Bosnian_Husker77
Four-Star Recruit
hes graduated right??
Offensive Speed
- Thread starter huskers1
- Start date
suh_fan93
Heisman Trophy Winner
I agree with the speed issue also. It is pretty much non existant on offense besides Niles Paul who was really the only one close to being a game breaker last season. I thought Currenski Gilleylen might have been someone to get excited about last year but that never really panned out.
Actually we have one of the fastest offensive teams in NU history coming back if you go by 10 yard dash. Paul is the fastest ever in that category at any position, Kinnie and Paul put up the two best times ever in that category for WR's, Helu tied the RB record and Green tied the QB record.
Speed is not the issue on the offensive side of the ball, it's staying healthy and finding an identity, it all starts up front in 2010.
ESPY
Starter
IMO the Washington game has huge implications on how our offense will play this season. Injuries are an obvious setback, so take that out of the picture for a moment & imagine our key players stay healthy from beginning to end.
The Huskies will be our 1st major conference opponent. If our offense performs well (350+ yards & a couple TDs...and a win), I think that sets the tone & gives us the confidence we need heading into conference play. If they do what they did vs VaTech (decent running yards & NO TDs), I think that hurts our confidence & how our offense plays in conference.
I know each game is different & our offense should perform better in most, but you can't downplay the impact of confidence and momentum. Along with our offensive personnel & the gameplan, momentum is another big key to our offensive success & failure.
The Huskies will be our 1st major conference opponent. If our offense performs well (350+ yards & a couple TDs...and a win), I think that sets the tone & gives us the confidence we need heading into conference play. If they do what they did vs VaTech (decent running yards & NO TDs), I think that hurts our confidence & how our offense plays in conference.
I know each game is different & our offense should perform better in most, but you can't downplay the impact of confidence and momentum. Along with our offensive personnel & the gameplan, momentum is another big key to our offensive success & failure.
The offense should be much improved since we'll finally have some depth on the O-Line. We should be three and four deep in most of the O-Line positions, and with the current crop of O-Line recruits redshirting, we should be looking good for years to come.
Gilley just needs to grow into his role at receiver. I think we'll see a much more improved and mature player this season.
NUance
Assistant Coach
Yeah, I think Gilleylen is going to be a good one. Maybe great. Then again I thought that about Will Henry too.
We have lots of young receivers with talent. Currenski Gilleylen, Brandon Kinnie, Khiry Cooper, Antonio Bell.
Our problem at WR isn’t lack of speed. It’s hands. I think Swift was the last WR we had with great hands. Swift was a great WR for us even though he lacked speed. Last season we had problems hauling in passes and holding onto the ball. Niles Paul is as guilty of this as anyone. Sure he has great speed. But he won't be a great WR until he improves his ability to catch the ball. And hold onto it. How many drives ended because our WR dropped a catchable pass?
We got speed. We need hands.
TheCheshireCat
Starter
I'm going to wait till after this year to start talking about what the offense needs or what the coaches are doing wrong. We had one down year on offense. We will have a better O-line, Rex and Robinson will be developed even more, Helu will be a senior, and I think personally that Paul and Kinnie will have very good years. We had one down year on offense when that's been our signature for the past 7 or 8 years (we only recently got a defense). Let's see what happens this year before we judge too much. I expect a very good year for Nebraska.
suh_fan93
Heisman Trophy Winner
I think speed is always an issue whether it's offense or defense. We have adequate speed on offense but besides maybe Paul we have no one who is a threat every time they catch or run with the ball to go the distance. Again I think our speed is adequate I just wish we had 'that guy' who was a threat every single time he got the ball to break loose and pull away from people. I think speed is always an issue in today's world of college football.
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Count 'Bility
Banned
I like the point about Kinnie. Here's a young man who as a first year player made the two biggest offensive plays in the Texas game. He IS going to develop into the Purify type go to guy in the pass game. I see Paul more of a utility player, maybe the way Newcomb was used. It will be a better offense. You can bet Bo is putting his stamp on things on that side of the ball now.
