Hot Routes

Originally I planned on breaking down the recruiting class at great lengths in this post, but when I realized that every other single Husker blogger had already done that, I quickly soured on that idea. Speaking of those breakdowns, I wanted to quickly give some props to Double Extra Point on their well-done analysis. By the way, does anyone know what that means? I've always given "props" to friends/people who have done a good job at something, but I'm not sure what it stand for, or if it is just another phrase white people stole from hip-hop culture....if anyone knows, fill me in. It's evident that the guys over at DXP have studied the film of all the recruits (something I am currently working hard on while I'm supposed to be doing actual work), and their capsules on all the guys are great.

Anyways, instead of breaking down every guy, I just wanted to pass along my thoughts on a half-dozen or so of the players, the ones I am most excited about or who I think have, in the words of ESPN's Bill Simmons, "Tremendous Upside Potential" (TUP from here on out). Also, I'll pass along some assorted college football links that I thought were worthy of a read. Not that my opinion validates these articles, but still, if I like, them, they must be pretty f-in sweet, right? No? Damn. You'd think my status as a 3rd-string Husker blogger would get me some clout.

Annnnyways, on the recruits.

Most Likely Immediate Impact

Baker Steinkuhler, DT
Ok, I know that this guy is a bookend offensive tackle, our #1 recruit, and a bona-fide stud. But let's not forget that our defensive tackle position is about as deep as a kiddie pool. Add to that the fact that Pelini is a defensive-minded coach who has done some special things with tackles before (Glenn Dorsey, anyone?) and you have to think that they'll give the kid an early look on the d-line just out of necessity. If we weren't in such dire need, he probably would be slated for offense (and still might be), but I can't help but fantasize about having Steinkuhler and Suh completely negating opponent's inside running games.

Ricky Henry, OL
With two years of CC football under his belt, he has the seasoning to step in and bolster the Huskers' interior line (at least if he can keep his grades up, something he's struggled with in the past). That said, his 6'4", 300-lb frame is impressive and tailor-made for the G position.

Tyson Hetzer, TE
A good pass-catching JUCO tight end who should fit into Watson's offense well and can work the seams really well down the middle of the field. With the loss of both J.B. Phillips and Josh Mueller, this is a position that is relatively up for grabs with relative unknowns Mike McNeill (injured last year), Ryan Hill (true frosh), and Hunter Teafatiller (9 career catches) in the fold.

Will Compton, LB/Mason Wald, S
We don't yet know who will be redshirted, so this is a tough call, but I can see both of these guys getting on kickoff coverage this year (with Compton seeing some PT at backer). Pelini will play the best guys, regardless of age, so I wouldn't put it past him throwing these guys into the fire and hoping for some explosions.

Tremendous Upside Potential (TUP) Recruits

This is for the guys who have the potential to make a big impact down the road depending on how things pan out and them getting in the weight room. I borrowed the phrase from ESPN's Bill Simmons, who stole it from Jay Bilas. During the NBA draft, guys who don't have solid body of work to analyze (like 6'10" foreign small forwards nobody knows about) are often described as having "Tremendous Upside Potential", meaning they could completely suck, or be the next Dirk Nowitzki. So here are my nominees from this year's Husker signees.

Sean Fisher, LB
The 6'5", 210-lb linebacker out of Millard North has the kind of length and size that recruitnicks and coaches drool over. This is the type of kid you immediately recruit on your NCAA dynasty, knowing he will turn into a beast. With that height, he has the potential (there's that word again) to get up to the 250 range and be an absolute monster. Can you imagine in two years a linebacking crew composed of him, Compton, and a beefed-up Blake Lawrence? How much fun would that be? And how would any QB find a throwing lane with a couple 6'4"/6'5" guys on the outside? It's a tough call on how it will all pan out, because Pelini often uses shorter, quicker guys on the outside because of his constant blitz calls, but still, it's fun to daydream about the possibilities. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with Fisher, a home-state kid who turned down OU (among others) to stay with the Big Red.

Kyler Reed, ATH
While it's tempting to see the 6'3", 205-pound Reed at linebacker, the signing of four other players at that position makes the Overland Park, Kansas product (a tight end as well in HS) a likely candidate for Watson's H-back position. Reed's blend of size and speed (plus the frame to easily add an additional 20 pounds) could make him a dangerous weapon in an offense that would constantly have him shifting before the snap.

Justin Rogers, CB
A stud prep tailback in Alabama's largest class of high schools, Rogers knows his potential lies on the defensive side of the ball. With great closing speed and very quick feet, he could develop into a good cover corner a couple of years down the road. Also, CB recruit David Whitmore is an intriguing prospect with great height (6'2") for the position, though after watching his film I think the 4-star rating was more based off of long term potential (which is why I'm making him a TUP recruit). I could see Whitmore getting some nickel-back opportunities in light of the fact we graduated a decent-sized group of secondary players (Grix, Jones, Bowman) this year.

