Ex-Nebraska QB Adrian Martinez says Kansas State is 'most talented squad' in career

Undone said:
I agree with your takes on dissecting the passing stats of the three, @Mavric.

I'm also pretty blown away in these conversations how nobody ever mentions the running backs that each of these QB's had on their team. I'm not even talking about offensive line comparisons - just running back talent.

Once Maurice Washington got himself kicked off the team there weren't any backs that could really do anything good/great to take over the game and move the chains. Can't overstate how much pressure that takes off a QB.

Imagine Anthony Grant coming to our program as a true freshman and playing all four years with Martinez...

This is also why I really laugh at any comparisons of "success" that Adrian had compared to Frost, Frazier, & Crouch. Look at the running backs some of those guys had...even the ones Taylor & Tommy had.
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I was thinking the same thing. Grant and Martinez would have really been something. Even with the current state of the Online.

But I don't know if Adrian would have survived this season here. Casey has already taken some hella hard shots, and Adrian already had 4 years of that on his body.

 
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Undone said:
I agree with your takes on dissecting the passing stats of the three, @Mavric.

I'm also pretty blown away in these conversations how nobody ever mentions the running backs that each of these QB's had on their team. I'm not even talking about offensive line comparisons - just running back talent.

Once Maurice Washington got himself kicked off the team there weren't any backs that could really do anything good/great to take over the game and move the chains. Can't overstate how much pressure that takes off a QB.

Imagine Anthony Grant coming to our program as a true freshman and playing all four years with Martinez...

This is also why I really laugh at any comparisons of "success" that Adrian had compared to Frost, Frazier, & Crouch. Look at the running backs some of those guys had...even the ones Taylor & Tommy had.
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I'd still say the comparative difference hangs mostly with the defense. We had a great string of running backs historically, but we also had a great string of offensive lines and that really does make good running backs great, with a few exceptions like Rozier, Ahman and Ameer who could make a lot out of a little. 

Adrian also had to play from behind A LOT more in his career than those legendary quarterbacks, and you really couldn't maintain that grind it out run game when your opponent kept scoring touchdowns on two minute drives. A lot of our rushing yards came from Adrian on broken plays, not our RBs.

Agree that Washington felt special those first two seasons, and really the team should have been able to do pretty well with an Ozigbo, Washington and Greg Bell platoon in 2018, which would have been welcome on plenty of Osborne teams. I think Dedrick Mills and Wan'dale Robinson were legitimate inside/outside threats if they had been used properly -- and even then they had decent per carry averages that would have been welcome on Osborne teams, but went to waste in a team wide meltdown. 

Also agree that Grant immediately looks that much better than players who came before him.  Stat wise, I'm not sure the last time the Huskers had a quarterback, running back, and wide receiver all racking up national rankings at their position. Trick is still being good enough at everything to make it translate to wins.

Casey Thompson is in a pretty good position for this particular team: make the quicker decisions* and more accurate throws than Martinez, and let your featured RB be the star of the rushing game. Adrian's RBs rarely, if ever, got 30 carries a game. 

* sometimes he does stand in the pocket too long, waiting for his guy to get separation. I'm still saying he's a better decision maker who can thread the more difficult throws.  I'd like to see him as a Russell Wilson scrambler more than running the designed QB draws given to Adrian. 

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
I'd still say the comparative difference hangs mostly with the defense. We had a great string of running backs historically, but we also had a great string of offensive lines and that really does make good running backs great, with a few exceptions like Rozier, Ahman and Ameer who could make a lot out of a little. 

Adrian also had to play from behind A LOT more in his career than those legendary quarterbacks, and you really couldn't maintain that grind it out run game when your opponent kept scoring touchdowns on two minute drives. A lot of our rushing yards came from Adrian on broken plays, not our RBs.

Agree that Washington felt special those first two seasons, and really the team should have been able to do pretty well with an Ozigbo, Washington and Greg Bell platoon in 2018, which would have been welcome on plenty of Osborne teams. I think Dedrick Mills and Wan'dale Robinson were legitimate inside/outside threats if they had been used properly -- and even then they had decent per carry averages that would have been welcome on Osborne teams, but went to waste in a team wide meltdown. 

Also agree that Grant immediately looks that much better than players who came before him.  Stat wise, I'm not sure the last time the Huskers had a quarterback, running back, and wide receiver all racking up national rankings at their position. Trick is still being good enough at everything to make it translate to wins.

Casey Thompson is in a pretty good position for this particular team: make the quicker decisions* and more accurate throws than Martinez, and let your featured RB be the star of the rushing game. Adrian's RBs rarely, if ever, got 30 carries a game. 

* sometimes he does stand in the pocket too long, waiting for his guy to get separation. I'm still saying he's a better decision maker who can thread the more difficult throws.  I'd like to see him as a Russell Wilson scrambler more than running the designed QB draws given to Adrian. 
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How can you forget Rex???

 
ZRod said:
How can you forget Rex???
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I gave him some serious thought! Roy Helu, too. Highly dependable, but maybe not in the "making something out of nothing" category of the others. I can see Rex having more of a Devine Ozigbo career given the same offensive lines. I can see Grant having a better season than anyone since Abdullah. 

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
I gave him some serious thought! Roy Helu, too. Highly dependable, but maybe not in the "making something out of nothing" category of the others. I can see Rex having more of a Devine Ozigbo career given the same offensive lines. I can see Grant having a better season than anyone since Abdullah. 
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Roy was just effortless. I think he was probably the last back to run behind a pretty decent O line too. 

Rex had some pretty blah lines. He had an incredible knack for making guys miss in the backfield and always falling forward.

 
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TGHusker said:
Boy did Frost waste his talent along wt WanDale etc
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Yah an actual defense and an actual o line to go with 2am woulda been nice.

Let's check back in in a month tho, k state has a hellacious stretch of games and really hasnt beaten anyone yet, at least how things stand today.  martinez is still the same guy, can look like a heisman contender one week and then goes limp d!(k mode against tulane and cost his team.  

 
gossamorharpy said:
Yah an actual defense and an actual o line to go with 2am woulda been nice.

Let's check back in in a month tho, k state has a hellacious stretch of games and really hasnt beaten anyone yet, at least how things stand today.  martinez is still the same guy, can look like a heisman contender one week and then goes limp d!(k mode against tulane and cost his team.  
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Yes the Oline being the primary issue.     I think KSU finally, after the Tulane game, figured out how to use him as a compliment to Deuce their RB in the run game. 

 
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