Current players vs. Future Players - best Power Five offers

It could possibly be said that the younger guys that are playing have more talent than the guys that were upperclassmen that Bo recruited in his last two seasons.

Making the argument that things could be better next year (regardless of who the coach is) seems like a fairly reasonable one to me.

 
jaws said:
OSU will have around 8 SO/FR starting this week vs Nebraska with 2 SO starting on the Oline. Many more SO/FR will see significant minutes. 

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/2017/10/86423/matthew-burrell-demetrius-knox-listed-as-co-starters-at-right-guard-erick-smith-back-on-ohio-states-depth-chart-at

When they won the NC in 2014 they were really young and unproven. JT Barrett that year was a rsFR. If you recruit well, the good ones won't be around for more than 3 years in the system. 
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I had OhioSt at 3 in trenches and 7 overall, point proven. 

 
Fair enough, I was wrong. I still stand by most of my second post though. We lack alot of senior leadership but that could end up being a good thing in any scenario going forward. Maybe it's seen as a bad thing, I don't know but regardless it really doesn't matter, we still need results. 

Undone said:
Agreed. Another reason that I think that if:

1. We bring in a good offensive line coach

and

2. Diaco adjusts to playing against the run in the Big 10

we have a team that's playing much better football.

There's so much black and white on this forum of whether or Riley's "The Guy." He might not be "The Guy," but his supporting cast is really the biggest factor right now and whether we like it or not, he might be coaching next season. He needs to fire Cavanaugh immediately.
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Couldn't agree more with this post. It's not as simple as just axing Riley; we need a rock solid plan to move forward with or we will risk another 4 or 5 seasons of uncertainty. 

 
Nebfanatic said:
Fair enough, I was wrong. I still stand by most of my second post though. We lack alot of senior leadership but that could end up being a good thing in any scenario going forward. Maybe it's seen as a bad thing, I don't know but regardless it really doesn't matter, we still need results. 
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I agree with this.

 
Didn't the NFL draft just break the record for most underclassmen drafted (or non-seniors) two years in a row or something?

I think many players are now coming out of major HS football programs (which recruit, too, now) nearly ready to play and are 'requiring' (for lack of a better term) a non-redshirt/early playing-time promise from recruiters in exchange for a commitment.

Thus; these players are (or believe they are) NFL ready after only 3 years of CFB. I think were gonna see a lot more underclassman starting for major programs.

If Neb. can re-startup the pipeline and get some hogs on the line and develop them for 3-4 years, it can really put us at an advantage over defensive fronts starting half (or more) underclassman.

I truly believe that's the most efficient way Neb. can create a winning program, with all things considered.

 
worldsworstoutdoorsman said:
Jonathan Taylor is a freshman - 3 star.  The lack of talent/we have to wait until the younger guys are ready to play argument is silly.
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Jonathan Taylor is a freshman playing with a lot of upper classmen around him.  When you have an O line that is mainly experienced upper classmen that block well enough that you have a big hole to run through and don't get touched till 3-4 yards down field, it's much easier for a 3 star freshman to come in and look like a stud.

The more of those freshmen you have playing, the harder it is going to be to be successful.

 
BigRedBuster said:
Jonathan Taylor is a freshman playing with a lot of upper classmen around him.  When you have an O line that is mainly experienced upper classmen that block well enough that you have a big hole to run through and don't get touched till 3-4 yards down field, it's much easier for a 3 star freshman to come in and look like a stud.

The more of those freshmen you have playing, the harder it is going to be to be successful.
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That's also not true. 3 of Wisconsin's 5 Olinemen are RsSoph or younger.

 
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All 10 players on Wisconsin's two deep have redshirted.  So, here is the breakdown of how long they have been in the program.

4 - 4 years

3 - 3 years

3 - 2 years

Their starters were:

2 - 4 years

2 - 3 years

1 - 2 years

That's a big difference from playing as a true freshman.

So....in fact....at this position, the original statement that I responded to was wrong.  Many times you DO have to wait for younger players to be ready to play.

Contrast that with Nebraska's starting lineup

3 - 3 years

1 - 2 years

1 - true freshman

 
knapplc said:
Something that has been bugging me since we walked out of Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

If you switched Nebraska's & Wisconsin's offensive lines, who wins that game? Guarantee you it's us, and we'd likely be undefeated right now. 

It really comes down to five players right now.
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Knapp is it the actual line players or the line coach?   I thought some of those OL players were up and comers who were going to make a difference.

 
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