Guy Chamberlin
Heisman Trophy Winner
Question for everyone. Do we have top 35 talent on this roster?
We have some talent but it's been years since we've had depth. The thing about teams is that you can have 15 solid starters, but the 7 weak links can kill you. Especially if the weak links are in the offensive line or defensive secondary, where opposing teams can target them every play.
The other thing about teams is that they can make good players great through culture, scheme, and player development. Can't make s#!tty players great, but there is an abundance of talent in the middle-range, where 17 and 18 year old kids haven't finished growing or had a coach fine-tune their skills or figure out they weren't even playing their best position.
So maybe to kinda answer your question: we could easily have 15 players with top 35 talent on this roster ( a pretty modest bar) but the drop-off at the other positions and depth charts means we don't have enough to beat top 35 teams.
If the question is whether we can get better players to come to Nebraska the answer is yes, of course. That's how every crappy team gets better.