A few reasons why the 2017 offensive line will be better than 2016..

[Tuco Ramirez]

Doesn't fit the narrative that Cav sucks, sorry not buying.

Ok, but one of my biggest complaints with Cav is not rotating linemen. To cite the inexperience of the starting linemen seems to validate that as much as excuse it. I realize that starts were specifically mentioned, but filling for injured linemen is part of that. I seem to recall Riley indicating that we would be rotating more this year, and I think that is a good thing.

Regarding the other comments on Knevel, I think he was struggling from day 1. Maybe he came into the season injured. I do think he looked better during the Spring Game than he had at any point next year. I realize that was against 2nd teamers, but he looked more fit and nimble. If that carries through to regular season performance, the right side of the line could be solid.

 

[GretnaShawn]

Ok, but one of my biggest complaints with Cav is not rotating linemen. To cite the inexperience of the starting linemen seems to validate that as much as excuse it. I realize that starts were specifically mentioned, but filling for injured linemen is part of that. I seem to recall Riley indicating that we would be rotating more this year, and I think that is a good thing.

Regarding the other comments on Knevel, I think he was struggling from day 1. Maybe he came into the season injured. I do think he looked better during the Spring Game than he had at any point next year. I realize that was against 2nd teamers, but he looked more fit and nimble. If that carries through to regular season performance, the right side of the line could be solid.

Who did you want Cav to rotate in and when? Who was the hidden gem on the bench that needed a few snaps?

 

[jflores]

Ok, but one of my biggest complaints with Cav is not rotating linemen. To cite the inexperience of the starting linemen seems to validate that as much as excuse it. I realize that starts were specifically mentioned, but filling for injured linemen is part of that. I seem to recall Riley indicating that we would be rotating more this year, and I think that is a good thing.

Regarding the other comments on Knevel, I think he was struggling from day 1. Maybe he came into the season injured. I do think he looked better during the Spring Game than he had at any point next year. I realize that was against 2nd teamers, but he looked more fit and nimble. If that carries through to regular season performance, the right side of the line could be solid.

Even Milt and our former lineman, said we never rotated lineman all that much.

The fact that we'd win 35-0 by half obscures what old Milt's general policy was.

I assume if we start winning at the same clip, more of the younger players would play.

 

[jflores]

Who did you want Cav to rotate in and when? Who was the hidden gem on the bench that needed a few snaps?

The fact that we considered pulling at least 2 redshirts just to put a line on the field, puts most of the complaint about rotating to rest.

There was simply no one to rotate at many times.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

The OL rotation argument is a bit misunderstood. Most coaches do not freely sub on the OLine. Even back on the Nebraska hay day, there was minimal rotation. There was typically a 6th, a swing guard/tackle and on occasion 7th guy at Center who would get playing time when the game was in doubt. The backups got playing time when the 1st team had jumped out to an insurmountable lead.

I doubt we see Riley and Cav rotating entire 1st and 2nd teams. It will resemble what was done in the past. A 6th and 7th guy who are versatile and can fit in at Guard or Tackle and another at Center.

The players with the most experience on the OL are redshirt juniors. That would have made them redshirt freshmen in 2015. That means they started games over juniors and senior as sophomores. That screams lack of quality depth and not player rotation.

 

[jflores]

The OL rotation argument is a bit misunderstood. Most coaches do not freely sub on the OLine. Even back on the Nebraska hay day, there was minimal rotation. There was typically a 6th, a swing guard/tackle and on occasion 7th guy at Center who would get playing time when the game was in doubt. The backups got playing time when the 1st team had jumped out to an insurmountable lead.

I doubt we see Riley and Cav rotating entire 1st and 2nd teams. It will resemble what was done in the past. A 6th and 7th guy who are versatile and can fit in at Guard or Tackle and another at Center.

The players with the most experience on the OL are redshirt juniors. That would have made them redshirt freshmen in 2015. That means they started games over juniors and senior as sophomores. That screams lack of quality depth and not player rotation.

Basically word for word, Vrzal's point.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

Basically word for word, Vrzal's point.

