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All 2010's Team

Fort Husker

Recruit
2 Year Member
I know I'm a year early on this but it's the doldrums of the off-season so why not create a depth chart ofour best players of the 2010's?

The rules are this: they had to have played at least one season between 2010 and 2018. You can pick Prince Amukamara because he played in 2010 but you can't pick Suh because he graduated in 2009. 1st team guys are listed together, followed by their backups on the 2nd team.

QB
1st: Adrian Martinez
2nd: Taylor Martinez

IB
1st: Ameer Abdullah
2nd: Rex Burkhead

FB
1st: Andy Janovich
2nd: Tyler Legate

WR
1st: Stanley Morgan Jr.
Quincy Enunwa
JD Spielman

2nd: Kenny Bell
Niles Paul
Jordan Westerkamp

TE
1st: Cethan Carter
2nd: Kyler Reed

OT
1st: Jeremiah Sirles
Alex Lewis

2nd: Brent Qvale
Jermarcus “Yoshi” Hardrick

OG
1st: Spencer Long
Ricky Henry

2nd: Keith Williams
Zach Sterup

C
1st: Justin Jackson
2nd: Mike Caputo

DE
1st: Randy Gregory
Eric Martin

2nd: Greg McMullen
Ross Dzuris

DT
1st: Jared Crick
Maliek Collins

2nd: Vincent Valentine
Baker Steinkuhler

OLB
1st: Lavonte David
Zaire Anderson

2nd: Sean Fisher
Luke Gifford

ILB
1st: Will Compton
Mo Barry

2nd: Trevor Roach
Josh Banderas

CB
1st: Prince Amukamara
Alfonzo Dennard

2nd: Stanley Jean-Baptiste
Dicaprio Bootle/Chris Jones

S
1st: Nate Gerry
Daimion Stafford

2nd: Aaron Williams
Corey Cooper

K
1st: Alex Henery
2nd: Brett Maher

P
1st: Sam Foltz
2nd: Brett Maher


QB: Deal with it. Adrian is the genuine article. He may leave Nebraska being uttered in the same breath as Frazier, Crouch, and Gill. Taylor had a scintillating freshman debut and rebounded well from a lingering injury to have a terrific 2012, but he was mistake-prone and didn’t have the same arm talent as Adrian.

RB: Rex is a folk hero in Nebraska and has had the better pro career but Ameer is the best running back Nebraska’s had since Ahman Green. The offense doesn’t use a Fullback anymore but Janovich has to be included on any best-of list. He was criminally underused in his time here.

WR: The best decade of wide receivers Nebraska has ever had, there were tough choices here. Stanley set the record book – he’s a shoe-in. Enunwa was such a tough blocker and a touchdown machine his senior year. JD will re-write the record book before he leaves. You could make an argument for my entire second string being first string.

TE: Pretty easy to go with Cethan and Kyler. Reed tapered off towards the end and Cethan never got to fulfill his potential but started all 4 years.

OT: Jeremiah Sirles started as a redshirt freshman in 2010 and again in 2012 and 2013. He’s now an NFL veteran of 5 years . I begrudgingly put Alex Lewis as my other bookend, as I didn’t love the guy’s behavior his senior year. But there’s no denying his talent. The son of Husker All-American Bill Lewis, he now starts for the Ravens. Qvale was maligned as a left tackle at Nebraska but has made his case in the league as a guard for the past 5 years. Tough pick for my fourth tackle between Hardrick, Nick Gates, and even Givens Price who bounced around the league a few years but ended up going with Hardrick.

OG: Ricky Henry was first-team all-conference in 2010, the first Husker to earn such distinction in nine years. Spencer Long earned second team AP All-American honors in 2012, the first offensive linemen to be placed on an All-American team since Toniu Fonoti in 2001. Nebraska native Sterup found his niche at guard and still plays in the league. Keith Williams was an underrated cog in the 2010 machine. He played with heart through injury. I wish he could’ve gotten a conference title ring.

C: Justin Jackson switched from DL to Center for his senior year and quickly shined in the role, paving the way for a prodigious rushing attack in 2012. Caputo was short but mobile and really played well in 2010 and 2011.

DE: This one was tough. Randy Gregory was obvious but, beyond him... Eric Martin switched from Linebacker and became the team’s best pass rusher in 2012. Ross Dzuris and Greg McMullen may get replaced by Ben Stille or Carlos Davis by the end of 2019.

DT: Crick was an All-American in 2010 and an easy choice. Collins was drafted in the 2nd round and currently starts for the Dallas Cowboys. Vincent Valentine was part of a tough rush defense in 2015. Baker should’ve been an OT.

