ESPN "Tim Griffin"

Listened to an interview with Phil Steele the other day and he mentioned the turnover margin as an area that he has identified as a key to Nebraska improving next year.

I guess that is a no brainer but his stats were more targeted on the fact that NE was in the double digit negative range and has room for major improvement.

 
Everything about those predictions was flattering, and I hope they all come true. I especially want to see a more aggressive and powerful defense that forces more turnovers... reading things like this just makes me ache for the season to start.

 
Am I the only one here that is actually excited about this year's WR's? I've said before on this board that I respect Nate Swift and everything he did for this program, but the WR's this year should be an IMPROVEMENT from 2008. This year's WR's have speed, not enough in my opinion, but they are considerably faster than the 2008 group of WR's. We have multiple deep threats in Antonio Bell, Currenski Gilleyen, and if he pans out, Marcus Mendoza. You could even throw Niles Paul into that mix, as Roy Helu was quoted as saying that Niles Paul was "clearly the Huskers best receiver on the team". This quote surprised me as Meno Holt played a vital role in the passing game last season, while Niles Paul wasn't used for much more than providing stout blocking. Heading into 2008, everyone was pointing to the WR's as an offensive weakness, and Swift and Peterson really stepped up. They were great for us, but both of them didn't have the athletic ability as these groups of WR's.

I expect Paul, Holt, Chris Brooks, Brandon Kinnie, and Bell to emerge as the top WR's, and I also expect Watson to incorporate Mendoza's and Gilleyen's speed for some packages.

Antonio Bell will return our punts, and will do a damn good job at it.

Zac Lee will have plenty of offensive weapons at his disposal this season.

I expect this offense to put up similar numbers, if not better than, 2008's offense.

Did I mention Roy Helu and Quentin Castille as the best RB tandem in the Big 12? (that don't play in Norman)

 
Last edited by a moderator:
HuskerRob said:
Am I the only one here that is actually excited about this year's WR's? I've said before on this board that I respect Nate Swift and everything he did for this program, but the WR's this year should be an IMPROVEMENT from 2008. This year's WR's have speed, not enough in my opinion, but they are considerably faster than the 2008 group of WR's. We have multiple deep threats in Antonio Bell, Currenski Gilleyen, and if he pans out, Marcus Mendoza. You could even throw Niles Paul into that mix, as Roy Helu was quoted as saying that Niles Paul was "clearly the Huskers best receiver on the team". This quote surprised me as Meno Holt played a vital role in the passing game last season, while Niles Paul wasn't used for much more than providing stout blocking. Heading into 2008, everyone was pointing to the WR's as an offensive weakness, and Swift and Peterson really stepped up. They were great for us, but both of them didn't have the athletic ability as these groups of WR's.
I expect Paul, Holt, Chris Brooks, Brandon Kinnie, and Bell to emerge as the top WR's, and I also expect Watson to incorporate Mendoza's and Gilleyen's speed for some packages.

Antonio Bell will return our punts, and will do a damn good job at it.

Zac Lee will have plenty of offensive weapons at his disposal this season.

I expect this offense to put up similar numbers, if not better than, 2008's offense.

Did I mention Roy Helu and Quentin Castille as the best RB tandem in the Big 12? (that don't play in Norman)
Click to expand...
I don't know about all that. While last years receivers were surprisingly better than expected, they had experience helping them. I'm sure this group of WRs has the potential to better, but I'm not going to be so quick to pencil in an improvement when they haven't proven much yet.

