees right now, most late round.

[Mavric]

I don't disagree but again you're only ever talking about the defense. I would say MR has a lot more to work with on the offensive side that Pelini did when he started. He doesn't have a QB but neither did Pelini. There is a lot more talent at RB/WR/TE than eight years ago. So I'm not sure there's that much of a talent disparity overall.

[Mavric]

"And Tommy has made us look into a little bit more stuff to do, besides the drop-back passing game that we've been so used to. We're going to have some fun with some play-action and a little bit of quarterback runs. I almost laughed the first day in practice to myself when we ran a quarterback-designed running play. ... It'd been 10 years since we'd done that, I think. (laughter) But it looked good."

 

"It's kind of interesting, as we go forward, me being inclined now to look at that more versatile guy (at quarterback). We just got a commitment of a guy that is like that. I can't tell you his name because it would mess up the recruiting of this guy. But I like that versatility that quarterback can bring, because there are times in a game when you have the right coverage, receivers aren't open. Defensively you did a great job, but the quarterback is the 'X' factor. He pulls the ball down and runs for a first down. That's one of the most frustrating things in defensive football."

 

LJS

[Moiraine]

Ok lets take experience out of the equation. Who would sell more calendars? Rank QB's in order of studliness.

1. Johnny Stanton

2. Tommy Armstrong

3. A.J. Bush

4. Zach Darlington

5. Ryker Fife

[Mavric]

 

Ok lets take experience out of the equation. Who would sell more calendars? Rank QB's in order of studliness.

1. Johnny Stanton

2. Tommy Armstrong

3. A.J. Bush

4. Zach Darlington

5. Ryker Fife