Time to go big on DT/DE in this class. 8 or bust.

[HUSKERBILL]

Corner
Jones - Jr
Kalu - Jr
Joseph - Jr
Anderson - RFr
Lee - RFr
Dismuke - FR
Bootle - FR
Jackson - FR

Safety
Gerry - Sr
K Williams - Jr
A Williams - So
Reed - So
Domann - Fr
Butler - Fr

Man are we loaded at the DB position. Love it. Talent all over the place.


If we took
2 Juco DTs
1 Juco DE
4 High school DTs - intending on playing 1 right away and red shirting the other 3
1 High DE

I think it would go a long way to providing the depth we need on the line.

If we take any DBs I would hope it would be a Darnay Holmes type player. Otherwise I'm not sure we need many/any. Maybe Colbert and a Holmes level kid but that's it. 2 DBs max.


This is the year we go big with the D Line. Get enough kids so that you guarantee 3-4 future starters who are All Conference or better.

 

[BigRedPimp]

4 high school DT's??? Probably just grab those in our 500 mile target since they grow on trees around these parts...

 

[Husker Sledge]

I agree we need to get an early jump start on a few top tier DL & DE. Gotta get this new position coach on campus like today! I am really anxious to see how the Davis twins, Neal and Davis look this spring. Their development will have a huge impact on recruiting Juco.

 

[jlb321]

would like one Juco and at least 1-2 high school DTs depending on underclassmen development
VV leaving + whiffing on high school recruits got Hughes shown the door and if things go sideways next year with injuries, lack of development, etc could put Banker and ultimately Riley on notice as well ... almost impossible to scheme around poor Def line play as we saw against UCLA ...and even tougher in the BIG

any word on how the Davis twins are progressing ?... listed at 265, hopefully they have put on some weight and can contribute next year
all we have is Maurice and Williams (injury prone) and then a bunch of ?????? marks - I suppose Mullins can move inside

situations like this ... gross roster holes ... are why teams that are reasonably talented can still go 5-6
you can 4* all over the roster but if the Def line is a sieve you are going to struggle to win games no matter how talented you are elsewhere

same goes for offensive line which is a big ? for next year

 

[jflores]

Supposedly the twins are around 296lbs. I'm not that worried about them, other than the fact that I think alot of fans think they'll be All Conference from the first snap.

Total scholarship budget for the DL is 15 ships according to Banker. I would think 8 in a given year, is too high.

 

[KFDVM]

Does the position coach position have to be advertised for two weeks? If so what is the time line for making an announcement?
Also would the defensive line players have any input on who they would like to see as a coach? How are they feeling right now? Would this cause any of the players to transfer, or are they glad this change is happening?
Thanks for the favor of a reply.

 

[jlb321]

Supposedly the twins are around 296lbs. I'm not that worried about them, other than the fact that I think alot of fans think they'll be All Conference from the first snap.

Total scholarship budget for the DL is 15 ships according to Banker. I would think 8 in a given year, is too high.

Great thanks for the update. Agree 8 is way too many. If the Davis twins are on track we are solid. Just don't like relying on underclassmen who have never played a down for meaningful minutes.

296 should do ... Although I wish you would be a bit more precise with weights etc in the future.

 

[HuskerTimOmaha]

8? Better have some attrition then.

 

[headcard]

We have taken a bunch of DE's the last couple years. Our DT numbers, on the other hand, are scary. I think 2 quality HS DT's and a JUCO DT would be just what the doctor ordered.

 

[HUSKERBILL]

8? Better have some attrition then.

I'd take 8 knowing that there would be attrition with that group over the 3-4 years. If we weren't so ULTRA young and talent heavy at LB and DB I wouldn't go so heavy at DT/DE this year but out of the 8 we probably end up with 2-3 championship caliber kids. I feel we have enough talent at DB/LB to make a run and want to overload the DT/DE spots to ensure 2-3 pan out in the end.

If we only take 2-3 DTs after striking out this year, 2018 is a potential disaster. We are 1-2 DT knee injuries away this year from catastrophe and next year gets worse. Taking 8 ensures nothing catastrophic happens in the most important spot on D in the Big 10.

 

[HuskerTimOmaha]

I'd take 8 knowing that there would be attrition with that group over the 3-4 years. If we weren't so ULTRA young and talent heavy at LB and DB I wouldn't go so heavy at DT/DE this year but out of the 8 we probably end up with 2-3 championship caliber kids. I feel we have enough talent at DB/LB to make a run and want to overload the DT/DE spots to ensure 2-3 pan out in the end.

If we only take 2-3 DTs after striking out this year, 2018 is a potential disaster. We are 1-2 DT knee injuries away this year from catastrophe and next year gets worse. Taking 8 ensures nothing catastrophic happens in the most important spot on D in the Big 10.

19 scholarship DL (just under 20% of allotment), hell no. Gotta manage it better so if people want 8 signed in the 2017 class, we better release some guys currently on scholarship. And I'm not against that...

We lose 4 after this season, I believe the target number will be 5 total, maybe 6 at most unless we have attrition, from the current roster, to allow more. Coach Banker has stated his DL allotment is 16 so I expect us to be +/- 1 each and every year.

 

[jflores]

Great thanks for the update. Agree 8 is way too many. If the Davis twins are on track we are solid. Just don't like relying on underclassmen who have never played a down for meaningful minutes.

296 should do ... Although I wish you would be a bit more precise with weights etc in the future.

No worries, not an insider, I had seen that 296 number floating around online, probably a McKewon article or something.

 

[HUSKERBILL]

19 scholarship DL (just under 20% of allotment), hell no. Gotta manage it better so if people want 8 signed in the 2017 class, we better release some guys currently on scholarship. And I'm not against that...

