J.D. Spielman

Blackshirt316 said:
JD was running away with receiving records because he was the first WR that played his entire Husker career in an offense that threw the ball 35+ times a game and every offense he played in featured the slot receiver as a primary target.

JD had seasons of 55 66 and 49 catches. He totaled 2546 yards but had just 15 Touchdowns.

His best receiving yardage year was 898 yards in 2019. His best touchdown year was 8 Touchdowns in 2018.

Jordan Westerkamp as a comparison had 1 season with 66 catches. His other seasons were 20 catches, 44 catches and 38 catches. He ended with 2474 yards and 18 Touchdowns.  

That 1 season with 66 catches (2014) he put up 919 yards and 7 touchdowns. Basically on par with Spielman's career bests. Spielman essentially had the same number of touches over 3 years as Westerkamp got in 4 strictly due to the different offenses the team ran when they played. Spielman ended up with 100 more yards and 3 fewer Touchdowns than Westerkamp.

Give Westerkamp the number of targets as Spielman and it isn't even a discussion. Both players were very similar but Westerkamp had FAR better hands than Spielman.

Spielman, like Westerkamp will be an undrafted free agent/scout team level player in the NFL.

Spielman sits as the 2nd best slot receiver in Nebraska history behind Westerkamp and ahead of Todd Peterson. But on most teams that didn't spend most of the 20th century running power I with 2 TE's and a fullback he isn't anywhere near the top 10.
Click to expand...


Outside of a significant dip in 2010-11, we've been throwing the ball close to 30 times a games since 2004. So the first bold piece is not true, guys who played from 2004-2008 (Terrence Nunn, Nate Swift) and 2015-2018 had higher averages of passes per game. Also wouldn't say the slot receiver is the primary target, it's definitely a varied offense. I'm not really factoring in NFL projections or where he would be on the list for other schools - just pointing out he's probably second tier for us, behind Rodgers/Fryar. 

Husker03 said:
The difference is.. Receivers like Spielman are a dime a dozen.. Ones like Manning and bets are rare diamonds, the likes of which haven't donned the scarlet and cream since the days of Fryar.  I would have much preferred JD to be out there wearing an N this year, but if his attitude was one more of dissent than of unity and progression, and he was not going to be able to commit his heart to it 100%, then I am happy he found a place that suits him better and will not worry about finding receivers that will be able to make up for his lost production. 
Click to expand...


I am very high on both Manning and Betts, but let's not put them up with Fryar just yet. They are both very talented, but have zero catches outside of high school/Juco. I'm all for a 'next man up' attitude and really like the guys we have, but that doesn't mean we have to come up with reasons why JD wasn't that good. Receivers of his caliber may be a dime a dozen for OSU, but if they were for the rest of us he'd have more company atop the season and career record books than Rodgers, Swift, Westerkamp, and Morgan. And I'm sure he will before long - Wan'Dale is off to a hot start, and we have a lot of talented receivers coming in. 

 
JD was a very good player in MN and in Lincoln.  Period.  He will be missed but he will be replaced with another very good player(s).

Until he publicly declares the reasons he had for leaving, I think it best the speculation be stopped.  It is not good for any relevant parties whether accurate or not.   People need some modicum of privacy and respect - its hard to find in too many places already.   Wish him well and next man up!    

 
It seems incredibly disingenuous and unfair to suggest JD is somehow on an echelon below two Nebraska WRs who haven't even played a meaningful snap for the team.

Over the last 10-15 years, our best contributors have often been players many of us didn't expect much of, or, players who didn't come in with a lot of hype. I feel like we've had more Devine Ozigbo's make a statement in recent years than we had Omar Manning's.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Husker03 said:
Receivers like Spielman are a dime a dozen..
Click to expand...
6a00d8341ccad453ef01b8d143329d970c-pi


 
Can we just play a game already? The lengths people are going to find something to talk about is beyond peak offseason.

40 years in the desert without Husker football.