Mason Wald, S
The dozen of you who regularly read my blog know that I'm already a big fan of this kid (a high school teammate of the aforementioned Rogers), so his addition to the TUP list probably comes as no surprise. Yes, I do have him as an immediate impact candidate as well, but I thought he should be a TUP guy because of the the fact he could get up to 220 and become a monster two or three years down the road.

Steven Osborne, WR
The lanky Texas wideout has the height but lacks one thing that makes him an elite prospect: that final breakaway gear. But that's something that the strength and conditioning guys at NU can help with, and aside from that, he looks like a good all-around player on film. He has sure hands, sets up his blocks well, has good vision, and is committed to good run-blocking (an absolute must). Could be a pretty good player a year from now.


Some other thoughts on the 2008 recruiting season.....

Blaine Gabbert has been mentioned in the same sentence as Josh Freeman quite a bit the past couple months, but there is a distinct difference between the two's reneged commitments to the Huskers. First off, let me say that I don't have any problem with either of them switching. They are kids, bound to change their minds about things. But when Freeman headed to K-State, he didn't start calling up other Husker commits and asking them to come with him. It has been said that Gabbert, on the other hand, didn't have any problem calling up guys like Compton and Dan Hoch to try and sway them to Mizzou. I understand that he's trying to help his future team, but dammit man, let them make their own decisions after talking with the coaches. His influence was said to have a big impact on the 4-star Hoch, a Harlan, Iowa product who many thought would stick with the Big Red. One recruiting-site contributor said that Gabbert should have gotten an award for the damage he did (and no, I can't link to anything or comment on it because it's a subscriber matter on one of the recruiting sites). And yes, part of this rant is because I really didn't want him to go to a team we have to play every damn year.

When it comes to Trevor Robinson's going to Notre Dame, I still can't understand it. He's going to play for a guy who is one losing season away from serious job insecurity, in addition to having to worry about super-douche Jimmy Clausen hitting on him all the time. I still don't understand the obsession with Notre Dame, an institution that hasn't been truly relevant in 20 years (I know, I know, we haven't been tearing it up lately either, but at least NU played in a title game just seven years ago). The only thing that would be an enticement is the degree you'd get. It certainly wouldn't be the junior high squad masquerading as the Fighting Irish.

Congrats to Alabama on getting the #1-rated class. It did wonders for our program three years ago!

A couple links before I sign off of here....

- Cool article over on ESPN.com about ISU's Jack Trice, who is still the only African American to have a D-I stadium named after him. I had no idea who Jack Trice was (and I went to ISU for a year), so this was an eye-opener for me.

-Reggie "3 yards-a-carry" Bush is scheduled to give a desposition regarding the alleged improper benefits he took during his career at USC. Finally, after years of denying any wrongdoing and continuously refusing to meet with investigators, Bush will finally have to answer for the benefits his family received during his Trojan tenure. I know it's wrong to assume guilt before it is a sure thing, but anybody who has read "Tarnished Heisman" or any of the Yahoo! sports reports that broke the story a couple of years ago knows that Bush will be hard pressed to prove his innocence.

Finally, I never really commented about the Super Bowl, but am I the only one who is really pissed off that the '72 Dolphins are still the only undefeated team? I can't stand these guys, and I was hoping that the Patriots would put an end to their reign as the only unblemished team. But noooo, instead we still will be talking about them any time a team gets to 7 or 8-0.

Christmas in February

And so, after a long (at least when it comes to Husker standards) football layoff, we finally get something new to talk about in the form of Signing day, which has become a holiday of sorts for football fans hungry for new developments and something to break up the off-season. While some may view grown men celebrating high schoolers picking a college as kind of creepy, I for one am thrilled that we managed to assemble a relatively strong recruiting class despite a coaching change. With only one month to convince all of Callahan's recruits as well as add new commits, Pelini's staff has done an excellent job salvaging the 2008 class after an initial flood of decommits when Callahan was fired. While we lack the star power we used to have under Callahan, this class has a great deal of depth and targets many of our need positions (i.e., DEFENSIVE GUYS). Sure, we don't have the all-star offensive line class we originally would have had this year with Cally, but on the flip side, these kids might actually be coached into good players, something the last staff proved completely inept at.

In addition to the scholarship guys, the new staff has managed to get a lot of under-the-radar kids to walk on. These guys might not be highly recruited, but they all have the size and mentality to contribute to the program and eventually have a shot to star. You never know where studs might come from, and Nebraska has had more than a few guys go from walk-ons to All-Americans.

