Riley wants Wilbon more involved....

[HBK4life]

However, "The guy we have to get going is Mikale Wilbon," Riley said. "He's got the ability. He's just got to get into the flow — learn better and then produce. Abilitywise, he should be playing."
The 5-8, 190-pound Wilbon, a sophomore from Chicago, had nine carries for 35 yards in the first two games last season, then was hardly heard from again. He never had another carry. Reggie Davis, the Husker running backs coach, shed light as to why in an interview in December.

"Mikale has to get a real good grasp of the offense, to where the errors are not there and he's on top of the plays — play-in and play-out," Davis said. "Consistency is probably the best way to say it." "It's one thing for a running back to take a handoff," he said. "But is he going to pick up the right guy in pass protection? Is he going to run the pass route the right way? Consistency in the playbook is a good way to sum it all up." "He's a good guy. Has good habits. But he's got to compete and get in there and do all the parts (of the position). It's very difficult to put a running back in the game if he's one-dimensional." From LJS

 

[GretnaShawn]

I'm glad they want to get him involved! But it's not that hard to get a one dimensional player more than 10 carries in a season. If he is really talented, make a couple packages for him and get him the damn ball.

 

[TheLiberalHunter]

E

I'm glad they want to get him involved! But it's not that hard to get a one dimensional player more than 10 carries in a season. If he is really talented, make a couple packages for him and get him the damn ball.

Every time I hear that packages phrase I think of predictability. i think of Solich going 5 wide for the obvious QB draw and Callahan running the Pass to the fullback at the goal line.

 

[Crushinator]

E


Every time I hear that packages phrase I think of predictability. i think of Solich going 5 wide for the obvious QB draw and Callahan running the Pass to the fullback at the goal line.

Agree with the coaches on this one. If you want to play in the games you'd better know how to play your whole position. Athletes are great, but NU needs football players.

 

[yort2000]

I'm glad they want to get him involved! But it's not that hard to get a one dimensional player more than 10 carries in a season. If he is really talented, make a couple packages for him and get him the damn ball.

Yes, why the hell were the coaches giving one of the hardest working players on the the team 111 carries? Those need to go to someone who is faster and not giving half the effort. SARCASM!!!!!!

 

[Huskers_Rule]

I'm glad they want to get him involved! But it's not that hard to get a one dimensional player more than 10 carries in a season. If he is really talented, make a couple packages for him and get him the damn ball.

I don't like packages for RBs unless you are Hershel Walker or a facsimile. It doesn't take but one game for the other team's to figure out what kind of package it is and eventually the plays.

 

[GretnaShawn]

Well that got a bigger response than I would have imagined....

All I am trying to say is that if Wilbon is truly the best RB, but can't figure out the entire playbook, find a way to get him in. It doesn't have to be a 'package' or a special formation. But figure out the 20 plays he knows and put him in. He can also be used as a decoy, he doesn't have to get the ball every time.

 

[tro80]

It is possible to be successful when everyone knows its a running play and who is getting the ball, not unlike Kansas State back in the day when the whole world new LP was getting the ball on darn near each and every carry, but only if you have the pipeline blocking for you. Until we get back to having a dominant offensive line, that's just not going to work, IMO.

You also have to ask yourself what that would do to the morale of your running back corps if one guy is playing even though he doesn't do any of the things the others are being told they have to do in order to get on the field. And where is the incentive to do what it takes to learn to play the whole position? Have to say I'm with Riley on that.

 

[keilwitzg]

It doesn't make sense. How was he knowledgeable to start the first game or two and not there after?? Actually I don't remember if he or Newby or Cross started the game against BYU but how was he able to get in those first two games then not anymore??

You mean to tell me he was smart enough during the fall camp for the coaches to place their faith in him in games to start the year, but not too smart after the second game?

There was a rumor that he was in the doghouse for something? And that makes more sense than "he just couldn't do all the things the other backs could do." Because it sure looked like he could do those things when he was playing. Maybe it was more pass blocking scheme that I wasn't catching? Jmo.

 

[GretnaShawn]

It is possible to be successful when everyone knows its a running play and who is getting the ball, not unlike Kansas State back in the day when the whole world new LP was getting the ball on darn near each and every carry, but only if you have the pipeline blocking for you. Until we get back to having a dominant offensive line, that's just not going to work, IMO.

