DL Recruiting

[maplesyrup95]

Why doesn't Nebraska utilize IWCC more frequently? A situation like Graves would be a perfect opportunity to do a little "we scratch your back, you scratch ours" kind of thing. Just kind of curious if this is something the coaches are trying to get set up or if they're staying away.

I think Riley would rather offer 4-year players, not juco's that take up schollies. But I see your point. It would be good to get a couple mature 21-22 year olds in the mix to build a little momentum.

 

[CornKing1986]

So what's Graham's infatuation with Oregon since Williams is here now?

Sa'weet uniforms?

 

[dckchusker]

It appears we would like to take 2 DE's and 3 DT's this year. Las week it looked like we were almost done with 2 DT's and 2 DE's committed and Damion Danniels commitment imminent. Now Porcher has de-committed and Danniels is looking far from in the bag. I think we can still have a great DL class by going after Anthony Payne to take Porcher's DE spot and James Husker Lynch to take Danniels DT spot.


Anthony Payne (KSU Commit). https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/978
Life long Husker fan who wanted an offer pretty bad this Spring, also good friends with Jaevon McQuitty. He is a similar base end type to Porcher. I like Payne more, but obviously JP didnt'. I have heard we think he has physically maxed and doesn't have alot of room to grow, but that is the kind of thinking that cost us guys like Phillips, Ott and Rand.

James Lynch (USC de-commit): https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/15802
His middle name is literally Husker. Wanted a Husker offer before committing to USC, stud. I think our staff is afraid he is a little bit of a tweener like mcMullen and Stolenburg and they would prefer a big run stuffer, but the kid is a beast and a huge Husker fan.

It will be interesting to see if we go after either. If we do I like our chances to land them, Anyone else out there we might offer soon?

We didn't recruit a guy whose middle name is Husker? Hmm . . . just sayin'.

 

[spinner4]

I'm right there with you, we're forced to hope that someone will develop in to something better than what we've witnessed for the last several years..

I agree. I just not sure it's time to panic on the D-ends on the roster. This post has made me think of a few things.

1. When TO was coach, if a bunch of kids didn't play until their 3rd or 4th year in the program did we just not notice as much because we had depth in front of them and those kids weren't really needed to fill in holes ASAP when they hit campus.

2. Has recruiting sites made us all impatient on kids? Slap a 4 star on a kid and everyone thinks he should be a star the minute he steps on campus. It doesn't work that way. It takes most kids time to develop especially at a spot like DE where most of them need to add weight to see the field.

It just seems like some fans are ready to throw in the towel on the current guys on the roster and its assumed anyone that commits is already better then what's on the roster. I've got to figure JP has learned a bunch about his ends going into his second year and they will be much better next season when he's had time to really work with them. We have 5 guys coming back with game experience & 2 rsFR coming into the mix. The chances it "clicks" for AJ Natter is probably slim but a guy like Alex Davis really has a chance to become a good football player.

3 years ago Alex had never even played organized football. In HS he was basically taught, just go hit the guy with the ball. He was about as raw of a player as they come, coming in. And for that guy to see action in 11 games this year as a rFR makes me believe the kid could really be something special. Not only has he bulked up but he had to learn basically everything in a year & 1/2. Let it come more natural to him and he'll be flying around the field.

Same with DaiShon Neal. The amount of "thinking" he has to do right now is slowing him down but shouldn't that somewhat be expected. kids a freshman. We shouldn't expect rFR to come in and be amazing. We should expect to hear from them maybe their soph year but likely their JR year. I highly expect D-Ends to be a much better product next year and for years to come.

 

[inWV]

I agree. I just not sure it's time to panic on the D-ends on the roster. This post has made me think of a few things.

1. When TO was coach, if a bunch of kids didn't play until their 3rd or 4th year in the program did we just not notice as much because we had depth in front of them and those kids weren't really needed to fill in holes ASAP when they hit campus.

2. Has recruiting sites made us all impatient on kids? Slap a 4 star on a kid and everyone thinks he should be a star the minute he steps on campus. It doesn't work that way. It takes most kids time to develop especially at a spot like DE where most of them need to add weight to see the field.

