Which Husker is most vital to success?

[bleedNUred]

For us to improve over last season we NEED better QB play so that means Zac need to step it up. I obviously voted for Zac Lee.

 

[AmukaFan]

Prince Amukamara, he's going to have to be the defensive leader that Suh was last year so that the Huskies can win even when the offense isn't getting it done.

 

[bbeerma2]

it's not realistic to blame all our offensive problems of last season on zac, as the bulk of the problem was with the offensive line. as you saw in the holiday bowl, burkhead will be the key to the offense. helu needs only 1000 yards to crack the top 4 in career rushing...amazing when you consider the O-lines the top 3 ran behind, and the difference in offensive philosophies. as we all saw against the sun belt teams last year, if zac gets a little time and can keep his cool, he will find a receiver and get him the ball. dropped balls were another big problem last year. the burning questions this year are how much better will the Oline play be? (should be considerably better, but probably still not dominant) and can our recievers haul in catchable balls? (remains to be seen) i'm confident that given a little protection, zac will do a serviceable job running wats' offense. we don't need an all conference qb to win the big12. just a clock controlling offense and balls that hit the receivers between the nipples not getting dropped will do the trick.

Those RBs tended to split carries with the QB and the FB. Nowadays utilize the RB differently

 

[74Hunter]

I voted Prince. If we lose Zac, it'll be bad, but we could shut down the offense and bring Green along. If we lose Prince, who steps in for him now that Blue is gone? We are depending pretty heavily on our two shutdown corners in the D this year. Does Thorell start at CB or something?

I'll get some funny looks, but Mike Caputo.

Pretty sure West or Gomes moves back to corner if Prince or Dennard go down.

The thing i'm really liking at this point is that we have solid depth at almost every position. Yes, it would suck if Prince or Crick went down, but we have capable replacements.

The only position that we do not have somebody that's game tested to step in at, is center. So if Caputo goes down, IMO, it's our biggest loss now that Smith is out.

Caputo's a good one too. Good point on Gomes/West moving back to corner - although I'd say that's a big drop off at a key position, that also creates more uncertainty at safety at the same time by moving one of the starters over. I think Caputo is rock solid on the OL, but who's to say Pensick won't grow into the role at center and be competent enough as so many others have over the years? It seems that even with the uncertainty, it's a more "step-up"-able position than starting corner. I'll agree that we have capable replacements for Crick though; Steinkuhler-Moore with Randle backing them up and probably Rome's redshirt coming off.

I like EZ's naming of Hagg as well. Hagg's a focal point on the defense and his skillset is pretty unique.

I agree with jliehr. Other than Henery, Caputo is the one guy that I worry about. The center makes all of the line calls, and with Smith going down, we don't have anyone else with game experience. That is what made Smith's injury so devastating. Center is a VERY difficult position to learn to play at a high level. We just got spoiled with the Remington's, Tranowycz'z, Young's, Graham's, Taylor's, and Rialo's we have had over the years.

Besides, almost any coach will tell you that CB is an "easier" position to learn than safety. It's more about the physical tools. Guys like Mike Brown, Eric Stokes, West, Gomes, etc. started their careers at CB and moved to S when they learned more about schemes.

 

[ESPY]

This guy...