We lose 4 after this season, I believe the target number will be 5 total, maybe 6 at most unless we have attrition, from the current roster, to allow more. Coach Banker has stated his DL allotment is 16 so I expect us to be +/- 1 each and every year.

Id be fine going a little lighter on the DEs. Maybe one proven JUCO speed rusher since we took 3 kids who could project as DEs. But we need DTs bad. Need 4-5 in this class. Taking 0 last year means we double up this year IMO
Losing VV and Collins means we take an extra one this year. That's 5 DTs.

We have

Newell - Fr (no experience)
Davis - Fr (no experience)
Davis - Fr (no experience)
stoltenberg - Soph (2nd knee surgery)
williams - Sr (is he really going to play?)
Maurice - Sr (solid)
McMullen - Sr (moved from DE).

Next year is a disaster waiting to happen. We will have four scholarship DTs and one will have two major knee surgeries under his belt. That's why I'm saying we need 5-6 to get us up to 9-10 total DTs. Carrying 6 DEs total is a nice number. I feel a helluva lot more comfortable moving a LB to DE in a pinch but you can't have enough big bodies at DT.

Would be a scary feeling having the injury bug visit next year and watching NUs D Line doing an imitation of NUs against Melvin Gordon. We need 5-6 this year to give us 9-10 next year.

Hell the more I look at our roster the more I think we need some mature big bodied JUCOS to come in. Maybe 2-3 of them. Will fill the gap of Jrs at DT and provide immediate depth/starters. If I were Riley i would damn sure I pulled in two JUCOs that could fill the 2 deep from day 1.

 

[TruHusker]

Where do you propose to find all of these recruits? The numbers are probably not realistic if you are counting D 1 ready players.

 

[NikkiSixx]

Agree with what has been said about 5 being a more realistic target. I'd be fine if up to two of those were from the Juco route. Need to balance out the classes and positions. Otherwise, we are going to have some LB's playing stand up rush end, which may happen anyways.

 

[HuskerTimOmaha]

Taking 0 last year means we double up this year IMO

16 scholarships allotted is 16 scholarships allotted.

 

[bootleg11]

3 DE's and 3 DT's

 

[headcard]

3 DE's and 3 DT's

Agree on DT's (but I really think one needs to be a JUCO). Not sure on DE, as we have some bodies there. I think it comes down to how guys like Freedom, King, Davis and Neal look this year. If they are going to be ready to be the 2-deep next year, just get your regular 1-2 HS DE's. If not we will need to take a JUCO or two in addition to 1-2 HS kids.

 

[bootleg11]

Agree on DT's (but I really think one needs to be a JUCO). Not sure on DE, as we have some bodies there. I think it comes down to how guys like Freedom, King, Davis and Neal look this year. If they are going to be ready to be the 2-deep next year, just get your regular 1-2 HS DE's. If not we will need to take a JUCO or two in addition to 1-2 HS kids.

Probably right. I meant 1 JUCO DT and 2 HS DTs. DE...We'll see how those guys develop but at least 2. If you think the coaches want to take 25 kids in the class. 12 on O, 12 on D, and 1 place kicker. Then I think the break down for defense will be: 3 DT (1 being juco), 3 DE (possibly 2), 3 LB, 3 DB (possibly 4 if one of the young DE's shows promise). Would be nice if they had room to take 28 kids the class as the offense needs multiple TEs, WRs and OTs this time around. And possibly 2 RBs.

 

[nebcountry]

16 scholarships allotted is 16 scholarships allotted.

Any idea on other targeted numbers for scholarship distribution? I remember the 16 DL numbers when the staff was talking recruiting before Hughes dismissal.

I was looking at the World Herald's (?) distribution chart. We're at 87 scholarships, so we'll have to trim a minimum of 2 from the roster. 22 with senior eligibility. So, depending on where the trimming occurs, we could end up with between 20 and 22 signees in the next class, not counting oversigners/other transfers. If 2 seniors are trimmed, that would leave us with 20 potential signees. It could happen, but it's hard for me to imagine the seniors not playing their final year here.

Just thinking in terms of distribution in this upcoming class. I know people are throwing around only taking one DB, I guess I don't see it that way looking at current scholarships. OL recruiting always has to be fed. We're back in the business of using TE's. QB's I would guess one or two. RB's probably one. I wouldn't think we would take another special teams (ST) specialist unless it was another K/P. WR's at least two for the class? LB's probably 3, not counting some type of hybrid DE/LB.

Strawman (because people love them so much) distribution for the upcoming class:

DB's - 4
OL - 3 or 4
TE - 2
QB - 1 (thinking the staff will like POB more moving forward, confidence vote)
RB - 1
ST - 1
WR - 2 or 3
LB - 3

Using the higher count (i.e. 4 OL/3 WR), that hypothetically puts us at 19 scholarships not going to the DL, and 3 for the DL. I don't see us taking more than 3 DE/DT in total, unless that's where the trimming occurs. If seniors are trimmed, that only leaves 20 potential signees, and limits to 1 DE/DT.

Nobody pays me for my opinion concerning football, if someone has better numbers, put them on up here.

Edit: forgot about the 4 senior DL graduating. So adding 4 for this upcoming year and 15 total on roster. Do we go for 5 signees, 16 on roster, I guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[HuskerTimOmaha]

Any idea on other targeted numbers for scholarship distribution? I remember the 16 DL numbers when the staff was talking recruiting before Hughes dismissal.

Not really, just heard 12-13 LB'ers, 4-5 QB's. We're at 11 LB'ers, lose 2 to graduation so I assume we're looking at 3-4 this year. QB chart seems out of wack, can't imagine we'll have 6 on scholarship going forward.