Better or Worse by Unit

carlfense said:
What does everyone think?

Mine:

Offense

QB - Better. More experienced. I don't buy the "improved mechanics" off season story but I'd happily settle for fewer fumbles and sacks.

RB - Better. Burkhead/Abdullah/Heard. Yeah . . . we're set.

WR - Better. Lots of young talent with a few years in the system.

TE - Better. Cotton and Reed both back. Depth might be a concern.

OL - Worse but probably healthier as a group.

Defense

DL - Same. Hopefully better by the end of the season.

LB - Worse. Collectively they might be OK . . . but there is no spinning away the loss of Lavonte David.

CB - Better. Losing Dennard hurts . . . but it sounds like these guys are ready to play.

S - Better. I expect big things from Stafford.

(Stole the idea from another site. Is it Saturday yet? :ahhhhhhhh )
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Welp ESPN posted an article stating that we have the best overall position groups in the BIG10. Also, Dinardo stated that NEB looked like it had better overall athletes than Michigan. Dinardo's statement surprised me....

Also, Griffith seemed to downplay Michigan along with Dinardo stating that his two top teams to look at in the Legends are NEB and Michigan St.

 
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I think everything will be (or, at least, should be) better than last year, excepting linebacker play. You don't replace Lavonte David that easily, and there's nobody in the linebacking corp this year that will match him.

Every other position group has a lot of returning talent, including the offensive line. If they're (the offensive line) bad this year, well, we almost all know who will take the blame. I even think the defensive line should be better considering we've got Anrkah, Meredith, Steinkuhler and Rome coming back.

 
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QB - better - not just Martinez, but we have depth there now.

RB - same - which isn't a bad thing.

WR - better - same if someone steps up to win The Niles Paul Award.

TE - same - better if our two guys stay healthy.

OL - start better- finish same or worse.

I like our offensive line, don't like the depth. If we're going to run more hurry-up, we need a legitimate 2-deep. I don't think we have it.

DL - better - Stein finally stepped up last year I thought, and they won't be scrambling to replace Crick, better depth overall.

LB - worse - there's no replacing Lavonte David. Period.

CB - better - they'll be better coached.

S - better - see CB.

 
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carlfense said:
Edit: I see a repeat of the 2010 offseason brewing. 2010: The DL will improve even without Suh. 2012: The LB spot will improve even without David.
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Was anyone saying that? I really think we all realized what Suh was. In 2010 I was counting on the DBs taking a little pressure of the DL, and they did. It wasn't so much that I thought the DL was going to be better, but I didn't expect the falloff to be extreme because we had the backfield to give them the extra second they needed. Last year we didn't have that. I think with Bo's defenses, the DBs make or break the DL (especially when we were in the B12). The LBers however, not so much. Not to discount David, but he didn't control a game like Suh could. He made a lot of tackes, and he stopped a lot of guys 2-3 yards from the line of scrimage...but he wasn't winning 3-4 games a season for us like Suh almost was single handedly.

 
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kchusker_chris said:
Was anyone saying that?
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They were. If I were more internet savvy I'd go back and look.

kchusker_chris said:
Not to discount David, but he didn't control a game like Suh could. He made a lot of tackes, and he stopped a lot of guys 2-3 yards from the line of scrimage...but he wasn't winning 3-4 games a season for us like Suh almost was single handedly.
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I don't think you're giving David enough credit. Offhand, I can think of two games last season that could have easily been losses without David. Maybe even probable losses.

 
carlfense said:
What does everyone think?

Mine:

Offense

QB - Better. More experienced. I don't buy the "improved mechanics" off season story but I'd happily settle for fewer fumbles and sacks.

RB - Better. Burkhead/Abdullah/Heard. Yeah . . . we're set.

WR - Better. Lots of young talent with a few years in the system.

TE - Better. Cotton and Reed both back. Depth might be a concern.

OL - Worse but probably healthier as a group.

Defense

DL - Same. Hopefully better by the end of the season.

LB - Worse. Collectively they might be OK . . . but there is no spinning away the loss of Lavonte David.

CB - Better. Losing Dennard hurts . . . but it sounds like these guys are ready to play.

S - Better. I expect big things from Stafford.

(Stole the idea from another site. Is it Saturday yet? :ahhhhhhhh )
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I would agree with all these except I think the OL almost has to be better but certainly no worse than the same. Worse just can't be an option. Kind of the same for the DL too. Not sure they can afford to stay the same or get worse. Line play on both sides simply has to improve or it will be a long exasperrating season.

 
carlfense said:
What does everyone think?