 
General Blackshirt said:
HuskerRob said:
Am I the only one here that is actually excited about this year's WR's? I've said before on this board that I respect Nate Swift and everything he did for this program, but the WR's this year should be an IMPROVEMENT from 2008. This year's WR's have speed, not enough in my opinion, but they are considerably faster than the 2008 group of WR's. We have multiple deep threats in Antonio Bell, Currenski Gilleyen, and if he pans out, Marcus Mendoza. You could even throw Niles Paul into that mix, as Roy Helu was quoted as saying that Niles Paul was "clearly the Huskers best receiver on the team". This quote surprised me as Meno Holt played a vital role in the passing game last season, while Niles Paul wasn't used for much more than providing stout blocking. Heading into 2008, everyone was pointing to the WR's as an offensive weakness, and Swift and Peterson really stepped up. They were great for us, but both of them didn't have the athletic ability as these groups of WR's.
I expect Paul, Holt, Chris Brooks, Brandon Kinnie, and Bell to emerge as the top WR's, and I also expect Watson to incorporate Mendoza's and Gilleyen's speed for some packages.

Antonio Bell will return our punts, and will do a damn good job at it.

Zac Lee will have plenty of offensive weapons at his disposal this season.

I expect this offense to put up similar numbers, if not better than, 2008's offense.

Did I mention Roy Helu and Quentin Castille as the best RB tandem in the Big 12? (that don't play in Norman)
Click to expand...
I don't know about all that. While last years receivers were surprisingly better than expected, they had experience helping them. I'm sure this group of WRs has the potential to better, but I'm not going to be so quick to pencil in an improvement when they haven't proven much yet.
Click to expand...
Outside of Swift, and somewhat of Peterson....the WR core of 2008 didn't have much experience. There is no question that this year's WR core is much more talented.

 
To state the obvious, the TE's are exceptional this year and anyone who remembers Watson''s offenses at CU knows what he can do with good TEs. Obviously, this helps with the lack of experience at WR. Though I do think this is a talented group at WR, I need to see someone step up and own this position already.

 
huskertim said:
To state the obvious, the TE's are exceptional this year and anyone who remembers Watson''s offenses at CU knows what he can do with good TEs. Obviously, this helps with the lack of experience at WR. Though I do think this is a talented group at WR, I need to see someone step up and own this position already.
Click to expand...
NU TEs are not as big as the OU, USC or old CU TEs.

 
rkhufu7 said:
huskertim said:
To state the obvious, the TE's are exceptional this year and anyone who remembers Watson''s offenses at CU knows what he can do with good TEs. Obviously, this helps with the lack of experience at WR. Though I do think this is a talented group at WR, I need to see someone step up and own this position already.
Click to expand...
NU TEs are not as big as the OU, USC or old CU TEs.
Click to expand...
They don't need to be as big, they need to catch the ball.

 
huskertim said:
rkhufu7 said:
huskertim said:
To state the obvious, the TE's are exceptional this year and anyone who remembers Watson''s offenses at CU knows what he can do with good TEs. Obviously, this helps with the lack of experience at WR. Though I do think this is a talented group at WR, I need to see someone step up and own this position already.
Click to expand...
NU TEs are not as big as the OU, USC or old CU TEs.
Click to expand...
They don't need to be as big, they need to catch the ball.
Click to expand...
Or, "It's not the size, it's how you use it."

TE is one area of the field where I have zero concern. We have more weapons than spots on the field at TE.

And to expound on HuskerRob's comments about WR - I mentioned something about this yesterday, about how Swift and Peterson were good WRs and gave everything they could to the team, but they simply weren't as talented as many others out there. We have a lot of potential at WR this year, lots of untapped talent. The big "if" is, can they realize that potential? If they do, look out. :thumbs

 
huskertim said:
rkhufu7 said:
huskertim said:
To state the obvious, the TE's are exceptional this year and anyone who remembers Watson''s offenses at CU knows what he can do with good TEs. Obviously, this helps with the lack of experience at WR. Though I do think this is a talented group at WR, I need to see someone step up and own this position already.
Click to expand...
NU TEs are not as big as the OU, USC or old CU TEs.
Click to expand...
They don't need to be as big, they need to catch the ball.
Click to expand...
They need to be able to block as well. Rucker from Mizzou was an All American TE, but didn't get drafted until the 4th round because teams didn't think he could block. It's rare to get a good blocking TE that is fast and can catch the ball as well.

 
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