This post will go thru each position group on what i’m wanting to see, let’s get straight into it!
Quarterback:
For me, this one is kind of simple. I want to see if the whole playbook will be at the disposal of each guy. Everyone wants to see Raiola uncork a deep ball, but will he have zone reads that he is running? Conversely, is Haarberg going to be trying to hit deep passes or is he going to be relegated to RPOs and zone reads? Him being 70% passing if things are simplified will be fun to dissect all summer.
RunningBack
The first thing i’m curious of is if Emmett Johnson plays much. You basically can’t have him get hurt. Dowdell needs to show some vision, Ives needs to show he’s taken a massive leap in the first year. They are probably holding Ervin Jr and Rahmir out, but if one of them plays it won’t be many snaps/series’. So it comes down to seeing if they have depth at the walk-on spot or if they are going to need to get into the portal.
Wide Receiver
Rhule said we may be a bit thin here, and there’s been some injuries. Can Bell, Coleman, IGC, any of those guys play tomorrow? Will Lloyd show that he is more than just a “run far and we will throw it to you” guy? I think people would be very intrigued with Barney if returns were in the mix, but let’s see what some of the young guys are capable of. I’m sure Banks or others will have some plays to get people excited. And really, Banks, Neyor, all of them need more time getting acclimated with new QBs and the offense.
TightEnd
We know what we have with Fidone and Boerkircher, it’s time for the young guys to prove they can add some needed depth. Not a ton to say here, i’m hoping we try to get out of this thing healthy with the two guys mentioned above.
Offensive Line
Besides Benhart and Scott, we have a lot of unknowns here. I also wonder if they will hold Teddy to a limited participant as well? Nebraska needs to have a good feeling about 3 of the guards within their room to give themselves ideas on who will be starters heading into the fall. I expect Benhart and Scott to get pulled pretty early since we have 14 first and second year players on scholarship. It’s time to see what each of those guys are capable of.
Defensive Line
As we talked about in our preview, I don’t want Robinson and Hutmacher out there long. They need to be healthy and they are known commodities. Spring game is to get guys ready in front of a crowd that haven’t had to experience it before. And for guys like Lenhardt, Van Poppel, etc., that have experienced it, it’s time for those guys to take the Sophomore leap. Lenhardt as a freshman all-american is going to be every bit as good as what Robinson is giving us as a senior, it will be fun to watch. But this is going to be more about what guys like Lefotu, Carroll-Jackson, Tagaloa, Rollins, and guys like that are turning into.
Linebacker
Honestly, we will be fine at JACK even if all we have is Umanmiellen who has been out. The real question is who is going to make plays for us from the ILB spots. We have Bullock but after that i’m not comfortable. Wright I can get on board with starting next to him, but we rotate 4 at minimum. I really think a guy like Stenger or even a true freshman like Shavers could turn some heads and give themselves some momentum heading into fall camp.
Defensive Backs
If you remember from my DB preview post, I said we have so many guys out there we will find someone. But I was listening to a radio show yesterday that actually made some good points. We have so many bodies that we have a ton of options at defensive back, but do we have answers to our questions? As of right now, not really. Your only two sure things are Gifford at Rover and Tommi Hill at one of the corner spots. After that, tons of questions, tons of options, but who are our answers? Deshon Singleton I have slotted for one safety spot, but is he healthy after his injury? Buford came back late last year from his injury, but is he the same guy? Hartzog they finally have moved to strictly safety/rover and not working on corner. Blye Hill is who would start opposite of Tommi Hill right now, but unlike Toure, Brown, Kolarevic, he wasn’t even all-conference in the FCS conference he came from. If it’s none of those guys or they can’t go, we get young and inexperienced in a hurry. What i’m looking for is some first or second year players to look so good that we have to find playing time for them in the fall and they get to start working all summer doing so.
Special Teams
Buschini actually looked really good to me the few practices I watched. High punts with hangtime and great spirals, but it is never a question of talent for him IMO. It’s consistency. Those are things I can’t tell from only a handful of practices. Alvano just needs to be more consistent too. Drew Brown had a rough freshman campaign and turned it on from there, I expect the same for Alvano.
Transfer/Medically Retired Predictions
QB – 0 – Should be good here
RB – 1 – I think one guy is going to either portal or step away from football
WR – 1 – I think we may have something similar to the RB spot where someone either doesn’t get their waiver or maybe sees a log jam at their spot like the slot WR position
TE – 0-1 – I am leaning towards zero here but if Lindemeyer is having the camp I have seen/heard about could it push a guy like Smith-Flores out? I think we remain whole here.
OL – 1-2 – I expect at least one here to be gone from the roster, if not 2. That’s just a lot of offensive linemen to be carrying heading into the season.
DL – 1-2 – I’m expecting 1 here for sure, but we will see if anyone else surprises me.
LB – 0-1 – We are thin at a place so it could be zero, but maybe a guy like Sherman sees he’s not getting any upward traction and takes off?
DB – 1-3 – I think we lose at least 1 here, but with the numbers I could see up to 3 leaving due to just not making any headway and tons of first and second year players here.
I’m expecting between 5 and 11 transfers out. We already have Collier and Fields in the portal but they weren’t even with the team so that doesn’t count. We will see how after the spring everything plays out. I only expect one or two that we are frustrated about, maybe a guy that is going to add some depth somewhere looking to start elsewhere. But the rest will be medical retirees or some guys that we are processing.
I will try to get a breakdown of the Spring Game next week! Enjoy tomorrow y’all!
