Devaney: Husker's 2016 Talent Only Lacking Against Ohio State

[84HuskerLaw]

Perhaps (?) Devaney was referring to the start of fall camp and BEFORE we had so many injuries at key times to quite a few. We clearly don't have the depth (three deep) at many spots so our talent level is below that of Ohio State, Michigan, and arguably Penn State and Wisconsin. We are roughly equal, in my opinion, with Iowa and Michigan State and have more talent than the rest of the conference, although the gap between the bottom third and middle third (including us) is not that big. On any given day, almost any team in the Big Ten could pull off an upset of almost anyone else, except Ohio State which has to almost fail to show up and try. I would say Ohio State has as much talent as any program has amassed since the Huskers of the Nineties outside of Bama who stands side by side.

At this point, one might argue that we are returning no clear cut all conference caliber players, although we have several who are capable of playing at that level but have not yet shown it.

This should be a big concern. Of course, we have quite a number of younger players, presumably some of which are quite capable, that we have seen almost nothing of so maybe he sees more talent in the youth than we know.

 

[B.B. Hemingway]

I just love the honest evaluation of our roster. That alone will go a long ways towards bringing better talent to Lincoln.

 

[lo country]

Sam disagrees

Player development has a huge part in success as well.

Nebraska has an incredibly storied walk-on program. Don't burn me at the stake, but Wisky has an incredibly successful one at the next level....(based upon percentages)

http://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/uw/2016/09/16/walk-ons-rewarded-their-efforts/90434862/

NU has produced some great ones as well....

http://www.omaha.com/huskers/blogs/a-complete-history-of-husker-walk-ons-in-the-nfl/article_dc00dc36-0bd6-11e6-a03e-4fccc11c5b3c.html

 

[lo country]

I just love the honest evaluation of our roster. That alone will go a long ways towards bringing better talent to Lincoln.

Agreed. The coaches assessments, at times, is brutal in its honesty....

 

[JJ Husker]

As we saw this past season, talent is important but it is only one of many factors. I don't think our starting talent per se lagged behind anybody in the conference except tOSU. So, in that respect Devaney is sort of right. But that talent has to perform on the field and there are probably numerous reasons ours didn't. A lot of our talent wasn't available when we needed them due to injuries, grades and whatnot. While other times they just plain didn't get the job done- Iowa game comes to mind. That can be development and coaching or it can be players just not giving a sh#t.

I don't like the injury excuse because that really is just an indictment of your depth, which is another way to look at overall talent and development. So yeah, we had a bit of a talent problem due to lack of depth but I don't think it's one that can't be overcome with a little better preparation. This coming season should tell us a lot more about what we really have with these players, coaches and system.

 

[In the Deed the Glory]

Sam disagrees

Well, I think most of our top talent is in the sophomore and junior class, not the seniors but I am not an expert. Billy Devaney is and he says that we have enough. Sam and others have been selling we are lacking. The truth is somewhere in the middle, but hopefully the staff can develop our talent on hand to be competing for and winning the B1G soon.

 

[Hunter94]

As we saw this past season, talent is important but it is only one of many factors. I don't think our starting talent per se lagged behind anybody in the conference except tOSU. So, in that respect Devaney is sort of right. But that talent has to perform on the field and there are probably numerous reasons ours didn't. A lot of our talent wasn't available when we needed them due to injuries, grades and whatnot. While other times they just plain didn't get the job done- Iowa game comes to mind. That can be development and coaching or it can be players just not giving a sh#t.

I don't like the injury excuse because that really is just an indictment of your depth, which is another way to look at overall talent and development. So yeah, we had a bit of a talent problem due to lack of depth but I don't think it's one that can't be overcome with a little better preparation. This coming season should tell us a lot more about what we really have with these players, coaches and system.

OMG,another wait until next year.............

 

[Hunter94]

Perhaps (?) Devaney was referring to the start of fall camp and BEFORE we had so many injuries at key times to quite a few. We clearly don't have the depth (three deep) at many spots so our talent level is below that of Ohio State, Michigan, and arguably Penn State and Wisconsin. We are roughly equal, in my opinion, with Iowa and Michigan State and have more talent than the rest of the conference, although the gap between the bottom third and middle third (including us) is not that big. On any given day, almost any team in the Big Ten could pull off an upset of almost anyone else, except Ohio State which has to almost fail to show up and try. I would say Ohio State has as much talent as any program has amassed since the Huskers of the Nineties outside of Bama who stands side by side.

At this point, one might argue that we are returning no clear cut all conference caliber players, although we have several who are capable of playing at that level but have not yet shown it.

This should be a big concern. Of course, we have quite a number of younger players, presumably some of which are quite capable, that we have seen almost nothing of so maybe he sees more talent in the youth than we know.

i guess the term would be pooooooooooooooooooooootential.

 

[JJ Husker]

As we saw this past season, talent is important but it is only one of many factors. I don't think our starting talent per se lagged behind anybody in the conference except tOSU. So, in that respect Devaney is sort of right. But that talent has to perform on the field and there are probably numerous reasons ours didn't. A lot of our talent wasn't available when we needed them due to injuries, grades and whatnot. While other times they just plain didn't get the job done- Iowa game comes to mind. That can be development and coaching or it can be players just not giving a sh#t.

I don't like the injury excuse because that really is just an indictment of your depth, which is another way to look at overall talent and development. So yeah, we had a bit of a talent problem due to lack of depth but I don't think it's one that can't be overcome with a little better preparation. This coming season should tell us a lot more about what we really have with these players, coaches and system.

OMG,another wait until next year.............

At this point in time what are the other options?

You got something in mind that doesn't involve waiting to see how it goes? I'm all ears...

 

[Elf]

As we saw this past season, talent is important but it is only one of many factors. I don't think our starting talent per se lagged behind anybody in the conference except tOSU. So, in that respect Devaney is sort of right. But that talent has to perform on the field and there are probably numerous reasons ours didn't. A lot of our talent wasn't available when we needed them due to injuries, grades and whatnot. While other times they just plain didn't get the job done- Iowa game comes to mind. That can be development and coaching or it can be players just not giving a sh#t.

I don't like the injury excuse because that really is just an indictment of your depth, which is another way to look at overall talent and development. So yeah, we had a bit of a talent problem due to lack of depth but I don't think it's one that can't be overcome with a little better preparation. This coming season should tell us a lot more about what we really have with these players, coaches and system.

OMG,another wait until next year.............

At this point in time what are the other options?

You got something in mind that doesn't involve waiting to see how it goes? I'm all ears...

Considering this is the offseason, there is nothing we can do but "wait until next year".

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

It's not wrong for Devaney, the coaches or the fans to have thought Nebraska's talent could compete for the division this season. Until the last game of the regular season, we did.

So yeah, Nebraska had talent. But the margin of error was low and the depth was thin. The team we fielded against Tennessee was compromised at almost every position.

It's ridiculous to think we don't need to raise the talent bar, or that the past two seasons squandered championship talent.

I also don't think Sam McKeown is trolling. The NFL isn't everything, but we feel pretty proud sending Huskers to the pros, and it's something we should probably do better than Iowa.

At last count there were 127 college teams taking a "wait until next year" approach.