Do we have too many walkons playing?

[ColoradoHusk]

I don't think anyone is saying that walk-ons don't deserve to be any part of the Nebraska program. In a day of 85-scholarship limits, walk-ons can provide needed depth, and there are instances of late bloomers who can become great football players. NU would be hurting even more than it already is this year if it weren't for guys like Janovich, Gangwich, and Weber.

 

What I don't like is they myopic attitude of SOME fans who act like the walk-on program is the sole reason why NU was successful in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Those teams, especially the 90s teams, were successful because of the amazing talent that was brought in by Osborne and his staff. Turner Gill and Tommie Frazier were dual-threat QB's were huge recruiting gets in their classes. Osborne himself said he had to go to "speed states" to bring in more speed on defense. Damon Benning always talks about the amount of speed that TO recruited. Riley Washington was the Big 8 60-meter dash champion. Jamel Williams was a track-star in Indiana, and he played LB at NU.

 

I will always argue that the key to Nebraska's success in the 90's was a peak amount of in-state talent that was around in that time. If you look at those classes in the early 90s, those in-state guys were highly recruited and could have gone to any school in the country. NU also lost some of those in-state recruits to Notre Dame and others.

 

Osborne was able to mix in walk-ons at fullback, wingback, o-line, and other positions because of the unique offense he ran. Osborne didn't need the 6'4" WR who ran a 4.5 40, because he knew his WR was going to be blocking 90% of the time. He knew he could add 20-30 lbs to a small-town RB and make him a fullback in his system. But, Osborne knew he needed elite recruits at QB, RB, o-line and everywhere on the defense.

 

The walk-on situation isn't an "either-or" idea. NU needs great recruiting classes each year, and it needs to supplement the recruiting classes with strong walk-ons. I don't agree with Callahan's/Bo's view on in-state talent. I think they slow-played most of the top guys each year and tried to get them to walk-on. It will be interesting to see how Riley handles in-state talent going forward.

[Red Five]

Just because the 2005 class didn't live up to its hype doesn't mean that Nebraska shouldn't try to recruit highly rated players.

 

Do you know who else were 5*'s in that class?

Rey Maualuga

Mark Sanchez

Martellus Bennett

Jonathan Stewart

DeSean Jackson

Darren McFadden

[StPaulHusker]

 

Being a walk-on does NOT mean you suck and don't deserve to play. I honestly don't understand some fans attitude like that.

 

Yeah, especially since there's walk-ons who have more heart than some schollie players.

 

Know this fella?

 

 

Guess what - he was a walk on. So were Jordy Nelson and Clay Matthews. I think they panned out....

 

 

EDITED: Not much to say when a walk-on fullback has the longest running play from scrimmage this season....

 

I know where you are going with this but JJ Watt was offered scholarships by Colorado, Northern Illinois and Minnesota as a TE. He went to Central Michigan on scholarship. He chose to walk on at Wisconsin to be closer to home after one year at CMU.

[Bowfin]

The narrative that Ameer was a 2* has somehow made its way into Husker lore.

 

That is how Ameer is listed in the class of at ESPN:

 

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/school/_/id/158/class/2011

[alexhortdog95]

Osborne was able to mix in walk-ons at fullback, wingback, o-line, and other positions because of the unique offense he ran. Osborne didn't need the 6'4" WR who ran a 4.5 40, because he knew his WR was going to be blocking 90% of the time. He knew he could add 20-30 lbs to a small-town RB and make him a fullback in his system. But, Osborne knew he needed elite recruits at QB, RB, o-line and everywhere on the defense.

 

Doc Tom also didn't have to worry about the 85 scholarship limit, either. That way, a guy could walk on (we call it greyshirting now) and grab a schollie cause there was one to give. Now, you can't promise a guy a schollie if you don't have one to give.

 

Check this article out:

 

 

http://espn.go.com/espnw/title-ix/article/7959799/the-silent-enemy-men-sports

 

Although scholarship limits came into effect around the same time as Title IX, in the mid-1970s, that's a coincidence. Back then, the NCAA was concerned that major football programs were hoarding players by giving them financial aid.

 

Pittsburgh coach Johnny Majors reportedly gave scholarships to 90 freshmen in 1973, a move that came under scrutiny when the Panthers won the national championship in 1977. In response, the NCAA tried to ensure some equity of competition within particular sports.

 

So, the question is - how do guys like Miles and Meyer continuously field such competitive teams year after year? It ain't all walk-ons.

[StPaulHusker]

 

The narrative that Ameer was a 2* has somehow made its way into Husker lore.

 

That is how Ameer is listed in the class of at ESPN:

 

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/school/_/id/158/class/2011

 

That is interesting. I wonder what he would have been rated had he gone to Alabama as a DB.

[Red Five]

 

The narrative that Ameer was a 2* has somehow made its way into Husker lore.

