Thursday, August 24, 2017

Husker Offensive Line Breakdown and Special Teams


Tanner Farmer is a big dude!

Ok, I lied.  I told you we would do offensive line and defense in our next blog….well that is half true.  I started typing about the O Line and pretty soon the blog was longer than a cold February after football.  We will review the defense in due time.  I also included some special teams review, just so you can tell whoever you sit by at church, that you know who the backup kicker is.  
School has started and we are one last weekend away from Husker football season!  A cool August will lead us into a hot take September, and we are going to give some of the hotter ones before our game one Arkansas State preview…lets hit it!
Offensive Line:
Cole Conrad, Jr (Center)
Jerald Foster, Jr (Guard)
Tanner Farmer, Jr (Guard)
Boe Wilson, RFr (Guard)
Michael Decker, So (Center)
Matt Farniok, RFr (Guard/Tackle)
If there is one thing Nebraska fans know, it’s offensive line play.  We have nicknames that reverberate across college football, and The Pipeline is known far and wide.  The problem is, our pipeline has been little more than a few gushes here and there and more often than not, in big games a bit of a dribble.  For the first time in what I think is about four years, this group finally has some depth established.  A walk-on will still probably be starting on the offensive line, but for the first time in a long time it won’t because of injury, it will simply be because he has earned it against scholarship competition.
Nebraska played a great game on the road last year against Northwestern, probably the best game from start to finish running the football and setting the tone up front with the offensive line.  After that game, injuries took their toll on this group.  If there is one thing we know this season, the depth that is finally being established up front should at least allow Nebraska to start a proper back up player, should a player need to miss some time due to injury.
I wanna take a look at the interior first, and then we will talk tackles, simple because the depth and the jobs are so different.  We are fortunate in the first time in my memory to have what I consider three starting guards.  Jerald Foster is an all-conference type player. He is talented, has a drive to be great and really should be a rock in the foundation this year.  On the other side Tanner Farmer and Boe Wilson battled out a competition at right guard that ended with Farmer as the starter.  What is great about it though is Farmer, probably the strongest guy on the offense, could also be an all-conference type player by the time he is done.  So what does that mean for Wilson?  It means the redshirt freshman who almost played last season, should give no noticeable decrease in production should he get to play.  It takes back over a decade since Nebraska has been that fortunate at guard.  One last thing, it was announced this week that Matt Farniok is also getting reps at guard.  As an offensive tackle, you would think that maybe it was a bad thing, but what it tells me is that the kid is really good and having the flexibility to play inside means they are looking at other ways to get the best five guys on the field.
