Who is the #2 football player on the team?

[zoogs]

Yeah I agree with that. Everybody needs to pull their weight, not any one guy or unit. The OL was decent last season, not so much the mess it had been in previous years. But it is one area where if we do get dominant play out of them, it raises the level of the entire team. We'll need 'excellent' out of them to get to NC contention.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Frost, Crouch and Frazier were given very safe and limited passing games to exploit on Husker teams that were notorious for the run, so defenses bit on almost every play action pass. Those run-heavy Husker teams also managed to recruit solid receivers, along with epic offensive lines that bought the QB lots of time. Even given the most favorable and low-pressure passing situations, those guys were 50% passers. They avoided crossing-patterns, fades and touch passes. They almost never improvised: there was a primary receiver and that's where they threw it, whether he was covered or the secondary receiver was suddenly wide open. Lots of super safe screens. Scott Frost had a hard time hitting receivers in stride and a lot of his completions were at the feet. Crouch just wasn't a good passer at all, even if his motion was prettier. Frazier seemed able to turn it on better when needed, but you would never watch his first two seasons and say he was a better passer than Martinez, and he spent his last two seasons overseeing a juggernaut. We remember those guys winning, not all the passes they blew.

Agree that stats are deceptive. Otherwise we'd be hailing our greatest running quarterback ever, Jamal Lord. I just think it's easier for some folks to focus on Taylor Martinez's arm when the team has a bunch of problems even Peyton Manning couldn't cure.

 

[bshirt]

That's for sure.

The average poster here only knows we're losing four games a year and so immediately dumps that on our qb. They really think if we just get a good, traditional pocket passer we'd be mid a 90's steamrolling machine. They'll ignore that our defense isn't in the same galaxy as Frost, Frazier or Crouch's (1999) blackshirts. Our wrs & Oline even more so. Wayyyyy more so.

We've got a long ways to go.

 

[HuskerShark]

I'll say again what I said earlier. The 2nd best player on the team is Damion Stafford.

 

[EZ-E]

Frost, Crouch and Frazier were given very safe and limited passing games to exploit on Husker teams that were notorious for the run, so defenses bit on almost every play action pass. Those run-heavy Husker teams also managed to recruit solid receivers, along with epic offensive lines that bought the QB lots of time. Even given the most favorable and low-pressure passing situations, those guys were 50% passers. They avoided crossing-patterns, fades and touch passes. They almost never improvised: there was a primary receiver and that's where they threw it, whether he was covered or the secondary receiver was suddenly wide open. Lots of super safe screens. Scott Frost had a hard time hitting receivers in stride and a lot of his completions were at the feet. Crouch just wasn't a good passer at all, even if his motion was prettier. Frazier seemed able to turn it on better when needed, but you would never watch his first two seasons and say he was a better passer than Martinez, and he spent his last two seasons overseeing a juggernaut. We remember those guys winning, not all the passes they blew.

Agree that stats are deceptive. Otherwise we'd be hailing our greatest running quarterback ever, Jamal Lord. I just think it's easier for some folks to focus on Taylor Martinez's arm when the team has a bunch of problems even Peyton Manning couldn't cure.

Solid post. +1

 

[IvabigN]

You mean since the previous year when Joe Ganz was the QB?....

I said "Passing" Joe was a good QB but I was speaking to pure passing ability- before Lee got hurt,he had an arm that could have had him playing on Sundays- I'm not sure we've had anyone (other than a maybe a few recruits in the callihan dark years) with as much pure passing ability/potential since the 70's

We can agree to disagree on this one. Yes, Lee had a strong arm, but Ganz was the much better passer of the two.

well Lee never really got to show his arm strength, since most of his career with NU he was hurt- Ganz was an average thrower at best- any scout would be able to tell you that- but ok agree to disagree, even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then

 

[PaulCrewe]

I'll say again what I said earlier. The 2nd best player on the team is Damion Stafford.

If he completely figures out pass coverage this fall.

Baker is a hell of a lot better than many give him credit for. Watch the tape of when Crick was healthy(even back a year prior), Baker was seeing double teams far more frequently. And he wasn't getting buried in the LB corp like others seemed to do a lot.

Andrew Green, at the end of the year, was the least worry in the secondary.

Taylor is 2nd best. He can easily take the next step if he takes the passing success and decision making process from the Northwestern game and play to that level all year. Ball security(when he runs) can improve as well.

However, personal pick is Spencer Long. Guy is a roadgrader and could easily play center as well. He will be huge in helping whomever takes the center position.

