The criticisms of the offensive line last year were that
they weren’t physical, especially early on. Yes, they could beat the living
daylights out of a Sunbelt Conference team, but during conference play
especially….not so much.
Although you can argue that they had some of their best
games in regard to being physical, against at least a couple of the most
physical teams they played.
Against Virginia Tech running back Roy Helu Jr. had a
career-best 169 yards on the ground.
Against Oklahoma which obviously had one of the better
defensive lines in the country, Helu totaled 138.
Now Helu gets probably more credit for doing more on his own
against Oklahoma than against Virginia Tech. But still, to put up those kinds
of numbers, your offensive line has to be at least somewhat staunch in the
trenches.
But we get to the problems with the offensive line, which
seemed to be almost countless at one point.
Against that same Virginia Tech team where they blocked so
well at times, they were also mentally checking out even more. Nebraska with
first and goal at the two yard line, ultimately having to punt, because the
line and tight ends on the line decided that it was penalty-palooza, one of
those fouls actually wiping off the score that would have almost cemented the
game for the Huskers.
Then against Oklahoma which actually resulted in a win, if
you take out Helu’s 138 yards, the team had 43 yards which amounted to 11
punts, a record for the Huskers in a single game. If it wasn’t for the
turnover-fest by OU quarterback Landry Jones, the Huskers would have lost this
game, and perhaps going away.
But let’s get to the core of why this offensive line was
challenged, above and beyond their own mental miscues, which actually did ebb
off as the season wore along.
The offense was completely predictable.
For all intents and purposes this offense was completely
castrated, because of the inefficiency at the quarterback position. Anything
Offensive Coordinator Shawn Watson wanted to do, you probably saw actually get
done in the non-conference. But as Zac Lee’s performances regressed, the
offense was forced into this one-dimensional attack, that even if you have the
Husker offensive lines of old, you are going to have some issues getting
anything done.
Offensive linemen weren’t supposed to be the creators. They
create holes, not game plans. You can’t expect the offensive line to do
everything. But because the play at the quarterback position was inconsistent
most of the time, horrendous some of it, the Husker offensive line was having
to do a lot more than what it should have been asked to in the first place.
And it doesn’t take Bo or Carl Pelini or Monte Kiffin to
design a defense to stop an offense that doesn’t work.
But the offensive line wasn’t perfect either.
D. J. Jones may be a better fit at guard
The penalties were enough to have Bo saying “Oh my God” to
himself (and others) as he strolled the sidelines last year. They certainly had
as much or more of an effect on the outcome of the Virginia Tech game than
safety Matt O’Hanlon’s bust in coverage at the tail end of the game, the big
passing play ultimately leading to a touchdown for the Hokies.
It’s not going to be easy to fix that over the Spring, because
that’s one of those situations that you need to see if they can do it in an
actual game.
But what they can fix are some of the issues they had at the
tackle positions, because they simply have to address the problems they had with
edge rushers last year. Whether it was Marcel Jones or D.J. Jones, that right
side was getting hammered by speed rushers such as Jason Worilds from Virginia
Tech, Jeremy Beal from Oklahoma or Brandon Sharpe from Texas Tec h. Now, all
three of them are exceptional players, but there has to be an answer there, and
neither seemed to have one for much of the year. And Mike Smith, who anchors
down the left side, was having his own issues at pass protection as the season
went along.
That’s the first thing they have to address, and I think
that Marcel Jones should be the guy who comes out of this Spring on top. He’s a
solid athlete, and I don’t necessarily think that it was just a matter of him
not being able to keep up with some of these guys. Worilds from Tech was a pain
in the backside to most teams who faced the Hokies last year, as was Beal and
Sharpe. But facing those kinds of players is going to give M. Jones a good head
start in expectations and knowing how to react. Sometimes getting those
shoulders squared up to the defender is as much anticipation as it is reaction.
And often, it just takes a year of seeing it in order to get it down. As for
D.J. Jones, I’m not sure tackle is where he should be. He’s athletic. I don’t
doubt that a bit. But is he a tackle? I don’t know. I think the development
inside will dictate where he goes.
 |
Can anyone hold off Hardrick at the
tackle spot? We don't think so. |
As for left tackle, Mike Smith might be there, but you can
guarantee that Jermarcus Hardrick is going to be there, too. Hardrick is first
and foremost big, physical and tenacious. He’s quick off the ball and this kid
loves to hit someone, whether it’s running or pass blocking. He also has huge
hands, long arms and good feet. This Spring is going to be huge for him,
because I don’t have any doubt whatsoever that they are going to slap him in
there at the left side to see what he can do. And with the quarterbacks now
being open season in regard to actually getting hit not having those green
jerseys on, Hardrick will have to deal right away with knowing that if his guy
gets around him, that’s bad news for the man under center.