Cole Conrad locked down the center battle over Michael Decker heading into week one.  Decker has a lot of positive traits, but Conrad is probably a little more consistent.  I hate that we have had to start walk on players at center for so long out of necessity, however, I think we have this one covered and have some depth.  It’s taken a while, but it is finally happening!
One thing that is noticeable for the first time in a LONG time is that we no longer have redshirt freshman or true sophomores that HAVE to play.  The list of guys like John Raridon, Jalin Barnett, Bryan Brokop and Broc Bando that may not play much if any as redshirt freshman, true freshman or even sophomores is what separates good teams from great teams.  I think if this staff continues on the path they are at, the only kids that will see time from day one or as redshirt freshman are the kids that are just so special they would start anywhere in the country.  That to me is a great relief.  It’s already there, in my opinion on the interior of the line…now tackle, that’s another area all together, so let’s review the tackles.  
Nick Gates, Jr. (Tackle)
David Knevel, Sr. (Tackle)
Matt Farniok, RFr. (Tackle/Guard)
Christian Gaylord, So (Tackle)
Brendan Jaimes, Fr (Tackle)
Matt Sichterman, Fr. (Tackle)
Tackle is an interesting position group.  Nick Gates looked like he may be a three year and out player as a redshirt freshman.  He started at right tackle and did a good to great job.  Last season he moved to the much more difficult left side and after a leg injury really struggled.  No one will forget the Derek Barnett disaster in the bowl game against Tennessee.  The good thing is, Gates seems to be healed up and ready to redeem that late season drop off.  I expect Gates to play really well this year.  He better, if Tanner Lee is going to be the All-Big Ten quarterback I keep projecting!
On the right side, poor David Knevel, he just couldn’t stay healthy last year.  After the Oregon game an ankle injury really left the gentle giant at a disadvantage, he couldn’t get out and practice like he wanted and he couldn’t lift weights.  By his own admission, he was ran down by the end of the season.  I expect David to return to form this year.  If he can stay healthy, he is a giant bookend that should provide good pass protection.  He isn’t a great run blocker, but with Lee, he may just need to be adequate to turn this into a successful year.
On the backup side, I love the freshman Jaimes from Texas.  The kid is a huge and a great athlete.  Normally I’d be all in favor of redshirting the kid, but he may force the coach’s hand.  I look for him to make a push to start next season, he could be really special.  Matt Farniok continues to impress, he certainly has the drive to succeed and should be a solid stop gap on the right side if they need him.  Christian Gaylord is the listed number two at left tackle, but I wonder if Jaimes may sneak over him, should anything bad happen to Gates.
HOT TAKE ALERT: Gates, Foster, Conrad, Wilson, Farniok.  I honestly think that this could be the lineup that starts the most games in the conference season.  I don’t know why, but I love Wilson to death, he just looks the part of a road grader like our old pipeline.  I also think Farniok is the future at right tackle, and he may overtake Knevel.  The hottest take though?  That next season Gates moves back to right tackle and Brendan Jaimes becomes the starter at left tackle.  That’s a 2018 hot take for free!

