Nelson - 247 article

[inWV]

Apparently where he is from is not a hotbed of D1 FB recruiting. Barthel offered him while at UCONN. UCONN football went through years of sucking completely, but when they've been decent, they've feature good running backs. The kid of course ended up at NU with Barthel, and appears to have skills that translate to P4 play. He has better wheels than EJ and runs with a lot of attitude.
Nelson eager to validate coaches' confidence in Husker running back room

 

[steinek11]

Apparently where he is from is not a hotbed of D1 FB recruiting. Barthel offered him while at UCONN. UCONN football went through years of sucking completely, but when they've been decent, they've feature good running backs. The kid of course ended up at NU with Barthel, and appears to have skills that translate to P4 play. He has better wheels than EJ and runs with a lot of attitude.
Nelson eager to validate coaches' confidence in Husker running back room

He’ll get his chance and we need him to carry the load.

 

[Spinner4]

Jeremy Pernell nailed it in his article the other day. Link below. Breath of fresh air to see a Husker writer really just rip them apart for making some dumb moves

Pat still thinks he’s in the NFL valuing RBs low. This isn’t the NFL. The drop off between good and bad is much more in college football. Around 900 kids play RB in the FBS (per Chat GPT) and around 100 in the NFL. Pat thinks he can just plug a guy in. That’s not college football. The man doesn’t know college football, it isn’t like the NFL.

please read the article. Pat needs to be held accountable for the rb situation. If it works out, praise. If it doesn’t, little porky needs to be roasted. It’s too much of a gamble

Strategic Misstep at Running Back Could Hold Back Nebraska’s Offense in 2026

 

[Spinner4]

He has better wheels than EJ and runs with a lot of attitude.
Nelson eager to validate coaches' confidence in Husker running back room

this sort of thing I expect from people who don’t know much about RB.

wheels don’t matter much when your trying to follow blocks. Matter of fact when you watch Nelson and Ives tape, this is a major problem. You watch EJ and where he is in line with the pulling blocker. Right where you want to be, a behind enough so when olineman squares, your right there. then you watch Ives and Nelson and they are ahead of their lineman too much. That’s what happens when you play with too much speed and attitude!!!

being a rb is a lot like dancing and being with a lady. Gotta find the right rhythm. Some times you hit it fast, but most times you don’t. You gotta read what’s in front of you.

Levon Bell’s famous quote “I never ran at full speed”. About the only time you want to run at full speed is when you have a big hole in front of you but that’s rare. That’s why we saw Nelson have one really nice run against Utah. It was there. But after that; when it wasn’t, he had no vision or rhythm. It can really make an O-line look bad when it’s really the RB and that pisses the lineman off. Kid like Nelson would have never been on a TO football team. It’s a ballet. It’s a march. A well design running play is beautiful between all 11 dudes. Everyone moving right on mark.

and this can really be difficult on a coach at times because they show good moves in practice but in games, they get trigger happy and just try to out run and run with attitude. That’s the crap High School coaches tell you cause you can do that in High School. You can out run blocks but defenses are too good in P4. He ain’t Reggie Bush

Crazy as it sounds Nelson might want to look into taking ballet. The dude needs to learn rhythm. Running hard and fast is just going to lead to down at the LOS… worked for Barry sanders and Hershel Walker

 

[Anon1707625086]

Well, you’re an idiot. How many years and carries did it take EJ to become the back he is? This is just a plug and play deal? A evaluation says the speed and power exits. The rest is to the teacher.

 

[Anon1707625086]

Stop posting here.

 

[Spinner4]

Well, you’re an idiot. How many years and carries did it take EJ to become the back he is? This is just a plug and play deal? A evaluation says the speed and power exits. The rest is to the teacher.

Was always a fan of EJ. Prove to me I wasn’t. EJ always looked good.Have you ever watched a Nebraska game? Did you watch in 23? Lots of people were on EJ back then. If Nelson and Ives looked like 2023 EJ, I’d be happy

if it was only speed and size and teaching, why would the big schools pay for star talent? Just go find big and fast kids. and with that logic EJ wouldn’t be recruited, he was way undersized

How exactly does speed help you when your following blocks? A coach can lead a kid to water but he can’t carry the rock for him. Instinct kicks in. Instinct tells you to run but that’s wrong sometimes, sometimes you need to be patient.

