Loaded with Offensive Linemen

[YUENGLING]

The Husker seem to be loaded with offensive linemen;

Klacko , Sterup, Reeves, Givens, Moore, (Freshmen)
Pelini, Moudy, J.Cotton, ( Red Shirt Freshmen)
J. Long, Rodreguiez, Ash, Pennsick, Criss, Sirles, and Qvale ( Sophmore )
Chio, Thorson, Thompson ( Junior )

Not counting all the walk ons or new scholarship players that's 18 offensive linemen.

Does anyone think that one or thwo of these young men may move to a Defensive Tackle position similar to what Steinkuler did as a true freshman?

[Huskers57]

Nah...just the return of the PIPELINE....slowly but surely.

[cm husker]

The Husker seem to be loaded with offensive linemen;

Klacko , Sterup, Reeves, Givens, Moore, (Freshmen)
Pelini, Moudy, J.Cotton, ( Red Shirt Freshmen)
J. Long, Rodreguiez, Ash, Pennsick, Criss, Sirles, and Qvale ( Sophmore )
Chio, Thorson, Thompson ( Junior )

Not counting all the walk ons or new scholarship players that's 18 offensive linemen.

Does anyone think that one or thwo of these young men may move to a Defensive Tackle position similar to what Steinkuler did as a true freshman?

I think in an ideal world, each class would have 4 guys capable of contributing, but 3 from each class is probably a more realistic figure.

I don't think NU can afford to move anyone away from the OL, but we should be in pretty good shape in a year or two.

[HuskerDynasty]

85 scholarships gives you roughly 4 players per position (not counting special teams). So OL (with 5 spots) should have about 20. Some of those 18 you listed are walkons. So we're probably a little low on OL. OTOH, it's one area (especially at Nebraska with the robust walkon program) where you can skimp a little on scholies, mostly due to sheer numbers and the ability of players to move around within the 5 OL spots.

[huskrthill]

Until Callahan made changes to the roster, Nebraska usually had between 30-35 offensive linemen (walk-on & scholarship) on the roster. Callahan reduced that number to 20, and Bo had only 19 linemen on the roster for his first season.

Over the last few years, we've built the O-line numbers back up a bit (28 on the roster in 2011), and I think we're starting to see some of the results of those efforts. There have been fewer OL breakdowns and more solid OL performances. The players and coaches would be the first to tell you that we're not yet where we want to be, but we've made great strides the past couple of seasons.

[izzycohen]

Until Callahan made changes to the roster, Nebraska usually had between 30-35 offensive linemen (walk-on & scholarship) on the roster. Callahan reduced that number to 20, and Bo had only 19 linemen on the roster for his first season.

Over the last few years, we've built the O-line numbers back up a bit (28 on the roster in 2011), and I think we're starting to see some of the results of those efforts. There have been fewer OL breakdowns and more solid OL performances. The players and coaches would be the first to tell you that we're not yet where we want to be, but we've made great strides the past couple of seasons.

Agreed.

[Huskers57]

Until Callahan made changes to the roster, Nebraska usually had between 30-35 offensive linemen (walk-on & scholarship) on the roster. Callahan reduced that number to 20, and Bo had only 19 linemen on the roster for his first season.

Didn't realize it was so drastic considering Callahan's specialty is Offensive Line....really bizarre move by Cally...thanks for the tidbit, Thill.

[utsker]

85 scholarships gives you roughly 4 players per position (not counting special teams). So OL (with 5 spots) should have about 20. Some of those 18 you listed are walkons. So we're probably a little low on OL. OTOH, it's one area (especially at Nebraska with the robust walkon program) where you can skimp a little on scholies, mostly due to sheer numbers and the ability of players to move around within the 5 OL spots.

I think you can get away skimping on Schollies if you can only find 3* to give them to. But if you can get 4* and 5* you give them as many scholarships as you can find.

[huskrthill]

Didn't realize it was so drastic considering Callahan's specialty is Offensive Line....really bizarre move by Cally...thanks for the tidbit, Thill.

Yeah, it was definitely a different way of doing things under Callahan, and not just with the OL. Despite claims that Callahan was a great recruiter, they did a pretty poor job of roster management. That's one of the reasons why I think Bo has really done a great job during his brief tenure at Nebraska - he's been able to win consistently with less depth than he'd like.

Of course, I'm sure some Callahan defenders will go look at a roster for another school and "prove" that it's ok to have 20 OL on the roster. That's fine if it works for them. It didn't work here. I didn't bring this up to bash Callahan, but to point out where we were, what changed, and where we're going.

[utsker]

Yeah, it was definitely a different way of doing things under Callahan, and not just with the OL. Despite claims that Callahan was a great recruiter, they did a pretty poor job of roster management. That's one of the reasons why I think Bo has really done a great job during his brief tenure at Nebraska - he's been able to win consistently with less depth than he'd like.
.

Yep,,,,they shoulda hired FLAS to keep track of where the openings were....

[huskrthill]

Yep,,,,they shoulda hired FLAS to keep track of where the openings were....

Not sure if you're being sarcastic or not, but I bet FLAS would be a great recruiting coordinator!

[utsker]

Not sure if you're being sarcastic or not, but I bet FLAS would be a great recruiting coordinator!

no sarcasm on this one...

[MyBraska]

I think you can get away skimping on Schollies if you can only find 3* to give them to. But if you can get 4* and 5* you give them as many scholarships as you can find.

As I recall in the "old days", a lot of our OL was built from within - not bringing in large numbers of highly rated recruits. Some of that is happening here now, I think.

[Pop Corn]

Maybe this is just wishful thinking, but it appears to me that the quality of this "stockpile" is considerably better than NU has had for quite a while. One thing that the Big Ten "style" of football is going to require is depth and I really think it looks better for us than it has for a long time.

[Weinosker]

As I recall in the "old days", a lot of our OL was built from within - not bringing in large numbers of highly rated recruits. Some of that is happening here now, I think.

I'm not so sure about that. TO and Milt built lines with significant talent and supplemented it with depth from walk-ons. There were plenty of highly rated recruits as part of the pipeline.

Thill is completely right about the recruiting issues of the Callaera.

[70county]

tying this thread in with the fact that dj jones signed on with the ravens this week, joining the likes of carl nicks, lydon murtha, matt slauson, ricky henry, keith williams as recent huskers in the nfl trenches. makes one wonder what the talent level could be down the road?? if our coaches could just get some more talent we will rock!!

[FeelLikeAStranger]

Yep,,,,they shoulda hired FLAS to keep track of where the openings were....

I was doing it, they just didn't read my thread.

[FeelLikeAStranger]

Not sure if you're being sarcastic or not, but I bet FLAS would be a great recruiting coordinator!

Thanks for the vote of confidence guys, but I'm gonna stay with my current position performing long-term endurance testing on La-Z-Boy chairs.

[huskrthill]

Thanks for the vote of confidence guys, but I'm gonna stay with my current position performing long-term endurance testing on La-Z-Boy chairs.

Save a chair for me.

[HuskerDynasty]

Thanks for the vote of confidence guys, but I'm gonna stay with my current position performing long-term endurance testing on La-Z-Boy chairs.

I always wanted to start my own recliner company and call them "Happy Face" chairs, but I couldn't come up with a good slogan.