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Kicker/Punter:
Drew Brown, Sr.  (Kicker)
Caleb Lightbourn, So (Punter)
Isaac Armstrong, So (Punter)
Cole Frahm, Fr (Kicker)
Kramer Rath, Sr. (Kicker)
There will come a time next season when committed kicking prospect Barrett Pickering will line up for a 34 yard field goal and will miss it, probably during a part of a game that will seem critical.  It will be then and there that Nebraska fans will realize that we have been the most spoiled fan base in the country when it comes to kickers.  Drew Brown has followed up Alex Henrey, Brett Maher, Pat Smith (yeah, remember him?) and been as consistent as the sun setting in the west.
Brown made 12 of 14 field goal attempts last season, bringing his career mark to 75.8% on successful field goal tries.  He has improved almost 10 percentage points per season since he started as a true freshman and has been an afterthought because he has been good each season.  If Pickering picks up where Brown leaves off, Nebraska fans will again be as spoiled as anyone in the country.  Oh by the way, if you wondered, recruiting services rank Pickering as the second best prep kicker in the country, so I have a feeling he will be just fine.
If something were to happen to Brown, his backups are a transfer from Nebraska Wesleyan (Kramer Rath) and a freshman walk on from Omaha Burke (Frahm).  Nothing about this group screams “play me” so I will give you solace in the fact that kickers are rarely injured and let’s hope that continues this fall.
Now on the Punter side of things, Caleb Lightbourn was thrust into about as difficult a position as someone could have wanted last season.  A few weeks before fall practice was to kick off, Sam Foltz, who by the way would have been in the All-America discussion at punter, died in a tragic car accident.  This left Lightbourn, who had planned on redshirting, as the new punter.  Caleb has some really great kicks last year, but he was very inconsistent and in some games downright scary.  Work this offseason under new defensive coordinator Bob Diaco should help Lightbourn with his consistency.  He has always had a powerful leg, but the thing about punting, you need to be repetitive enough that you never have bad punts, just some punts that aren’t perfect.  I expect this area to be shored up.  Caleb does have Isaac Armstrong as a backup and from what I understand, if he had too, wouldn’t be much of a drop off.  That will be nice after an off year.
HOT TAKE ALERT: Not much to have hot takes about, but I can see Lightbourn being much better this season.  I expect Drew Brown to be what he has been since he arrived, consistent.
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Punt and Kickoff Return:
Stanley Morgan Jr., Jr.
De’Mornay Pierson-El, Sr.
Tyjon Lindsey, Fr.
JD Spielman, RFr.
Wyatt Mazour, So.
Tre Bryant, So.
Depending on what you believe, last season’s special teams Coach Bruce Read had checked out a bit on last year’s team.  You could tell that the special teams was certainly a dumpster fire some games, with bad coverages, poor blocking, bad punting and a lot of uncertainty every time a kick or punt went into the air.
Now, if you believe that the Huskers finally have depth on the roster, I would expect this 2017 version of the Huskers to be much better in coverage than last season.  I expect part of that will be due to Lightbourn’s ability to be consistent, but I also think that having some new blood helping with special teams coaching will also prove to be a difference maker.
If De’Mornay Pierson-El returns to his freshman return form, that could mean the difference between losing and winning two or three games.  He was that dynamic in Bo Pelini’s last season.  So far, the thought is Tyjon Lindsey is also a great punt returner.  Stanley Morgan is also in the running, but I don’t expect him to field many punts.
On kickoff return, it’s anyone’s guess who will be the return men.  Wyatt Mazour’s name has been mentioned as has Tre Bryant and Stanley Morgan.  I would expect we will see Mazour and probably someone other than Bryant back there.  Not much reason to risk an already ailing knee for Bryant.
HOT TAKE ALERT: Pierson-El and/or Lindsey will return 3 punts for touchdowns this season.  Nebraska’s best teams have always had good return teams and I think Nebraska rebounds and puts together a quality unit this year.  If they aren’t able to break it open a few times with these two, Riley’s life in Lincoln may be a lot colder this winter.
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Quick Notes:
Jordan Ober, Long Snapper…It would be an oversight to not include Jordan in the special teams preview.  The thing is, I have no idea who the back up to him is and you never see him make a bad snap, so most of you probably don’t know his name.  That’s about as good as you can get as a long snapper, to be anonymous.  He is also a Junior, so that means we get the pleasure of not knowing him for two more years!
Scrimmage, then Game Time! The Huskers have a final scrimmage this weekend before game week.  If they can get through this weekend without any other major injuries, they will have done relatively well this fall.  Wide Receiver depth and cornerback depth are a concern, but for the most part, all systems are a go.
Blackshirts… It will Defensive Coordinator Bob Diaco’s first time handing out the Blackshirts.  The tradition has had a few different forms the last couple of coaches, but last season, the Blackshirts were handed out before the season started.  I like that tradition and I hope that Diaco continues that.  Coach John Parella gets a big assist in this area, he knows the true meaning of the Blackshirt and what it entails.
On with the Rewind:

Our Next Blog will review the defense and will need to be out soon.  Sorry to run so long on the offensive line, but it truly is interesting to me. One last week to game time! Oh, and….GBR!!


Friday, August 11, 2017


Tanner Lee is ready to be the Huskers Field General!

It’s hot in Nebraska, the corn is growing, swimming pools are full and we haven’t had anything about the football team to talk about other than recruiting since the spring game…so let’s have a look at the skill positions on offense and see if we can provide the hottest of takes!
Quarterback:
Tanner Lee, Jr.
Patrick O’Brien, RFr
Tristan Gebbia, Fr
Last time we saw these three, they all were having pretty successful afternoons in Memorial Stadium.  While O’Brien and Gebbia looked like the future is bright, Tanner Lee is providing the now, and was named the starter going into the summer.  Part of this was by design, to give Lee a chance to prove his leadership during summer workouts, but the other part was Lee had earned it.  
I know the 3 or 4 of you that read our blog know this already, but I’ve been spouting off about Lee since I first went to a practice scrimmage last August.  He made since departed Derrion Grim look like he was going to be all conference during that scrimmage.  My first thought was, man this guy is accurate.  My second thought was, Husker fans haven’t seen anything like this in my lifetime.  
Lee didn’t disappoint this spring either.  He showed that he can be accurate and that he can throw the deep ball with accuracy as well as a screen pass or a wheel route to a running back.  You can’t help but get excited watching him play.  Most people that are being conservative about Lee, keep saying that he won’t have the time to sit back and pick other defenses apart, but even the most pessimistic among Husker fans has to admit, the hyperbole surrounding Lee has to make you think he will be pretty decent.
A quote from Christopher Heady from land of 10 when asking a scout at the Manning Passing Academy this summer said “Lamar Jackson, Josh Rosen and Sam Darnold are great, but Tanner Lee to me was my favorite guy.”   
Not that I am discounting the other quarterbacks at the camp, but when you hear that kind of thing from a scout, you have to think that Lee could be pretty special when it’s all said and done.  I expect that if given a decent amount of time this year Lee will set a lot of single season records.  This has to get Husker Nation excited!
HOT TAKE ALERT: Updated from the first week of practice, but Tristan Gebbia is going to push Patrick O’Brien for the back-up QB spot.  O’Brien has all the tools you look for a in a pro-style QB, but Gebbia has the “it” factor and may not redshirt this year.  I will make up my mind after watching a scrimmage this fall, but Gebbia is already making the move to force the coaches into possibly playing him.
Running Back:
Tre Bryant, So
Devine Ozigbo, Jr
Mikale Wilbon, Jr
Austin Rose, Jr
Jaylin Bradley, Fr.
If you went based on statistics from last season, not one returning running back stands out from the 2017 season.  In probably the truest race of the season for playing time, the returning backs all have a lot of promise that will need to be delivered on.  
One thing that we know, with Tommy Armstrong on the team, opposing coaches would load up at the line of scrimmage, because they knew that Armstrong’s biggest threat was with his legs and this in turn clogged up running lanes for running backs.  In third and long situations, teams weren’t as apt to let everyone go into coverage and therefore, kept any surprise draws from being a factor as well.  Terrell Newby was the leading rusher for Nebraska last season.  He rushed for 879 yards on 4.6 yards per rush.  On paper, duplicating those numbers won’t be super difficult and actually should be easier to accomplish if Tanner Lee’s passing ability opens up the offense for the Huskers.
What does all that mean?  Well it means that the three headed monster shouldn’t have much trouble duplicating the 4.6 yards per carry that Newby led the team with last season.  It also means that someone is going to have to step up and carry the mail.  
Tre Bryant to me is the most talented running back of this group overall, but he isn’t very big and running up the middle might wear him down by the end of the year.  Ozigbo is work horse type and from all accounts is in great shape after having an up and down sophomore year.  Mikale Wilbon is one of my favorites of the group, he has great open field moves and is really fast.  All three are very talented at catching the ball as well.  It will be a three headed monster this season.  I expect that all will have their moments in the sun, but I don’t know if any of them will break from the pack and become a bell cow that totes the ball 20 times every game.  It could be a great thing that they all play a lot, or it could become a factor that none of them are good enough to be a difference maker against teams like Wisconsin or Ohio State.
HOT TAKE ALERT: I think Bryant will end up being the leading rusher on the team when it’s all said and done, but I expect Ozigbo to start most of the games.  I also don’t think that they will redshirt Jaylin Bradley and I think he will be a major part of the offense in 2019, as he may be the most overall complete running back in practice by then.
Wide Receivers:
Stanley Morgan Jr., Jr.