 

[corncraze]

The most glaring difference between Frazier, Crouch and Frost vs. Martinez? Not athletic ability. Not accompanying RBs. Not even WRs, where I think Martinez might have an advantage over the other guys.

The biggest difference is the Offensive Line.

We can make another 30-page thread about Martinez and examine everything about the guy if we want. But it won't matter if we somehow meld 1995 Tommie Frazier, 1997 Scott Frost and 2001 Eric Crouch into one Super Quarterback - if we can't get better, more consistent play from our Line, we're going to lose 3+ games again, easy.

I have said this for the last 3-4 years. Most of our offensive woes have come from the oline.

 

[The Dude]

Zac or Zack?

Zak

Zach.

 

[chamrocck]

The most glaring difference between Frazier, Crouch and Frost vs. Martinez? Not athletic ability. Not accompanying RBs. Not even WRs, where I think Martinez might have an advantage over the other guys.

The biggest difference is the Offensive Line.

We can make another 30-page thread about Martinez and examine everything about the guy if we want. But it won't matter if we somehow meld 1995 Tommie Frazier, 1997 Scott Frost and 2001 Eric Crouch into one Super Quarterback - if we can't get better, more consistent play from our Line, we're going to lose 3+ games again, easy.

:yeah

 

[kchusker_chris]

The most glaring difference between Frazier, Crouch and Frost vs. Martinez? Not athletic ability. Not accompanying RBs. Not even WRs, where I think Martinez might have an advantage over the other guys.

The biggest difference is the Offensive Line.

We can make another 30-page thread about Martinez and examine everything about the guy if we want. But it won't matter if we somehow meld 1995 Tommie Frazier, 1997 Scott Frost and 2001 Eric Crouch into one Super Quarterback - if we can't get better, more consistent play from our Line, we're going to lose 3+ games again, easy.

I have said this for the last 3-4 years. Most of our offensive woes have come from the oline.

Yet it's the one position we have maintained the leadership of....what are we seeing that the coaches aren't? Or more likely what are they seeing that we aren't? If this OL was really as bad as everyone lets on (and I agree with you by the way) - why haven't there been more drastic attempts to remedy it? I don't see adding another body as much of an attempt. Adding more resources to a failed project just increases the exposure of the failure

 

[zoogs]

Hm, I would say that there have been fairly drastic measures taken to bolster the coaching of the offensive line, such as bringing Milt into the game (and Garrison seems like a solid member of the staff anyways). A lot of assistance has been given to Barney with the OL and I tend to think we've seen some results there last season. It's just still the focal point for many fans because it's had a recent history of being terrible, so the spotlight is deservedly on that unit.

 

[bshirt]

Hm, I would say that there have been fairly drastic measures taken to bolster the coaching of the offensive line, such as bringing Milt into the game (and Garrison seems like a solid member of the staff anyways). A lot of assistance has been given to Barney with the OL and I tend to think we've seen some results there last season. It's just still the focal point for many fans because it's had a recent history of being terrible, so the spotlight is deservedly on that unit.

Yep.

But the recruiting the last several years shows Bo knows it's a big, big priority. Uncle Milt had help when he was here and now Barney does too. I bet we see real improvement this year.

 

[kchusker_chris]

Hm, I would say that there have been fairly drastic measures taken to bolster the coaching of the offensive line, such as bringing Milt into the game (and Garrison seems like a solid member of the staff anyways). A lot of assistance has been given to Barney with the OL and I tend to think we've seen some results there last season. It's just still the focal point for many fans because it's had a recent history of being terrible, so the spotlight is deservedly on that unit.

Yep.

But the recruiting the last several years shows Bo knows it's a big, big priority. Uncle Milt had help when he was here and now Barney does too. I bet we see real improvement this year.

if they aren't blocking 8, picking up blitzes 90% of the game. i think martinez is going to burn some people this year if they try that. something was off last year with him, i see that getting corrected. that'll help the OL as much as anything.

 

[True2tRA]

Kc Husker Chris........you nailed the point right on. Everybody wants to dog on Barney Cotton and his offensive line performance. Yea, maybe Barney isn't the best guy for the job, and the extra coaching help ought to pay off. But nobody ever wants to acknowledge the fact that these kids are asked to block 8-9 guys every single down. The lack of a passing threat, and the inconsistency in our offensive scheme is more to blame than anything when it comes to our offensive lines shortcomings. That's a FACT.