QB - Martinez looks quicker. Seems happier and more confident. He is still making some head-scratching plays. Throwing the ball backwards for instance. Pretty sure he's what we saw in the past, but hopefully with fewer mistakes. I still expect some dumb plays from him this season, which may keep him from being a dominant player, but if he cuts back on the dumb plays he will make enough good ones that I think he'll be adequate, hopefully freshman year Adrian and not sophomore/junior year Adrian. I think if we lose Adrian, next season will be rough. Not sure I'd like to go into a Big 10 season with any of the others. Smothers looks like a faster Matt Turman. Haarberg looks like a prospect, but he's not ready IMO. Please, please let us find some other option for 3rd and 1 next season that doesn't involve Martinez running up the middle. He needs to stay healthy.
RB - I liked almost all of the RBs. I didn't love any of them. I'm not sure what we got. I have no idea if Stepp will be healthy, and even if he is, he hasn't done anything at Nebraska. He seems like the best option at this point, but he's such a big question mark. I did like Morrison out of the backfield. It was nice to see him play. Yant looks like a load. Ervin may be the best all around back from the spring game. Scott had good plays. So did Thompkins, but I can't trust his health. Johnson didn't play, but from past performance, he needs to be on the kickoff return team; beyond that I'm not a fan. Overall I'm not too worried, but we need someone that Frost has confidence in so we don't rely on Martinez as our leading rusher.
WRs - Looks like a good room. Toure looks as advertised and Martin looks like he's going to be a good player. Manning *may* be a great player. And there are several other who also looked good, Nixon in particular. He will play some. Betts is as good of a young prospect as we've had in a while. And there are others on the squad who I think can play, but if Manning is ready it'll be him, Toure, and Martin.
TEs - Sucks for Fidone, but as a group it's still pretty good. It's still a question mark as to whether we'll ever actually utilize the TEs in the passing game, but if we do, I think we've got some players. Allen isn't the NFL prospect that Frost makes him out to be, but he might have a shot at making a roster. For a college TE, he can make a difference if we give him a chance.
OL - Lots of talent. That's good. I won't trust anything I see until we play real games in the fall. Oh, one thing. Cam's snaps were on point. Not just no snaps over the head of the QB, but they weren't even at the helmet one time followed by the ankles the next time. They seemed consistent quality snaps. That at least I was happy with, and is a promising sign for fall.
DL - We have loads of depth. None jump out as deluxe pass rushers, but in a 3-4 defense that's not to surprising. Some big, grown-up men in that group.
LBs - Sorry to hear about Honas. Sucks for him, but Reimers needs to be one of the middle LBs. He just has more speed and instincts than the rest. MLBs should be good, even though losing Honas hurts depth. OLBs may be better than in the past. Pass rush as a whole will be by committee, but assuming JoJo is ready to go in the fall, at least we should have decent coverage LBs and some pass rush. Gunnerson flashed a little. I didn't spot Payne, although last year he showed a little something. If he improves, perhaps OLB may not be our worst group.
DBs - Should be good. Still not entirely sold on our returning safeties, but there's experience there and some decent depth. I'd love to see Cam Taylor back at the slot CB in our nickle/dime packages, but we may need him to stay on the outside. Hopefully the young DBs continue to develop fast. Oklahoma will spread us out and expose our DBs if they're not ready.
Kickers - Couldn't tell much. Hopefully we can continue to make field goals and extra points like last year. And the rest of our special teams can't be a disaster again.
RB - I liked almost all of the RBs. I didn't love any of them. I'm not sure what we got. I have no idea if Stepp will be healthy, and even if he is, he hasn't done anything at Nebraska. He seems like the best option at this point, but he's such a big question mark. I did like Morrison out of the backfield. It was nice to see him play. Yant looks like a load. Ervin may be the best all around back from the spring game. Scott had good plays. So did Thompkins, but I can't trust his health. Johnson didn't play, but from past performance, he needs to be on the kickoff return team; beyond that I'm not a fan. Overall I'm not too worried, but we need someone that Frost has confidence in so we don't rely on Martinez as our leading rusher.
WRs - Looks like a good room. Toure looks as advertised and Martin looks like he's going to be a good player. Manning *may* be a great player. And there are several other who also looked good, Nixon in particular. He will play some. Betts is as good of a young prospect as we've had in a while. And there are others on the squad who I think can play, but if Manning is ready it'll be him, Toure, and Martin.
TEs - Sucks for Fidone, but as a group it's still pretty good. It's still a question mark as to whether we'll ever actually utilize the TEs in the passing game, but if we do, I think we've got some players. Allen isn't the NFL prospect that Frost makes him out to be, but he might have a shot at making a roster. For a college TE, he can make a difference if we give him a chance.
OL - Lots of talent. That's good. I won't trust anything I see until we play real games in the fall. Oh, one thing. Cam's snaps were on point. Not just no snaps over the head of the QB, but they weren't even at the helmet one time followed by the ankles the next time. They seemed consistent quality snaps. That at least I was happy with, and is a promising sign for fall.
DL - We have loads of depth. None jump out as deluxe pass rushers, but in a 3-4 defense that's not to surprising. Some big, grown-up men in that group.
LBs - Sorry to hear about Honas. Sucks for him, but Reimers needs to be one of the middle LBs. He just has more speed and instincts than the rest. MLBs should be good, even though losing Honas hurts depth. OLBs may be better than in the past. Pass rush as a whole will be by committee, but assuming JoJo is ready to go in the fall, at least we should have decent coverage LBs and some pass rush. Gunnerson flashed a little. I didn't spot Payne, although last year he showed a little something. If he improves, perhaps OLB may not be our worst group.
DBs - Should be good. Still not entirely sold on our returning safeties, but there's experience there and some decent depth. I'd love to see Cam Taylor back at the slot CB in our nickle/dime packages, but we may need him to stay on the outside. Hopefully the young DBs continue to develop fast. Oklahoma will spread us out and expose our DBs if they're not ready.
Kickers - Couldn't tell much. Hopefully we can continue to make field goals and extra points like last year. And the rest of our special teams can't be a disaster again.