The list of commits (table comes from the OWH):

In-state
Sean Fisher	Millard North	LB	6-5	210
Ricky Henry	Omaha Burke	OL	6-4	300
Micah Kreikemeier	West Point Central Catholic	LB	6-4	215
John Levorson	Crete	Safety	6-3	186
Collins Okafor	Omaha Westside	RB	6-1	210
Baker Steinkuhler	Lincoln Southwest	OL	6-6	290
Out-of-state
Antonio Bell	Daytona Beach, Fla.	WR	6-2	175
Will Compton	Bonne Terre, Mo.	LB	6-2	214
Ben Cotton	Ames, Iowa	TE	6-6	225
Khiry Cooper	Shreveport, La.	WR	6-2	185
Alfonzo Dennard	Rochelle, Ga.	CB	5-10	190
David Grant	Killeen, Texas	OL	6-6	280
Tyson Hetzer	Redding, Calif.	TE	6-7	265
Tim Marlowe	Youngstown, Ohio	RB	5-10	165
Cameron Meredith	Santa Ana, Calif.	DE	6-4	225
Courtney Osborne	Garland, Texas	Safety	6-2	170
Steven Osborne	Garland, Texas	WR	6-4	180
Kyler Reed	Overland Park, Kan.	LB	6-3	204
Justin Rogers	Birmingham, Ala.	RB	5-11	180
P.J. Smith	New Orleans	Safety	6-2	205
Kody Spano	Stephenville, Texas	QB	6-2	200
Brandon Thompson	Woodlands, Texas	OL	6-6	280
Quentin Toailoa	Highland, Calif.	DT	6-6	285
Lester Ward	Brenham, Texas	RB	6-3	186
Alonzo Whaley	Madisonville, Texas	LB	6-foot	210
David Whitmore	Port Arthur, Texas	DB	6-2	190
Josh Williams	Denton, Texas	DE	6-4	220

***Late note: Word has gotten out that Mason Wald, the Alabama safety whose talents I wrote about a couple of days ago, has accepted a scholarship offer to play for the Huskers. I haven't been this pumped since I got a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle van for Christmas when I was 8.

I'll have more on signing day tomorrow when everything is finalized. I'll be looking at what needs we filled, what positions we could have used additional guys at, and which players have a chance to make an impact immediately next year. For additional coverage, go to Huskerpedia.com, who has links to several sites with links to individual stories and capsules.

Recruiting Update: Man Crush alert

Wow, that title is really gay-sounding.....buuuut I really don't care. I wanted to post today about a kid just starting to make some noise on the recruiting circuit (5 days left till signing day, by the way). His name is Mason Wald, and on paper, there's nothing that jumps out about the kid. He's a 5'11", 195-pound safety out of Vestavia Hills High School in Birmingham, Alabama. But if you watch his highlight tapes, it just shows how stupid judging someone on paper is. This kid is a BAMF, a Bad Ass Mother F*cker, a heat-seeking missile who really punishes the ball carrier. I'll admit, when I first read about our offer to him on Rivals, I was kinda pissed. My thought process was, "Great, another overachieving defensive back who Nebraska offered despite no other big-time programs being interested." I thought it was another reach by the Pelini coaching staff. But then, having nothing better to do at work, I decided to take a look at his video.

And I am now hoping we get this kid (whose only other offer at this point is Samford) more than I am hoping to land big-time 5 star guys. Wald is the type of player you'd expect playing for Pelini- tough, aggressive, flying to the ball. His only hang-up about the Huskers is that they are a bit farther from home, so here's to hoping that Saban doesn't decide to be a douche and offer this kid.......seriously, watch the highlight film (give them time to load, trust me, you won't regret it), and make sure to watch all 3 of them.

Some small thoughts on a big weekend

Well, the weekend is finally upon us. It has been 103 days since the Cotton Bowl, and that's a hundred days where I've been really bored and in need of some college football. Obviously this doesnt carry the significance of a fall Saturday. Nothing is at stake in this exhibition in terms of standings or championships. But what this game does offer is a glimpse of what awaits us come August and September. Position battles have gone back and forth the past couple of weeks, and the performance in this game, while not determining the final depth chart, will go a long ways in seeing the strides made thus far during the offseason. So let's enjoy the last bit of Husker football we'll see for 5 months, and take solace in knowing that no matter what happens tommorow, Nebraska will win.

