OL is only a question mark to you, not me. Re-read the OP.
-
You do not need to register if you are not going to pay the yearly fee to post. If you register please click here or log in go to "settings" then "my account" then "User Upgrades" and you can renew.
HuskerMax readers can save 50% on Omaha Steaks .
Where are the weaknesses?
- Thread starter Greatest Fan of All
- Start date
Yeah, but everybody knows you're crazy!
OL could be better, but three new starters suggests it will take time to gel. Plus, there just always seem to be injuries which ****** growth. If we have more adequate back-ups that can step in I could see a better OL, but will it be better against UW, OSU, PSU, or Iowa?
Sorry, not twice. Filled with platitudes and wishful thinking. Expectations are often disappointed. I need to see it first.
Impossible. Our line and quarterback both sucked.
The coaching was outstanding though...
Haven't read through the thread and don't mean to be overly negative, but what exactly makes you think the OL is clearly a positive?
If Conrad/Knevel are starting by the time Fall rolls around we're in trouble IMO.
Last edited:
It s hard to cover up for two QB's essentially playing on crutches.The offensive line as is a huge concern based on how it finished the last several games in 2016. You would think that bringing back several starters with game experience and adding "talented" younger players would be a reason for optimism.
However, I am not going to drink the Kool-Aid yet until I see Coach Cav's group play a few games next year. This is a huge year for Coach Cav and Nebraska has a huge road opponent for the second game of the season. Lets chat about his group after the trip to Oregon. Hoping for the best.
Not meant to be a negative post, but the topic is weaknesses, so here they are IMHO:
1. The combo of the OL with a relatively immobile QB (take your pick, POB, TL, or TG)... relatively because TA and TM were relatively mobile compared to these guys. POB can run and has enough size that he could be a little harder to bring down if he has some strength to him. But, the current crop isn't agile, which means that TA's signature spin move to avoid the sack is gone, and so the OL is going to have to make dramatic improvement in PassPro or we will see our sack total go way up this year. The QB's being better at getting rid of the ball quickly without taking an intentional grounding penalty will help too.
2. Punting. Lightbourne admittedly had a rough deal last year trying to follow Foltz, and a year earlier than expected to boot. Lightbourne obviously has the leg - we saw him get off some boomers, and often when he had shorter kicks they still had some mustard on them as they hit the moon on their way up. And, he did have a stellar game against Oregon last year. But, obviously the control and consistency isn't there, and I was disappointed with the results from a scholarship punter who averaged way better in HS.
3. New defensive scheme. Don't get me wrong, I am optimistic about the long term benefits of the 3-4... Wisky plays great D with the 3-4. But, inevitably a scheme change comes with growing pains.
4. Depth at WR. 2 years in a row of missing our target numbers at the position will catch up with us. The talent we have is outstanding, we just don't have enough bodies. If the young guys can learn the offense quickly enough, and if everyone stays relatively healthy, we'll be fine. But if we struggle with either area or both, it will be an issue.
5. This really isn't a weakness as much as commentary... injuries. Can we go a year without losing an impact starter at the beginning of the season, and go the duration of the season without having one side of the ball be just decimated by injuries? Last year, I think we only had 1 position on offense that wasn't hit with significant injury. Yes, every team has injuries, and it is to be expected. But there is a difference between losing 1 or 2 starters for 1-3 games vs being the walking dead. I honestly think that a significant issue with the offensive regression in the last half of the season was due to injuries - and a back-loaded schedule.
6. TE - lost a lot of starting experience, but Cotton and Foster were never big contributors. Carter was certainly a talent but never was utilized like he should have been. Is that the scheme, or is that the QB's accuracy and check downs - or lack thereof? FWIW, the new crop of TEs are tall and talented. Just got to see if they come through. This is more of an unknown than a weakness.
7. I would really like to see if improved passing can open up the run game. Bryant, Oz, and Wilbon are all quality RBs, but can they take the next step and become dynamic game changers the way that guys like Helu, Rex, and Abdullah did? I'm not sure. And, is there enough focus on the running game to make this happen?
8. Will we see a difference maker emerge on the DL?
9. New QB. This is as much a strength as a weakness right now. Hopefully this morphs more into strength. Simply because there will be a new starter. Rarely do new QB starters light the world on fire in year 1. Just like breaking in a new D scheme. Growing pains. Long term, this should absolutely be a strength.
10. Having a special teams coach be an analyst is fine because he can spend the requisite time on study and scheme and then just give the regular coaches a punchlist of special teams stuff to work on. But the guy should definitely spend some time studying why DPE broke so many long runs his freshman year. I think we all know a lot of it had to do with the combo of him and the blocking scheme. DPE is back to form. Just copy the blocking scheme!
