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Tom Osborne's teams (championship and otherwise) were built on RS Srs. I think it's the only way to go.
Every single team in the Big Ten that has a record better than Nebraska is starting first and second year players on their offensive line. Be that a true freshman, redshirt freshman or true sophomore. Building teams on redshirt seniors is a thing of the past. You simply cannot afford to have 1/4 of your scholarship players be OL.
If you take 4 OL every year and redshirt everyone of them. You will have 20 OL.
Building the lines are very important but it has to be done with quality OL and DL not quantity. That comes with talent evaluation and recruiting, not stockpiling a bunch of Zach Hannons and Duane Johnsons,
There are a few of assumptions made in the "we should burn the shirt and win now" thought.
First one is that we would actually win because of it. There is no guarantee we would win or even be marginally better by adding a single piece or two to the puzzle. Say Tommy gets hurt and he's out the next 2-3 weeks, and now we have a burned shirt based on the fact that we figured it would give us a chance to win those games. But with Tommy hurt, I hate our chances to win another game. Injuries to other parts of the puzzle make that decision a moot point very quickly.
Second, You're likely talking about pulling a kid off of the scout team and thrusting them into Nebraska's offense and expecting them to execute well. Most redshirts don't take many practice reps outside of scout team and indy practice because the real reps relating to scheme and game plan execution are given to the players who will play or have the possibility of playing on Saturday. So, its not like Boe Wilson or any of the other redshirts have been taking many reps executing Langsdorf's or Banker's schemes, practicing and waiting for their opportunity to get on the field on Saturday. They're spending a lot of time learning by watching and working on individual technique, but they're not working a ton of the offense or defensive scheme right now.
We can't run plays because the guys are hurt....So we tell the seniors bust your ass for us eventhough we are not going to do everything we can to win...ok
Play the ones that have the proper skills (whether Fr. or RS Sr.) the more years in the program, the greater chance they'll have the proper skills. Did Osborne use only RS players? No. But many were. I think the current staff is using that same philosophy.
By the same token very few teams have three true freshmen and a couple second year players on the line and have much success. I get the wanting the best talent out there, but I can see where the coaches want these boys physically ready for next year when you'll definitely see a more diverse offense.
The current staff is trying to filter out the non productive players on the team. By redshirting their commits and working to get them up to speed this year, they can play them all next year. Gates and maybe.....maybe Knevel will play next season.
There is a difference between what Osborne did with redshirts and what Riley is doing. One was building depth the other is building for next year first and then will build for depth.
Osborne inherited a well-oiled machine. Riley did not. The idea is to build depth. You don't burn a redshirt unless you have to. We're not winning the B1G so no urgency there. Let them redshirt, add some muscle, learn the playbook. This year was supposed to hurt still. I guess that Saturday was our hurt. Outside of that, it's been a pleasant season.
If I had the courage I go back and find the 1 play where we had 4 Linemen in the middle standing around and the back all alone down the line being gang tackled.
I find it hard to believe the youngsters would be that inept. It looked like the old Monty Python Twit Races skit. Everyone just wandering with no apparent direction.
If a freshman is ready to step in and help us win, IF, the coaches will know it from watching practice, they ain't stupid they know who the best healthy linemen on the team are. If a freshman is able to come in and help, they better damn well be playing him and it would be awful not to. I suspect they would play them and those of you saying they wouldn't are dead wrong, imo.
This is big boy football and this season is very important and the coaches know that. I hope they don't have the quitter, defeatist attitude I'm seeing here.
I choose to believe a freshman will play if he can help because our team is competitive.
This is big boy football and this season is very important and the coaches know that. I hope they don't have the quitter, defeatist attitude I'm seeing here.
I choose to believe a freshman will play if he can help because our team is competitive.
Quitter, defeatist attitude? What does that look like?
Building for the future is a viable strategy as well. It seems as if the coaches are doing just that.
For sure. We're not going to promiseland this year. The same peeps that were predicting gloom and doom are now requiring perfection from this year's squad in order for them to be on board. Lame. We're still rebuilding. We purged most of the cancer. We've got most on board. Now, we're working on stocking up the cupboards.
The future looks bright.
we have so many injuries right now that I am not sure how much they are getting out of practice...meanwhile alabama literally has NFL guys coming back to practice with them....didnt even know this was legal
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...-performs-scoutteam-role-as-leonard-fournette
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...-performs-scoutteam-role-as-leonard-fournette
Wish we could get rid of some of the cancer on this board... And I'm sure some feel the same way about me... Don't want to point the finger without pointing the thumb as well.
