Riola was not a good hire, his resume alone should have disqualified him. Frost liked him after a conversation? No, probably after they got drunk together
Oline fixable?
- Thread starter yunginsNU2
- Start date
Minnesota doesn’t have any problem’s with over sized lineman that are 6-6 or taller..
The coaching change hasn't made much of a difference. The kids have size but maybe they need two Offensive line coaches instead of one.
| No | Player | Pos | Ht | Wt (lbs) | Age | Yr | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 77 | Hunter Anthony | OL | 6' 6" | 325 lbs | 23 | Junior 2V | Tuttle, Oklahoma |
| 73 | Broc Bando | OL | 6' 5" | 295 lbs | 24 | Senior 3V | Lincoln, Nebraska |
| 74 | Brant Banks | OL | 6' 8" | 300 lbs | Sophomore 1V | Houston, Texas | |
| 54 | Bryce Benhart | OL | 6' 9" | 315 lbs | Sophomore 1V | Lakeville, Minnesota | |
| 58 | Ian Boerkircher | OL | 6' 6" | 285 lbs | Junior 2V | Aurora, Nebraska | |
| 79 | Alex Conn | OL | 6' 6" | 310 lbs | Sophomore 1V | Derby, Kansas | |
| 69 | Turner Corcoran | OL | 6' 6" | 300 lbs | Sophomore 1V | Lawrence, Kansas | |
| 51 | Justin Evans-Jenkins | OL | 6' 1" | 290 lbs | Freshman HS | East Orange, New Jersey | |
| 75 | Trent Hixson | OL | 6' 4" | 305 lbs | 23 | Senior 3V | Omaha, Nebraska |
| 50 | Sam Hoskinson | OL | 6' 1" | 240 lbs | Sophomore 1V | Omaha, Nebraska | |
| 59 | Henry Lutovsky | OL | 6' 6" | 310 lbs | Sophomore 1V | Crawfordsville, Iowa | |
| 77 | Michael Lynn | OL | 6' 6" | 295 lbs | Sophomore 1V | Greenwood Village, Colorado | |
| 67 | Joey Mancino | OL | 6' 3" | 280 lbs | Sophomore 1V | Holmdel, New Jersey | |
| 70 | Keegan Menning | OL | 6' 5" | 325 lbs | Sophomore 1V | Fremont, Nebraska | |
| 66 | Ezra Miller | OL | 6' 6" | 310 lbs | Sophomore 1V | Holstein, Iowa | |
| 53 | Riley Moses | OL | 6' 2" | 290 lbs | Sophomore 1V | Fairmont, Nebraska | |
| 63 | Nouredin Nouili | OL | 6' 4" | 315 lbs | Junior 2V | Frankfurt, Germany | |
| 61 | Dylan Parrott | OL | 6' 5" | 340 lbs | Freshman HS | Eldridge, Iowa | |
| 57 | Ethan Piper | OL | 6' 2" | 295 lbs | Sophomore 1V | Norfolk, Nebraska | |
| 65 | Teddy Prochazka | OL | 6' 10" | 320 lbs | Sophomore 1V | Elkhorn, Nebraska | |
| 76 | Beau Schaller | OL | 6' 2" | 270 lbs | Sophomore 1V | Waukee, Iowa | |
| 76 | Eli Simonson | OL | 6' 6" | 295 lbs | Sophomore 1V | Fremont, Nebraska | |
| 62 | Noah Stafursky | OL | 6' 4" | 325 lbs | Sophomore 1V | York, Nebraska | |
| 78 | Kevin Williams Jr. | OL | 6' 5" | 325 lbs | Senior 3V | Omaha, Nebraska |
Why is the portal the answer? Didn't we go to the portal this year? How is that working out? Remind me again which kids are in the portal?
Scott Frost had the final say on which players he would take through the portal. There are players out there who would love to start at Nebraska maybe we just need to start giving some of that NIL money as an inducement.