It just seems like some fans are ready to throw in the towel on the current guys on the roster and its assumed anyone that commits is already better then what's on the roster. I've got to figure JP has learned a bunch about his ends going into his second year and they will be much better next season when he's had time to really work with them. We have 5 guys coming back with game experience & 2 rsFR coming into the mix. The chances it "clicks" for AJ Natter is probably slim but a guy like Alex Davis really has a chance to become a good football player.

3 years ago Alex had never even played organized football. In HS he was basically taught, just go hit the guy with the ball. He was about as raw of a player as they come, coming in. And for that guy to see action in 11 games this year as a rFR makes me believe the kid could really be something special. Not only has he bulked up but he had to learn basically everything in a year & 1/2. Let it come more natural to him and he'll be flying around the field.

Same with DaiShon Neal. The amount of "thinking" he has to do right now is slowing him down but shouldn't that somewhat be expected. kids a freshman. We shouldn't expect rFR to come in and be amazing. We should expect to hear from them maybe their soph year but likely their JR year. I highly expect D-Ends to be a much better product next year and for years to come.

I think we'd all take a Pierre Allen on the roster right now. All Big 12 player. He had 16 tackles as a RS frosh, legit backup duty. The next year he broke out when he was pressed into service after Barry Turner's season ending injury. None of the RS frosh played at Pierre's level this year. A combined six tackles for Alex Davis, Neal and King. Brandon Reilly had two tackles. That doesn't mean they can't become reliable players, but chances are they won't become the type of player that draws the attention of opposing coaches. I hope I am wrong and the beast-mode switches on for one of them.

 

[headcard]

I think we'd all take a Pierre Allen on the roster right now. All Big 12 player. He had 16 tackles as a RS frosh, legit backup duty. The next year he broke out when he was pressed into service after Barry Turner's season ending injury. None of the RS frosh played at Pierre's level this year. A combined six tackles for Alex Davis, Neal and King. Brandon Reilly had two tackles. That doesn't mean they can't become reliable players, but chances are they won't become the type of player that draws the attention of opposing coaches. I hope I am wrong and the beast-mode switches on for one of them.

Freedom reminds me alot of Pierre Allen. Such a great athlete when he got here, but after adding the weight needed to play DE at this level wasn't as athletic. Still a solid DE that can hold the edge.

 

[GBRhuskers]

1. When TO was coach, if a bunch of kids didn't play until their 3rd or 4th year in the program did we just not notice as much because we had depth in front of them and those kids weren't really needed to fill in holes ASAP when they hit campus.

I separated your response for a simpler way of responding.

I'm not a fan of "looking at what happened when TO was coach", as it's been 20 years and so much has changed significantly. With that said, let's take a quick look at what our last six all conference DEs'.

Randy Gregory - JUCO transfer, played immediately.
Eric Martin - converted LB'er, played as true frosh at that spot, switched late in career.
Pierre Allen - redshirt, back-up as redshirt frosh, forced in to action as sophomore.
Adam Carriker - redshirt, situational as redshirt frosh, junior/senior took off.
Grant Wistrom - back-up as true frosh, all conference as sophomore on.
Jared Tomich - redshirt [prop 48], co-starter as redshirt frosh, rest is history.

So as we can see, guys played right away & without trying to recreate history [save Eric Martin], it was pretty obvious our all conference DE's were special early in their career.

2. Has recruiting sites made us all impatient on kids? Slap a 4 star on a kid and everyone thinks he should be a star the minute he steps on campus. It doesn't work that way. It takes most kids time to develop especially at a spot like DE where most of them need to add weight to see the field.

As I look across teams that win at a high level; contributions by true freshmen, redshirt freshmen and sophomores, let's just say first 3 years in program, continue to stick out. But for some reason, it's not happening at Nebraska, for whatever reasons. We continue to talk about stars, patience and everything else when in reality, this position has absolutely killed us. Just imagine the production of Collins or Valentine the last 2 seasons with someone getting after it off the edge. Instead, we were extremely weak on the edge and teams exploited it by controlling the inside.

