My official expectation is that the team will be improved, but we may not know it from the W-L column.
Offense:
If Greg Austin can coach a lick the o-line has to make a leap forward this year. They're amassing too much size and talent for them to be awful year after year. It's time for them to break out this year. But then the Bears o-line can't block a zone run play and they make millions to play football for a living, so what do I know?
If Mills can have a healthy season, it will shock me if he doesn't put up a really nice per-game average. They need to let him run wild in division play. He should be "seeing it" this year in terms of which gaps to hit in the zone game. I'm still banging that drum that if they start making hay on inside & outside zone, this offense will catch fire. The O has been a campfire on a rainy day, inside and outside zone are the kindling. Get those burning and the rest is gonna ignite...IF you have a QB who can be accurate.
Behind Mills is going to be nothing but question marks and camp fluff until we see some game action. Rahmir didn't look ready last year, nobody knows what Tompkins will be. Scott III and Sevion have the talent and the physical development to be instant-impact guys, but will they have the mental side ready?
WR blocking should improve under Lubick if nothing else. He and Frost were on that "no block no rock" program at Oregon, they won't be at odds over that philosophy at NU.
Wan'dale is hurt and in a walking boot from reports. Better now than 3 weeks from now I guess, but he's not the kind of guy you want hampered with a tweaked ankle or turf toe. His game is to be sudden and dynamic in space, that disappears with those kind of injuries. Just massive that we get a free year of Wan'dale, not for his own sake but so we can develop some stuff around him and it doesn't have to be the "Wan'dale on One Leg Show" like it was last year. The prospect of defending triple with him, Mills, and LMC in the backfield sounds awful if I'm a linebacker.
Manning is hurt, sounds like they're trying to get him right and go easy before the season starts. With a WR I just assume ankle or hamstring. Super frustrating, NU hasn't had a WR who really strikes fear in a defense and creates mismatches since what, Maurice Purify?
Alante Brown's name keeps coming up. It drives me nuts that JD Spielman should have been part of this group but I digress. I'll believe it from a Nebraska WR when I see it. We're in a long stretch of years where if you were offered to trade our entire WR corps for Nate Swift and Todd Peterson you'd be like "YES! YES. I will make the trade immediately, send in Nate and Todd." Which makes this the perfect time to remind everyone how sorely we missed Kade Warner last year when he was hurt for all the noise about fast dudes who are not 6 feet tall in the preseason. Tons of walk-on bodies at WR, which says to me they're hellbent on building depth here one way or another. Somebody's gotta get them the ball.
At TE, man am I sick of hearing what a breakout year this will be for the TE position year after year. Been hearing it going back all the way to Cethan Carter, who is currently a Drew Sample injury away from being Joe Burrow's safety valve with the Bengals. We've got some dudes at this position, but it won't count for anything if we can't get them the ball. We all hoped Hickman would be the next Noah Fant, he got moved to WR because the depth and blocking on the outside were so hideous. To my knowledge he's still not back in the TE room, which I personally think slams a low ceiling down on his head. Vokolek is supposed to be a dude. Thus far we've heard lots of TE hype and nobody has unseated Jack Stoll for the top spot, and that tells you all you need to know. Nothing against Stoll, but I'm not aware that pro scouts are salivating over him.
QB will be super interesting this year since it's a free year for Logan Smothers. No reason not to get him involved, no reason for Adrian to have a long leash this year if he goes out there and plays scared again. Last year they didn't want to burn Luke's RS and they succeeded at that, but at cost. QB play was abysmal last year, they can't allow it this year. Reminder that I am (woo woo) all aboard the Logan Smothers hype train. Kid is weapons-grade fast.
I hope we continue to see Luke all over the field, he's too smart and athletic to just sit behind Adrian if he doesn't win that starting job. I know he's not built like Christian, but I still see RB instincts in him when he carries the ball. He's a natural running the option, would have been a hell of an Osborne QB. Interested to see how his accuracy has come along.
Defense:
Stop me if you've heard this one...costly injuries at DB are already sucking away talented starters before the season even begins. Braxton Clark tore up a shoulder and is done for the season. They moved Javin Wright down to OLB and he tore an MCL, done for the season. Did we ever figure out what happened to the dude who flipped the 4-wheeler? I haven't heard if he's great or he died. I have to believe our DB play continues to be really up and down, flashes of great plays from athletic players followed by plays where you go, "How does he not make a play on that ball???"
DL we have bodies, bodies, bodies. We know Nash can squat your house and Ty Robinson is very large. Would like to see a breakout year from Keem Green, he came in with lots of hype and was a year away mentally and with his conditioning last year. Daniels really plateaued after looking super promising in his early career. Would love to see him play up to his physical potential. Oh by the way Stille and Thomas are still on this team. I feel like Deontre Thomas has played for Nebraska since like 2005, he is somehow a Junior.
There are like 35 walk-ons and 8 scholarship guys on DL besides who I just mentioned. Rogers, Wildeman, Riley the JUCO. Somebody's gotta break out from all that right? Right??
At OLB, they moved Payne outside from DE after he got sick and lost a bunch of weight evidently. Interesting, dunno if it speaks to his athleticism so much as the screaming needs at OLB and the logjam at DL. They moved Javin Wright down to OLB, he popped a knee. Says to me that Dawson is screaming for some kids who can play.
I have no idea who this dude Niko Cooper is, I'm a Blaise Gunnerson enthusiast, but he's going to be a true freshman at a super physical position. We saw with Nelson that a mullet and a motor aren't always enough to be an immediate impact player. Caleb Tannor...yeah, any time he wants to get consistent would be great.
There are literally zero guys on the roster at OLB that I'm excited about who aren't named JoJo Domann, who I wish was still a safety because I think he could have been special there. He's an ok OLB and I think he could have been an excellent safety. Frost threw some subtle shade on the old OLB coach this week, basically said something to the effect of at least these guys will be expected to play hard and know their technique this year. Yikes. There's a handful of walk-ons at OLB, don't be shocked if we see one.
At ILB, we have a high floor and I don't know how high the ceiling might be. We know what we have in Honas and Miller, which is both a little nice and a little depressing. Speaking of players I wish were at different positions, I don't understand how Colin Miller never ended up at OLB after starting as a 4-3 DE. It's like they just refuse to move his position again at this point. Or maybe he couldn't cover a dead cat with a large blanket, I dunno.
Sounds like Jackson Hannah struggled adjusting to college and college ball last year. I loved his HS film, I hope the lightbulb comes on for him. He's not athletic enough to be a step slow mentally, he's gotta be a guy who anticipates.
Speaking of loving film, Mauga-Clements. He and Henrich on film are just a couple of football-seeking missiles, it's like they phase shift to the ball carrier and light him up. Can they do it in D1? Henrich tore up a shoulder last year, everyone wants to love him because he's a Nebraska LB phenom. How fitting he's coached by a Ruud. Luke Reimer got a scholarship, that's gotta be a good sign. Bunch of walk-ons here too. They should be deep at ILB, if inexperienced behind Honas and Miller.
My concerns on defense are still depth and athleticism at key spots. All the 6-5 325 lb DLs in the world don't help if you can't make plays on the edge and down the field. I suspect that we're going to see in Game 1 just how far we have to go in terms of dudes who can flat out run and hit, and ball hawk a football in the air. I think OSU controls that game tape to tape, but we just might jump up and surprise Wisconsin.
But we've GOT TO stay healthy at DB. Too thin there, and OLB is still two years away.
Overall, I think we flirt with .500 and depending on the Ws, .500 could be a huge improvement.
