Adrian in a sling

[Husker In Oklahoma]

I had been told Martinez was "hurting" and barely making it thru. Quite honestly I always assumed they were talking about his knee still with the way he was moving. Now it's his shoulder too. I'm not entirely sure what the answer should have been, but I don't know if this makes me feel better or worse about things. He started every game but two of them due to his knee injury, but didn't miss any time due to his shoulder. This was a "get our of jail free" card for Frost to let people know why we were seeing the struggles.

At least we have an answer on why he looked the way he did. Not entirely sure I like that we had yet another shoulder injury to our preseason Heisman candidate as the culprit.

So play someone else. If you are ineffective because of injury, get someone else in there. It’s not like he was standing in the pocket picking defenses apart. People counter with, well, you can only use McCaffery in 4 games. Hogwash. With the portal nowadays, use them or lose them. I wouldn’t think an injured Martinez was NU’s best option to win games. Healthy he is erratic.

 

[Husker In Oklahoma]

I think he proved he could do that in 2018 (my opinion). But I would say it would take a miracle for Vedral or McCaffrey to unseat him for 2020. I can promise you the narrative all spring, summer, and fall camp will be how much better Martinez looks now that he is recovered from his knee and shoulder injury. Feel free to bookmark this post.

I think you might be right, sadly. Hell, obviously he is a guy that struggles to stay healthy. I’d be shocked if it was anyone but him for 2020.

 

[ShortSideOption]

So play someone else. If you are ineffective because of injury, get someone else in there. It’s not like he was standing in the pocket picking defenses apart. People counter with, well, you can only use McCaffery in 4 games. Hogwash. With the portal nowadays, use them or lose them. I wouldn’t think an injured Martinez was NU’s best option to win games. Healthy he is erratic.

I'm with you. Between McCaffrey's 4 games and Vedral being healthy most of the year, they could have made it work. My question would be where did Martinez hurt his shoulder? His knee didn't get hurt until Northwestern. He was 13/22 with 0 TDs and 1 INT and had 13 attempts for 29 yards rushing in the first game of the season against a team that ended up 2-10. Did he get hurt in fall camp?

Like I said, he had a "get out of jail free" card because Adrian was not starting due to injury, not because he "wasn't getting it done" if Frost wanted to go there. This is again one of the things that has nothing to do with players having a "losing mentality" or "lack of buy-in" from Riley, it was created from this staff. Just add it to the list of reasons why I cringe when I hear how bad things were.

 

[Husker In Oklahoma]

I'm with you. Between McCaffrey's 4 games and Vedral being healthy most of the year, they could have made it work. My question would be where did Martinez hurt his shoulder? His knee didn't get hurt until Northwestern. He was 13/22 with 0 TDs and 1 INT and had 13 attempts for 29 yards rushing in the first game of the season against a team that ended up 2-10. Did he get hurt in fall camp?

Like I said, he had a "get out of jail free" card because Adrian was not starting due to injury, not because he "wasn't getting it done" if Frost wanted to go there. This is again one of the things that has nothing to do with players having a "losing mentality" or "lack of buy-in" from Riley, it was created from this staff. Just add it to the list of reasons why I cringe when I hear how bad things were.

Well, Frost is quickly expiring his “get out of jail cards”. He needs to start winning games. No matter how that happens. Something concerning to me, which I never would have guessed, is the excuses we kinda hear. Well it was this, or that, blah blah blah. I figured him to be a no excuse dude. Win games. Ugly or pretty, win. I sure hope SF can get this going, but the excuses need to stop. Results are what matters. I forgave the 4-8 in year one, even though that was a bowl team in 2018, but 2019 to me, was inexcusable. Alarming and concerning. Eye brow raising type stuff.

 

[Huskerpilk]

I thought AM was unwilling to take a hit from the git go this year. Not calling him out, just gotta think he was hurt and it changed his approach to the game. The transition from 18-19 was telling. I'm hoping he's 1000% next year. SF needs to determine early in the spring who he's going to trust to make plays. Not sure he can lose 7-8 games again in year 3.

I'm a big fan of LM...he just reminds of a football player who loves football. His family is full of them. If AM is the guy next year but things go poorly. I would hope that SF has the stones to go with LM or Vedral pretty quick.

 

[cthusker]

Frost has a huge challenge ahead for 2020 and it will be if nothing else interesting to see how he handles things. We have more questions than answers right now imo. There's only so many excuses and get out of jail cards available before fans and admin really start making some ugly noises. Granted he will get a lot more slack then almost anyone else but the program desperatly needs to show REAL progress. Only way we're ultimately judged is our W-L record which presently isn't looking good.