11. Solve the riddle of the boat race game. There is no reason why NU could take Wisky to overtime and then get slaughtered by OSU and Iowa. Need to figure out how to stay in the game and not let it get away from you. I thought they had this solved in 2015, but we're not there yet.
12. Intensity, drive, physicality. We had this in the first half of 2016, then lost it. This was one of the few concerns I had when Bo was let go and MR was hired... would we keep our physical intensity? I hope that Diaco, Donte, and Parrella can get this back. The fact that the coaches seemed surprised/overwhelmed by Iowa's intensity concerns me.
1. The combo of the OL with a relatively immobile QB (take your pick, POB, TL, or TG)... relatively because TA and TM were relatively mobile compared to these guys. POB can run and has enough size that he could be a little harder to bring down if he has some strength to him. But, the current crop isn't agile, which means that TA's signature spin move to avoid the sack is gone, and so the OL is going to have to make dramatic improvement in PassPro or we will see our sack total go way up this year. The QB's being better at getting rid of the ball quickly without taking an intentional grounding penalty will help too.
2. Punting. Lightbourne admittedly had a rough deal last year trying to follow Foltz, and a year earlier than expected to boot. Lightbourne obviously has the leg - we saw him get off some boomers, and often when he had shorter kicks they still had some mustard on them as they hit the moon on their way up. And, he did have a stellar game against Oregon last year. But, obviously the control and consistency isn't there, and I was disappointed with the results from a scholarship punter who averaged way better in HS.
3. New defensive scheme. Don't get me wrong, I am optimistic about the long term benefits of the 3-4... Wisky plays great D with the 3-4. But, inevitably a scheme change comes with growing pains.
4. Depth at WR. 2 years in a row of missing our target numbers at the position will catch up with us. The talent we have is outstanding, we just don't have enough bodies. If the young guys can learn the offense quickly enough, and if everyone stays relatively healthy, we'll be fine. But if we struggle with either area or both, it will be an issue.
5. This really isn't a weakness as much as commentary... injuries. Can we go a year without losing an impact starter at the beginning of the season, and go the duration of the season without having one side of the ball be just decimated by injuries? Last year, I think we only had 1 position on offense that wasn't hit with significant injury. Yes, every team has injuries, and it is to be expected. But there is a difference between losing 1 or 2 starters for 1-3 games vs being the walking dead. I honestly think that a significant issue with the offensive regression in the last half of the season was due to injuries - and a back-loaded schedule.
6. TE - lost a lot of starting experience, but Cotton and Foster were never big contributors. Carter was certainly a talent but never was utilized like he should have been. Is that the scheme, or is that the QB's accuracy and check downs - or lack thereof? FWIW, the new crop of TEs are tall and talented. Just got to see if they come through. This is more of an unknown than a weakness.
7. I would really like to see if improved passing can open up the run game. Bryant, Oz, and Wilbon are all quality RBs, but can they take the next step and become dynamic game changers the way that guys like Helu, Rex, and Abdullah did? I'm not sure. And, is there enough focus on the running game to make this happen?
8. Will we see a difference maker emerge on the DL?
9. New QB. This is as much a strength as a weakness right now. Hopefully this morphs more into strength. Simply because there will be a new starter. Rarely do new QB starters light the world on fire in year 1. Just like breaking in a new D scheme. Growing pains. Long term, this should absolutely be a strength.
10. Having a special teams coach be an analyst is fine because he can spend the requisite time on study and scheme and then just give the regular coaches a punchlist of special teams stuff to work on. But the guy should definitely spend some time studying why DPE broke so many long runs his freshman year. I think we all know a lot of it had to do with the combo of him and the blocking scheme. DPE is back to form. Just copy the blocking scheme!
11. Solve the riddle of the boat race game. There is no reason why NU could take Wisky to overtime and then get slaughtered by OSU and Iowa. Need to figure out how to stay in the game and not let it get away from you. I thought they had this solved in 2015, but we're not there yet.
12. Intensity, drive, physicality. We had this in the first half of 2016, then lost it. This was one of the few concerns I had when Bo was let go and MR was hired... would we keep our physical intensity? I hope that Diaco, Donte, and Parrella can get this back. The fact that the coaches seemed surprised/overwhelmed by Iowa's intensity concerns me.
