SIGNED OT Branson Yager

[TonyStalloni]

I think once he gets in the weight room and trades some bad weight for muscle,  Austin will have  something nice to work with. I like how mobile he is already for his size.

[Mavric]

26 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

That is one calculation to pay attention to.  However, I consider 5 to be the minimum average per class for O linemen.  We only took 3 last year.  You also would like to be able to build a two deep with every two classes.  So, when you look at that, even 5 is short.  Yes, most/all have redshirted, but that's going to be the way linemen go 99% of the time.

 

Five as a minimum is probably high. Considering they basically all redshirt that would be nearly 25 scholarship OL on the roster.  We have 17 on the roster for this year.  Yager would be 16 expected for next year.  Going back seven years we've usually had 15-17.  In 2018, we only had 11 (thanks again, Riley).  But that range would mean 3-4 recruits most years.

 

We only took two last year (plus a transfer).  But we effectively took six the prior year.  I would say it's pretty likely we take one more this year but will probably only take two more if we get someone we absolutely can't say no to.  I would think we will be pretty selective from here out.

[The_Fan_Man]

1 minute ago, TonyStalloni said:

I think once he gets in the weight room and trades some bad weight for muscle,  Austin will have  something nice to work with. I like how mobile he is already for his size.

 

Watching his tape, you see that high ceiling because that effort and frame are a rare combination. He's so big right now and doesn't have a natural knee bend, so he ends up shoving people around rather than driving them. The weight room and nutritionist will help him get to a Dan Vili Waldrop level.

[The_Fan_Man]

Just now, Mavric said:

 

Five as a minimum is probably high. Considering they basically all redshirt that would be nearly 25 scholarship OL on the roster.  We have 17 on the roster for this year.  Yager would be 16 expected for next year.  Going back seven years we've usually had 15-17.  In 2018, we only had 11 (thanks again, Riley).  But that range would mean 3-4 most years.

 

We only took two last year (plus a transfer).  But we effectively took six the prior year.  I would say it's pretty likely we take one more this year but will probably only take two more if we get someone we absolutely can't say no to.  I would think we will be pretty selective from here out.

 

Mike Reilly (I know, I know) talked about how his recruiting goal from a personnel perspective was to get a two-deep out of every two recruiting classes. 

[flatwaterfan]

39 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

That is one calculation to pay attention to.  However, I consider 5 to be the minimum average per class for O linemen.  We only took 3 last year.  You also would like to be able to build a two deep with every two classes.  So, when you look at that, even 5 is short.  Yes, most/all have redshirted, but that's going to be the way linemen go 99% of the time.

Very good points.  

 

One caveat.  Can't take 5 every year as that would skew your depth a bit too much over time but some years you could do 5.   Like you say this might be that year given we only did 3 the previous year.  Would be nice to take 4-5 each year consistently.   With a supplement from the walkon program.  Nebraska has a lot of guard types that become good players. 

[Mavric]

Just now, The_Fan_Man said:

Mike Reilly (I know, I know) talked about how his recruiting goal from a personnel perspective was to get a two-deep out of every two recruiting classes. 

 

Mike Riley and his staff talked about a lot of things.  Not very many of them happened.

[ColoradoHusk]

3 minutes ago, Mavric said:

 

Five as a minimum is probably high. Considering they basically all redshirt that would be nearly 25 scholarship OL on the roster.  We have 17 on the roster for this year.  Yager would be 16 expected for next year.  Going back seven years we've usually had 15-17.  In 2018, we only had 11 (thanks again, Riley).  But that range would mean 3-4 recruits most years.

 

We only took two last year (plus a transfer).  But we effectively took six the prior year.  I would say it's pretty likely we take one more this year but will probably only take two more if we get someone we absolutely can't say no to.  I would think we will be pretty selective from here out.

Maybe Riley was looking to field a 7 on 7 team?

[lionsfan93]

12 hours ago, Decked said:

Just like everyone expected. Big but..meh. 

What in the world is "meh" about this kid and commitment? He has great size and P5 offers from the Big10, Big XII, PAC and the ACC. And this is all in a very strange time without coaches really being able to get out and evaluate this spring. 

 

Watch his highlights. He has pretty good bend and moves his feet pretty well too. On pass protection, he does a good job of getting deep in his drop step and had a good punch. 