LB: For most of the decade we had a 4-3 defensive alignment but I decided to make it 4 deep. Lavonte David is arguably the best player Nebraska had in the 2010’s. Will Compton was a 4 year starter and a heart-and-soul type of player. Mo Barry is just a berserker. He overruns plays sometimes but he goes all out every play. Trevor Roach actually outperformed Josh Banderas at MLB for part of 2014 and briefly caught on in the NFL. Gifford was talented but injury prone. Zaire Anderson plays for the Broncos.

CB: Prince and Dennard were the best CB tandem Nebraska’s had since Ralph Brown and Keyou Craver in 1999. Prince was All-American in 2010. Dennard earned DB of the Year in the Big Ten in 2011. Baptiste was a converted WR and JUCO transfer that made a good transition to CB. I was torn between Chris Jones and Bootle, who has been one of the most pleasant surprises of the Riley recruiting hauls. So I just included both.

S: Nate Gerry had a nose for the ball and could lay the wood. Ditto for Stafford, who was drafted in 2013. It feels like there’s been poor Safety play for a number of years now. Where have you gone, Mike Brown?

K/P: Henery left school in 2010 as the most accurate kicker in CFB history. Sam had an NFL future ahead of him. Brett Maher is a number two for both slots that most schools would love to have for number one.

What does everyone else think?
 
I think you have too much time on your hands or are trying to compete with MABC in post length. :Banana:

If he can go relatively injury free I can see Adrian being right up there with our better quarterbacks of the past.
 
I know I'm a year early on this but it's the doldrums of the off-season so why not create a depth chart ofour best players of the 2010's?

The rules are this: they had to have played at least one season between 2010 and 2018. You can pick Prince Amukamara because he played in 2010 but you can't pick Suh because he graduated in 2009. 1st team guys are listed together, followed by their backups on the 2nd team.

QB
1st: Adrian Martinez
2nd: Taylor Martinez

IB
1st: Ameer Abdullah
2nd: Rex Burkhead

FB
1st: Andy Janovich
2nd: Tyler Legate

WR
1st: Stanley Morgan Jr.
Quincy Enunwa
JD Spielman

2nd: Kenny Bell
Niles Paul
Jordan Westerkamp

TE
1st: Cethan Carter
2nd: Kyler Reed

OT
1st: Jeremiah Sirles
Alex Lewis

2nd: Brent Qvale
Jermarcus “Yoshi” Hardrick

OG
1st: Spencer Long
Ricky Henry

2nd: Keith Williams
Zach Sterup

C
1st: Justin Jackson
2nd: Mike Caputo

DE
1st: Randy Gregory
Eric Martin

2nd: Greg McMullen
Ross Dzuris

DT
1st: Jared Crick
Maliek Collins

2nd: Vincent Valentine
Baker Steinkuhler

OLB
1st: Lavonte David
Zaire Anderson

2nd: Sean Fisher
Luke Gifford

ILB
1st: Will Compton
Mo Barry

2nd: Trevor Roach
Josh Banderas

CB
1st: Prince Amukamara
Alfonzo Dennard

2nd: Stanley Jean-Baptiste
Dicaprio Bootle/Chris Jones

S
1st: Nate Gerry
Daimion Stafford

2nd: Aaron Williams
Corey Cooper

K
1st: Alex Henery
2nd: Brett Maher

P
1st: Sam Foltz
2nd: Brett Maher


QB: Deal with it. Adrian is the genuine article. He may leave Nebraska being uttered in the same breath as Frazier, Crouch, and Gill. Taylor had a scintillating freshman debut and rebounded well from a lingering injury to have a terrific 2012, but he was mistake-prone and didn’t have the same arm talent as Adrian.

RB: Rex is a folk hero in Nebraska and has had the better pro career but Ameer is the best running back Nebraska’s had since Ahman Green. The offense doesn’t use a Fullback anymore but Janovich has to be included on any best-of list. He was criminally underused in his time here.

WR: The best decade of wide receivers Nebraska has ever had, there were tough choices here. Stanley set the record book – he’s a shoe-in. Enunwa was such a tough blocker and a touchdown machine his senior year. JD will re-write the record book before he leaves. You could make an argument for my entire second string being first string.

TE: Pretty easy to go with Cethan and Kyler. Reed tapered off towards the end and Cethan never got to fulfill his potential but started all 4 years.

OT: Jeremiah Sirles started as a redshirt freshman in 2010 and again in 2012 and 2013. He’s now an NFL veteran of 5 years . I begrudgingly put Alex Lewis as my other bookend, as I didn’t love the guy’s behavior his senior year. But there’s no denying his talent. The son of Husker All-American Bill Lewis, he now starts for the Ravens. Qvale was maligned as a left tackle at Nebraska but has made his case in the league as a guard for the past 5 years. Tough pick for my fourth tackle between Hardrick, Nick Gates, and even Givens Price who bounced around the league a few years but ended up going with Hardrick.