You also have to ask yourself what that would do to the morale of your running back corps if one guy is playing even though he doesn't do any of the things the others are being told they have to do in order to get on the field. And where is the incentive to do what it takes to learn to play the whole position? Have to say I'm with Riley on that.

I am under the impression that he is struggling with grasping the playbook and not with having poor technique (etc). If a kid is not doing the little things right or practicing hard, then yes, don't play him.

But if he is the best RB on the team with the ball in his hands and just can't grasp 100% of the playbook, get him on the field. It doesn't have to be all running plays or plays that give him the ball or a special formation. If he knows what to do on a specific 35 plays in the playbook, then he should be able to get 5-10 snaps a game.

Again- if he has work ethic issues or something along that nature, don't play him. But all I got from that is he doesn't know what to do on every play in the playbook. And in that case, he should get some snaps.

 

[timnsun]

It doesn't make sense. How was he knowledgeable to start the first game or two and not there after?? Actually I don't remember if he or Newby or Cross started the game against BYU but how was he able to get in those first two games then not anymore??

You mean to tell me he was smart enough during the fall camp for the coaches to place their faith in him in games to start the year, but not too smart after the second game?

There was a rumor that he was in the doghouse for something? And that makes more sense than "he just couldn't do all the things the other backs could do." Because it sure looked like he could do those things when he was playing. Maybe it was more pass blocking scheme that I wasn't catching? Jmo.

And even if he was in the doghouse, and I'm not saying that he was, it makes sense that the coaches would not say that. What they are doing is letting him know that if he does what he supposed to do, he will see the field.

 

[all_N]

Um....where was it said that he was the best RB on the team? Riley said "ability wise he should be playing". A ways from saying he's better than all the other RB's.

 

[JohnRossEwing]

And even if he was in the doghouse, and I'm not saying that he was, it makes sense that the coaches would not say that. What they are doing is letting him know that if he does what he supposed to do, he will see the field.

Great...another doghouse?

 

[GretnaShawn]

Um....where was it said that he was the best RB on the team? Riley said "ability wise he should be playing". A ways from saying he's better than all the other RB's.

I never said he was. In all of my posts I have said 'if' not that he is.

 

[otismotis08]

Sounds like he needed to mature. Hopefully that happened and he's ready to roll.
I think there's plenty-o-talent at the RB position. Need the OL to assert itself, and the coaching staff to commit to the run.

 

[HuskerLLM]

Wilbon wasn't the starter in the first couple of gamed, it was Newby followed by Cross.

 

[headcard]

Sounds like he wasn't doing the things coaches wanted him to do, so he wasn't playing. They think he has talent and would like to use him, but they won't until he lives up to their expectations. Pretty simple really.

 

[chicolby]

Here comes the typical gang to come in and question a coach for not playing someone as though they know better than the man making $3 mil a year for his craft. I applaud Riley for mentioning Wilbon's skills, but he just set up all the doubters with ammo now to question why he wasn't playing more.

I don't know if there was a dog house or not, but if there was one, let's give the head coach some leeway to use it if he needed to. I don't buy the "dog house" anyway - I think ultimately they felt Wilbon needed to learn more and apparently he also knew that because he didn't transfer after the first season.

Let the coaches coach, please.

 

[tro80]

I get the impression that it isn't a situation where he has a handful of plays down. I get the feeling he keeps messing up on different plays at different times - that is he runs a play correctly once or even several times, but screws it up the next time around. But, maybe he gets a different one down, but then screws it up next time. Coach didn't say learning the play book. MR said consistency with the play book. But, maybe I'm reading more into the terms he used than is there. You could pull a handful of plays out and use solely with him, but as was said before, it won't take long for teams to figure that out. 1995 Husker line could have made him a 6.5 yards per carry back even if we ran the same play over and over. 2015 Husker line -- not a chance. (I see 2015, because I don't know what 2016 line will bring).

 

[inWV]

If he really wasn't ready to play, then he shouldn't have been playing. College FB is littered with kids who failed to capitalize on their innate talent.

 

[headcard]

Here comes the typical gang to come in and question a coach for not playing someone as though they know better than the man making $3 mil a year for his craft. I applaud Riley for mentioning Wilbon's skills, but he just set up all the doubters with ammo now to question why he wasn't playing more.

