RB Redshirts

[Foppa]

Didn't Meechicken play a bunch of freshmen once? Oh wait...wrong sport

 

[The Dude]

I was really hoping Bo was going to redshirt at least one of the freshman RBs. To have 3 RBs of that caliber in one class is almost unheard of. It would've been nice to stow one away for an extra year. With Rex, Austin Jones, and two of the three freshman we would've been fine depth-wise. Just wondering what you guys thought about that decision....

I don't really know what to think yet. My initial reaction is to agree with you, but if they plan on giving all three a significant amount of playing time, and all three contribute, then it could be a great thing.

 

[General Blackshirt]

The chance that we have no running back injuries the entire year is very, very low. Sometimes having 4 running backs = having 3. It's only a matter of time before one of these guys goes down.

In that case I think you still redshirt one of them and then burn the redshirt if the circumstances warrant it. The decision to play all 3 left me scratching my head. Someone is going to get negligible playing time.

But by that time we might be in the middle of a division race and relying on a true freshman in his first game.

 

[zoogs]

But by that time we might be in the middle of a division race and relying on a true freshman in his first game.

Well - I think more accurately, by that time we might be in the middle of a division race and relying on a true freshman in his first game to be the third-string RB.

 

[HANC]

I am a little "undecided" at this point. I can see a lot of advantages of having one of these guys sit.... for the future of the RB "stable"....but, With AA returning kicks and punts, he will get plenty of touches to warrant a burned year... Talk out of camp was Heard "Looked" the most physically ready to play.... If Rex would go down with a "foot injury" for example (see last yr)..... I think Bo really wants to have 3 young backs with game-speed carries... and guys who are keeping up with the offensive formations and game plans......not running our opponent's offense on the scout team.

One of these guys is going to get banged up....maybe 2..... hate the thought, but it happens almost EVERY year. If T-mart and/or Rex go down (both have in the past).. we would really be in a tough spot with an entire freshman backfield... they need game reps and practice reps against our defense.

Tough call.... "Rock - meet Hard Place"

 

[Lonestar_Husker]

I am a little "undecided" at this point. I can see a lot of advantages of having one of these guys sit.... for the future of the RB "stable"....but, With AA returning kicks and punts, he will get plenty of touches to warrant a burned year... Talk out of camp was Heard "Looked" the most physically ready to play.... If Rex would go down with a "foot injury" for example (see last yr)..... I think Bo really wants to have 3 young backs with game-speed carries... and guys who are keeping up with the offensive formations and game plans......not running our opponent's offense on the scout team.

One of these guys is going to get banged up....maybe 2..... hate the thought, but it happens almost EVERY year. If T-mart and/or Rex go down (both have in the past).. we would really be in a tough spot with an entire freshman backfield... they need game reps and practice reps against our defense.

Tough call.... "Rock - meet Hard Place"

I was initially against burning all 3 redshirts, until this post. This line of reasoning makes sense to me. Is Tyler Moore really that much better than Marcel Jones to warrant burning his redshirt? That one is more concerning to me. Especially if we are going to be a run first team. We can't be a run left first team, we at least need to be able to run to either side.

 

[Danimal]

Yep. If it doesn't happen this year, it is unlikely to happen in a future year - at least, unlikely for it to be a good sign.

Has AJ shown he can be productive? Well, no. But do we need our fourth string to be productive?

Green. Heard. Abdullah.

At least one of these guys has a good chance of being criminally under-used this year. My money is on Aaron Green notching 21 carries and 2 receptions.

--

What I'm most concerned about is sacrificing touches. Rex is a WORKHORSE and needs to have a lot of touches. He had 12 today. Heard - 4. Green - 2. Abdullah - 4, not counting ST. There just isn't enough to go around for everybody.

In what little action he saw I thought Jones did solidly last season, looked better than Dontrayevous did IMO. He's good enough to be 4th string.

Hate to say it but I agree about Green. Abdullah will see considerable action on returns. Heard is #2, like the way he hits the hole. Green could be wasted. Maybe we'll see more of him when we start opening the playbook more and using that diamond-formation.

 

[NUance]

I was really hoping Bo was going to redshirt at least one of the freshman RBs. To have 3 RBs of that caliber in one class is almost unheard of. It would've been nice to stow one away for an extra year. With Rex, Austin Jones, and two of the three freshman we would've been fine depth-wise. Just wondering what you guys thought about that decision....

In the past I think we've sometimes been too generous with redshirts. They count against our 85 scholie limit I'm pretty sure. If we have too many guys taking redshirts we don't get as many recruits in the door. Just my two cents worth.

Trivia: NU was the first school to redshirt. Warren Alfson, NU 1937.

 

[The Dude]

Trivia: NU was the first school to redshirt. Warren Alfson, NU 1937.

