HOL: Three early takeaways from Husker spring practice

[Saunders]

Nebraska will take the field for spring practice No. 2 on Tuesday. Here are three early takeaways as they get ready for practice No. 2....
3. The defensive staff shuffle makes senseWhen you look at the decision to take defensive coordinator Mark Banker and move him over to coach safeties, on the surface it's hard what to make of this move. If anything, Riley probably looked at his defense last year and said defensive line and secondary where NU's overall weaknesses in terms of consistency and prodcution. He fired Hank Hughes and brought in John Parrella to shore up the defensive line concerns. Then in the secondary he took some pressure off Brian Stewart's plate by putting Banker back there to coach the safeties. This makes perfect sense for a lot of reasons. It's very hard for one coach to manage potentially 5 to 6 of the 11 defensive players on the field when NU is in a nickel or dime defense. By putting Banker with the safeties it will give them their own meeting room and individual position coach, while Stewart can concentrate on coaching up NU's young talent at corner.
https://nebraska.n.rivals.com/news/three-early-takeaways-from-husker-spring-practice

The final point is the one I find most intriguing for this year.

 

[Scratchtown]

I would be extremely disappointed to see POB not be the starter until 2019. Assuming that's what was meant about Tanner Lee "bridging the gap". That's a large gap unless POB redshirts this year. Unless POB is the starter, he better redshirt. No reason to waste a year or his talent playing backup.

 

[The Dude]

Didn't Banker have a similar role at Oregon State for a while there? I seem to remember that being a thing.

 

[Enhance]

I would be extremely disappointed to see POB not be the starter until 2019. Assuming that's what was meant about Tanner Lee "bridging the gap". That's a large gap unless POB redshirts this year. Unless POB is the starter, he better redshirt. No reason to waste a year or his talent playing backup.

If POB feels comfortable, and is willing, and the coaches think he is the best backup, I'm OK with him playing. Obviously, I don't think it would be a good idea if it amounts to POB seeing a grand total of 10-15 snaps in garbage time all season and that's it. But if he earns the PT, wants to do it and there are beneficial snaps to be had, I say let him play.

I wouldn't be surprised if Fyfe maintains the back-up spot, though. I know people let the Purdue game stick in their minds but the team came out of that game feeling more confident in Fyfe's abilities.

 

[Andrew45]

I would be extremely disappointed to see POB not be the starter until 2019. Assuming that's what was meant about Tanner Lee "bridging the gap". That's a large gap unless POB redshirts this year. Unless POB is the starter, he better redshirt. No reason to waste a year or his talent playing backup.

If POB feels comfortable, and is willing, and the coaches think he is the best backup, I'm OK with him playing. Obviously, I don't think it would be a good idea if it amounts to POB seeing a grand total of 10-15 snaps in garbage time all season and that's it. But if he earns the PT, wants to do it and there are beneficial snaps to be had, I say let him play.

I wouldn't be surprised if Fyfe maintains the back-up spot, though. I know people let the Purdue game stick in their minds but the team came out of that game feeling more confident in Fyfe's abilities.

I think that it would be best for POB to redshirt this year if he's not going to start, I think Fyfe is a reliable enough back-up to handle that for another year. If POB actually is better than Armstrong right now, then I'm definitely okay with him starting. But I doubt that he will overtake TA as a freshman.

I haven't seen much of Tanner Lee, but what I could find didn't blow me away. He seemed to be average on a below average team. But we'll see what he can do with the talent we have around him here as opposed to Tulane.

If I were a betting man, I would say the chances are good that TA starts, Fyfe backs up, and POB redshirts. Tanner Lee is kind of a variable for next year. But you never really know this early, I just have a hard time seeing the staff burn a year with POB just so he can be the back-up.

 

[HuskerNation1]

I would be extremely disappointed to see POB not be the starter until 2019. Assuming that's what was meant about Tanner Lee "bridging the gap". That's a large gap unless POB redshirts this year. Unless POB is the starter, he better redshirt. No reason to waste a year or his talent playing backup.

If POB feels comfortable, and is willing, and the coaches think he is the best backup, I'm OK with him playing. Obviously, I don't think it would be a good idea if it amounts to POB seeing a grand total of 10-15 snaps in garbage time all season and that's it. But if he earns the PT, wants to do it and there are beneficial snaps to be had, I say let him play.

I wouldn't be surprised if Fyfe maintains the back-up spot, though. I know people let the Purdue game stick in their minds but the team came out of that game feeling more confident in Fyfe's abilities.