A few things about this weekend:

The coaching staff has made the smart move (but one that was a no-brainer) in making this game a recruiting event. While other schools, including football factories like Auburn and OU, bring in roughly 15,000 fans, Nebraska expects to draw 55,000-plus at their spring event (although I expect us to be north of the 70,000 mark). This offers a sneak peak to high school juniors a taste of what football means to the state of Nebraska and it's fans. This weekend, roughly 80 recruits are expected in Lincoln to take in the Red-White game, meaning the opportunity to make an indelible impression must be taken advantage of. And as the article points out, not only is the atmosphere a great way to build enthusiasm with recruits, the coaching staff is able to spend a lot more time with them than they would on a game day in the fall. Nebraska, who doesn't have the glitz and media attention provided to the Southern Cals and Miamis, has to capitalize on events like this when it comes to recruiting. Luckly, it's looking like its going to be a gorgeous spring day, with highs in the mid-50s and sunny.

This is a great opportunity for the Huskers, who have already been making a lot of noise on the recruiting trail this spring for the class of 2008. Among those attending the game this Saturday is stud QB prospect out of Missouri who stands 6'5", weighs 230 pounds, and runs his 40 in the 4.6 to 4.7 range. Now, ever since the Harrison Beck debacle, I've been slow to get excited about stud prep players, particularly quarterbacks. It's hard to stay that reserved when reading about this Gabbert kid though. It's looking like he may be this year's Jimmy Clausen, only he's not a douchebag like that kid is. Right now we are ranked among his four favorite schools, the other three being Alabama, Iowa, and Mizzou. He is actually headed to the latter's spring game next Saturday, where presumably Chase Daniel will be tutoring him on the finer points of picking his nose.

In an article by Sipple in the LJS, our defensive mastermind Cos is looking for big plays this Saturday from his defense. As everyone knows, these spring tilts are geared towards offensive fireworks. Last year, Taylor passed for 300+ yards in the first half alone. At the time, it seemed like offensive wizardry. In retrospect, it might have been a harbinger of things to come from our less-than-stellar secondary. I'm still not sold on Cosgrove's ability as a defensive coordinator. When he was at Wisconsin, their defensive units were never that strong, and it might not have been a coincidence that when he left their defensive play greatly improved. I think that his schemes are solid, but I think he (and perhaps our entire staff, judging by our horrible 3rd quarters last year) really struggles at in-game adjustments to opposing offenses. If he is stressing big plays this year, good for him. Obviously everyone wants big plays, but what I'm getting at specifically is turnovers. Last year, Nebraska was even in the turnover ratio, and while that may not be horrible, I've always thought winning the turnover battle was one of the three most important keys to winning games (the others being time of possession and having a larger score than your opponent at the end of the game). Obviously the last one was in jest, but I firmly believe in the first two, and I'm hoping that Cos is going to encourage his players to be more aggressive in looking for the strip-scoop-and-scores that we have been lacking the past few years. This, in addition to a more ball-hawkish secondary (I hope), will go a long way in winning more games, particularlly ones like USC and UT.

Thought Jeff Adams pointed out an interesting thing over on the Fanhouse: six teams in the Big 12 are currently looking at some form of QB competition. Even though a few of those have clear-cut leaders (Reid at OSU, Hawkins at sCUm), the fact that half of the teams in the conference are in some way auditioning multiple signal callers behind center means that either coaches really don't trust incumbent QBs or they want to give the illusion that there is always a competition for the job. In the case of KU, where the returning starter (Kerry Meier) had 13/10 touchdown to INT ratio, it might not be a bad idea not see what your other options are. The one I really dont understand is the one at Oklahoma State. I dont know why Gundy insists on getting Zac Robinson snaps at QB, Reid is by far the better athlete and passer. Why put the backup in for 10 plays a game just to mix things up? I've never believed in a multiple quarterback system, ever since Spurrier rotated Rex Grossman and Jessie Palmer (better known as the Bachelor) EVERY OTHER PLAY back at Florida. It's always been my belief that the other 10 guys in the huddle like to see the same face leading them every time they go out there, the thought being that continuity builds success.

Good news for me: a buddy of mine has a DVR, meaning that he is going to record the spring game for me. I would watch it at 8, but I'm a 23 year old college kid who has other things to do at that time of day. Thanks again to the NFL network for putting it on tape delay, assholes. Anyways, now that I know I'll be able to watch the game, I plan on doing a running diary (a'la Bill Simmons) and posting it on here. I know, all ten of you who read this are pretty excited. I've been trying to figure out what my schedule of posting is going to be. Right now I kind of wing it, but I'm thinking that I'm going to try to set up some kind of set format for each week. Have the Monday Morning QB on Mondays, Hot Routes on Tuesdays, some links and a look around the Big 12 on Wednesday or Thursday, and then a more "serious" piece on Fridays (this will usually be more in the format of an article, unlike my usual ramblings)......

My prediction for this weekend: Nebraska wins big. I'm hoping that the secondary steps up and shocks us with some shut-down play, even if the 1's arent going against each other.