Have you ever played sports? It’s one thing in practice but a different deal in a game

Stop posting here.

Oh ok…. LOL


put your money where your mouth is, you think Nelson gets 700 yards this season?

 

[dinglefritz]

this sort of thing I expect from people who don’t know much about RB.

wheels don’t matter much when your trying to follow blocks. Matter of fact when you watch Nelson and Ives tape, this is a major problem. You watch EJ and where he is in line with the pulling blocker. Right where you want to be, a behind enough so when olineman squares, your right there. then you watch Ives and Nelson and they are ahead of their lineman too much. That’s what happens when you play with too much speed and attitude!!!

being a rb is a lot like dancing and being with a lady. Gotta find the right rhythm. Some times you hit it fast, but most times you don’t. You gotta read what’s in front of you.

Levon Bell’s famous quote “I never ran at full speed”. About the only time you want to run at full speed is when you have a big hole in front of you but that’s rare. That’s why we saw Nelson have one really nice run against Utah. It was there. But after that; when it wasn’t, he had no vision or rhythm. It can really make an O-line look bad when it’s really the RB and that pisses the lineman off. Kid like Nelson would have never been on a TO football team. It’s a ballet. It’s a march. A well design running play is beautiful between all 11 dudes. Everyone moving right on mark.

and this can really be difficult on a coach at times because they show good moves in practice but in games, they get trigger happy and just try to out run and run with attitude. That’s the crap High School coaches tell you cause you can do that in High School. You can out run blocks but defenses are too good in P4. He ain’t Reggie Bush

Crazy as it sounds Nelson might want to look into taking ballet. The dude needs to learn rhythm. Running hard and fast is just going to lead to down at the LOS… worked for Barry sanders and Hershel Walker

I thought EJ danced WAY too much early in his career here. As he gained confidence he attacked the LOS more aggressively. As a guy who played the position, I like what I’ve seen from both Nelson and Mozee. I’m also interested to see Rule. Dana seems to like Rule a lot. I have zero problem with us not signing a transfer RB.

 

[Spinner4]

I

I thought EJ danced WAY too much early in his career here. As he gained confidence he attacked the LOS more aggressively. As a guy who played the position, I like what I’ve seen from both Nelson and Mozee. I’m also interested to see Rule. Dana seems to like Rule a lot. I have zero problem with us not signing a transfer RB.

dingle i don’t agree with you but I appreciate the post. You at least bring substance to your opinion. You don’t just call people names and say you’re wrong. I appreciate that.

as someone too who played the position, I learned early the best way to get yardage isn’t to break tackles, it’s to avoid it and that’s done by using your body guards. Our backs have yet to prove the have vision.

time will tell, I guess. But it’s a gamble just like the article said. If it doesn’t work, they should be held accountable. This wasn’t the safe route

 

[dinglefritz]

I

dingle i don’t agree with you but I appreciate the post. You at least bring substance to your opinion. You don’t just call people names and say you’re wrong. I appreciate that.

as someone too who played the position, I learned early the best way to get yardage isn’t to break tackles, it’s to avoid it and that’s done by using your body guards. Our backs have yet to prove the have vision.

time will tell, I guess. But it’s a gamble just like the article said. If it doesn’t work, they should be held accountable. This wasn’t the safe route

High school to the B1G is a huge leap. Vision is probably way more important than 40 times. I’m hopeful he gains confidence and experience at this level improves his ability to find creases. He has the physical tools.

 

[Nuts McClanahan]

Apparently where he is from is not a hotbed of D1 FB recruiting. Barthel offered him while at UCONN. UCONN football went through years of sucking completely, but when they've been decent, they've feature good running backs. The kid of course ended up at NU with Barthel, and appears to have skills that translate to P4 play. He has better wheels than EJ and runs with a lot of attitude.
Nelson eager to validate coaches' confidence in Husker running back room

What a novel concept! Actually trusting that one of the backups in your program is capable of playing good football! I'm so glad that the coaches didn't listen to the media ******** about buying a back out of the transfer portal. I listen to Sipple and Callahan sometimes-- they don't understand football very well but they've been around it a long time. Fans listen to them. When they talk about what positions have needs in the portal, last year and this year, they mentioned every position. Every f'n position. We've got to get away from this mentality that the kids in our program all suck.