What more could we ask for from the OL? This is a fantastic year, one which doesn't come along that often...4 returning starters (Gates, Farmer, Foster and either Knevel/Conrad) and we are replacing a bad Center, most likely with a better player. Guys get better from year to year, especially linemen. We also have some newcomers that seem like they might be for real already. It hardly ever, gets anything close to this good as far as year to year changes. If you don't think it's a positive, then you won't ever be pleased.
Last edited:
1. Nothing will improve this team more than having a QB with the skillset to run the offese. Add to that an experienced returning OL and your concerns are flimsy.
2. Lightbourne now has a year under his belt, have a little faith. If not faith, understand that playerrs get better with experience...he'll be fine. Foltz had a rough time as a freshman also.
3. Possibly a weakness, but I believe more likely to turn out a strength. We have what will likely be the best secondary in the BIG, along with experienced DL's. The LB corp might be shaky, but hoping Diaco/Bray earn their pay.
4. We have plenty of bodies though several will be young. Quit listening to the coachspeak in Spring ball, we have KJJr, McQuitty, and Lindsey coming by fall. We haven't had raw talent like that on our sideline EVER.
5. N/A
6. Agree. I think it's an upgrade.
7. No weakness identified here.
8. No weakness identified here. We are experienced on the DL...a weakness might be in pass rushing, but it can not possibly be worse than the last 2 years.
9. This will be a strength as described in #1. For some, they are afraid of change, even when what they've had was bad. The QB change is the best thing that's happened to Nebraska football in years, or at least since we canned Bo.
10. You can't have it both ways, EVERYONE wanted to replace Read...it's DONE. It will be an upgrade.
11. No weakness identified here...there was no riddle just better teams and homefield advantage.
12. No weakness here...last year, Foltz gave us motivation early in the year, once we lost, that motivation was gone and the weak team we had was exposed by better teams.
ShortSideOption
Guest
I like when people put up a thought out post so i'll give my two cents on your reply:
1 - I think OL will be a strength. Gates, Foster, and Farmer are great starting blocks, and quite honestly to the average fan it will look like the center is improved as well. However, things that not many people can see will be issues (getting the right line calls, etc.). I do think overall those four positions will be better than last year, so we just have to solve the riddle of right tackle. We at least have bodies to look at there. To your point, our sack numbers will be a bit worse. Not sure that will end up being a bad thing or not, because other areas will improve.
2 - One thing people forget is Lightbourn came from high school, and punting with a "shield" in front of you can be a lot different. It can mess with you... you have 3 "personal protectors" sometimes a bit closer to you than you are used to, so it can play mind games with you. But you're right, that was a weakness last year and I can't take it out of that category until they play out of it.
3 - Just was talking about this with a former player, we are starting over on defense for sure and to a lesser extent on offense. There will be growing pains.
4 - Agree, we are thin and inexperienced. Missing our target number and graduating very good players will be tough for 2017.
5 - Our injuries have actually steadily gotten better in this regime. Did we lose a starter at all to a season ending injury? Jerald Foster was the worst one I can think of and he came back. That's huge.
6 - TE is for sure a weakness in my eyes. Graduate a ton of talent and backfill it with often injured young players. When a walk-on and an afterthought scholarship player are in your top 3 this spring, look out. Especially with Langsdorf loving 2 TE sets. Our savior could be McNitt here to make this less of a weakness and even a strength.
7 - I still have no idea why we couldn't run on lesser DLs even without the threat of a passing game. There was something going on there and I don't know what it is. We have to be able to run even when we can't pass. We have had the horses.
8 - Good question, not sure if it's a weakness. And with our ability to get pressure while blitzing last year, this scheme move may make it easier to see a difference maker at LB and less of a difference maker on the DL. They are going to want to eat up blocks so in reality, getting double-teamed and not letting the guy work to the second level is doing his job and a difference maker, but to the average eye may look like the kid is getting worked.
9 - Agree. It's new. Not sure if it's a weakness or not but for sure a question mark.
10 - Read was fired because we didn't see on the field results, i'm sure they know they need to improve there.
11 - We may get blown out by Ohio State again, but Iowa shouldn't have happened.
12 - Banker and Hughes did not mesh with our defense, we recruited to a Bo and Kaz and then wondered why kids weren't ready to roll getting talks from the former. Diaco, Parrella, they will help.
When Armstrong was healthy...he had to cover up for them on many passing plays due to their weakness in creating a clean pocket.
There you go again, stating a prediction as a done deal. Don't you ever get tired of being wrong?
So you think our OL is a negative this year?
I sincerely hope it's not, but there is no way in hell anybody knows whether it will be or not.
