This is simply my opinion based on the eye ball test on the program, the players, and the future. It's simply an "opinion" so take it for what it's worth.
The most important thing in any offseason is the S&C program. If you go back in our history or watch Alabama’s or even Ohio State’s recent runs, you’ll notice one thing said by the opposing program after every game. We must be physical all the way to 3rd string. That’s easier said than done, but when you have an offensive line that pushes defensive lines backwards, you tend to score TDs on the ground. I would like to think that Defenses will have to respect our passing game for the first time in a long time next year with the shift to a true prostyle QB (quality decision making). Defensively, you need the same physicality. I assume our lack of speed at LB has caused us to limit pressure from the LB position (outside of Newby in definite passing situations). Of course when your DEs can be blocked one on one, it doesn’t help much to send the LBs who also can be blocked one on one.
(2016 Oline) Gates, Hahn/Foster, Utter, Farmer/Whitaker, Knevel/Conrad. Of that group, I think 3 of those guys have what it takes to get the Oline to the next level. Gates/Foster/Farmer. Physicality isn’t an issue with those three. Every line is only as strong as it’s weakest links and the Center position and Right Tackle position are certainly that (coupled with poor depth in 2016). I don’t see Decker winning the position this year if he couldn’t beat out Utter with ease. Even if his issues were off the field, it affected his play on the field. There is a possibility that he wasn’t strong enough, but I think it’s more than that and the Center has to be a leader (Rairdon). I’ve heard Barnett doesn’t move well, if at all anymore. He’ll need a serious physical transformation to get in the 2 deep or stay playing football.
2017 infusion: Brokup, Rairdon, Farniok, and Wilson. Potentially a 2017 Recruit as well at Right Tackle if we get the Texas or Washington kid. This group has me thinking we’re “real close” to being better than we’ve been for “many” years up front. AKA the return of the pipeline. This group seems “serious” about being good, just as the three quality starters from this year. An accurate and talented QB can make a huge difference. If the Oline sucks, it doesn’t change a thing if QB running for his life. This shouldn’t be the case in 2017 and the Oline has to be the biggest opportunity for improvement on this team in 2017. Depth is a powerful thing. Losing Utter/Whitaker/Hahn should have zero negative effect.
The next biggest opportunity for improvement has to be LB or DE.
(2016 LBs) Banderas and MRI and Young and Newby: I’m certain these guys were hard workers and wanted to get it done. However, this group had zero impact on the turnover ratio and their break downs contributed to a lot of the big running plays of opposing teams (see Iowa and Ohio State game). LB play hasn't been special in a long time.
2017 LB: Newby, Avery Roberts, Barry, Ferguson, Gifford, Jefferson, Weber, Q Alexander, Simmons. This is a solid group, but we need “playmakers”, so I hope youth emerges. Jefferson getting Scout Defensive MVP is a good sign. We also need to focus on speed playmaker vs durability. Play fast and use depth. I like Young, but he doesn’t have the speed to be an every down guy (like he’s been). I wonder if there is a possibility he moves inside. I would say that I’m certainly more excited about the improvement in this group than any other on defense. Not on effort, but talent. Newby has the speed and certainly the experience to make a difference. Hopefully the exiting leadership of MRI/Bando helps him take on that role as well. I assume Roberts/Barry/Jefferson may be the ‘who’s that?’ guys this spring.
(2016 DEs) Dzuris, Freedom, A Davis, Natter, King. I don’t know the last time Nebraska had two separate walk-ons start in consecutive years (Gangwish and Dzuris). Long story short, it’s not ideal. That extra half second or full second a QB gets to look down field is a killer. Against Ohio State you saw this on every single passing play. Getting after the passer is important at any level and we simply have to get better at this position.
2017 DE: Freedom, A Davis, AJ Natter, C Miller, D Neal, S King, Stille. We’ll certainly have more depth, but we absolutely need C Miller and A Davis to provide pressure. Hopefully Guy Thomas comes in ready to go (assuming he signs he could be a 3rd down guy. He has big time wheels). This is a position where we may have to play the freshman to improve (packages). I would still like to see us land one “Big Fish” out of nowhere in this class that could play day one. A Barry Turner type. We lose Dzuris and that’s it. There is 0 chance that he is irreplacable. We cannot be any worse than this year if healthy. Let’s hope we stay healthy and JP coaches the youngsters up. Another offseason of S&C for guy like Davis and Miller is huge.