De’Mornay Pierson-El, Sr.
Tyjon Lindsey, Fr.
JD Spielman, RFr.
Keyan Williams, Jr.
Bryan Reimers, Jr.
Gabe Rahn, Sr.
If you are quarterback Tanner Lee, you have to love a group that starts with Morgan and Pierson-El.  These two are both big time capable talents and have proven during their Husker careers to make big plays, big catches and win the hearts of Huskers fans everywhere.  What you don’t like if you are Tanner Lee, is that behind those two guys are a bunch of young fellas and walk-ons that you will have to look in your program to identify once the season starts.
Nebraska has been a bit snake bitten the last two years at the wide receiver spot, either through injuries or shaky recruiting issues.  The Huskers seemed to have gotten over the recruiting problem, bringing in three highly touted wide receivers for this fall, but due to injury (Jaevon McQuitty) or lack of self-control (Keyshawn Johnson Jr.) all that is left in fall camp is Tyjon Lindsey.  Lindsey is the highest ranked recruit to come to Nebraska in about 8 seasons though, so all is not lost.  Lindsey should be a regular rotation player by conference season.  He is as explosive of an athlete as we have seen in Lincoln in quite some time.  
JD Spielman should be a nice addition after a redshirt season and transfer Keyan Williams should also help give the position some much needed depth.  It should also be noted that walk on depth will be a nice benefit at this spot as Bryan Reimers returns after a couple of huge plays last season and Gabe Rahn looks to get some playing time as well, that might not have been available before fall camp.  Conor Young is another walk-on that could see some playing time this season as well.  
When it’s all said and done, I expect this crew will probably outperform what we may have expected from them.  Wide receiver coach Keith Williams is known for getting the most out of his players and having an accurate set of quarterbacks should make the receivers jobs that much easier.
HOT TAKE ALERT: Tyjon Lindsey will be the third leading receiving yardage leader on the team this fall if he stays healthy, but an even hotter take, Stanley Morgan will become the first Husker wide receiver ever to go over a 1,000 yards in receiving this fall for NU.  I expect Morgan will be all but uncoverable against the lesser teams in conference and I expect him to rack up some pretty big yardage against teams that may be beaten up in the secondary as the season rolls along.
Tight Ends:
Tyler Hoppes, Sr.
Matt Snyder, So.
Jack Stoll, RFr.
David Engelhaupt, RFr.
Kurt Rafdal, Fr.
Austin Allen, Fr.
We have been fortunate to have an NFL caliber player at tight end the last couple of seasons in Cethan Carter, but due to injury and just flat out not throwing to him, we never got to see much of the promise that Carter seemed to possess.  His career at Nebraska just never got off into the stardom that many had hoped.  
This year however, there is a player that I think will put up numbers that we don’t normally see at the tight end position and that is Tyler Hoppes.  Hoppes is a transfer from Wayne State and simply put, he probably has better hands that Carter did.  Add that to a quarterback that likes to look at the tight end, in an offense that focuses on getting the ball to that spot and viola, you have Hoppes who will be a major part of the offense this fall.  
Hoppes will be backed up by a group of young unproven players though.  I expect to see some catches from Matt Snyder and Jack Stoll as well, but I don’t expect them to combine for more than 20 total.  The last three recruiting classes have brought in a wealth of talent, but they are all young and have a lot to prove this fall.  
HOT TAKE ALERT:  Kurt Rafdal will be right behind Hoppes in touchdown catches this season.  Rafdal and Austin Allen (freshman) are both HUGE people and will be hard to cover in the red zone.  I’m going to flip a coin and say the little bit thicker Rafdal will catch three to five touchdowns this year.  It could be Allen, but I’m betting on one of the true freshman to be a play maker for the Huskers right out the chute.

Quick Notes:
New Coaches… Defensive Coordinator Bob Diaco and new defensive backs coach Donte Williams have both hit the ground running with their respective spots this fall.  It looks as though Coach Riley’s hires in the offseason have been big hits around campus and in Williams case, off campus as well as he has been dynamite on the recruiting trail since he got here.
Under the radar… Nebraska hasn’t been picked by many, if any at all, to win the Big Ten west.  With the combination of a new defensive coordinator, new quarterback, running back, wide receivers and tight ends, many think the Nebraska offense won’t be much to contend with.  I will argue right now, that this offense will shine with Lee.  The defense, will improve this season by the end of the year.  It may not be lights out at Oregon or even by Wisconsin, but by the time we play Iowa, I expect it to be humming.
Let’s get this season going! I don’t know about you, but fall camp does this to me every year….after about a week, I want the games to start!  Preseason NFL games are even getting my attention.  The long layoff is finally over!
On with the Rewind:

Our Next Blog will review the defense and the offensive line!! Enjoy the rest of your summer and for all of the people that read our blog….GBR!!