Small WR's

Oh boy here we go again. People complaining about a position group that is just fine. Just like the OL thread when the OL played pretty well so far this season. We are damn lucky to have a WR coach like KW. Id take him over the tOSU coach anyday of the week. 

We are so thin at WR at the moment. McQuitty got hurt. KJJ got kicked off team. Keyan Williams has some injuries. Yes we missed on some players last year, but name the last time a top 5 WR in the country had Nebraska in their top 2 going into signing day and probably would have signed with Nebraska if it wasnt for his mother? Id rather go down swinging for the best in the country than settle for mediocre receivers. Joshua Moore has more offers than ANYONE in the country. We are still in on some big time receivers this recruiting cycle. 

As for our current receivers, Morgan is the go to receiver. Solid receiver. Possession receiver like Westy. JD Spielman is a freshman with tons of explosiveness and upside. Anyone not excited about him the next four years is crazy. KW actually turned DPE into a respectable receiver when I thought all he would be is a big time return threat. And now hes more receiver than return threat. Lindsey was a very sought after recruit and has very good potential. Still learning playbook and coming off a bad knee injury. He will probably be more involved by seasons end. We had TEs and WRs running open yesterday that Lee couldnt hit either because of poor accuracy or locking onto one receiver (usually Morgan). Nebraska is lucky to have KW.

If youre looking for receivers that catch 100% of the balls thrown to them, youre going to be disappointed. No receiver catches 100% of the balls thrown to them. Not even in the NFL. Hell the guy for the Bears today dropped a ball right in his hands on the 2 yard line. It happens. 

 
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I don't want this to come off the wrong way- but do some of you even think about what you're typing before you put it out here?

To answer the OP- yes, I agree that a lack of size at WR makes it slightly more difficult to run certain routes. It takes away a lot of the advantages in 1 on 1 situations as the QB can't simply put the ball up in the air and have the WR use his size/body to shield off the DB and go get the catch. 

However: 

DPE had probably his best play he's made as a receiver on the TD grab over Graham. That was a true Moss job. Went up and attacked the football. I've mentioned this more than once on the board here but its very impressive the way that our WR's have been attacking the ball this year. Much more so it seems than in years past. 

Stanley played a great game. The first pass of the game that bounced off his hands and the ball that would've been a difficult catch in double coverage on the corner route obviously were 2 big plays in the game. But so was his fourth down conversion on the 4th and 10 and then ensuing TD. So was his other TD. And he really is our best WR in 1 on 1 situations. He had his man beat late in the 4th and it would've cut the Oregon lead to 7 but Lee missed him in the end zone. 

The real issue is that there is not a lot of guys that can be "trusted to play in the games" to use Riley terms. Guys like Young and Reimers are fine to have on the team but it was very obvious even in limited action against Arkansas State that Reimers didn't need to be out there in either passing or blocking situations. Young apparently has the yips about catching any passes. Our WR core loses DPE next year but brings back Stanley, Tyjon, KJJ, McQuitty, Spielman to go along with guys like Moore and other incoming freshmen that we will add. We still haven't gotten to see Keyan Williams yet either as he is nursing his hamstring injury. We will be fine here. 

The last thing I want to address is this "woe is me" attitude that is creeping more and more onto the board. Its still difficult to look at this program as a whole and think that it isn't progressing. The recruiting uptick has been fantastic to see and there are some seriously talented assistant coaches on this staff. Regardless of the results in 2 games, Nebraska is currently paying its Defensive Coordinator over $800,000 per year. That is the largest assistant contract in Nebraska history. Its nice to actually feel like the administration is willing to step up and help the staff as much as possible. The coaching staff and the administration being on the same page is huge. It allows for a coach to take risks like firing a 17 year DC and bringing in a guy he's never worked with before. Keeping the yes man culture out of the staff will benefit us moving forward. 

And lastly, I really dislike this idea that because we lost a road game at a high level PAC12 opponent by 7 points, Nebraska is all of a sudden worthless and stuck in the mud.