(DT 2016)- Maurice, Stoltenberg, C Davis, Rath, K Davis. This group was solid this year. Maurice and C Davis together were the best group.
DT in 2017. We have to replace Maurice. This is certainly a concern, but not near the difficulty of replacing Collins/Valentine. Mick and Carlos are solid with Carlos likely to become a big time difference maker next year. Hopefully Khalil makes a jump like this brother did this year. Sprinkle in a few 300 lb true freshman like Watts (Daniels?) and Shelvin (j/k) and I think the depth will be there.
(2016 CBs) C Jones, Kalu, A Williams, and L Jackson. This group is solid. C Jones has a very “noticeable” weakness when it comes to tackling, but could be great if he gets that figured out. A Williams had a great start to the season, then played “mediocre” in the last 4-6 games. Not sure if he was injured, but he certainly lost his pop and aggressiveness and his size isn’t ideal. Josh Kalu is solid. L Jackson is the golden ticket. He has to be on the field more in 2017. I think he’ll either be a starting CB or he’ll make the move to Safety, which makes the most sense in my opinion if we land a coupe 4/5 star DBs in the 2017 class. Eric Lee is still a bit of a riddle to me. Bootle seems to be a guy that could be a difference maker. Same with Dismuke. Lots of competition at CB. Should be exceptional and strength of the team next year, especially with the quality coaching in that area. We are in on some Big Fish and just hired a guy at DB coach that likes to catch Big Fish.
(2016 S) Gerry, Williams, Reed, and A WIlliams. This position was good in pass defense (lots of INTs), but did struggle at times in the running game. More K Williams than Gerry. He simply over runs or doesn’t have the athletic ability to tackle as well on the edges. I think we could see some upperclassman get beat out here for playing time. Not sure why Reed was absent this season. Was his injury (surgery) more serious? Whether it’s Butler or JoJo or Anderson or Dismuke (or L Jackson moves positions), we’ll likely see a shake up on the back end. Good gets better.
(2016 WR and TE) Westercamp, Carter, Moore, Reilly, Morgan, DPE, Reimers, Cotton, Foster. This group was exceptional when healthy. It’s really too bad those seniors didn’t get a single year with an accurate passer of the football. This is certainly the group I am most concerned about from a “experience” stand point, not talent stand point. In 2017, we’ll have Morgan and DPE as featured guys. Reimers will have a role. Possibly Rahn. Alston could surprise in one way or another (play or transfer). Speilman could be special. Not sure about Keyan Williams. Then you have the newcommers. McQuitty and KJJ. Those are quality coachable bigger WRs. The 5 Star Lewis kid would certainly have the opportunity to play immediately as well and seems like a NU lean. Especially nice if we get Greg Johnson. Either way, this group takes a hit on Experience, but we'll get more out of the position with a quality decision maker/accurate passer at QB. You’ll probably see the good “blocking” WRs get more playing time early.
At TE, we’ll have Hoppes, Englehaupt, Snyder, Stoll, Ketter, and 6’7” Allen. This group doesn’t have anyone like Carter, so I hope some of them become nasty blockers. This group will be a “taller” group of pretty good athletes. S&C offseason huge for this group. “Blocking” will likely decide who gets on the field. Lots of quality bodies to choose from, but all are question marks. I could see McNitt become an every down player at TE. Especially with Miles coming in at FB.
(Running Back 2016) Newby, Bryant, Ozigbo, Wilbon. This group was solid. They didn’t put the ball on the turf. Newby made a “Yuuugggeee” jump at RB. I was very impressed with him. Bryant, Wilbon, and Ozigbo are solid, but I’m very interested to see who we land at RB in this class. As you know, a Freshman can make an impact early, so I would expect whomever the “true freshman” is to compliment Bryant if we successfully recruit a surprise at RB. If not, Ozigbo and Wilbon are available, but they are a step below Bryant. He played well as a freshman and has the tools. I think all he may need is to play behind a “good” Oline. He may get exactly that.