Vrzal is smart too. Ha ha ha

 

[Tuco Ramirez]

Who did you want Cav to rotate in and when? Who was the hidden gem on the bench that needed a few snaps?

In 2015, Tanner Farmer, David Knevel, etc..
I'm not saying hidden gems that need more playing time than the #1s in front of them. I'm saying #2s getting into 3rd and 4th quarters of solid victories so they aren't green when they get their opportunities, and so the #1s can reduce the wear and tear on their bodies. Like you do with literally every other position besides kickers.
You can't just look at David Knevel, say he had only played on special teams, and then excuse Cav for his performance. Well, maybe you can, but I don't.

A couple of disclaimer:
1. I realize that Knevel did play in some games in 2015 and 2104, but I don't know how many snaps. I'm basing my comments on the OP and Cav's previous statements of playing mainly five guys. It's a philosophy I have issue with in general, and how it specifically related to the OP.
2. I don't mean to focus negatively on Knevel. The kid seems like a great guy. I have no idea of what injuries he is battling that might be affecting is play. I do know that injuries, and even surgeries, are frequently not reported to the media, so I think folks should slow their roll on assigning personality traits (lazy, stupid, etc.) based on what the see on the field. His performance was not great, but there could all sorts of issues related to that.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

You realize we were 5-7 in 2015 and at one point were 3-6? The South Alabama game was the only game that was never in doubt.

 

[jflores]

In 2015, Tanner Farmer, David Knevel, etc..
I'm not saying hidden gems that need more playing time than the #1s in front of them. I'm saying #2s getting into 3rd and 4th quarters of solid victories so they aren't green when they get their opportunities, and so the #1s can reduce the wear and tear on their bodies. Like you do with literally every other position besides kickers.
You can't just look at David Knevel, say he had only played on special teams, and then excuse Cav for his performance. Well, maybe you can, but I don't.

A couple of disclaimer:
1. I realize that Knevel did play in some games in 2015 and 2104, but I don't know how many snaps. I'm basing my comments on the OP and Cav's previous statements of playing mainly five guys. It's a philosophy I have issue with in general, and how it specifically related to the OP.
2. I don't mean to focus negatively on Knevel. The kid seems like a great guy. I have no idea of what injuries he is battling that might be affecting is play. I do know that injuries, and even surgeries, are frequently not reported to the media, so I think folks should slow their roll on assigning personality traits (lazy, stupid, etc.) based on what the see on the field. His performance was not great, but there could all sorts of issues related to that.

You do realize that in Year 1 we went 5-7 and were a miracle play away from 4-8. How much solid win PT do you think was available?

Year 2 was 9 wins. But we got a favorable call on a Newby fumble late on the road at Indiana, and the rest of the year struggled to put a 1st team on the field without pulling shirts.

Again, where was this fabled land of "big win backup time" we keep hearing about?

 

[headcard]

It's crazy how this OL rotating thing has taken on a life of it's own. We started rotating OL under Beck when we went no huddle/hurry up, in an attempt to wear down opposing DL's. Those are typically the teams you see freely rotating OL, similar to pressing/up tempo teams in basketball that pay 10-12 players. It's not like it is commonplace at traditional prostyle offenses or in the NFL.

 

[Tuco Ramirez]

My point is fairly simple: the experience of the 2016 starters is not independent of coaching. Cav has been pretty clear about his philosophy that would logically keep more snaps concentrated amongst a few players. I have a concern with that. Citing inexperience doesn't address that concern. If you all want to start bringing up secondary level of excuses for Cav, that's a different argument. I'm not going to run through participation charts from two years ago to support something that should be pretty easy to comprehend on its face.

And Milt was a great coach, and a pretty solid diplomat. I agree it's difficult to compare the rotation between the two because of the different eras (more gimmie games then), but to then to say it's the same is just silly. I recall Milt talking about he felt pretty good once he could get a solid 7-8 linemen. That was the formula for a pipeline. He wasn't just focused on his top five for the season.

 

[Tuco Ramirez]

It's not like it is commonplace at traditional prostyle offenses or in the NFL.

You draft and trade players in the NFL. You develop then in college.