 

Is he perfect? No. But he has a really, really good foundation to work off of. OL recruiting under Austin is as good as I have seen it in 15+ years. 

[BigRedBuster]

4 minutes ago, Mavric said:

 

Five as a minimum is probably high. Considering they basically all redshirt that would be nearly 25 scholarship OL on the roster.  We have 17 on the roster for this year.  Yager would be 16 expected for next year.  Going back seven years we've usually had 15-17.  In 2018, we only had 11 (thanks again, Riley).  But that range would mean 3-4 recruits most years.

 

We only took two last year (plus a transfer).  But we effectively took six the prior year.  I would say it's pretty likely we take one more this year but will probably only take two more if we get someone we absolutely can't say no to.  I would think we will be pretty selective from here out.

The word "average" is a key word in my post.  Yes, that would mean there would be 25 on the roster.  But, there is always attrition with injuries, transfers, off the field problems...etc.  It's unrealistic to think that every lineman is going to be here for 5 years.

 

So, if you have 5 per year over 5 years, that's 25.  If you want to really have 17, that means 8 of the 25 don't make it 5 years.  Heck, sometimes they don't even make it to campus.  I think that's a reasonable expectation.  

 

Also, if we have 5 this class, that means the last three classes would be 6,3,5.  Or....an average of 4.66.  I don't think it's unreasonable to think we would take 5 in this class.  

[BigRedBuster]

9 minutes ago, The_Fan_Man said:

 

Mike Reilly (I know, I know) talked about how his recruiting goal from a personnel perspective was to get a two-deep out of every two recruiting classes. 

That theory has been around since before Riley.

[The_Fan_Man]

10 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

That theory has been around since before Riley.

 

Absolutely, it's just amazing how they failed to deliver in such unique ways.

[flatwaterfan]

I like to budget scholarships out.   I figure at most you would ever do is 3 scholarships for Special teams.  (Punter,Kicker,Long snapper)  and hopefully you have less than that so you can use them elsewheres but for budgeting count it is 3.   That gives you 82 to divide between offense and defense so that's 41 for each side.    For defense if you gave out 4 scholarships to each position you would have 44 allocated or 3 too much so take 1 away at each level.  So we run a 3-4.  So that (3*4)- 1 = 11 DL

(4LB*4) -1 = 15 LB's and same with DB's 15.    

 

Offense is a little harder as there are more formations and personnel groups so I figure off of 11 personnel and start with a 3 deep.   That gives 15 Ol, 3 qb, 3 rb, 9wr,3 te with 8 left over to award.   I then allocate an extra scholarship to each of those 5 groups so now you have 16 OL,4 QB, 4 RB, 10 WR, 4 TE with 3 left to divvy up.   At this point it's kind of a choice.   I throw one to the RB's as that's a high injury position.  It can be a RB/WR type,  you can throw one on the OL and the final one is either a WR or a TE.   That becomes my starting point for an idea number.   Then I figure + or -1 for each group as you can't always hit your target and rosters are fluid.

 

I agree it's not unreasonable to do 5 for this class.  It also depends on where you are at for other positions and they should be able to be pretty selective now. 

[HS_Coach_C]

24 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

The word "average" is a key word in my post.  Yes, that would mean there would be 25 on the roster.  But, there is always attrition with injuries, transfers, off the field problems...etc.  It's unrealistic to think that every lineman is going to be here for 5 years.

 

So, if you have 5 per year over 5 years, that's 25.  If you want to really have 17, that means 8 of the 25 don't make it 5 years.  Heck, sometimes they don't even make it to campus.  I think that's a reasonable expectation.  

 

Also, if we have 5 this class, that means the last three classes would be 6,3,5.  Or....an average of 4.66.  I don't think it's unreasonable to think we would take 5 in this class.  

I get what you're saying, but linemen don't seem to transfer as much as skill guys. Plus, it's easier to find a walk-on lineman that's deserving of a scholarship to replace a transfer for a year or two.

 

I think 4 or 4.5 is a good yearly average of scholarship signees without sacrificing much at other positions.

[Xmas32]

This dude is a giant human.  Seems like one of those, "Throw them in the weight room and see what pops out" type dudes and if he happens to contribute a bit as a RS Soph everyone is thrilled.

[NUance]

Nice pickup!   Literally the size of a pickup too!