2016 Kicker (Brown is as good as it gets)
2017 Kicker (Brown could be a legit All American). Hopefully we have a few walk-ons in town to provide depth. A guy like Alex Henery would be quite nice.
2016 Punter (Lightbourne (RIP#27)) This area likely cost a coach his job, but also inspired the team
2017 Caleb showed he had what it takes at times. He’ll get more and more consistent. He was in High School 7 or 8 months ago. It’s certainly more mental for him, but he’s been through enough to grow up real fast. He’ll be much improved by next year. We need a couple walk-ons here as well. This is where I would like to see our “recruiting staff” excel.
Overall, the depth really improves on the "entire" Defense, Oline, and at QB going into 2017. That’s three pretty important areas to win a Championship. Hypothetical will have to do for now, but there are a lot more names coming than going….
Defense Losses:
Gerry- NFL (4th-6th Round?)
Banderas-
MRI-
Maurice- Possible NFL (7th Round?)
Dzuris-
Offense Losses:
Armstrong
T Newby- Possible NFL, probably a long shot in terms of getting drafted.
Utter
Hahn
Whitaker
Westercamp -NFL (7th Round?)
Moore
Reilly- Possible NFL, probably a long shot
Let just say, we aren’t replacing nearly what what we lost in 2015 which includes 4 pretty solid NFL Rookies and our entire defensive Line. (Valentine, Alex Lewis, Collins, Janovich, Sterup, Kondolo, Cockrell, Cross, Davie, McMullen, Gangwish, Reeves, J Turner, K Williams, Thurston, J Rose.)
Our coaching staff is stepping it up in the recruiting department, so now we just need to close out this class with a really strong January. I have a feeling we’ll have a lot of visits in January and we’ll flip a couple players that are commits elsewhere and also get one 5 star and quite a few 4 stars.
Wish we didn’t have to wait until 2017 to see if we’re finally going to compete for the West and Big 10. It’s bee so so so long since our fans have had a complete season they can be really proud of….Next year is definitely the first year you can really judge the coaching staff. They’ll have their QB and the 3rd year in the the new schemes and they have the best depth they've had across the team in a while….
The most important thing in any offseason is the S&C program. If you go back in our history or watch Alabama’s or even Ohio State’s recent runs, you’ll notice one thing said by the opposing program after every game. We must be physical all the way to 3rd string. That’s easier said than done, but when you have an offensive line that pushes defensive lines backwards, you tend to score TDs on the ground. I would like to think that Defenses will have to respect our passing game for the first time in a long time next year with the shift to a true prostyle QB (quality decision making). Defensively, you need the same physicality. I assume our lack of speed at LB has caused us to limit pressure from the LB position (outside of Newby in definite passing situations). Of course when your DEs can be blocked one on one, it doesn’t help much to send the LBs who also can be blocked one on one.
(2016 Oline) Gates, Hahn/Foster, Utter, Farmer/Whitaker, Knevel/Conrad. Of that group, I think 3 of those guys have what it takes to get the Oline to the next level. Gates/Foster/Farmer. Physicality isn’t an issue with those three. Every line is only as strong as it’s weakest links and the Center position and Right Tackle position are certainly that (coupled with poor depth in 2016). I don’t see Decker winning the position this year if he couldn’t beat out Utter with ease. Even if his issues were off the field, it affected his play on the field. There is a possibility that he wasn’t strong enough, but I think it’s more than that and the Center has to be a leader (Rairdon). I’ve heard Barnett doesn’t move well, if at all anymore. He’ll need a serious physical transformation to get in the 2 deep or stay playing football.
2017 infusion: Brokup, Rairdon, Farniok, and Wilson. Potentially a 2017 Recruit as well at Right Tackle if we get the Texas or Washington kid. This group has me thinking we’re “real close” to being better than we’ve been for “many” years up front. AKA the return of the pipeline. This group seems “serious” about being good, just as the three quality starters from this year. An accurate and talented QB can make a huge difference. If the Oline sucks, it doesn’t change a thing if QB running for his life. This shouldn’t be the case in 2017 and the Oline has to be the biggest opportunity for improvement on this team in 2017. Depth is a powerful thing. Losing Utter/Whitaker/Hahn should have zero negative effect.