 

[GretnaShawn]

My point is fairly simple: the experience of the 2016 starters is not independent of coaching. Cav has been pretty clear about his philosophy that would logically keep more snaps concentrated amongst a few players. I have a concern with that. Citing inexperience doesn't address that concern. If you all want to start bringing up secondary level of excuses for Cav, that's a different argument. I'm not going to run through participation charts from two years ago to support something that should be pretty easy to comprehend on its face.

And Milt was a great coach, and a pretty solid diplomat. I agree it's difficult to compare the rotation between the two because of the different eras (more gimmie games then), but to then to say it's the same is just silly. I recall Milt talking about he felt pretty good once he could get a solid 7-8 linemen. That was the formula for a pipeline. He wasn't just focused on his top five for the season.

Cav has stated he would rotate a guy if there was a guy deserving enough to be rotated. Milt also said that he agrees with Cav on the no rotation.

It is just ridiculous to suggest that we should have rotated players on the last two years. There was nobody to rotate. We were playing 3 walk-ons a former 2 star last year. Who should we have rotated in? My goodness.

If you want to argue that Cav should have landed bigger prospects, fine lets have the discussion. If you want to say that players haven't developed fast enough, ok, lets discuss. But to suggest that he should have rotated in players to build depth, when there was no bodies to rotate in is laughable.

 

[jflores]

My point is fairly simple: the experience of the 2016 starters is not independent of coaching. Cav has been pretty clear about his philosophy that would logically keep more snaps concentrated amongst a few players. I have a concern with that. Citing inexperience doesn't address that concern. If you all want to start bringing up secondary level of excuses for Cav, that's a different argument. I'm not going to run through participation charts from two years ago to support something that should be pretty easy to comprehend on its face.

And Milt was a great coach, and a pretty solid diplomat. I agree it's difficult to compare the rotation between the two because of the different eras (more gimmie games then), but to then to say it's the same is just silly. I recall Milt talking about he felt pretty good once he could get a solid 7-8 linemen. That was the formula for a pipeline. He wasn't just focused on his top five for the season.

All in all its a circular argument. We could have Cav rotate lineman in 2016 to make 2017 look better. And then its possible that by "not getting your best 11 on the field", 2016 bombs and people are flaming Cav for not being a good coach and putting guys in doghouses when they should have played. He may well end up fired and not coaching in 2017 because of it.

Preparing the team for 2017 is a nice luxury to have in 2016 if you can pull it off, but coaches understand that its a luxury more often than not.

 

[nebcountry]

My point is fairly simple: the experience of the 2016 starters is not independent of coaching. Cav has been pretty clear about his philosophy that would logically keep more snaps concentrated amongst a few players. I have a concern with that. Citing inexperience doesn't address that concern. If you all want to start bringing up secondary level of excuses for Cav, that's a different argument. I'm not going to run through participation charts from two years ago to support something that should be pretty easy to comprehend on its face.

And Milt was a great coach, and a pretty solid diplomat. I agree it's difficult to compare the rotation between the two because of the different eras (more gimmie games then), but to then to say it's the same is just silly. I recall Milt talking about he felt pretty good once he could get a solid 7-8 linemen. That was the formula for a pipeline. He wasn't just focused on his top five for the season.

This has been a discussion point since this staff's first fall camp. And, it goes the same way every time. One of the posters went through and listed games in the past where we we rotated in lineman on the 3rd series of the game. So, I don't know if people are trying to be deliberately facetious and trying to make it look like we are talking about hockey.

Cav has already stated he wants to play 5. Cav has already stated that anybody other than the 5 can get better on the scout team.

 

[inWV]

I am glad we were able to get to the "Cav don't rotate" part of the discussion. I will be really happy if we have enough snap-ready linemen to be worthy of complaining about Cav's rotation schemes. The line is the engine of the offense. If it isn't working, we have problems.

 

[PeliniTheCrutch]

I honestly wouldn't mind if they had a backup OL to play an extra TE in short yardage. That's another way to get experience for another OT. Of course it's tougher to throw passes on 3rd and 2 and 4th and 1 that way............