Well that's the most interesting thing I've heard all day.

 

[bshirt]

What I'm most concerned about is sacrificing touches. Rex is a WORKHORSE and needs to have a lot of touches. He had 12 today. Heard - 4. Green - 2. Abdullah - 4, not counting ST. There just isn't enough to go around for everybody.

Hopefully as the season goes along, we see Martinez with less carries and all four of those guys with more.

Hopefully, I guess.

But isn't Martinez's strength that he is a great runner? If he only gets say, 10 carries a game...why have a running QB?

Well, duh....a healthy Tmart in the game forces opponent DCs to make compromises with their defense.

 

[robsker]

Yep. If it doesn't happen this year, it is unlikely to happen in a future year - at least, unlikely for it to be a good sign.

Has AJ shown he can be productive? Well, no. But do we need our fourth string to be productive?

Green. Heard. Abdullah.

At least one of these guys has a good chance of being criminally under-used this year. My money is on Aaron Green notching 21 carries and 2 receptions.

--

What I'm most concerned about is sacrificing touches. Rex is a WORKHORSE and needs to have a lot of touches. He had 12 today. Heard - 4. Green - 2. Abdullah - 4, not counting ST. There just isn't enough to go around for everybody.

The number of touches is a concern --- for the moment.

That said... maybe this is the coaches thinking --- perhaps they are pretty convinced that all three are really good and will play ultimately (somewhere) and that they will get better quicker by making them all compete w/ each other --- and let this year play out and see where the three are in the end --- based on this season they can find out who has the best ability as a back, who has the best ability as a returner on ST, and perhaps who has the best hands and route running ability and see who might be most amenable to a switch to a slot receiver to join in with Jamal Turner to give us a dual threat there. My point is this... the coaches are perhaps thinking that all three will be used somewhere ultimately but not always and forever at RB. I'd expect that ST is a major reason to play all three now. Having them compete and get better quicker is a reason as well. And the intent may be that one of them is likely going to go to the slot as a receiver at some point (we desperately need playmakers there). I do not think they will bury that kind of talent on the depth chart and not utilize it. They will ferret out where to place them in due time --- and this year is the time to figure out who goes where. But I'd see a position switch for one of them down the road.

Maybe? Who knows.

 

[74Hunter]

Always a chance to redshirt them down the line if one of those guys breaks away from the pack. No rule says you have to redshirt them their freshman year. They automatically redshirt if they don't play in any games the whole season.

This

Disagree. How many times have you seen a player redshirt after their freshman year, unless injured.

Much like Enunwa & Arod last year, this was a waste. Also, nice to see that Bondi's redshirt was burned for one or two kickoffs (sarcasm).

I'm really beginning to question Bo's handling of his roster.

I think we're going to see all of those RBs contribute, especially if one goes down or gets a little banged up (which is practically inevitable).

We're also going to need Bondi this year. I don't think we can rely on Maher to do punting, placekicking, and kickoff duties all year. I remember all the articles written, wondering whether Henery could handle both punting and placekicking duties for an entire season, since it would mean less reps of both of those, and more stress. It's unfair to expect Maher to do all three.

Your points on Maher and Bondi have merritt, however it is much more likely that one (or more) of the three redshirt-burned freshman backs will transfer due to lack of carries and playing time than they will redshirt at Nebraska.

Besides, isn't Jones good enough to be fourth string seeing that he was just awarded a scholarship. Wasted eligibility, wasted scholarships.

 

[bbeerma2]

This is a instance of roster management. Burning redshirts on good players is not poor roster management. He is juggling schollies as we've had lean and fat years and they'd probably like to even that out a bit more. Also, this helps future RB recruitment saying that you aren't going to come in behind 3 great experienced players who still have 3-4 years left. You think we'd pull a single back in next year if we redshirted all three who are hyped players? Even if we redshirt two, you're still going to hurt our appeal to RBs for a year or two.

 

[zoogs]

Besides, isn't Jones good enough to be fourth string seeing that he was just awarded a scholarship. Wasted eligibility, wasted scholarships.

Exactly. It is kinda exciting at least right now to watch these three freshman IBs. Or we-backs, whatever. But what about Jones? What about later in the season? I think we have just enough depth to risk it. I guess the injury risk is the big factor so I can't totally be against this decision. But isn't that what Jones and Curenski are for? Getting us by in a pinch while we still have at least one or two other guys to be the top RBs, regardless of if one or two of the current top RBs gets hurt.

We should only redshirt one of these guys. It looks good now to have three freshmen. But it won't be as nice when we have three seniors.

But, I don't know, it's a tough situation anyway. Heard should not be a freshman right now, so can't complain.

 

[jsneb83]

I thought they moved AJ to fullback.