LJS: State of the Huskers - Secondary

Mavric

Mavric

Yoda
Staff member
Experienced returners: Joshua Kalu, jr.; Nathan Gerry, sr.; Chris Jones, jr.; Aaron Williams, so.; Kieron Williams, jr.; Antonio Reed, so.

Significant losses: Byerson Cockrell, Jonathan Rose.

Youth watch: Youth was served in the bowl game, with Aaron Williams playing a key role at nickel and Reed getting his first extensive action on defense at safety. Both have a some edge to them. As Mark Banker explained, Reed "damn near started a riot" during a chippie bowl practice. Cornerbacks Eric Lee and Avery Anderson also enter the discussion. Redshirt seasons complete, the highly touted recruits from Colorado will try to make their push. It won't be easy right away. Kalu and Jones did a good job in the past two months of assuring they'll go into spring with their heads out in front of the competition.

The conversation until spring ball is ... about what can be tweaked on that back end that might help the Huskers climb from their 122nd spot in pass defense. Also, who is the man who takes the place of Cockrell? Aaron Williams seems a strong guess, but he also has value as a nickel back option, especially if someone like Reed really comes along. And who's the third corner? If the Husker coaches can find a strong option, they could continue to slide Kalu into that nickel role when necessary.
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LJS

 
Im kinda thinking Kalu might be the odd man out. He did okay as season went along, but i could see guys surpassing him eventually. And Jones really came on. I think he is just gonna get better and better. Could get to shut downish status before hes outta here.

 
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The unit as a whole played better as the year went on. I'm not an expert by any means on DB schemes but I do believe the schemes were adjusted later in the year to help them out some. So, that along with the guys just getting more comfortable in the system and buying into it, I think allowed them to show big improvement.

Rose = See ya....don't let the door hit ya.

Cockrell = Dude...you played hard and fought hard. Glad you were a Husker.

That said, I think we improve in talent int his unit next year. I envision Gerry getting back to the form he was in the old system. Jones is going to be a very good DB. Williams will come on strong with the experience he got this year and now an off season to use it to improve. It's going to be a battle for the other CB spot but I think it's going to be a battle between some pretty talented players.

PS...an improvement in the front 7 is going to help this group out.

PPS....Due to the fact we did well against the run and struggled against the pass much of this year, this unit is going to get challenged early and often next year until they can prove they can shut down a passing game. They need to accept that challenge and use that as motivation. Step up and make it happen.

 
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BigRedBuster said:
PS...an improvement in the front 7 is going to help this group out.
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IMO the front 7 were under-appreciated this year and won't be as good next year with the loss of Collins (and possibly Valentine). Freedom played well, but nobody looks good after him and McMullen. Going to be another dicey year at DE.

 
RedDenver said:
BigRedBuster said:
PS...an improvement in the front 7 is going to help this group out.
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IMO the front 7 were under-appreciated this year and won't be as good next year with the loss of Collins (and possibly Valentine). Freedom played well, but nobody looks good after him and McMullen. Going to be another dicey year at DE.
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I think our LBers will be better barring injury. Maurice played well this year and will be good. Have some young guys that have promise(all 3 Davis boys). DE will be the spot to really watch imo. Need some guys to step up.

 
Overall I was very impressed with Kalu considering how difficult of a position he was put in a lot of times during the season. He was the best player in the secondary against BYU and their eighteen different 6'5" receivers or whatever it was.

 
RedDenver said:
BigRedBuster said:
PS...an improvement in the front 7 is going to help this group out.
Click to expand...
IMO the front 7 were under-appreciated this year and won't be as good next year with the loss of Collins (and possibly Valentine). Freedom played well, but nobody looks good after him and McMullen. Going to be another dicey year at DE.
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I think our LBs will continue to improve and I think we will start to see someone emerge as a better pass rusher. Collins was very good. However, he was able to be double teamed constantly so he wasn't a big factor in the pass rush area. They were able to do very well against the run though.

If we could have a healthy dose of Freedom along with a couple of the Davis boys emerge as good pass rush threats....well....the front 7 will even look better.

 
RedDenver said:
BigRedBuster said:
PS...an improvement in the front 7 is going to help this group out.
Click to expand...
IMO the front 7 were under-appreciated this year and won't be as good next year with the loss of Collins (and possibly Valentine). Freedom played well, but nobody looks good after him and McMullen. Going to be another dicey year at DE.
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We bring back all of our LBs with another year of experience and a healthy Rose-Ivey will help

Have heard great things about Alex Davis on the scout team and while Collins was a very good player DT is a position of strength

 
If you'd like to find a team to emulate, just look at the things Bama did in their secondary this past year. They are currently the standard of College football DB's.


 
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