 

[Tuco Ramirez]

I am glad we were able to get to the "Cav don't rotate" part of the discussion. I will be really happy if we have enough snap-ready linemen to be worthy of complaining about Cav's rotation schemes. The line is the engine of the offense. If it isn't working, we have problems.

It hasn't been working well. We have problems. If folks want to excuse its performance on the lack of experience, I think it's worthwhile to bring up that the coach has some say in the how that experience is developed. If you don't think that's a fair rebuttal, I don't know what to tell you. If we don't develop some level of rotation, we will occasionally run into experience profiles like we had at the start of last year. It is inevitable. It might not bite us until 2019, but the 2016 scenario will not be unique. If you think the lack of rotation is purely a function of depth chart, then I don't get Cav's previous statements or why folks feel they need to draw comparisons to the NFL, which is fundamentally different in depth chart management.

I'm not calling Cav a horrible coach or calling for his head. I just find the "no experience" defense to be hollow. It is a predictable consequence to his stated philosophy.

 

[GretnaShawn]

It hasn't been working well. We have problems. If folks want to excuse its performance on the lack of experience, I think it's worthwhile to bring up that the coach has some say in the how that experience is developed. If you don't think that's a fair rebuttal, I don't know what to tell you. If we don't develop some level of rotation, we will occasionally run into experience profiles like we had at the start of last year. It is inevitable. It might not bite us until 2019, but the 2016 scenario will not be unique. If you think the lack of rotation is purely a function of depth chart, then I don't get Cav's previous statements or why folks feel they need to draw comparisons to the NFL, which is fundamentally different in depth chart management.

I'm not calling Cav a horrible coach or calling for his head. I just find the "no experience" defense to be hollow. It is a predictable consequence to his stated philosophy.

I know you don't know what to tell me, because you cannot point to a logical instance where it was feasible to rotate players to build depth in the last two years.

Try to analyze what the real situation was before making a blanket surface statement.

 

[Tuco Ramirez]

All in all its a circular argument. We could have Cav rotate lineman in 2016 to make 2017 look better. And then its possible that by "not getting your best 11 on the field", 2016 bombs and people are flaming Cav for not being a good coach and putting guys in doghouses when they should have played. He may well end up fired and not coaching in 2017 because of it.

Preparing the team for 2017 is a nice luxury to have in 2016 if you can pull it off, but coaches understand that its a luxury more often than not.

What you are describing is not a circular argument; it's a balance. Coaches are required to balance things like that all of the time. Cav is clear his fulcrum is set such that snaps are dominated by his five best.

 

[jflores]

What you are describing is not a circular argument; it's a balance. Coaches are required to balance things like that all of the time. Cav is clear his fulcrum is set such that snaps are dominated by his five best.

Right but as others have noted, you haven't provided any clear alternative based on logistical reality.

In Year 1 we didn't have the leads to play "lesser" players.
In Year 2 we didn't have a 1st team.

Define the rotation in such constraints. Its fine to be philosophically opposed (and quite honestly I don't care how Cav runs its), but reality has to meet the road somewhere. Cav isn't out in left field with respect to his peers here.

 

[Tuco Ramirez]

I know you don't know what to tell me, because you cannot point to a logical instance where it was feasible to rotate players to build depth in the last two years.

Try to analyze what the real situation was before making a blanket surface statement.

No, I think I'll just stick with basic logic: citing lack of experience as a defense of his coaching when he has clearly stated that building experience is not a goal, is stupid. I'm not going to review film from 2015 to identify the optimum point when to start working in reserve players.

 

[GretnaShawn]

No, I think I'll just basic logic: citing lack of experience as a defense of his coaching when he has clearly stated that building experience is not a goal, is stupid. I'm not going to review film from 2015 to identify the optimum point when to start working in reserve players.

Because you can't.

Again, please think more than just in surface statements. Your statement is such a grade school analysis.

Edit: 'I think I'll just basic logic'

Well, I don't see what is logical about subbing players to build depth in games you aren't in control (2015) or where you have no spare bodies without pulling a redshirt (2016).