One of the main reasons a team like Oregon is able to "turn it around" much quicker than Nebraska (and I'm not even sure you can use that term yet with Oregon, they beat a sub par FCS team and us by a TD at home) is due to 1. their average recruiting ranking the past 4 years and 2.  the fact that they hired a coach who's scheme and style fit the current players much better than Nebraska did. Oregon's avg recruit ranking is almost a full point higher than Nebraska's. Oregon still has a lot to prove this year as well, they tried to hand the game to Nebraska numerous times and we were too inexperienced to be able to take it. But I see positive signs. The OL is playing the best it has in the Riley era. The WR's are growing and Bryant appears to be a very legitimate workhorse RB. Stoltenburg had his best game at Nebraska on Saturday and the D really did answer the bell in the second half of the game. I encourage everyone to try to take a high level view of the program and see where we are at currently. I think when you do that and you compare it to some of the other programs and teams in college football, you'll be pleasantly surprised as to how you feel about Nebraska moving forward. 

 
How much is Oregon paying Leavitt? because he suddenly turned one of the worst defenses in the country around in less then a season and is playing a ton of true freshman. Meanwhile Nebraska pays a DC the highest ever for the university and while not inheriting one of the worst defenses of 2016, he has allowed them to give up over 1,000 total yards in 2 games and 78 points. To a Sun Belt team, and a team that is coming off a 4-8 season in a head coaches first year.

And i'll wait for the, Oregon gave up 35 points to Nebraska and so-so amount of yards. Yes, but they got pressure on the QB, got pressure in the backfield, they created turnovers and showed up when they needed it and they are all or mostly first year players, and they had this thing that is somewhat intangible called confidence and swagger when they were out there.

 
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Diaco has lead a defense to a national championship game. Too small a sample size yet. Aside from Nebraska, they played a less than desirable FCS school. Leavitt has shown his worth in the PAC12 with Colorado already and I'd still like to see what they do against USC, UW, and even an offense like WSU. Oregon has higher rated talent across the board on defense too. Not that I disagree with the basis of your argument though, just a few things worthy of noting.

 
wiuhusker said:
The coaches tried real hard last year to get a big bodied guy who could come in and help us. Joe Lewis went to USC and Bryan Thompson went to Utah. Those are the 2 that come to mind. The coaches realize they need big bodies on the outside to help out the speed/slot guys on the inside. 
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Dez Fitzpatrick. Flipped on us in the last week of signing day and has 173 receiving yards and 3 TDs as a freshman. Also he's 6'2. Also that 6'5 WR who by all accounts we would've gotten but Fitz said he was solid to us and we turned him down and he signed with Oklahoma. Throw in some shorter guys like Grimm and that one WR who committed/decommitted to us like 3 times before flipping on signing day and we've had really bad luck at WR. 

 
DrunkOffPunch said:
Dez Fitzpatrick. Flipped on us in the last week of signing day and has 173 receiving yards and 3 TDs as a freshman. Also he's 6'2. Also that 6'5 WR who by all accounts we would've gotten but Fitz said he was solid to us and we turned him down and he signed with Oklahoma. Throw in some shorter guys like Grimm and that one WR who committed/decommitted to us like 3 times before flipping on signing day and we've had really bad luck at WR. 
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Forgot about Lavon Alston leaving last year too

 
DrunkOffPunch said:
Dez Fitzpatrick. Flipped on us in the last week of signing day and has 173 receiving yards and 3 TDs as a freshman. Also he's 6'2. Also that 6'5 WR who by all accounts we would've gotten but Fitz said he was solid to us and we turned him down and he signed with Oklahoma. Throw in some shorter guys like Grimm and that one WR who committed/decommitted to us like 3 times before flipping on signing day and we've had really bad luck at WR. 
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That whole Jamire Calvin situation may be the most odd recruiting decision I have ever seen. 

 
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