Wish we could get rid of some of the cancer on this board... And I'm sure some feel the same way about me... Don't want to point the finger without pointing the thumb as well.
I'm probably more of a gallstone or something than cancer.
Well, I must say...they DO excel at identifying the non productive players. MRI is MIA unless he's protesting police. He'd be all world if we played Michigan Blue.
If you are referring to me, you're wrong, I didn't predict doom and gloom nor do I require perfection though I do believe we should have been more competitive Saturday.
In regards to this discussion, I simply find it ridiculous that our coaches would say "this player would be our best option at this position, but no let's not play him even though we are 7-2 and are competitive individuals who want to win." It's nonsense. Why is my opinion so hard to believe? Why do you and Tim have to spread false generalizations about anyone who disagrees with what you perceive the staff could be doing? Why do you feel the need to constantly create assumptions to protect our staff to make them look perfect? Threatened?
If a freshman doesn't play could it simply be because he shows he's not ready or our best option in practice?
Lame.
I wish we could get rid of some of the people who can't look objectively at anything and throw out blotard, cancer, hater, not real fans, ect at any whiff of what could be questioning of the staff, even when that wasn't the intent of a poster.Wish we could get rid of some of the cancer on this board... And I'm sure some feel the same way about me... Don't want to point the finger without pointing the thumb as well.
All I did was say it's stupid to think our coaches wouldn't play the best players, now there is talk of cancers on a board, doom and gloom perfectionists, etc.
And don't anyone dare raise alarm of a 60 point loss! How could you expect any better?! You hate Riley and want him to fail if you criticize it! Right?
People like you and your cultish ilk are nuts. Yes point the thumb, and jam it in your eye for good measure.
Sorry Sally, didn't know you were so sensitive. It was a joke which is why I poked fun at myself as well. Didn't mean to strike a cord.
You will not find a post anywhere that I have posted calling anyone a bloner, blotard, or anything of the sort. Rarely have I ever questioned whether a poster was a fan or not... I have not accused anybody of wanting the team to lose.
What I am guilty of is asking posters to give this coaching staff time before judging them. Before Saturday we were 7-1 with an OT loss at a top 10 team's stadium at night... but this blowout has everyone on edge and some have made up their minds about this coaching staff already.
Gripes are fine. Differences of opinion are fine. But posting stuff that says because Riley was average at OSU he, by default, will be average here as well. To me that's short sighted and unfair. Why can't fans give them time?
screw off, you call others sensitive but can't handle when someone posts anything questioning Riley
And how many are actually posting that stuff? Three? Honestly the ratio of Riley apologists outweighs people posting OSU stats at least 20:1.
And again, none of that has anything to do with what I originally argued, that it is silly to think our coaches won't play the best players. But you and others can keep putting words in people's mouths and feel superior.
We are caught between a rock and a hard place without any good solutions. The good news is we should be able to run the ball some against Minnesota, Maryland and Iowa with our injured and patched line.
I have no idea what my response is about, nor do I know why I responded to you.
My apology, goodness that's awful.
I've got my own opinions and have no problem expressing them. Don't lump me with any other poster. If I agree with them on any issue or they agree with me it is all just a coincidence. As far as referencing you, again, just a coincidence. You may or may not feel that a post of mine might apply to you. However, unless I quote you personally or flat-out state your name I am talking about generalities.
This staff is not perfect. I do see constant improvement and a professionalism that was lacking in the previous staff. As far as burning redshirts go, I stated my opinion about that earlier in this thread.
I think those seniors probably realize that inserting a true freshman from the scout team at this point in time is not going to make things better. When I played college football, if the player wasn't good enough to not redshirt to begin with, then I was not in favor of pulling a kid's redshirt. You think the seniors think the success of their season depends on a kid or two who haven't practiced in the scheme and have been with the program since August? You're completely wrong. Most reasonable seniors, while they want to win more than anyone else on that team, are probably not going to put a win ahead of the career of one of their brothers on the team. And acting in the interest of what some fans think is best, which is the potential for another win or two, is very likely not something that appeals to the seniors you reference in your post. Those seniors want what is best for their brothers, don't mistake that.They also realize better than people who haven't played the game at that level how difficult it is for a true freshman to come in and play well. Based on that and my experience playing the game at the college level and the teammates I was around, none would have been in favor of taking a kid's redshirt who clearly needs it, especially to appease a few fans.
I can't believe this but I agree wholeheartedly... now just put a MAJOR focus on recruiting the best OL and DL prospects out there....
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