Who's Leaving?

[Enhance]

Rumor is that he was told that he wouldn't be starting out on the 105-man roster

How does that work as a scholarship player? I know being on scholarship doesn't guarantee playing time, but, is it pretty rare for someone in a position like him to not make the 105 for reasons other than injury/off-the-field?
Transfer rumors don't shock me given the amount of bodies we have at QB, but, a lot of people were pretty high on this kid.

Come on guys. He's a bust. He seems like a good kid and a loyal kid, but this isn't the place for him. He looked like he didn't know what planet he was on in the spring game. It's better for everyone if he moves on.

I disagree, I think he showed more promise in the spring game than most give him credit for. Put him with the 1's and see how he looks come fall camp.

The problem is he had the chance to emerge during spring ball the last two years and is currently 4/5 on the depth chart. Two new QBs are signed for this class. Personally, I just do not see how he makes it on the field. As a former Elite 11 guy, he could be the best that never was, but I try to not get hyped on pure potential, when he has had chances to prove himself during practices and yielded no results.

I'm probably the only one here who was not impressed with Bush in the spring game. If I gave my depth chart it would go TA, Darlington, Stanton, Fyfe, Broekmeir, Bush. AJ just looks like a carryover of the Bo Pelini era QB mold. Good, not great. Athletic but mistake prone.
For me, Stanton looks like what we have wanted since Ganz. But 4 years of Martinez have made us forget that and I see Taylor Lite in Aj Bush Darlington was my favorite on the day but health issues. Tommy wins starter by default with experience. But again Stanton for me feels like he could thrive once thrown in the deep end.

I see this argument a lot, that a player needs to just be thrown in and see what happens. It goes against just about everything practice stands for and is a very unwise mentality for handling a roster. Practice provides more than repetition learning - it gives you a chance to see who performs the best and the most consistently. I'm sorry, but if they don't prove it in practice, they don't deserve the chance to just get tossed into the fire. Stanton has been given a lot of opportunities and has not capitalized yet. It just is what it is.

Now, perhaps in some rare instances good players just need the right moment to shine and then everything clicks into place from there. But, again, I don't think that's a risk a coach wants to take unless they absolutely have to.

Furthermore, we can't vilify Bush for his spring game performance, but then say Stanton should be 3rd on the depth chart, without considering Stanton's own spring performance. If memory serves, Bush had a lot of praise in spring camp whereas Stanton was relatively quiet. Bush's spring game wasn't pretty, but Stanton's wasn't good either. Stanton may not have been thrown in the 1's and 2's as much but, again, I would argue that says something. And some of Stanton's throws were more than just drops in the spring game. He made bad throws.

We just need to keep it all in perspective.

 

[zoogs]

Bush is a young guy who looked good at some times, not so good at others. Mainly, he didn't appear ready to challenge for a starting position -- but he's a redshirt freshman.

Stanton, the arm seems to be there, but the poise does not. He's athletic and can throw, but he didn't look steady or in remote sync with his receivers. He also is way down on the depth chart, but he is a redshirt sophomore, after all. If he stays, he can definitely turn it around -- especially since Bush's position next year is by no means assured. Even Darlington's. He looked very poised and comfortable in the system, but let's not go overboard, either: he was directing the top unit against the lesser defense.

Heck, even Armstrong's position is not secured. Is he going to be second-half-of-USC Tommy, or will he be a 50% passer again that we lean on because he's all we've got that's ready to play? There's a lot to play itself out over the course of this season and the coming spring.

 

[BigRedBuster]

If Stanton was leaving this summer, I would think he would already be gone. He would want to be doing summer conditioning with his new team.

 

[Savage Husker]

I would like to have seen what Bush could have done if he ran with the 1s. Not to say it would have made all the difference because he even struggled when given time in the pocket.

 

[huskered17]

Tommy has showed he can take the hits and get back up. He has to be the starter, as no one else has any real experience. Darlington looked the best of the rest to me, after the spring game. He should be alright as the #2 q/b, as he won't be playing much and won't be taking a lot of hits. Hope that Tommy has picked up enough, from these new coaches, to have a good year.

GBR!!!

 

[huKSer]

Tommy has showed he can take the hits and get back up. He has to be the starter, as no one else has any real experience. Darlington looked the best of the rest to me, after the spring game. He should be alright as the #2 q/b, as he won't be playing much and won't be taking a lot of hits. Hope that Tommy has picked up enough, from these new coaches, to have a good year.