 

That is how Ameer is listed in the class of at ESPN:

 

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/school/_/id/158/class/2011

 

That's nice, but referencing ESPN recruiting rankings gives you little credibility.

[Red Five]

Doc Tom also didn't have to worry about the 85 scholarship limit, either.

 

85 scholarship limit started in 1992. Before that it was a 95 scholarship limit.

[Red Five]

 

I know where you are going with this but JJ Watt was offered scholarships by Colorado, Northern Illinois and Minnesota as a TE. He went to Central Michigan on scholarship. He chose to walk on at Wisconsin to be closer to home after one year at CMU.

 

 

According to Glen Mason (former gopher coach), JJ Watt was all set to go to Minnesota on scholly but then Mason got fired and the new staff (Tim Brewster) never contacted Watt and he ended up at CMU.

[Red Five]

The walk-on situation isn't an "either-or" idea. NU needs great recruiting classes each year, and it needs to supplement the recruiting classes with strong walk-ons.

 

This is the best sentence in this thread. Nebraska needs both to succeed. Great recruiting and great walk-ons, kinds like we had in the days of yore.

[StPaulHusker]

 

 

I know where you are going with this but JJ Watt was offered scholarships by Colorado, Northern Illinois and Minnesota as a TE. He went to Central Michigan on scholarship. He chose to walk on at Wisconsin to be closer to home after one year at CMU.

 

 

According to Glen Mason (former gopher coach), JJ Watt was all set to go to Minnesota on scholly but then Mason got fired and the new staff (Tim Brewster) never contacted Watt and he ended up at CMU.

 

My point was more to the fact that people assume JJ Watt was some "Rudy" character when in fact he was a scholarship worthy player.

[Bowfin]

That's nice, but referencing ESPN recruiting rankings gives you little credibility

 

I was providing reference from where the "lore" of Ameer's 2 star rating came...nothing more and nothing less. You make of it what you will.

[junior4949]

Recruiting and development needs to be improved. Walk-ons are great to fill-in areas of need at times, but they shouldn't be counted on to be 20-25% of the two-deep.

 

Never once did I mention anything about the walk-ons being the primary reason we won NCs in the 90's. What I was simply pointing out was that I'd guess 20-25% of the two-deep back on those NC teams were probably walk-ons. We had a high percentage then, and we have a high percentage now. I don't necessarily see a problem with it, except I'd also guess the quality of walk-ons we get today are less than the quality back then. Guys who would have walked-on back then are now taking scholarships to play at the likes of Kearney State, Chadron State, etc. because of how burdensome college debt has become.

[red_black]

Nebraska had the 5th ranked recruiting class in the country in 2005 (Yahoo).

Playing up to potential is key, but being coached up helps a player play up to their potential.

 

Of that 2005 recruiting class, here's some famous names along with the number of "stars" they had:

 

Marlon Lucky - 5 Stars - Recruited by Busch

Zack Bowman - 5 Stars - Recruited by Blake

Leon Jackson - 5 Stars - Recruited by Wagner

Frantz Hardy - 5 Stars - Recruited by Norvell

Harrison Beck - 4 Stars - Recruited by Elmassian (that might explain a few things, LOL)

 

These guys were highly recruited, and highly touted.

 

Of those five guys....Bowman is the only guy who is still playing football. Marlon Lucky calls himself a "Pro football player developer", Jackson dropped off the face of the planet, Hardy played some Arena ball, and Beck is wherever he is now.

 

* Funny thing about Beck - after he transferred to NC State, he was ahead in the depth chart of some kid who's last name was Wilson....Russell, I think.

 

In any case - there were other guys on that 2005 class that weren't as highly touted. They ended up being more successful than four of the five guys above.

Guys like a Cody Glenn, a Zac Taylor, Matt Slauson. Oh, and some kid with an unpronounceable name out of Portland, Oregon, too. I think he turned out to be pretty good.

 

Slauson plays, Glenn played and made a roster in the NFL, and that fella from Oregon we all know.

 

Coaching, folks. Coaching can make a raw, talented player into the next Suh, or it can make a Lucky into the next...whatever he is.

 

Marlon Lucky was a five star player. Coaching made him play under his potential.

Suh became a man-beast named Suh that everybody knows. Coaching made him play above his potential.

Failing in the NFL does not mean they sucked in college.

 

Lucky was overhyped by fans he was a good rb. I wouldn't complain if he was in our backfield.

 

Suh was a 4* 6.0 was considered a great job by the staff to get him.

 

Brooks was screwed by not 1 but 2 staffs.

 

Octavien was a great athlete would have been a stud with the coaching our current lbs are getting.

 

Ola was a 4* and was a good.

 

Dillard 4*

 

Potter 4*

 

Over a 1/3 of that class was good to great players.

[BigWillie]

Just so I'm clear from alot of this thread, and from the board this past week - we are not happy that our team is struggling this year. But we are happy that our walk-on program is strong and it is showing up in how many players we have in our 2 deep?