 

[jflores]

No, I think I'll just stick with basic logic: citing lack of experience as a defense of his coaching when he has clearly stated that building experience is not a goal, is stupid. I'm not going to review film from 2015 to identify the optimum point when to start working in reserve players.

Its not panacea...

"While most teams want the five starters to be clear and will stick with that group, Spartans offensive line coach Mark Staten began implementing a type of rotation. As many as eight players were seeing regular snaps, often changing from possession to possession.

It wasn’t the norm in college football, but it paid off for the Spartans."

All that rotating and depth building during the 12-2 2015 campaign sure didn't help them much in 2016 when they were 3-9 and 1-8 in the conference.

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sp...-line-rotation-works-michigan-state/31032369/

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

Rotation of below average offensive linemen doesn't make below average offensive linemen good.

I see where you are coming from but I think you are trying to draw a conclusion that isn't there.

2015 OL depth chart

LT Lewis - Sr
LG Utter - Jr (walk on originally)
C Reeves - Sr
RG Kondolo - Sr
RT Gates - RS Fr

Backups
Knevel- So
Finnin- Sr
Thurston - Jr
Sterup - Sr
Foster - RS Fr

Thurston left, why?
Knevel started in 2016
Gates moved to LT and started in 2016
Utter moved to C and started.
Foster injured but started when he returned

The rest of the linemen on the roster were Hannon and Johnson as RS Jrs who couldn't crack the top 10, RS Fr Farmer and true freshmen in Barnett, Decker and Gaylord.

Again, who else would you have rotated in?

 

[nebcountry]

It hasn't been working well. We have problems. If folks want to excuse its performance on the lack of experience, I think it's worthwhile to bring up that the coach has some say in the how that experience is developed. If you don't think that's a fair rebuttal, I don't know what to tell you. If we don't develop some level of rotation, we will occasionally run into experience profiles like we had at the start of last year. It is inevitable. It might not bite us until 2019, but the 2016 scenario will not be unique. If you think the lack of rotation is purely a function of depth chart, then I don't get Cav's previous statements or why folks feel they need to draw comparisons to the NFL, which is fundamentally different in depth chart management.

I'm not calling Cav a horrible coach or calling for his head. I just find the "no experience" defense to be hollow. It is a predictable consequence to his stated philosophy.

Seems like a logical argument to me. The problem is you're going to run into people that have "dug in" with their support of Cavanaugh. Who is better than the fab 5? I don't know, we'll have to wait until someone is so injured that they can't play. Kind of like when Sterup finally got to see the field in year 1. Kind of like when Conrad finally got to see the field in year 2. It's just a matter of waiting to see who it will be in year 3. Of course Sterup was already a well-seasoned lineman. Conrad was having to accrue his quality reps during games.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

Seems like a logical argument to me. The problem is you're going to run into people that have "dug in" with their support of Cavanaugh. Who is better than the fab 5? I don't know, we'll have to wait until someone is so injured that they can't play. Kind of like when Sterup finally got to see the field in year 1. Kind of like when Conrad finally got to see the field in year 2. It's just a matter of waiting to see who it will be in year 3. Of course Sterup was already a well-seasoned lineman. Conrad was having to accrue his quality reps during games.

It isn't support of Cavanaugh. It's asking who else was there to rotate in 2015 so there would be more experience in 2016.

Sterup was beat out by Lewis a senior and Gates a RFr.

How many 6'8" RG are there playing anywhere? I will give Cav credit for replacing an ineffective Kondolo with Sterup. But even then no additional depth was created for 2016 because you replaced a senior with a senior.

 

[jflores]

Seems like a logical argument to me. The problem is you're going to run into people that have "dug in" with their support of Cavanaugh. Who is better than the fab 5? I don't know, we'll have to wait until someone is so injured that they can't play. Kind of like when Sterup finally got to see the field in year 1. Kind of like when Conrad finally got to see the field in year 2. It's just a matter of waiting to see who it will be in year 3. Of course Sterup was already a well-seasoned lineman. Conrad was having to accrue his quality reps during games.

Yah I'm not attached to Cav. I wouldn't cry if him or Davis left the building this afternoon.

I don't think some of the criticism is deserved however, the non-rotation of 5 OL in major college football is about as close to consensus as one can find given the various coaching philosophies and offensive styles.