GBR!!!

This is totally unacceptable. We need to get ahead so much that we pull the starters after the first series of the second half. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th teams need to get playing time. The last two head coaches could not dominate the opponent or when we did they would leave the starters in too long.

 

[ColoradoHusk]

Tommy has showed he can take the hits and get back up. He has to be the starter, as no one else has any real experience. Darlington looked the best of the rest to me, after the spring game. He should be alright as the #2 q/b, as he won't be playing much and won't be taking a lot of hits. Hope that Tommy has picked up enough, from these new coaches, to have a good year.

GBR!!!

This is totally unacceptable. We need to get ahead so much that we pull the starters after the first series of the second half. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th teams need to get playing time. The last two head coaches could not dominate the opponent or when we did they would leave the starters in too long.

Blowing out opponents in the first half to get playing time for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th teamers is easier said than done. The "patsies" are getting better and better each year, with the 85 scholarship limit and kids coming to college more polished and skilled. In a word, it's parity.

 

[swmohusker]

Tommy has showed he can take the hits and get back up. He has to be the starter, as no one else has any real experience. Darlington looked the best of the rest to me, after the spring game. He should be alright as the #2 q/b, as he won't be playing much and won't be taking a lot of hits. Hope that Tommy has picked up enough, from these new coaches, to have a good year.

GBR!!!

This is totally unacceptable. We need to get ahead so much that we pull the starters after the first series of the second half. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th teams need to get playing time. The last two head coaches could not dominate the opponent or when we did they would leave the starters in too long.

You do not develop quarterbacks playing mop up time against Florida Atlantic. You develop QB's in practice every single day. They do skelly against top defensive units and team periods against higher caliber competition than they would probably see in mop up time.

 

[papersun87]

^ Exactly. Why people get excited about QBs 2 and 3 handing the ball off seven times against a gassed defense is beyond me.

 

[Enhance]

Tommy has showed he can take the hits and get back up. He has to be the starter, as no one else has any real experience. Darlington looked the best of the rest to me, after the spring game. He should be alright as the #2 q/b, as he won't be playing much and won't be taking a lot of hits. Hope that Tommy has picked up enough, from these new coaches, to have a good year.

GBR!!!

This is totally unacceptable. We need to get ahead so much that we pull the starters after the first series of the second half. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th teams need to get playing time. The last two head coaches could not dominate the opponent or when we did they would leave the starters in too long.

Being able to pull starters after the first series of the second half is not a realistic expectation. This is more of an ultimate goal - a pipe dream, honestly. A team needs a lot of skill and very good coaching to be able to do this consistently, like we had under TO, for example. But, even under him, we had several games a season where we wouldn't really pull away until late in the 3rd or 4th using our starters.

Most of the games we play will require our starters to be in for the majority of the game, unless we are fortunate enough to be ahead big. That's just football. You're not really supposed to win by four touchdowns.

Furthermore, the notion that our previous staff left starters in for far too long just irks me. It's not as simple as starters vs. second stringers. If we were up by two or three touchdowns on an equivalent or lesser opponent, that's not a sign to just start pulling starters all over the place. Those leads can diminish quickly, and a lot of our backups often struggled to score or stretch the leads unless it was against PoDunk U. But, that's common, people. MOST teams rely on their starters to extend leads and close out games. What we did under Pelini really was not drastically different than most other college football teams in the country. Do you pull starters and risk losing the comfortable lead or keep starters in until there's really no way the opponent can come back?

Teams are developed in practice. Obviously game experience matters, even mop-up duty, to a degree. But, the truth of the matter is Nebraska (and most other college football teams) are not going to be in a position to hand the game over to backups quickly. This is one of those idea that sounds great in theory, but when you're a coach making millions of dollars based on how many games you win, you'd probably think about what gives you the best chance to maintain a lead and win, too.

 

[Paul in WI]

You bring them in for reps because they don't practice in front of 90,000 fans. Gametime success against an opposing defense, whether it is gassed or not, builds confidence for the backups. In addition, you want to minimize the injury risk to your starters when the game is in the bag. I love watching the backups playing and getting experience.

 

[HuskerBowhunter]

Stanton and Glenn Irons, just heard it on Unsportsmanlike Conduct.

 

[Haspula]

That's all 3 from that 2014 Edna Karr group

 

[Saunders]

 

[zoogs]

Ednar Karr?