I think that it would be best for POB to redshirt this year if he's not going to start, I think Fyfe is a reliable enough back-up to handle that for another year. If POB actually is better than Armstrong right now, then I'm definitely okay with him starting. But I doubt that he will overtake TA as a freshman.

I haven't seen much of Tanner Lee, but what I could find didn't blow me away. He seemed to be average on a below average team. But we'll see what he can do with the talent we have around him here as opposed to Tulane.

If I were a betting man, I would say the chances are good that TA starts, Fyfe backs up, and POB redshirts. Tanner Lee is kind of a variable for next year. But you never really know this early, I just have a hard time seeing the staff burn a year with POB just so he can be the back-up.

If POB is the best backup, and has the ability to play in some games, I see no problem with him being ready to fill that role this season as it will make him better should be be the started in 2017. When you are in a position where you may have to step in at a moment's notice to lead the team, it forces you to understand the playbook and offense early in the season, and he will pick up on more things with that mindset this year as a backup. Now if he's going to be 4th on the depth chart and there is question about him starting in 2017, then I do agree to redshirt.

 

[drfish]

I would be shocked if POB sees the field this year. If he does, he will be lucky to have better than a 3:2 TD:INT ratio, having never faced anything better than a high school defense.

 

[GBRFAN]

If POB is the backup this year which i'm predicting is about 75% likely - there is zero chance that he redshirts. Reason being is the depth at QB in Mike Riley's system for 2016 is poor at best. If POB plays this year he will lose the 2020 season. I'm guessing by 2020 our depth concerns at QB will be long gone. It will also be much more valuable for POB to see live game experience then only scout team.

Can Tanner Lee go scout team this year?? Because a good arm would be nice for the upcoming redshirts....

 

[GBRFAN]

I would be shocked if POB sees the field this year. If he does, he will be lucky to have better than a 3:2 TD:INT ratio, having never faced anything better than a high school defense.

There have been a lot of freshman QB's that have had better then 3:2 TD:INT ratios in year one. I know that POB wasn't the #1 QB prospect in the country, however he came on strong late and think if he had more early hype and said that he was leaning towards a top 5 program his ranking would have been much higher. To say that he would be "lucky" seems to go against a lot of the success that young QB's have had in the past 5 years.

 

[Hunter94]

If POB is the backup this year which i'm predicting is about 75% likely - there is zero chance that he redshirts. Reason being is the depth at QB in Mike Riley's system for 2016 is poor at best. If POB plays this year he will lose the 2020 season. I'm guessing by 2020 our depth concerns at QB will be long gone. It will also be much more valuable for POB to see live game experience then only scout team.

Can Tanner Lee go scout team this year?? Because a good arm would be nice for the upcoming redshirts....

look, if POB is THAT good, he wont be here his senior year, regardless.

 

[BigRedBuster]

OMG....imagine the tizzy Husker Nation will be in if come fall, POB is 3rd or 4th on the depth chart.

 

[TonyStalloni]

Burning POB's redshirt this year would put 2 years separation between he and the 2017 Qb. If he is the 2nd best Qb we have then it's time to move forward. This year the team has to show some serious improvement and create some momentum. 9-4 or even 10-3 would be much better going into 17 recruiting.

 

[MichiganDad3]

Our offense only seemed to do well when TA ran some. I hope we don't go to a pocket passing only offense. Bo killed these guys, but struggled with mobile QBs. I like the threat of a QB who will take off, even if there are no planned QB runs.

 

[GBRFAN]

OMG....imagine the tizzy Husker Nation will be in if come fall, POB is 3rd or 4th on the depth chart.

Not sure what your angle is here? If the freshman is 3rd or 4th most fans would be completely fine with that. A lot of freshman fall into that range. The discussion is IF he is good enough to be the backup - what should he do with his first season as a backup NU QB.

 

[BigRedBuster]

OMG....imagine the tizzy Husker Nation will be in if come fall, POB is 3rd or 4th on the depth chart.

Not sure what your angle is here? If the freshman is 3rd or 4th most fans would be completely fine with that. A lot of freshman fall into that range. The discussion is IF he is good enough to be the backup - what should he do with his first season as a backup NU QB.

That's a reasonable approach to take on this.

However, one hell of a lot of fans have already claimed he is going to push TA for the starting spot this year. We have seen this before. The stud freshman recruit is buried on the depth chart and fans start tearing apart the coaching staff because of their perceived cluelessness and total waste of him that far down.