OG: Ricky Henry was first-team all-conference in 2010, the first Husker to earn such distinction in nine years. Spencer Long earned second team AP All-American honors in 2012, the first offensive linemen to be placed on an All-American team since Toniu Fonoti in 2001. Nebraska native Sterup found his niche at guard and still plays in the league. Keith Williams was an underrated cog in the 2010 machine. He played with heart through injury. I wish he could’ve gotten a conference title ring.

C: Justin Jackson switched from DL to Center for his senior year and quickly shined in the role, paving the way for a prodigious rushing attack in 2012. Caputo was short but mobile and really played well in 2010 and 2011.

DE: This one was tough. Randy Gregory was obvious but, beyond him... Eric Martin switched from Linebacker and became the team’s best pass rusher in 2012. Ross Dzuris and Greg McMullen may get replaced by Ben Stille or Carlos Davis by the end of 2019.

DT: Crick was an All-American in 2010 and an easy choice. Collins was drafted in the 2nd round and currently starts for the Dallas Cowboys. Vincent Valentine was part of a tough rush defense in 2015. Baker should’ve been an OT.

LB: For most of the decade we had a 4-3 defensive alignment but I decided to make it 4 deep. Lavonte David is arguably the best player Nebraska had in the 2010’s. Will Compton was a 4 year starter and a heart-and-soul type of player. Mo Barry is just a berserker. He overruns plays sometimes but he goes all out every play. Trevor Roach actually outperformed Josh Banderas at MLB for part of 2014 and briefly caught on in the NFL. Gifford was talented but injury prone. Zaire Anderson plays for the Broncos.

CB: Prince and Dennard were the best CB tandem Nebraska’s had since Ralph Brown and Keyou Craver in 1999. Prince was All-American in 2010. Dennard earned DB of the Year in the Big Ten in 2011. Baptiste was a converted WR and JUCO transfer that made a good transition to CB. I was torn between Chris Jones and Bootle, who has been one of the most pleasant surprises of the Riley recruiting hauls. So I just included both.

S: Nate Gerry had a nose for the ball and could lay the wood. Ditto for Stafford, who was drafted in 2013. It feels like there’s been poor Safety play for a number of years now. Where have you gone, Mike Brown?

K/P: Henery left school in 2010 as the most accurate kicker in CFB history. Sam had an NFL future ahead of him. Brett Maher is a number two for both slots that most schools would love to have for number one.

What does everyone else think?
Did you completely forget about Eric Hagg? He was better than every safety you listed.
 



for as bad as we've been, there are a lot of VERY good players on that list...
perhaps we need a group of that caliber of players every few years instead of 10.
 
Did you completely forget about Eric Hagg? He was better than every safety you listed.

I did! Loved Eric Hagg. He could’ve played on any of our 90’s teams. I guess I forget about him because he was in that weird PESO position.

Absolutely Hagg belongs on the first team Safety list ahead of Stafford. For that matter Dejon Gomes probably belongs at second team corner.
 



I did! Loved Eric Hagg. He could’ve played on any of our 90’s teams. I guess I forget about him because he was in that weird PESO position.

Absolutely Hagg belongs on the first team Safety list ahead of Stafford. For that matter Dejon Gomes probably belongs at second team corner.
They only played one year in the 2010s so you're forgiven ;)
 
Great list / post. The one thing I am struck with is how few are members of the current team or graduated in the last 2 years. I am hoping that some of the new folks we now have on board - would equal or surpass the contribution of those listed above.
 




Interesting. When I initially drew it up as three deep, I had Helu as the #3 back before switching him out for Ozigbo, who I liked better. Helu was the fastest out of the bunch, and had a monster game against Mizzou in 2010. But I never liked him much as an every down back. Maybe I just remember the anemic 2009 offense too much and how stagnant the run game was.

I disagree with Helu over Abdullah though. Ameer has the yards on him and he really carried the 2014 team on his back in a lot of games. Aside from the 2010 Mizzou game, I can't remember Helu ever doing that.
 

Great list / post. The one thing I am struck with is how few are members of the current team or graduated in the last 2 years. I am hoping that some of the new folks we now have on board - would equal or surpass the contribution of those listed above.

Thanks @RockyMtnHusker. Lists like these will probably always be more favorable to people that played longer ago, since we tend to remember their shortcomings less than those who played recently. But I do think we've seen less talent come through Lincoln over the last five years, as evidenced by the fact that we've had a total of 2 draft picks over the last 3 years, an unprecedented drop for NU.

Hopefully, a few more folks from the 2019 team end up on this list after the season - the Davis brothers, Stille, Ferguson, Deontai Williams, Lamar Jackson, Jaimes, Wan'Dale. Frost is definitely upgrading the talent and he'll develop it. I almost wish I could skip through time to see what Frost has done by 2020, 2021, etc. I see a lot of double digit win seasons in our future.
 

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