On the point of Oregon and Cinci having such explosive offenses with so called overlooked players. Did they have the inexperience issue? Did they have injury issues, including a quarterback's throwing arm (dump point here cuz cinci did), and did they have the issue of replacing multiple starters at all levels of the offense. Did they lose one of their 2 punch RB's weeks before the season? I could go on and on, but my point is that those two teams, among many others, do/did not have near the issues our offense had last season. My biggest point of all, defensive competition. That's enough said.
On the point of Oregon and Cinci having such explosive offenses with so called overlooked players. Did they have the inexperience issue? Did they have injury issues, including a quarterback's throwing arm (dump point here cuz cinci did), and did they have the issue of replacing multiple starters at all levels of the offense. Did they lose one of their 2 punch RB's weeks before the season? I could go on and on, but my point is that those two teams, among many others, do/did not have near the issues our offense had last season. My biggest point of all, defensive competition. That's enough said.
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Speed doesn't help you when you factor in the other issues Nebraska's offense faced last year.
Just look at the defensive side of the ball. I would recommend watching highlights from the Missouri game this last season. Nebraska's defense was far more athletic than Missouri's offense, and you could tell by the way they flew to the ball. Plus, Nebraska's defense went relatively unharmed in the injury category this last season.
When you look at the offense, that is a different story. Zac Lee was injured, Hickman played with a hip pointer, Helu had shoulder issues, Burkhead fractured his foot, etc. etc. Hickman wasn't the only o-linemen that was banged up, either. Much of the o-line was maligned last year, and we had little to no depth behind them to come on and play significant roles.
The coaches have gone on record saying that we might see a lot of new faces along the o-line this year. With the exception of Ricky Henry, I don't believe anybody's spot on the o-line is safe.
Speed is important, but when you have an offense that is struggling with injuries and depth, those playmakers don't have a chance to shine. Sure, Chris Brooks posted a very respectable 40 time, but the coaches need more than just speed. They need technique and know-how, something he more than likely didn't produce for them. When you throw in the fact that we had an anemic passing game, it makes sense why he didn't see the field.
Just look at the defensive side of the ball. I would recommend watching highlights from the Missouri game this last season. Nebraska's defense was far more athletic than Missouri's offense, and you could tell by the way they flew to the ball. Plus, Nebraska's defense went relatively unharmed in the injury category this last season.
When you look at the offense, that is a different story. Zac Lee was injured, Hickman played with a hip pointer, Helu had shoulder issues, Burkhead fractured his foot, etc. etc. Hickman wasn't the only o-linemen that was banged up, either. Much of the o-line was maligned last year, and we had little to no depth behind them to come on and play significant roles.
The coaches have gone on record saying that we might see a lot of new faces along the o-line this year. With the exception of Ricky Henry, I don't believe anybody's spot on the o-line is safe.
Speed is important, but when you have an offense that is struggling with injuries and depth, those playmakers don't have a chance to shine. Sure, Chris Brooks posted a very respectable 40 time, but the coaches need more than just speed. They need technique and know-how, something he more than likely didn't produce for them. When you throw in the fact that we had an anemic passing game, it makes sense why he didn't see the field.
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Game speed and 40 yard dash speed is 2 different things. Look at it like this was Nate Swift fast on the dash....not at all. Throw him into a game environment he was as fast as anyone. Yes our offense was nailed hard by the injury bug last year and that should pay divends this year with experince. That being said our offensive line is alot of the problems I dont care who you have back there at QB or out as WR, or RB if he has no time then speed is a mute point. Fix the offensive line and our "speed" will be greatly improved. You said Cincy, USC, and Oregon look at their lines all of them were near the top of their conference at that time.
Personally, I still wouldn't say Swift was a burner or all that fast in-game. He is more of a possession wide receiver. He was never going to blind anyone with his speed or quick moves, but he was the sure-fire choice if you needed a guy to catch a ball for you.
Yes yes, I know he had the good punt return against VaTech in 2008. But I would assist that to the excellent blocking more-so than Swift burning rubber.
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Speed is vastly overrated, I will take heart any day of the week, my case Rex Burkhead. Gonna make everybody cry this year