You get the right transfer through the portal and it makes a huge difference. If you don't upgrade your OL with proven solid talent where else are you going find it? What is the solution to our biggest problem, I hope it's not waiting for that stud HS offensive linemen who won't be ready for several years.
We tried playing Teddy Prochazka right out of HS and he wasn't ready for the grind of the BIG, he still hasn't recovered from the beating he's taken.
I think some of our current offensive linemen need to move on so we can infuse some talent from other schools and they don't have to come from P5 there are plenty of colleges in lower division's out there that have some solid players who would love to play P5.
I think having the right OL coach helps a ton but it's not the complete cure for our ills, our past staff did a bad job of finding and developing talent and they didn't need to be four and five star recruits, Mickey Joseph understands this. jmo
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Yes, yes I know this is unfair and the game has changed etc. but never understood why we went away from the linemen in the mid 90’s who were 6’2 to 6’5 ~ 300 lbs that were very athletic, could move, pull get into space etc. to big tall lumbering dudes who couldn’t move. Did the same with the linebackers and defensive ends. Started with solich who was running the same system more or less as TO, never made sense to me….
You have to look at who evaluated those highly rated guys in the first place. Recruiting services are especially prone to errors. Then you add COVID to the mix on top of that. I don’t believe for a minute that S&C can wholly fix slow feet
We need to build more linemen out of high school tight ends like we did with Jurgens. I said it for years on this board before Jurgens was even recruited. 99% of high school i linemen aren’t quick enough to play P5 football at a high level
A S&C coach can only do so much with statues. However, when the OL coach lets these guys get straightened up, they lose all leverage. Just look at Benhart, then look at the way Anthoney is literally pushed straight up and becomes an easy walk back.
You start with 7-8 of the OL that have the best mobility and work them on getting and keeping leverage. And keep their damn feet underneath them, not spread out 1 1/2 times their shoulder width.
Once Benhart, Anthony and even Teddy get wide in their backpedal, the defender just pushes and jukes left and then goes right around them, or vise versa.
Piper came in pretty athletic. Right now he looks to have packed on another 20#'s of bad weight and has lost most of his quickness. It's a whole systemic problem with OLmen.
NU recruited those kids out of high school, Conn and a bunch of others have been here 3 years and have virtually no meaningful playing time. Right now there isn't a lineman on this squad that could start for more than one or two teams in D1.
I hope if Mickey, or whomever is hired, will immediately fire Duvall. And pay some money to someone who has a history of building big guys who can move. They need to drop the squad level to about 110 kids and say adios to those who have been here 3-4 years and will never be a 3rd teamer.
Someone, or several guys, have made the point of: what offense do we want to run? Frost tried his little gimmick offense that worked in the AAC and is laughable in the BIg Ten. If they don't fit into the model of what you want your offense to be, then those kids are wasting their time as well as the programs.
Instead of watching our QB take the snap, have a controlled pocket to make a throw happens about 2-3 times a game. Mostly, it's my focus to see how fast one or more of our lineman are whiffing and NU makes most teams looks like the Clemson front four.
I don't know how people think Mickey is gonna run the table, or go 5-1 with this collection of talent. NU should be lucky to win a couple more games if things fall in place. If nothing else, the offense really needs to step up and start to control the ball every couple of series.
Busch is finding kids that have been on the bench can be valuable help to the defense. If NU has given more snaps to Anthony than Benhart, that's good, but Anthony is there by default. Its not too late to move some more kids around during the bye week and see if there is a body or two than can be more productive in the offensive line.
Sorry for this post. It's been my calling card the last year.
Yeah, weird. Didn’t Scott Lost brag about making them vomit a lot or something?
Raiola already has that covered. Some people that have been at practice were surprised by how “vocal” he was with his charges. He’s got the *** chewing skill down fine
Anthony wasn't any better at RT than benhart and maybe was worse. He got best like a drum all night.
Palmer, Washington, Thompson, Mathis were portal guys. Grant was a JUCO. We need that kind of talent infusion on the OL.