The next biggest opportunity for improvement has to be LB or DE.
(2016 LBs) Banderas and MRI and Young and Newby: I’m certain these guys were hard workers and wanted to get it done. However, this group had zero impact on the turnover ratio and their break downs contributed to a lot of the big running plays of opposing teams (see Iowa and Ohio State game). LB play hasn't been special in a long time.
2017 LB: Newby, Avery Roberts, Barry, Ferguson, Gifford, Jefferson, Weber, Q Alexander, Simmons. This is a solid group, but we need “playmakers”, so I hope youth emerges. Jefferson getting Scout Defensive MVP is a good sign. We also need to focus on speed playmaker vs durability. Play fast and use depth. I like Young, but he doesn’t have the speed to be an every down guy (like he’s been). I wonder if there is a possibility he moves inside. I would say that I’m certainly more excited about the improvement in this group than any other on defense. Not on effort, but talent. Newby has the speed and certainly the experience to make a difference. Hopefully the exiting leadership of MRI/Bando helps him take on that role as well. I assume Roberts/Barry/Jefferson may be the ‘who’s that?’ guys this spring.
(2016 DEs) Dzuris, Freedom, A Davis, Natter, King. I don’t know the last time Nebraska had two separate walk-ons start in consecutive years (Gangwish and Dzuris). Long story short, it’s not ideal. That extra half second or full second a QB gets to look down field is a killer. Against Ohio State you saw this on every single passing play. Getting after the passer is important at any level and we simply have to get better at this position.
2017 DE: Freedom, A Davis, AJ Natter, C Miller, D Neal, S King, Stille. We’ll certainly have more depth, but we absolutely need C Miller and A Davis to provide pressure. Hopefully Guy Thomas comes in ready to go (assuming he signs he could be a 3rd down guy. He has big time wheels). This is a position where we may have to play the freshman to improve (packages). I would still like to see us land one “Big Fish” out of nowhere in this class that could play day one. A Barry Turner type. We lose Dzuris and that’s it. There is 0 chance that he is irreplacable. We cannot be any worse than this year if healthy. Let’s hope we stay healthy and JP coaches the youngsters up. Another offseason of S&C for guy like Davis and Miller is huge.
(DT 2016)- Maurice, Stoltenberg, C Davis, Rath, K Davis. This group was solid this year. Maurice and C Davis together were the best group.
DT in 2017. We have to replace Maurice. This is certainly a concern, but not near the difficulty of replacing Collins/Valentine. Mick and Carlos are solid with Carlos likely to become a big time difference maker next year. Hopefully Khalil makes a jump like this brother did this year. Sprinkle in a few 300 lb true freshman like Watts (Daniels?) and Shelvin (j/k) and I think the depth will be there.
(2016 CBs) C Jones, Kalu, A Williams, and L Jackson. This group is solid. C Jones has a very “noticeable” weakness when it comes to tackling, but could be great if he gets that figured out. A Williams had a great start to the season, then played “mediocre” in the last 4-6 games. Not sure if he was injured, but he certainly lost his pop and aggressiveness and his size isn’t ideal. Josh Kalu is solid. L Jackson is the golden ticket. He has to be on the field more in 2017. I think he’ll either be a starting CB or he’ll make the move to Safety, which makes the most sense in my opinion if we land a coupe 4/5 star DBs in the 2017 class. Eric Lee is still a bit of a riddle to me. Bootle seems to be a guy that could be a difference maker. Same with Dismuke. Lots of competition at CB. Should be exceptional and strength of the team next year, especially with the quality coaching in that area. We are in on some Big Fish and just hired a guy at DB coach that likes to catch Big Fish.
(2016 S) Gerry, Williams, Reed, and A WIlliams. This position was good in pass defense (lots of INTs), but did struggle at times in the running game. More K Williams than Gerry. He simply over runs or doesn’t have the athletic ability to tackle as well on the edges. I think we could see some upperclassman get beat out here for playing time. Not sure why Reed was absent this season. Was his injury (surgery) more serious? Whether it’s Butler or JoJo or Anderson or Dismuke (or L Jackson moves positions), we’ll likely see a shake up on the back end. Good gets better.