 

[TruHusker]

Meanwhile, back at the ranch and in relationship to the original OP, we should expect this OL to be better. My question is how much better? What will "better" look like? More rushing yards? Fewer sacks? Higher success rate on third down? Red zone scoring improvement? Not getting knocked back into our own backfield 3 yards? Not getting best on a speed rush on the outside consistently? Picking up the blitz (which I thought we were terrible at). Or a combination of all these and more?

Will we be 10% or 30% better? For me this is the key to this season.

 

[jflores]

Meanwhile, back at the ranch and in relationship to the original OP, we should expect this OL to be better. My question is how much better? What will "better" look like? More rushing yards? Fewer sacks? Higher success rate on third down? Red zone scoring improvement? Not getting knocked back into our own backfield 3 yards? Not getting best on a speed rush on the outside consistently? Picking up the blitz (which I thought we were terrible at). Or a combination of all these and more?

Will we be 10% or 30% better? For me this is the key to this season.

I think its a virtual certainty we have more sacks, but we also have more QB production.

If the OL is "decent/good" but not "great" but we still win the West, it'll have a more positive effect than if the OL was "good/great" but we don't win the West.

 

[Tuco Ramirez]

Its not panacea...

"While most teams want the five starters to be clear and will stick with that group, Spartans offensive line coach Mark Staten began implementing a type of rotation. As many as eight players were seeing regular snaps, often changing from possession to possession.

It wasn’t the norm in college football, but it paid off for the Spartans."

All that rotating and depth building during the 12-2 2015 campaign sure didn't help them much in 2016 when they were 3-9 and 1-8 in the conference.

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sp...-line-rotation-works-michigan-state/31032369/

1. I didn't say it was a panacea. I said that the "no experience" defense isn't compelling to me when I consider building experience on the depth chart to be one of his weak points. This seems to be a simple, but obvious, point that few are willing to concede.

2. I would take Mark Staten over Mark Cavanaugh any day of the week, and twice on Saturday. He has put together some magnificent lines in East Lansing, without the blue chip recruiting others in the conference enjoy. I recall watching an MSU game a few years ago and just marveling at how efficiently his line picked up stunts and blitzes. If you want to put up him as an example in contrast to Cav, you'll already lost what point you think you made.

3. The level of rotation described in the article is not what I was referencing. No one is suggesting that you don't have five set starters who are consistent in their positions. I'm not suggesting rotating linemen like you would with running backs in a thunder/lightning type scenario. There is some balance there between that and trying to get some snaps in for the reserves.

 

[jflores]

1. I didn't say it was a panacea. I said that the "no experience" defense isn't compelling to me when I consider building experience on the depth chart to be one of his weak points. This seems to be a simple, but obvious, point that few are willing to concede.

There is some balance there between that and trying to get some snaps in for the reserves.

At least when I use the context "experience and depth" I'm talking about the overall youth of the OL depth chart. I consider a long bake in the S&C room to be almost a necessity for most kids coming out of HS don't really expect the youngish players to see much time because the brunt of the load will be carried by the upperclassmen.

It was clear to me Cav and Riley were going to redshirt everyone and make do with some outclassed upper classmen and walk-ons. This is really the first year we have upper classman that "make sense" at the B1G level of play. Coincidentally .... this year is a big test for Cav, and the approach they took.

I can support that approach if the payout is that now going forward, we a team that is firing on the recruiting trail and we have a good spread of OL across the age groups.

I guess I could have demanded that Cav show his ingenuity by throwing a bunch of underclassmen into the fray in onesies and twosies to get picked off by the enemy one by one to burn eligibility, but if we are stating preferences...I like this approach.

And on your last point I quoted. You still have not presented what that balance looks like. In year 2 it was almost a non-option.

Edit: (So basically half of the time period in question, I can't fault Cav for non-rotation. Considering we lost 2/3 of the games in the other half by very small margins, I probably cant fault him there for playing the best available. So at best, we're talking a very small amount of time where rotation even applied to fault him for).