It just seems like some fans are ready to throw in the towel on the current guys on the roster and its assumed anyone that commits is already better then what's on the roster. I've got to figure JP has learned a bunch about his ends going into his second year and they will be much better next season when he's had time to really work with them. We have 5 guys coming back with game experience & 2 rsFR coming into the mix. The chances it "clicks" for AJ Natter is probably slim but a guy like Alex Davis really has a chance to become a good football player.

I'm not throwing the towel in on anyone. I do think Freedom has to drop some weight to become more effective off the edge. Some say he does a good job against the run, which at times I agree with, but he has to get better getting after it. Pin the ears back and put someone on their ass. Instead, well, we all see what's happening.

3 years ago Alex had never even played organized football. In HS he was basically taught, just go hit the guy with the ball. He was about as raw of a player as they come, coming in. And for that guy to see action in 11 games this year as a rFR makes me believe the kid could really be something special. Not only has he bulked up but he had to learn basically everything in a year & 1/2. Let it come more natural to him and he'll be flying around the field.

I like the potential Alex Davis has. 2017 will be his third year in the system, second season playing for NU, and he's young from a football experience standpoint. It still doesn't mean we are okay at the position though, depth wise. There's a lot of "he's young, let's see how they develop" talk not just with your post but I also hear it a lot at work.

Our patience is what's gotten us in this situation. Continue to recruit, but more importantly sign guys that are better. Each class. Sitting on hope is a recipe for disaster.

Same with DaiShon Neal. The amount of "thinking" he has to do right now is slowing him down but shouldn't that somewhat be expected. kids a freshman. We shouldn't expect rFR to come in and be amazing. We should expect to hear from them maybe their soph year but likely their JR year. I highly expect D-Ends to be a much better product next year and for years to come.

From everything I've heard, Neal has to make a decision if football is what he wants to dedicate himself to or the extra curricular stuff he's involved with [not bad, just not football] away from the field is his preference. If it's the non-football stuff, that's on him but it's also on the coaches as he's on scholarship to play football.

I don't see a problem with people that have the wait and see approach. We as fans don't know what's in the stable, but we do see the product on the field. And right now, it hasn't looked good - and Nebraska football is about a higher level of production.

 

[jflores]

I separated your response for a simpler way of responding.

I'm not a fan of "looking at what happened when TO was coach", as it's been 20 years and so much has changed significantly. With that said, let's take a quick look at what our last six all conference DEs'.

Randy Gregory - JUCO transfer, played immediately.
Eric Martin - converted LB'er, played as true frosh at that spot, switched late in career.
Pierre Allen - redshirt, back-up as redshirt frosh, forced in to action as sophomore.
Adam Carriker - redshirt, situational as redshirt frosh, junior/senior took off.
Grant Wistrom - back-up as true frosh, all conference as sophomore on.
Jared Tomich - redshirt [prop 48], co-starter as redshirt frosh, rest is history.

So as we can see, guys played right away & without trying to recreate history [save Eric Martin], it was pretty obvious our all conference DE's were special early in their career.



As I look across teams that win at a high level; contributions by true freshmen, redshirt freshmen and sophomores, let's just say first 3 years in program, continue to stick out. But for some reason, it's not happening at Nebraska, for whatever reasons. We continue to talk about stars, patience and everything else when in reality, this position has absolutely killed us. Just imagine the production of Collins or Valentine the last 2 seasons with someone getting after it off the edge. Instead, we were extremely weak on the edge and teams exploited it by controlling the inside.



I'm not throwing the towel in on anyone. I do think Freedom has to drop some weight to become more effective off the edge. Some say he does a good job against the run, which at times I agree with, but he has to get better getting after it. Pin the ears back and put someone on their ass. Instead, well, we all see what's happening.



I like the potential Alex Davis has. 2017 will be his third year in the system, second season playing for NU, and he's young from a football experience standpoint. It still doesn't mean we are okay at the position though, depth wise. There's a lot of "he's young, let's see how they develop" talk not just with your post but I also hear it a lot at work.

Our patience is what's gotten us in this situation. Continue to recruit, but more importantly sign guys that are better. Each class. Sitting on hope is a recipe for disaster.



