Stepp N
- Thread starter John_J_Rambo
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Makes sense for him. IF he wants to try to make a roster, I don't think coming back would help him much. JMO.
Early national championship odds are out for next season. I'm hearing this moves us ahead of Bama as the favorite. GBR
Remember when I said the portal sucks? I'm placing a temporary hold on the suckiness of the portal for now....
Frost be like, you can catch a swing pass right?
Agree. Good for short yardage, but not sure a 235 lb back is the missing piece for a below average line and “speed” offense.
Great pick up! Instead of whining about the way things have been, I'm hoping for future change. I'm 50/50 on whether Frost is a stubborn numbskull or will learn from his mistakes. Would love to see this guy pound it followed by the play action strike to Betts/Fidone/Toure. Okay... he can mix in a swing pass here and there if it helps him sleep at night.
What we need is a back who doesn't go down on first contact and who has a good enough base that he isn't constantly tripped up by ankle tackles, and can also punish tacklers and the occasional blitzing lb or db, making them think twice/hesitate the next time they need to step into the hole or they come on a blitz and see the rock waiting for him. Hopefully, he can be that guy.
If you watched the game last night, both teams used the swing pass effectively. To be effective it needs to be unexpected, blocked well, and the receiver needs to get the ball in stride. Deficiencies in one, two or three of the above most times we tried them this year is why they got blown up.
Get maybe. Keep, seems like that is trending toward impossible.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you again. Fool me three times, super duper shame on you. Fool me a fourth time, shame on me.
The kid coming in is 3 to play 3 I think. He’s a bigger back that we don’t have now on the roster with the Mills departure, so he will get carries if healthy. If he plays well, NU will put a bell on him in league play. In reality, the other 4 are competing for two slots of playing time.
I knew Wisconsin was after him but I hadn’t processed the consequences if they got him.
We beat out Ball St and Purdue if that tells you anything. So we got that going for us.
you are worried about the current Neb RBs transferring rather than staying and competing because "that's how these kids are" while discussing a transfer who decided to leave for Neb rather than stay at his original school
do you not recognize the juxtaposition
This is a good get. However, I am truly mystified why none of our young backs got much playing time this year. Are they ALL recruiting busts? Are they ALL so deficient in skill and knowledge of the offense that they could not have played more? Why Wandale in place of Mills is THE burning question that needs to be answered. I get that he is supposedly a homerun threat when he gets the ball. But how often did he take it to the house long distance? Once? Ever? Were we not therefore better served to use someone like Johnson or Scott to churn out those four-six yard runs? I just don't get it unless the coaches just had no confidence in the younger running backs. But if that is true is it not an indictment of the coaching staff for not developing these guys? Running back is actually one of the easiest positions for a young player to come in and make an impact. I just don't get it. So even though this recent addition to the running back room is a good get I have zero confidence that this staff can develop him properly. Will he be another bust??
There had been noise about WR returning to Kentucky for 2 years.
I think they were trying to increase his touches (and thereby his stats) in order to keep him the featured player.
And we have a QB that cannot throw the ball downfield and have it land within 20 feet of intended target.
You can only run so many swing passes to one kid / game. So he was getting touches at RB. I think that also explains the number of goal line carries he got at, what, 165 lbs?
Unfortunately, unless Smothers breaks out, it looks like the root cause of the issue will be unaddressed next season again. Maybe this departure and the arrival if Stepp forces us to more of a power ground game.
If we make it to this time next year without a scholarship back transferring out I’ll rescind my comment...
Ozigbo was productive here, Mills was productive. Last year was a crazy year with backup RB's, because of injury and COVID we played 3 different guys there. If we had one all year, we would probably feel better about things.
Thompkins started as #2 back and played OK the first game or two, then got hurt.
Scott was next up and played fine, then he got hurt/COVID.
Johnson was after that and when he played he did an OK job. Actually, having your 4th string guy play as well as Johnson did is pretty impressive.
Not to mention the guy everyone loves, Morrison, wasn't able to play at all due to injuries/COVID.
Hey thanks for this. It puts things in a much better perspective.
1000 pct. agree. I cannot wrap my head around it. A close second is WR. On paper the coaches have done quite well recruiting. Are they all busts? Are the coaches incapable of developing talent? It's all such a mess.
I don't think either is a direct replacement for Wandale. Stepp will take Mills spot and Toure will fill a huge need on the outside. On paper, the only thing missing is a slot WR/Duck R. It's like they are finally building up the offense around Wandale when he decides to bolt.
They really recruited too many injured guys at the position I thought. Most schools backed off on them, and in comes Frost thinking he was getting a half price deal.. we got faulty merchandise instead, which played a part in setting back the program. So when all the big schools back off on an injured guy, maybe we shouldn't be so quick to get in there. We shouldn't have to beg for running backs here.
Stepp is a great kid. Got hurt, was never the same. SC getting a dynamic "Reggie Bush" type kid coming in (Brandon Campbell) so Stepp saw the writing on the wall. I hope he does well at Nebraska. Him and Mills would've been a tough backfield to stop. Congrats!
Yes. I think he was supposed to be Wandale's back up last year, before the injury.
Thanks for posting. I hope he can get close to pre-injury form.
I'm guessing Brown,Nixon,Nance,Houston,Grimes and Belt could all compete at slot. Heck you even had Hickman and Warner there at times over the past 2 years. Correct me if I am wrong but I think any WR can play slot but not all WR's can play the XWR(split end). Is that correct?
And just to get back to Stepp. This is a great pickup. He definitely adds toughness,power and experience to the room.
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We honored commitments to guys we had offered previous to injuries in the case of one RB. We took another top 10 RB as a WALK ON because he had been injured. Adrian's injury in high school had been to his non-throwing shoulder. That's not that many guys. Adrian's injury history has become problematic because of all of the hits he has taken.
Hickman and Warner shouldn't be getting the ball on handoffs/jet sweeps. Warner is a blocking possession receiver and Hickman is almost completely a blocking WR. It's too bad he can't seem to put on the weight to play TE. Nance, Nixon and Brown especially are candidates to replace Wandale in his role other than the between the tackles redzone back. Thank Goodness.
Injury, doghouse, not ready, not good enough. I don't even know which one it is for each of the four. Marvin got some run and looked OK for a freshman I guess. But mostly when Mills wasn't available, it was mostly Wandale and the QBs trying to generate rushing yardage. Maybe Morrison has the goods to play next year. But he didn't play this year. I assume injury/not quite ready, but I really have no idea.
The kid from USC has played on a P5 roster for three years. I would hope there isn't a lot that is needed in terms of development other than getting familiar with the playbook. Looking at his freshman highlights, he looks like a tough runner.
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