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| 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!!
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