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Huskerzoo

Huskerzoo

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For me, this season has been very eye opening with regard to the players on the team and player management. While our recruiting hasn't been bad lately, our turnover is absurd. I think most of it makes sense, that is to say I'm not concerned, but I think I had been optimistic than was warranted. My concerns focused a lot on the lines, I regularly came to the board to argue this, but the numbers overall are rough. 

I'm not going to look at 2019's class yet, but the three classes before that were hit hard. 

2015: Many players gone via graduation these are the RS SRs. But for context, on D or O, we have 5 of these guys on the 2 deep, one of which is a walk-on. 

2016: 13 of 21 players from the class are still around (rJR or SR)  12 on the 2 deep

2017: 10 of 20 (rSO or JR) 8 on the 2 deep

2018: 15 of 24 (rFr or SO) 9 on the 2 deep (subject to change)

2019: Still being evaluated (Fr) 4 on the 2 deep

Left out transfers and Juco guys.

That's 58% roughly of the classes still playing for us. That's adding 38 scholarship players over the 3 years that should be making up the core of our team. Notably these players were recruiting to play other positions frequently. It feels like skill players have by and large been able to navigate this better, but it's certainly a problem as it relates to our line play and our LB. 

While I don't think I have any huge point to make, I think it's important that we take performance in context. The top FR and SO in the country can come in and start, we're not able to recruit those guys in a consistent way. We're going to be more of a Wisconsin style team in our recruiting than a Bama. That means we should see lots of RS JRs and above starting for us, with the occasional FR and SO doing work. I think realistically what that means is we've got another year or 2 of inconsistent play in the fold as we fix the culture and get the right players. 

It was never an overnight fix. It just happens to be worse than most of us anticipated. 

 
Huskerzoo said:
The top FR and SO in the country can come in and start, we're not able to recruit those guys in a consistent way. We're going to be more of a Wisconsin style team in our recruiting than a Bama.
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I think there might be some surprisingly good results on the recruiting trail as Frost continues.

Getting guys like Benhart and Corcoran is big.

And Beckton is doing a nice job so far recruiting Florida and Georgia.

 
TheSker said:
I think there might be some surprisingly good results on the recruiting trail as Frost continues.

Getting guys like Benhart and Corcoran is big.

And Beckton is doing a nice job so far recruiting Florida and Georgia.
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Oh absolutely. I'm very optimistic about this staff. I think my point was more that if you look at Bama/Clemson, they just have SO and Fr all over the place. I think we will regularly have a few guys in that group playing for us, but they're probably not going to ever really be the meat of the team, even if they are the stars of the team. 

 
Great post! Love the info. I like to think there are three categories that will dictate how far a team goes (an oversimplification but it’s how I picture it). Talent, Effort (“want to”) , Scheme. Teams like Wisconsin have maxed out scheme and effort but lack talent. Teams like Bama have maxed out all three. Teams like FSU have talent but lack the other two. I think when Frost took over all three categories were bottom of the barrel. Progress has been made on all 3 fronts, but as your numbers show, there is a long way to go on the talent front, and that’s the hardest one for ANY team to correct. I’m hoping by the end of the year we see strides in effort and scheme - the talent we will have to be patient on. 

 
Awesome post! I think you make a great point about the underclassmen. So many look at tOSU and Bama and see their Fr and So starting and ask why ours can't do more. However, those guys are 4* and 5* players that are physically ready for college football mixed in with talented upperclassmen. Nebraska will always be more of a development school than a show up and play school. Great post.

 
Fun stats time, total number of Jr or Sr 4 or 5 star players to total on the team:

Nebraska 8 out of 20 (DD transfer, Green JUCO, Raridon little playing time)

Illinois 6 out of 12 (All 6 upper classman transfered in)

Wisconsin 4 out of 9

Iowa 2 out of 7

Minnesota 2 out of 5 (St-Juste Transfer)

Northwestern 1 out of 3

Purdue 0 out of 5

 
deedsker said:
Fun stats time, total number of Jr or Sr 4 or 5 star players to total on the team:

Nebraska 8 out of 20 (DD transfer, Green JUCO, Raridon little playing time)

Illinois 6 out of 12 (All 6 upper classman transfered in)

Wisconsin 4 out of 9

Iowa 2 out of 7

Minnesota 2 out of 5 (St-Juste Transfer)

Northwestern 1 out of 3

Purdue 0 out of 5
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So this is the 8 players:  

Eric Lee, Avery Anderson, Lamar Jackson, John Rairdon, Marquel Dismuke, Matt Farniok, Darion Daniels(first year in program), and Green(who is redshirting).  To me it seems like at least this staff is getting the most that they can out of these players. 

 
PasstheDamnBallGuy said:
So this is the 8 players:  

Eric Lee, Avery Anderson, Lamar Jackson, John Rairdon, Marquel Dismuke, Matt Farniok, Darion Daniels(first year in program), and Green(who is redshirting).  To me it seems like at least this staff is getting the most that they can out of these players. 
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That list really shows the lack of talent this team has. Out of these upperclassmen Jackson's the only one that has a chance to make an all conference team this year and even though his play has improved he still is allergic to contact sometimes.

 
PasstheDamnBallGuy said:
So this is the 8 players:  

Eric Lee, Avery Anderson, Lamar Jackson, John Rairdon, Marquel Dismuke, Matt Farniok, Darion Daniels(first year in program), and Green(who is redshirting).  To me it seems like at least this staff is getting the most that they can out of these players. 
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You also have to wonder if Frost would have brought in the Riley 4 stars, so while we do have some talent, it’s not talent hand picked to be in Frost’s system. Also 4 of those guys are DBs which is probably are strongest unit! My gut feeling is in 4 years, when we look at the high 3* and 4* guys Frost has brought in, this conversation is going to go very differently.

 
FrantzHardySwag said:
You also have to wonder if Frost would have brought in the Riley 4 stars, so while we do have some talent, it’s not talent hand picked to be in Frost’s system. Also 4 of those guys are DBs which is probably are strongest unit! My gut feeling is in 4 years, when we look at the high 3* and 4* guys Frost has brought in, this conversation is going to go very differently.
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Yep 100%.  Look at that 2017 class where all 4 LBs are now gone. One of the weakest links of our team. 

 
deedsker said:
Fun stats time, total number of Jr or Sr 4 or 5 star players to total on the team:

Nebraska 8 out of 20 (DD transfer, Green JUCO, Raridon little playing time)

Illinois 6 out of 12 (All 6 upper classman transfered in)

Wisconsin 4 out of 9

Iowa 2 out of 7

Minnesota 2 out of 5 (St-Juste Transfer)

Northwestern 1 out of 3

Purdue 0 out of 5
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In these numbers lies the painful realization that even though we have more 4 and 5 star players on the team, the coaching staff has not been able to get the best out of them whereas Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota seem to be able to get much more from their players. I like Frost and have no doubt he is the best fit for us right now but it is obvious that his supporting cast of coaches are not doing a good job. He needs to evaluate his coaching staff and ask them why they are not able to compete with teams that have much lesser talent. For starters, Verduzco sounds arrogant and incompetent from his comments. I feel that Martinez regressing is a direct consequence of Verduzco coaching him.

 
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