(2016 WR and TE) Westercamp, Carter, Moore, Reilly, Morgan, DPE, Reimers, Cotton, Foster. This group was exceptional when healthy. It’s really too bad those seniors didn’t get a single year with an accurate passer of the football. This is certainly the group I am most concerned about from a “experience” stand point, not talent stand point. In 2017, we’ll have Morgan and DPE as featured guys. Reimers will have a role. Possibly Rahn. Alston could surprise in one way or another (play or transfer). Speilman could be special. Not sure about Keyan Williams. Then you have the newcommers. McQuitty and KJJ. Those are quality coachable bigger WRs. The 5 Star Lewis kid would certainly have the opportunity to play immediately as well and seems like a NU lean. Especially nice if we get Greg Johnson. Either way, this group takes a hit on Experience, but we'll get more out of the position with a quality decision maker/accurate passer at QB. You’ll probably see the good “blocking” WRs get more playing time early.
At TE, we’ll have Hoppes, Englehaupt, Snyder, Stoll, Ketter, and 6’7” Allen. This group doesn’t have anyone like Carter, so I hope some of them become nasty blockers. This group will be a “taller” group of pretty good athletes. S&C offseason huge for this group. “Blocking” will likely decide who gets on the field. Lots of quality bodies to choose from, but all are question marks. I could see McNitt become an every down player at TE. Especially with Miles coming in at FB.
(Running Back 2016) Newby, Bryant, Ozigbo, Wilbon. This group was solid. They didn’t put the ball on the turf. Newby made a “Yuuugggeee” jump at RB. I was very impressed with him. Bryant, Wilbon, and Ozigbo are solid, but I’m very interested to see who we land at RB in this class. As you know, a Freshman can make an impact early, so I would expect whomever the “true freshman” is to compliment Bryant if we successfully recruit a surprise at RB. If not, Ozigbo and Wilbon are available, but they are a step below Bryant. He played well as a freshman and has the tools. I think all he may need is to play behind a “good” Oline. He may get exactly that.
2016 Kicker (Brown is as good as it gets)
2017 Kicker (Brown could be a legit All American). Hopefully we have a few walk-ons in town to provide depth. A guy like Alex Henery would be quite nice.
2016 Punter (Lightbourne (RIP#27)) This area likely cost a coach his job, but also inspired the team
2017 Caleb showed he had what it takes at times. He’ll get more and more consistent. He was in High School 7 or 8 months ago. It’s certainly more mental for him, but he’s been through enough to grow up real fast. He’ll be much improved by next year. We need a couple walk-ons here as well. This is where I would like to see our “recruiting staff” excel.
Overall, the depth really improves on the "entire" Defense, Oline, and at QB going into 2017. That’s three pretty important areas to win a Championship. Hypothetical will have to do for now, but there are a lot more names coming than going….
Defense Losses:
Gerry- NFL (4th-6th Round?)
Banderas-
MRI-
Maurice- Possible NFL (7th Round?)
Dzuris-
Offense Losses:
Armstrong
T Newby- Possible NFL, probably a long shot in terms of getting drafted.
Utter
Hahn
Whitaker
Westercamp -NFL (7th Round?)
Moore
Reilly- Possible NFL, probably a long shot
Let just say, we aren’t replacing nearly what what we lost in 2015 which includes 4 pretty solid NFL Rookies and our entire defensive Line. (Valentine, Alex Lewis, Collins, Janovich, Sterup, Kondolo, Cockrell, Cross, Davie, McMullen, Gangwish, Reeves, J Turner, K Williams, Thurston, J Rose.)
Our coaching staff is stepping it up in the recruiting department, so now we just need to close out this class with a really strong January. I have a feeling we’ll have a lot of visits in January and we’ll flip a couple players that are commits elsewhere and also get one 5 star and quite a few 4 stars.
Wish we didn’t have to wait until 2017 to see if we’re finally going to compete for the West and Big 10. It’s bee so so so long since our fans have had a complete season they can be really proud of….Next year is definitely the first year you can really judge the coaching staff. They’ll have their QB and the 3rd year in the the new schemes and they have the best depth they've had across the team in a while….