I don't know if there was a dog house or not, but if there was one, let's give the head coach some leeway to use it if he needed to. I don't buy the "dog house" anyway - I think ultimately they felt Wilbon needed to learn more and apparently he also knew that because he didn't transfer after the first season.

Let the coaches coach, please.

It sounded like he was trying to send Wilbon a message to me.

 

[TruHusker]

It must be a pretty simple process to play RB in college football. Set 20-30 plays and get good at them and run them. Never mind the defense changes multiple times before the snap so just running "a play" doesn't mean much. Yea he can run 42 pitch against a 4 -3 base package and then they change to a 3-4 look backing the DE off and coming with a zone blitz. A good coach can't just look at the 10 running plays the player had, he has to look at the entire picture. It seems reasonable that Riley and company could see the talent the kid had and wanted to get him on the field. Hopefully that would motivate him to improve the parts of his game that needed attention but apparently it didn't. Fans just have to be careful to not be so myopic when they are watching a kid play thinking one or two nice plays equal stardom. Riley knows more about football in his little finger nail than probably everyone else on this board combined.

 

[NUSouth]

f

However, "The guy we have to get going is Mikale Wilbon," Riley said. "He's got the ability. He's just got to get into the flow — learn better and then produce. Abilitywise, he should be playing."
The 5-8, 190-pound Wilbon, a sophomore from Chicago, had nine carries for 35 yards in the first two games last season, then was hardly heard from again. He never had another carry. Reggie Davis, the Husker running backs coach, shed light as to why in an interview in December.

"Mikale has to get a real good grasp of the offense, to where the errors are not there and he's on top of the plays — play-in and play-out," Davis said. "Consistency is probably the best way to say it." "It's one thing for a running back to take a handoff," he said. "But is he going to pick up the right guy in pass protection? Is he going to run the pass route the right way? Consistency in the playbook is a good way to sum it all up." "He's a good guy. Has good habits. But he's got to compete and get in there and do all the parts (of the position). It's very difficult to put a running back in the game if he's one-dimensional." From LJS

funny thing, the game he got in was the first one. Did he forget stuff as the year went by ?

 

[TruHusker]

f

funny thing, the game he got in was the first one. Did he forget stuff as the year went by ?

The coaches gave him an opportunity because he has some special skills. He evidently showed them he was not ready for prime time. What is so hard to see about that?

 

[chicolby]

It sounded like he was trying to send Wilbon a message to me.

I agree completely. And then average Joe fan freaks out with the predictable "if he was good enough in game one, did he forget how to play?"

This was my point. Let Riley manage Wilbon.

 

[haileyhusker]

Ozigbo is the real deal. I'm sure Wilbon could compliment him, but no more so than Newby IMO. I would expect we get a big time RB in the 2017 class, so if Wilbon wants to make his mark, it's now or never,but Ozigbo at 225 lbs plays very smooth and tough IMO. Now that we have some Olineman in the interior that are Big/Strong/Athletic, the interior run game should only improve.

 

[chicolby]

From what I've seen, I agree that Ozigbo has some talent, but I don't think he's the kind of back Riley and Langs prefer for their offense. Seems like they like the quicker nimble guy and an Ozigbo might be a better change-up back. Ideally, they would split carries 50-50 at some point, though I'm not really sure where Newby fits into this discussion. It seems like he rarely broke tackles and made it to the second gear. Maybe he will see the light in his final season.

 

[TheBeav815]

What the staff is saying about Wilbon matches what was said on the board, which is that it wasn't a lack of talent keeping him off the field.

The comment Vrzal made about Parella back when he was a scout teamer stood out to me. Vrz was an underclassman practicing a crapload of snaps because he was on two scout teams, and he was tired so he half-assed a play against Parella. He said Parella got right in his face and called him out, told him NEVER to come at him with anything less than 100%.

I don't get the impression the team really has those guys in place like it needs, to where if somebody isn't putting the work in, he's got other players to deal with. And they also don't have the talent where they can afford to put every slacker on the bench.

Sure, Wilbon wasn't studying the offense like he needs to, but who was gonna bust him for it? Newby who is a totally average RB? Ozigbo who is a true freshman? Cross who can do a million push-ups but never started? A guy like Wilbon looks around at those guys and says, "I'm better than all of you. You can't tell me anything."