 

[Nuts McClanahan]

I thought EJ danced WAY too much early in his career here. As he gained confidence he attacked the LOS more aggressively. As a guy who played the position, I like what I’ve seen from both Nelson and Mozee. I’m also interested to see Rule. Dana seems to like Rule a lot. I have zero problem with us not signing a transfer RB.

I disagree with the first part. In his limited time early in his career, I loved how EJ was able to find a crease and get three yards in a hole Dowdell would never see cause his head was down and other backs over the years would have bounced outside for a loss or no gain.

I agree with the 2nd part. We've got some good prospects back there. Let's play them. If he stays healthy, Nelson will run for more yards than anyone we've had in a long while (other than Emmitt).

 

[inWV]

High school to the B1G is a huge leap. Vision is probably way more important than 40 times. I’m hopeful he gains confidence and experience at this level improves his ability to find creases. He has the physical tools.

I think being on the roster with EJ has been very good for Nelson. Just as Roy was for Rex and Rex was for AA.

 

[Spinner4]

High school to the B1G is a huge leap. Vision is probably way more important than 40 times. I’m hopeful he gains confidence and experience at this level improves his ability to find creases. He has the physical tools.

Unfortunately I don’t think we will know much about the RB spot until B1G play with our very soft non-conference schedule. Hopefully it will help their confidence. As you said you’ve played, just something much different about playing in a game vs practice and the pressure just gets more when the oppents get better

the one good thing I think is Barthel does see where these backs haven’t been great at. I saw it last year, you’d see Nelson or Ives badly out run their blocking and he’d sit them down for sometimes the rest of the game. I do think Barthel will eventually have to come off this “under dog” room mindset he has. It’s ok to have a highly recruited guy in the room too. More than ok, it’s really important. But EJ and Stewart are on the hook this year. Both are up for the 2026 FAFO award. Prior year winners were 25 Donnie, 24 foley, and 23 Sat

 

[TheRealPeliniTheCrutch]

Thanks for the service of the guys in this thread who played RB in high school.

JFC…

 

[dinglefritz]

Thanks for the service of the guys in this thread who played RB in high school.

JFC…

You get no points for that quality H2O that you delivered religiously.

 

[burntorange72]

What a novel concept! Actually trusting that one of the backups in your program is capable of playing good football! I'm so glad that the coaches didn't listen to the media ******** about buying a back out of the transfer portal. I listen to Sipple and Callahan sometimes-- they don't understand football very well but they've been around it a long time. Fans listen to them. When they talk about what positions have needs in the portal, last year and this year, they mentioned every position. Every f'n position. We've got to get away from this mentality that the kids in our program all suck.

We have talented football players when compared to UNK but not so much compared to tOSU. Rhules first two years no NU player was listed as first or second team big 10, or even a pity listing as honorable mention. Honorable mention,for me would, be the lowest level of the measure of talent. When the polls can’t even fond a player on your squad to mention as honorable mention you are not very talented. You may not like it but that just the facts.

 

[Nuts McClanahan]

We have talented football players when compared to UNK but not so much compared to tOSU. Rhules first two years no NU player was listed as first or second team big 10, or even a pity listing as honorable mention. Honorable mention,for me would, be the lowest level of the measure of talent. When the polls can’t even fond a player on your squad to mention as honorable mention you are not very talented. You may not like it but that just the facts.

Chicken or the egg? Iowa develops good players and they are not higher ranked recruits than ours. The truth is most of these three and four star recruits are all very close to equal in talent. It depends what you do with them. Let's go back to playing smart, physical Nebraska old style football. Start beating Iowa. Then we'll worry about OSU.

 

[inWV]

Chicken or the egg? Iowa develops good players and they are not higher ranked recruits than ours. The truth is most of these three and four star recruits are all very close to equal in talent. It depends what you do with them. Let's go back to playing smart, physical Nebraska old style football. Start beating Iowa. Then we'll worry about OSU.

Just listened to Sam M talk about Barthel and the RBs during the practice period open to sports scribblers. He said Barthel's drill game is next level. He's doing what they do at Iowa. The RBs in that room do get better.