 

[jflores]

1. I didn't say it was a panacea. I said that the "no experience" defense isn't compelling to me when I consider building experience on the depth chart to be one of his weak points. This seems to be a simple, but obvious, point that few are willing to concede.

2. I would take Mark Staten over Mark Cavanaugh any day of the week, and twice on Saturday. He has put together some magnificent lines in East Lansing, without the blue chip recruiting others in the conference enjoy. I recall watching an MSU game a few years ago and just marveling at how efficiently his line picked up stunts and blitzes. If you want to put up him as an example in contrast to Cav, you'll already lost what point you think you made.

3. The level of rotation described in the article is not what I was referencing. No one is suggesting that you don't have five set starters who are consistent in their positions. I'm not suggesting rotating linemen like you would with running backs in a thunder/lightning type scenario. There is some balance there between that and trying to get some snaps in for the reserves.

The point of the article wasn't Staten vs Cav.

The point of the article is that Cav's operating philosophy isn't out in left field. Its the norm.

Which, for all the reasons we could fire Cav, the rotation issue is probably not one of them. And most likely the next guy that follows, even if we like him, will probably still do what most of CFB does, including Cav.

 

[Cornicator]

Meanwhile, back at the ranch and in relationship to the original OP, we should expect this OL to be better. My question is how much better? What will "better" look like? More rushing yards? Fewer sacks? Higher success rate on third down? Red zone scoring improvement? Not getting knocked back into our own backfield 3 yards? Not getting best on a speed rush on the outside consistently? Picking up the blitz (which I thought we were terrible at). Or a combination of all these and more?

Will we be 10% or 30% better? For me this is the key to this season.

Nebraska only surrendered 15 sacks in 2016. That was one of the best numbers in the country. It will almost be impossible to improve that number considering the Huskers likely throw the football more.

The most notable area of improvement will be yards per carry, especially in the interior offensive line.

 

[bomber89]

Listen, I hope you all are right and the O-line will be dominant, I will just be taking a wait and see approach thats all. As an older Husker fan I have been sold on hype so much before I never buy it until I see it. I lived in Missouri for awhile and while I dislike The University of Missouri their saying, "Show Me" is how I will live in regards to hype including Tanner Lee. I am for all the Huskers and hope they go undefeated and win all the awards, I just want to see results first before I start selling things I have not seen proven.

 

[jflores]

Listen, I hope you all are right and the O-line will be dominant, I will just be taking a wait and see approach thats all. As an older Husker fan I have been sold on hype so much before I never buy it until I see it. I lived in Missouri for awhile and while I dislike The University of Missouri their saying, "Show Me" is how I will live in regards to hype including Tanner Lee. I am for all the Huskers and hope they go undefeated and win all the awards, I just want to see results first before I start selling things I have not seen proven.

I don't think anyone has said they will be dominant. The title of the thread is "better".

I think this is one problem Husker fans have, building is something of a foreign concept. We are still mired in this POV that a switch will trigger and the dominance will all come rushing back.

We'll probably see a number of position groups take a step forward this year, but we probably won't get our chance at dominant until some of these top shelf young pups aren't young pups anymore. (Or in the case of Bookie's class, signed and on campus at a minimum).

 

[nebcountry]

It isn't support of Cavanaugh. It's asking who else was there to rotate in 2015 so there would be more experience in 2016.

Sterup was beat out by Lewis a senior and Gates a RFr.

How many 6'8" RG are there playing anywhere? I will give Cav credit for replacing an ineffective Kondolo with Sterup. But even then no additional depth was created for 2016 because you replaced a senior with a senior.

The internet must be broke because I mentioned Conrad as well.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

The internet must be broke because I mentioned Conrad as well.

Conrad was a RS Freshman walk on in 2015.

 

[nebcountry]

Conrad was a RS Freshman walk on in 2015.

After looking back through posts. The error is on my part, your discussion has concerned 2015 and 2015 only.

Here is a trivia question for anyone interested. Can you name a 2016 conference champion that has had either a true freshman or RS freshman OL win the starting job for their team in each of the last two seasons?

Edit: man I'm full of errors today. It wasn't in each of two seasons, it was in the same season.