From everything I've heard, Neal has to make a decision if football is what he wants to dedicate himself to or the extra curricular stuff he's involved with [not bad, just not football] away from the field is his preference. If it's the non-football stuff, that's on him but it's also on the coaches as he's on scholarship to play football.

I don't see a problem with people that have the wait and see approach. We as fans don't know what's in the stable, but we do see the product on the field. And right now, it hasn't looked good - and Nebraska football is about a higher level of production.

Not sure if you remember the recruitment of Neal, but he was a position of need (DE) against another big school or two (Oregon/Michigan), and an in-state recruit. Missing on him was not an option in the opinion of this board.

I don't see anyway a coaching staff could have taken a high profile in-state guy like that, and said something to the effect of "he doesn't really want to play football deep down, we're going to look elsewhere".

Not sure if that was part of the implication you intended when you stated:

"If it's the non-football stuff, that's on him but it's also on the coaches as he's on scholarship to play football. "

Certainly Neal could just walk, if that's what he wanted to do some 2 years in. I personally probably wouldn't put that on the coaches.

 

[GBRhuskers]

Not sure if you remember the recruitment of Neal, but he was a position of need (DE) against another big school or two (Oregon/Michigan), and an in-state recruit. Missing on him was not an option in the opinion of this board.

I don't see anyway a coaching staff could have taken a high profile in-state guy like that, and said something to the effect of "he doesn't really want to play football deep down, we're going to look elsewhere".

Not sure if that was part of the implication you intended when you stated:

"If it's the non-football stuff, that's on him but it's also on the coaches as he's on scholarship to play football. "

Certainly Neal could just walk, if that's what he wanted to do some 2 years in. I personally probably wouldn't put that on the coaches.

Yikes.

I remember, and that wasn't the implication I intended. My response has nothing to do with his recruitment, and everything to do with his current status.

 

[jflores]

Yikes.

I remember, and that wasn't the implication I intended. My response has nothing to do with his recruitment, and everything to do with his current status.

Yah, I supposed it did as well. Thing is, I'd be reading it as

"GBR is suggesting that Neal should be politely shown the door". That would free up a scholly yes, but that wouldn't assuage fears here. We're worried about filling the schollies with quality DE we have for one, and overall depth even with Neal. Riley playing tough guy here, might earn some kudos, but it wouldn't radically better his immediate DE picture.

 

[GBRhuskers]

Yah, I supposed it did as well. Thing is, I'd be reading it as

"GBR is suggesting that Neal should be politely shown the door". That would free up a scholly yes, but that wouldn't assuage fears here. We're worried about filling the schollies with quality DE we have for one, and overall depth even with Neal. Riley playing tough guy here, might earn some kudos, but it wouldn't radically better his immediate DE picture.

Interpret however you choose, even after I clarified. Heavy sigh.

 

[jflores]

Interpret however you choose, even after I clarified. Heavy sigh.

"My response has nothing to do with his recruitment, and everything to do with his current status."

Yah, so "current status" could mean any number of things, I took it to mean his current status as a scholarship player. Which if altered, basically alludes to being shown the door.

If you meant something else by "current status" apologies.

 

[GBRhuskers]

"My response has nothing to do with his recruitment, and everything to do with his current status."

Yah, so "current status" could mean any number of things, I took it to mean his current status as a scholarship player. Which if altered, basically alludes to being shown the door.

If you meant something else by "current status" apologies.

No, "GBR" isn't "politely suggesting Neal get shown the door". You seem to like discussion so next time, just ask instead of assuming for multiple responses. I'm not against answering questions.

Current status is Neal at Nebraska, not Neal at Omaha Central.

 

[jflores]

No, "GBR" isn't "politely suggesting Neal get shown the door". You seem to like discussion so next time, just ask instead of assuming for multiple responses. I'm not against answering questions.

Current status is Neal at Nebraska, not Neal at Omaha Central.

Just killing time at work

 

[KingBlackshirt]

Daniels is delaying his decision after we were the leader. Looks like another loss on the DL. This recruiting cycle is turning out much like the others, so much promise and then meh.

Kinda like every season since 2001...

Ok not that bad I really like some of the guys, Roberts has All Conference written all over him.