Recently, Ourlads came out with what their predictions are on the offensive depth chart for 2024 and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Thought i’d give a little analysis on what I believe they got right and what I think they got wrong.
Quarterback
Let’s just start with this one, I think they nailed it here. Raiola wasn’t coming here to battle it out, it’s why guys like Purdy took off. The job is his barring an injury. After that it gets a little tricky, as HH is going to be getting reps at TE this spring as well. This staff will do everything they can to preserve Kaelin’s redshirt, so Haarberg is our #2 for sure. But I think they want to get him on the field at TE. We will see how this all plays out.
Pretty straight forward with QB, really the only intriguing thing to me is how Rhule will handle things in the spring. In 2023, Rhule basically had full-contact QBs as he had double the amount of scholarship guys on the roster. If one went down, you had 5 more in the stable. Raiola is going to need the full contact, as will Kaelin, but can we afford to do that this time around? Will be fun to watch.
Runningback
This is what is so tricky about trying to guess things before spring ball. There are injuries that you have no idea how someone is going to be coming off of them. I am a bit worried about Ervin Jr getting back to form after his hip injury, I would actually give the nod to Rahmir Johnson as the starting back. However, both Ervin Jr and Johnson are out for this spring, which paves the way for Emmett Johnson and new Oregon transfer Dowdell to get the bulk of the work. Ives while he has been getting some praise, is going to need to show patience for another year if Johnson or Ervin Jr are healthy this fall. But he will get plenty of work in the spring.
I would put both Johnson’s as 1A and 1B right now, but since Rahmir is out for the spring Emmett Johnson will be RB1 starting in March.
Fullback
Not too much to argue with here, as Bonner got the lions share of snaps last year. However, will Nebraska be ok giving a scholarship to Bonner instead of letting a guy like Liebentritt take snaps? I don’t know, if things get tight here may be a tough conversation there.
Wide Receiver
This one is where it starts getting fun. Banks is a no-brainer starter for Nebraska in 2024, after that it gets tricky. While Neyor is coming here to play, he has only caught 1 pass the last 2 seasons. He dominated at Wyoming in 2021, but can you really rely on someone that has had that much of an injury issue? He will need to show he’s healthy after his injuries. So do you lean towards a guy like Alex Bullock who would be your most consistent guy and had the most success in your system coming back? Not sure if you can go there either, so you look at possibly Malachi Coleman who had the fourth most snaps on the team last year. The biggest jump you make is year 1 to year 2, as Coleman had an underwhelming freshman campaign when we desperately needed the top100 recruit to step up. I’m very curious to see what he looks like in 2024.
And what about in the slot, they have IGC starting there but I don’t buy that at this point in time. Lloyd was a big play threat and I may start with him at that position, but there’s a hidden secret waiting to get unleashed in 2024 by the name of Demitrius Bell. Bell had to take a redshirt due to academics, but by all accounts was the best freshman WR we had. The staff is anxiously awaiting to get him in the mix, and could very well be in the mix for that slot receiver role.
If I had to guess for the fall it would be Banks, Neyor/Bullock, and Bell. But this spring it will be wide open.
Tight End
Fidone really struggled with run blocking which is why I think they have him as 2nd string, but he nearly doubled Boerkirchers snaps last year which makes me think he will probably be the starter. Boerkircher is an unbelievable backup. Nebraska has Smith-Flores that redshirted last year, but i’m more intrigued with Carter Nelson coming in as a true freshman and what type of impact he could make. Also a guy like Keelan Smith who will start out in the WR room but may find an easier role on the field as TE is someone to lookout for.
Look for Fidone to be your starter with Boerkircher getting a ton of snaps again to help groom the freshmen we have brought in. I don’t expect Nelson to redshirt, but Ingwerson and Flynt should have plenty of time to get ready for Power5 football.
Offensive Line
They have Corcoran starting at LT but last I heard he was possibly going to be injured heading into even the season, so I would put Teddy Prochazka there with Gottula as his backup. At LG they ended up starting Jenkins who actually surprised me a bit with what he could do, once Corcoran gets back I think this may be where he ends up settling and battling it out with Jenkins. Center is of course locked up with Ben Scott and it’s more about finding who his backup is. Let’s skip to RT where Benhart will almost assuredly start in 2024 and his backup will be a battle between Knaak and Hood. Personally I think Hood will eventually hang it up as his ankles are just an issue for him. But let’s not sleep on a guy like Brix inserting himself into the mix at one of these tackle spots. Now to RG… The common thought is that Mazzccua will start here but he better pick it up as I think he is under the impression that spot is his, and it’s not making the coaches happy. That would open the door for a guy like Lutovsky who has been patiently waiting his turn or maybe even one of the young guns like Sledge.