Get better O-line coaching and some of those younger players on the roster just might start making a turn for the better.
All sorts of opinions on here, no lack of those.
Some logic may be helpful, but not always welcome. Here is my attempt, as always, my opinion only.
1. One has to ask why we are seeing less than sparkling performances across the board on our OL? Just going by numbers, all these kids can't be bad naturally? There has to be a common thread going on here.
2. Frost wanted a certain body type, the tall guys which I believe have not turned out to be the fix he was looking for. I know the long arms and all that stuff was touted on here but just look at the guys who were drafted in the league in the first couple of rounds, none were the jolly green giant types that we went after. That needs to be reassessed.
3. Where is the flexibility/footwork/agility? The reason we can't run much outside stuff is because we are terrible at blocking in space. It has been that way for several years, this is nothing new. The only reason we throw to our RB is during a check downs, rarely a primary receiver as we need him for blocking. I have been critical of our line's footwork for several years although, from a cursory viewing this year, it is marginally better which isn't saying much.
4. We do need more and better athletes on the OL. Perhaps some shorter but aggressive and athletics kids who need to grow. O linemen will generally look like they are carrying extra bad weight, that is part of it.
5. We are not close to the point where we can line up and move teams back off the LOS. It is better this year but not by much.
6. More misdirection and quick passing game are offered as remedies. I hope people realize the entire offense is a misdirection. It is meant to be that way. As I see it, the reason we are getting some good releases on the deep balls is because we actually had a running threat from Grant the first few games. Teams have moved up, bringing a safety up to help in run support which opens up the deep ball. It also opens up your line to blocking longer. I know this is a shock but not every option for running and passing is available on every play. The D determines what you can do to a major extent, that is what CT is reading. He sees two deep safeties, you run the ball, a safety up, you have receivers open on the outside where these is now less help.
7. Why or why does everyone think the portal is going to solve our problems at OL? If a kid is a starter at anywhere U, why is he coming to Nebraska who has had little recent history of OL success? Maybe you get a G guy but now you probably need a year to develop him. How many transfers have we had in the last two years that have not played much meaningful time, even at Nebraska?
This entire offense is "misdirection". The TD play to Vok is a prime example. The LB reads the blocking/back going non play aide and bites long enough to allow the TE to come in behind them for the TD. What people are seeing or think they are seeing is running "up the middle" or "zone read" or whatever the play is that seems to be the same play over and over. Well, it is not. It may start with a QB handing to a RB but there are multiple options for blocking that we are not very good at most of the time.
Perhaps Raiola is making improvements with this group. I know they are rotating a lot of kids which is actually good. They can grade and decide who is really getting the job done instead of guessing.
Some logic may be helpful, but not always welcome. Here is my attempt, as always, my opinion only.
1. One has to ask why we are seeing less than sparkling performances across the board on our OL? Just going by numbers, all these kids can't be bad naturally? There has to be a common thread going on here.
2. Frost wanted a certain body type, the tall guys which I believe have not turned out to be the fix he was looking for. I know the long arms and all that stuff was touted on here but just look at the guys who were drafted in the league in the first couple of rounds, none were the jolly green giant types that we went after. That needs to be reassessed.
3. Where is the flexibility/footwork/agility? The reason we can't run much outside stuff is because we are terrible at blocking in space. It has been that way for several years, this is nothing new. The only reason we throw to our RB is during a check downs, rarely a primary receiver as we need him for blocking. I have been critical of our line's footwork for several years although, from a cursory viewing this year, it is marginally better which isn't saying much.
4. We do need more and better athletes on the OL. Perhaps some shorter but aggressive and athletics kids who need to grow. O linemen will generally look like they are carrying extra bad weight, that is part of it.
5. We are not close to the point where we can line up and move teams back off the LOS. It is better this year but not by much.