Oh look,  a Runza emoji. :Runza2:

 
Spielman was a solid player for Nebraska. But let’s have a level head about him. Our receiving and passing history books should all get re written the next 10 years because we have historically run the ball. 15 years ago we switched schemes and have been an average to below average program with average to below average talent. We have a modern offensive scheme with talent level rising. 
 

So I would be careful thinking someone is better than they really are just because they have good receiving stats for Nebraska. He would be an asset to our team, but in a few years when we have wandale, betts type talent on the field and developed I don’t think spielman would be a starter 

 
Huskers93-97 said:
Spielman was a solid player for Nebraska. But let’s have a level head about him. Our receiving and passing history books should all get re written the next 10 years because we have historically run the ball. 15 years ago we switched schemes and have been an average to below average program with average to below average talent. We have a modern offensive scheme with talent level rising. 
 

So I would be careful thinking someone is better than they really are just because they have good receiving stats for Nebraska. He would be an asset to our team, but in a few years when we have wandale, betts type talent on the field and developed I don’t think spielman would be a starter 
Click to expand...


This is true, but that doesn't mean we can't honor the work the guys who got us there have done. 

Nate Swift and Todd Peterson will eventually be buried in the record books, but those two dudes were crucial to any success we had in their era, same as JD was to our last few years. 

I think those people who are trying to minimize his importance (not you) are doing so partially out of a sense of anger or frustration that he chose to leave. 

 
All I know is the Speilman passed the eyeball test, game after game, almost literally putting his life on the line on some of those crossing patterns. Go back into the game threads and remember how we marveled what a baller he was. 

Also, people who evaluate football talent as a profession had Speilman slotted to be drafted in the second round if he'd come out early, in an NFL draft famously loaded with receivers. I really don't see the point in dragging J.D. down, although I know why folks here are doing it. 

J.D. appears to have had (or is still having) a crisis of conscience with football. I wish him luck. 

 
Sucks that this didn't come-out for the better for either party. We lost a very productive wr and he went from productive pro-prospect to riding pine. 

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
All I know is the Speilman passed the eyeball test, game after game, almost literally putting his life on the line on some of those crossing patterns. Go back into the game threads and remember how we marveled what a baller he was. 

Also, people who evaluate football talent as a profession had Speilman slotted to be drafted in the second round if he'd come out early, in an NFL draft famously loaded with receivers. I really don't see the point in dragging J.D. down, although I know why folks here are doing it. 

J.D. appears to have had (or is still having) a crisis of conscience with football. I wish him luck. 
Click to expand...


Look I generally agree with the point you are making but J.D. was not even remotely considered a second rounder had he come out last year; he was projected as a Day 3 to UDFA guy everywhere serious. Tyler Johnson from Minnesota was a much better player than him and went R5. J.D. isn't even listed in any top 100 players for this upcoming draft.

I have nothing but respect for him for playing hard and making plays on three bad Husker teams and standing up for the stuff he did off the field. He was a good player who would have helped us and I wish he were still here. Our team is certainly going to need some big leaps to replace him and the fanbase is being overly optimistic about the chances of that happening. But we also didn't just lose prime Randy Moss or anything, and I think there's a likely universe where our receiving corps is a lot better this year overall than it was last year.

 
J-MAGIC said:
Look I generally agree with the point you are making but J.D. was not even remotely considered a second rounder had he come out last year; he was projected as a Day 3 to UDFA guy everywhere serious. Tyler Johnson from Minnesota was a much better player than him and went R5. J.D. isn't even listed in any top 100 players for this upcoming draft.

I have nothing but respect for him for playing hard and making plays on three bad Husker teams and standing up for the stuff he did off the field. He was a good player who would have helped us and I wish he were still here. Our team is certainly going to need some big leaps to replace him and the fanbase is being overly optimistic about the chances of that happening. But we also didn't just lose prime Randy Moss or anything, and I think there's a likely universe where our receiving corps is a lot better this year overall than it was last year.
Click to expand...
Very good, level-headed post here.

 
Back
Top