Bottom line for me is I bought into all the hype and Kool-aide the past 2 seasons but no more. Frost needs to find a winning combo for 2020, get the team to a bowl and deep 6 excuses. It's his team now and I will only be satisfied with Nebraska showing real progress.

 

[ShortSideOption]

Well, Frost is quickly expiring his “get out of jail cards”. He needs to start winning games. No matter how that happens. Something concerning to me, which I never would have guessed, is the excuses we kinda hear. Well it was this, or that, blah blah blah. I figured him to be a no excuse dude. Win games. Ugly or pretty, win. I sure hope SF can get this going, but the excuses need to stop. Results are what matters. I forgave the 4-8 in year one, even though that was a bowl team in 2018, but 2019 to me, was inexcusable. Alarming and concerning. Eye brow raising type stuff.

I'd agree. I don't mind the 4-8 year 1, especially how we finished. Looked like we finally got the thing going the right direction. But when 2019 didn't go well and we started hearing the same things that we had theoretically gotten over the season prior, it frustrated me. Then it was compounded hearing how bad things were, roster blaming, all the while not taking a ton of responsibility for bad feelings in the locker room with this situation, Mo Washington, how the center spot was handled, etc., that have zero to do with Eichorst or Riley.

 

[HuskerRedDread]

I’m one who thinks McCaffery is better than Martinez. I would have yanked it also. Keep recruiting. I hope Frost will truly offer a competition at QB. Something about McCaffery. Like the dude is a gamer. Martinez is a turnover machine and plays well in spurts. Too erratic imo.

McCaffery has yet to attempt a throw beyond 10 yards but he is better than Martinez?.............Ok.

 

[Goal-line]

I’m one who thinks McCaffery is better than Martinez. I would have yanked it also. Keep recruiting. I hope Frost will truly offer a competition at QB. Something about McCaffery. Like the dude is a gamer. Martinez is a turnover machine and plays well in spurts. Too erratic imo.

Agree 100%.

 

[LurkSker44]

McCaffery has yet to attempt a throw beyond 10 yards but he is better than Martinez?.............Ok.

How about his 30 yd TD pass against Iowa?

 

[HuskerRedDread]

I just hope Frost will at least give the QB competition a fair look. I hope he isn’t one who hitched his wagon to one guy no matter what. Martinez has some skills, no question, but when the lights come on, you gotta step up. Can’t give away possessions because you can’t hit open receivers or keep from turning the ball over.

It's funny how when a fan's favorite player doesn't win the job over another player, the suggestion is that the staff didn't give the competition a "fair look"......

 

[HuskerRedDread]

How about his 30 yd TD pass against Iowa?

You know what....I totally forgot about that play. I was pleasantly surprised and excited to see that.......

 

[ShortSideOption]

For the record, I have a hard time thinking McCaffrey is the answer over Martinez. We have put him in game time where he had about a dozen plays or less we were going to run with him, and he's yet to do things consistently. We basically are seeing him with what he's best at, what he's practiced, and defenses really don't prepare for him. Conversely, we watched Martinez go an entire season and become a Freshman All-American and a preseason Heisman candidate. Vedral was the answer in 2019 if you needed someone long term for a whole game (like we saw against Indiana), not LM. LM shows great flashes in spots, but to get us where we want he would need to do that consistently and with more plays at his disposal. He isn't there yet.

Here's hoping these injuries are what held Martinez back and we get back to 2018 form.

 

[Power of Corn]

While I love McCaffrey, and am glad he is here. I cant make any assumptions after seeing him for a grand total of approx 25 ish plays this year. Our coaches see both of these guys in practice, and evaluate tape of thousands of plays of their games and practices. I think Im still comfortable with the decision of a coach who played qb, and professionally defended against qbs. As fans we are seeing such a limited amount of what McCaffrey is able to do. All we know is there is a package of plays for him, and that he doesnt have the whole system down yet. I do know this.... I like what I see from him. But at this time, 1200-1300 collegiate snaps for Martinez, certainly has given him the advantage in experience.

 

[HuskerWeatherman]

It seems Martinez is simply always going to be a huge injury risk.

He missed all of his senior year in high school. Missed a couple games in 2018. Mostly played through injuries in 2019. So is that just the plan -- a hobbled Adrian is still better than our other options going forward?

I know you can't really plan for injuries -- but the odds are very good Martinez is going to be injured at some point in 2020 (enough to impact his play negatively, if he plays). Whether or not that's enough for Frost to rest him on the bench or not is TBD.