Hopefully he's got the message after collecting splinters in his butt for a year. Same sentiment was in the 30 for 30 on the '85 Bears. Ditka came in there and if guys were taking plays off, he cut them from the team.

You either have that culture or you don't. IMO a lazy Wilbon is still better than Newby, but you can't just let lazy players have starting jobs and expect to ever be great.

 

[huskerj12]

Guys, not all "doghouses" are created equal. If he was being held out for a non-playing reason, it doesn't mean it was just at random like Bo's doghouse sometimes seemed. I remember hearing that Wilbon was hanging out with a bad crowd and getting into some trouble, but adjusted his attitude by the end of the year. Sometimes guys need to grow up.

 

[JohnRossEwing]

The coaches gave him an opportunity because he has some special skills. He evidently showed them he was not ready for prime time. What is so hard to see about that?

Why couldn't they help him get ready? Is he that far behind? I hope not.

 

[leodisflowers]

Why couldn't they help him get ready? Is he that far behind? I hope not.

I'm not sure that was a true statement. I think it is purely his attitude. What I have heard from some friends who follow it a lot closer than I do, is that he is the best we have and was slated to start last year if Bo would have been the coach. Take it for what it is worth because it is all 3rd hand to me at this point, but I trust the people that told me he has all of the talent in the world, and should be the starter. I hope the kid adjusts his attitude.

 

[TruHusker]

Why couldn't they help him get ready? Is he that far behind? I hope not.

You assume they didn't? It is not unusual for guys to find out they really have a lot to learn verses just getting by on their pure athletic talent. It is not the pure running that apparently is the concern - its the everything else that goes along with it. He apparently did not want to or was unable to make the changes he needed to make. Looks like it is all up to him now to make that leap. Just shows that judging a player on 10 plays doesn't always tell the entire story.

 

[NikkiSixx]

What is hard to know is if that was a message to Wilbon, or if it was a message to the fans instead. If it was just a message to the player, that could have easily been done in private. Why bring all that up publicly like that? That is the part that seems weird to me.

 

[TheBeav815]

What is hard to know is if that was a message to Wilbon, or if it was a message to the fans instead. If it was just a message to the player, that could have easily been done in private. Why bring all that up publicly like that? That is the part that seems weird to me.

Because a reporter asked him. They were using it to challenge Wilbon to step up and claim the role this year. Basically saying, "He has the talent, he can and should be playing, here's what he needs to do."

 

[Cornicator]

From what I've seen, I agree that Ozigbo has some talent, but I don't think he's the kind of back Riley and Langs prefer for their offense. Seems like they like the quicker nimble guy and an Ozigbo might be a better change-up back. Ideally, they would split carries 50-50 at some point, though I'm not really sure where Newby fits into this discussion. It seems like he rarely broke tackles and made it to the second gear. Maybe he will see the light in his final season.

I disagree 100%. He's the exact type of running back they want for this scheme. He's a pro style one cut and go running back. They do want multiple players to carry the football, but if they had their wish, their starter would be 5'11 225 with some wiggle, like Devine. But, we can agree to disagree..


As for Mikale Wilbon, I do believe he was in the doghouse in 2015. Keep in mind, he was an early option on Special teams and those roles were taken away from him as well. Returning a kickoff or blocking in the return game doesn't take a lot of playbook understanding.

 

[inWV]

I disagree 100%. He's the exact type of running back they want for this scheme. He's a pro style one cut and go running back. They do want multiple players to carry the football, but if they had their wish, their starter would be 5'11 225 with some wiggle, like Devine. But, we can agree to disagree..


As for Mikale Wilbon, I do believe he was in the doghouse in 2015. Keep in mind, he was an early option on Special teams and those roles were taken away from him as well. Returning a kickoff or blocking in the return game doesn't take a lot of playbook understanding.

Agreed on Devine. Would be nice if he were a step quicker, but he looked really smooth as a freshman. As for Wilbon, it's not like RM is saying the kid stinks. In fact, he is stating the opposite. The kid has a lot of talent and should be playing, but he cannot be a liability to the other ten guys on the field in terms of his non-ball carrying duties.