Mine:

Offense

QB - Better. More experienced. I don't buy the "improved mechanics" off season story but I'd happily settle for fewer fumbles and sacks.

RB - Better. Burkhead/Abdullah/Heard. Yeah . . . we're set.

WR - Better. Lots of young talent with a few years in the system.

TE - Better. Cotton and Reed both back. Depth might be a concern.

OL - Worse but probably healthier as a group.

Defense

DL - Same. Hopefully better by the end of the season.

LB - Worse. Collectively they might be OK . . . but there is no spinning away the loss of Lavonte David.

CB - Better. Losing Dennard hurts . . . but it sounds like these guys are ready to play.

S - Better. I expect big things from Stafford.

(Stole the idea from another site. Is it Saturday yet? :ahhhhhhhh )
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I think is nice change of pace that this time around we are not hearing news and stories about our OL being better or hyped up with higher expectations. Let the bigs do what they need to do. I always felt if you hear about the OL hype, something's not right. So we will see...

I agree with the rest of it - except I don't think we've had a group of healthy linebackers in awhile. And LB's have not been the backbone of our D in years, mostly because of the style and system. In this conference, you got to have some stud LB's. Quick, mobile, but hard nose tough dudes that RB's cant run through or around. Punish the ground game, blitz, sure tacklers and not just lateral gap "floaters". LDavid was an exception lately.

 
QB- Better. Even if Martinez has not improved he has A) another year of experience and B) 100% healthy. We also finally appear to have a back up that Bo feels comfortable using if needed.

RB- Better. best perceived depth in the league. Mr reliable in Rex. Some guys whose size can move the pile. Rex with Wisky O line = Hypesman.

WR-Better based upon experience alone. No one known or the drops. JT who amazed at the start has finally "got it".

TE-Better. Healthy Reed.

Oline- Can they get worse. Concerned with center and depth. Should at least be healthy. Long and Choi another year is good.

DL-Better. Healthy, depth, eager freshman that can make a difference from the beginning. More experience in Carter and Martin. Improved DB should make them look better. Coaching

LB-Better. Hopefully we will have 3 average+ guys back there this year instead of just one stud an some duds. Compton came on and was playing well at the end. Same with Whaley. Hopefully this continues and was not a result of the physicality of David ie Crick shined with SUH and then not so much.

CB-Better. Depth. Healthy. Mo. Competition. Experience. Coaching

Safety. Seriously? We need to ask. Better. Speed. Size. Experience. Stafford

Seems like kool-aid, but I just do not know how we can slip with a large chunk of our guys coming back. Speed in the DB's to have speed and athleticism in the nickel and dime. Deeper D line to rotate. Two new coaches with a different attitude in Kaz and Joseph.

O-more experience at the skill positions. Healthy Martinez. Bruiser sized backs who will punish DB's in the open field. Guys are worried about Quince laying the wood, imagine Marrow. Rex playing for his last shot at a title.

If we can clean up penalties and actually catch the ball, I think that would give us 2 more wins even if everything else remains the same.

I also like that the team has taken responsibility for its past failures. No cliche sayings or catch phrases, just a common mind set to win. Reminds me of the mentality of the Huskers prior to their magical run in 94.

Sat will show us a lot IMO. They won't be a push over. They were top 30 last year in all defensive categories. Will be nice to see us playing better competition prior to the conference schedule.

 
Lavonte David may be gone but we have guys on this defense who I believe are going to step up to the challenge. I'm looking at Stafford to be the new face of the Blackshirts and to wreak havoc not only in the secondary, but to run up and lay a few RBs out when they think they see running room only to be met by Damion Stafford running 100mph sending his a$$ back to the sidelines to take a play off.

 
Im working on a device that will unbuckle the opposing teams chin straps so all of their helmets will fall off. Every other play we will be going against backups. With this new technology we should be NC for years to come. Should be done by the Wisconsin game.

 
HuskerFowler said:
Im working on a device that will unbuckle the opposing teams chin straps so all of their helmets will fall off. Every other play we will be going against backups. With this new technology we should be NC for years to come. Should be done by the Wisconsin game.
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So what happens if we lose before then?

 
Huskerfowler...pm about the device. I have an idea and it involves a combination of alcohol, laxatives, box cutters, ruffies, a scapegoat and superglue.

 
Or we could just hire someone to pour muscle relaxers into the opposing teams gatorade jugs. But then football would be lame. I say turn the blackshirts loose and let's win the big ones for a change.

 
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