Spring depth chart:
LT – Prochazka then Gottula
LG – Jenkins with Corcoran when healthy
C – Scott then Sledge
RG – Lutovsky or Mazzccua if he gets his poop together
RT – Benhart then Knaak
Join us tomorrow when we go over the defensive depth chart!
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Such a fascinating offseason. Obviously there’s a lot dependent on the quarterback play, but do you ultimately see the offense taking a significant leap forward? The Koolaid chugger in me thinks that the offensive line (largely intact and probably upgraded with the addition of Mazzccua) looked significantly better by the end of last year, and the receivers should be at minimum a serviceable P5 group. If the young gun(s) behind center can just be decent, very good things are ahead.
Banks seems pretty key in a lot of respects. Watching a (very) little bit of video, it seems like Raiola will really benefit if he has some good contested catch guys. He has the arm strength and accuracy to put it into some places that mere mortals just can’t get the ball, but he needs a guy or two who can assert his will to grab it. Our lack of receivers who can just flat-out go get the ball was the biggest difference that I noticed between the Huskers and the elite teams (that and a dominant pass rusher- though P-Will and Lenhardt look like they may be that sooner than later). Do we have any other guys in the receiver room who could be that guy?
I guess my immediate response on the offense is it really can’t get worse, can it? We were 120th in ppg and 112th in ypg, and we averaged 2.5 giveaways per game. However, our OL seems to be what can drive us this year, if our young QB can somehow figure out a way to just protect the ball we should be in a good spot there.
At WR it was tough that our elite big play guy was a slot WR that really didn’t have breakaway speed in Kemp. I’m hoping that Fidone is fully healthy now and guys like Banks can open up some more options for us.
Great write up and good conversation to initiate. My take is this is going to be a moving piece as we figure out what we do well and where to focus. So a couple quick thoughts.
Boerkircher could very well be used as an h-back which probably isn’t great for Bonner but could lead to more reps for Boerkircher . It lets us use Fidone as kind of a flex WR like we did years ago with Mike McNeil under Bo and fits a role I can see us using for 3 of the freshman. I also think IGC is best outside which opens the slot. Love hearing what you said about Bell but I have Doss for sure playing here and ahead of Lloyd. Doss was definitely ahead of him except his injury then the decision to sit the last 2 games to preserve a redshirt. I also think Rahmir could be used out here. Dowdell came here bc of our depth chart situation. To me he’s co #1 because we want someone running inside the tackles with some authority to compliment the smaller, faster Johnson duo.
OL is tough because reality is we will have players who flex across positions regardless of depth chart and some kids redshirting will hit the 4 game mark. Evans-Jenkins I think starts at guard and is our #2 center (I’m pretty high on him off last year) but Sledge will be listed #2. I think Corcoran moves in like you do and I think Brix is going to use the full 4 games this year while redshirting so Knaack is #2 at RT but in name only. I just don’t see Lutovsky starting unless the guy has a huge jump this offseason. He has a ton of physical potential but something just seems missing with that guy. I also didn’t think Buckley was on OL, but DL. I don’t see him cracking the 2 deep on either line but am rooting for him.
Ya, anyone that has it figured out now before spring ball is just throwing poop at the wall to see what sticks.
I really like Fidone in the slot and giving Boerkircher a chance to be our inline guy and H-back. McNeill/Dallas Clark is a great spot for Fidone and Nelson IMO.
I love Doss, i’m real curious to see what happens with Barner and Bell who will be available for 2024.
OL is going to be fascinating to see what happens. We have 20 scholarship guys this year so we should have plenty of depth!
I think the H-Back and slot for those TE’s also lets us use 2 TE sets more both this year and going forward. I can see us using Nelson out wide this year but like you said I think Smith fits there and its also a landing spot for Clark too. It compliments us recruiting sprinters for the outside to stretch the D. We can use Fidone and Nelson split out wide to give a 4 WR hybrid look and covers for issues at WR. I have no intel here but I just think this is where we land.
I just really hope our staff has seen enough of Corcoran at LT. I think Teddy gets his shot and if he gets hurt or whatever we just see what Gottula can do.