6. More misdirection and quick passing game are offered as remedies. I hope people realize the entire offense is a misdirection. It is meant to be that way. As I see it, the reason we are getting some good releases on the deep balls is because we actually had a running threat from Grant the first few games. Teams have moved up, bringing a safety up to help in run support which opens up the deep ball. It also opens up your line to blocking longer. I know this is a shock but not every option for running and passing is available on every play. The D determines what you can do to a major extent, that is what CT is reading. He sees two deep safeties, you run the ball, a safety up, you have receivers open on the outside where these is now less help.
7. Why or why does everyone think the portal is going to solve our problems at OL? If a kid is a starter at anywhere U, why is he coming to Nebraska who has had little recent history of OL success? Maybe you get a G guy but now you probably need a year to develop him. How many transfers have we had in the last two years that have not played much meaningful time, even at Nebraska?
This entire offense is "misdirection". The TD play to Vok is a prime example. The LB reads the blocking/back going non play aide and bites long enough to allow the TE to come in behind them for the TD. What people are seeing or think they are seeing is running "up the middle" or "zone read" or whatever the play is that seems to be the same play over and over. Well, it is not. It may start with a QB handing to a RB but there are multiple options for blocking that we are not very good at most of the time.
Perhaps Raiola is making improvements with this group. I know they are rotating a lot of kids which is actually good. They can grade and decide who is really getting the job done instead of guessing.
The TD to Vokolek came off an unbalanced line. The defender intially keyed on the RG pulling and then the RB. The hole the defender left allowed CT to throw to the same spot that defender vacated.
As far as the OL and the portal. It's pretty obvious a ton of these kids were mistakes that can't play BIg Ten football. That's why JUCO kids can be much easier to recruit. Some of those kids can play, a lot of them are starters and if they have what looks like the tools to get the job done at NU, if you wave a healthy amount of NIL money, you can bring some in.
Hell, most of them are hungry for a shot at D1 and a scholarship.
That's why I said he was there by default. He's slower than mud, too. He got pushed straight up the few times I watched him.
How about Mickey join DR for 15-20 minutes during drills?
Maybe half way in Mickey can stop the drill and remind those OL that not only is Raiola coaching for his job, but so is Mickey?
Maybe he can remind them that starting today, those players are playing for their jobs too. Nothing like hearing it from the MAN himself.
Well duh, its called misdirection just like I stated for those who think we don't run any of that.
Some perhaps were not has good as advertised but the development in both technique and S&C are likely lacking. It is not even logical to think we could have this many recruits turn out so poorly. Something is rotten in Denmark.
When was the last time a JUCO kid got recruited in the OL? With the lifting of grade restrictions the marginal kids got scholarships at lower division schools. Lots of talk about JUCO kids not getting looks at all. From reports, our own Grant wasn't highly recruited.
I know what misdirection is smart ***.
What's rotten in Denmark is the S&C coach.
The last OL NU recruited was Desmond Bland. He didn't sign.
Well, you repeated what I had already put in my post like it wasn't there and you had a revelation. So if Pete and repeated were sitting on a fence and Pete fell off.. ...
Your description of the Vokolek TD is so precise you fail to mention it was with an unbalanced line. It's not hardly "the same play over and over."
NU ran 66 plays and used an unbalanced line 1 play.
Not exactly over and over.
Since you failed to mention the unbalanced line, that would be your revelation.
The more you think you know, the more you know you don't know.
Realistically, they at least need one grad transfer tackle. Someone who is solid. Not a backup transfer or an injured guy who would miss spring ball. They’ve got a slew of guys who can play interior. Then in spring ball, practice playing football. Full speed and everything. No half speed touch football. And the line play will get much better. HOW they’ve been practicing is a major problem. Been saying that for three years now.
Great post
at least there’s some reasonably intelligent discussion going on instead of just “Whipple sucks. Raiola sucks. Frost is a horrible person.”
I trust what Saban does. He usually won't have more than one lineman above 6'6" but if he does they have footwork to match Fred Astaire
Our lineman move their feet as if they have lead shoes on