I think that’s big for the offensive line this Spring.
When there are real consequences to not doing your job,
outside of a coach yelling at you and maybe you doing some pencil rolls after
practice - when someone is going to get lit up like a pinball machine if you
blow an assignment, no matter what position, I think there will be more urgency
for these linemen to figure it out. It’s not like Nebraska is loaded with
experience at quarterback. With Lee sitting out this Spring, it could get real
dicey real fast if the O-line doesn’t protect well.
Speaking of protection, the guy calling those protections
out and making the line calls, is now gone after serving three solid years as
the starting center for the Huskers. The question is: Can Mike Caputo be the
guy?
Let’s have another honesty check, shall we? He’s short. He
goes at around 6-1 and 280. Hickman was around 6-4 and 300. I know what you are
thinking. You are thinking that yes, this kid is a junkyard dog. He fights,
claws, scratches and will do whatever it takes to execute at the point of
impact.
But he’s short.
You’re not used to seeing someone that size at center
nowadays. From Hickman to Garrison, Byford even to Incognito who did spend a
little time at that position while at Nebraska – you are used to seeing bigger
guys over the ball. And when you look around the country and see defensive
tackles becoming Suh-like in proportion or in the case of Alabama’s Terrence Cody, even significantly bigger, one has to think that Caputo just won’t be
able to stop some of these guys.
I am not sure on that one.
 |
Mike Caputo may not be long on size
but we think he's good enough in all
other areas that he's the top center
going in and coming out of Spring. |
First, he is automatically better off the ball when it comes
to pad level. Try getting under this guy in a goal line situation. You won’t do
it. And as we have seen through his play, he’s very good with his hands and
plays with solid leverage. Plus, let’s go back to his mentality. This kid
fights. He fights like nobody’s business, and another great thing about his
size is that from the point of being down to being up and blocking, he’s
awfully quick. I’m not ready to put him in the same breath with Dominic Raiola
just yet. But physically, they aren’t hugely different, certainly not as
different as Caputo is compared to Hickman.
Competing with him at the position is probably the biggest mystery.
We know redshirt freshman Cole Pensick will be there, following his move over
from the defensive line. And we can assume that if Ricky Henry gets a better
grip of the system as a whole, he can move there as well. But I have also heard
names like Mike Smith potentially along with Nick Ash as well.
I think when it comes to knowing this offense and being able
to execute it from the blocking to making the calls, Caputo is obviously the
guy. I think if he were Hickman’s size nobody would even question it. They
would just say he’s the guy and they need to figure out who is number two.
Personally, I am going at it with that mind-set right now. I think that he is
indeed the guy. I think he can handle the calls as well as the defensive
tackles he’ll see throughout the course of a season. He’s a nasty cuss at points,
but never loses focus on the job.
That gets my vote right there.
At guard it would seem that Nebraska has a fair amount of
experience, but will need to establish some solid depth over the Spring.
In my opinion, though, even the starting spots are not as
much of a sure-thing right now as one might think.
At right guard you have Ricky Henry, who I thought did a
wonderful job last year in staying physical, but also staying smart. He
certainly didn’t make as many headlines with his penalties as other players on
the team. I am sure, though, he’d like to have that penalty back against
Virginia Tech, you know, the one that took the touchdown throw to Michael
McNeill off the board.
Can Keith Williams keep his starting spot?
As it is, I think that if he isn’t tried out at center, he’s
got a great shot at keeping this spot. He plays physically, and that’s what
this group needs. At left guard you have Keith Williams, who has started
basically the last two years, but I have to admit that I’m not convinced he’s
automatic to be the top guy coming out of Spring.
The biggest reason I say that, and it’s in both the
figurative and literal sense, is Brent Qvale. He would have at the very least
seen some time last year had he not gone down for the season with a shoulder
injury. But he’s healthy now, and for someone that goes around 6-7 and 320
lbs., this kid has some serious finesse to his game. Plus, he likes knocking
the crap out of people. He created a buzz last year before he went out. I think
that’s only going to continue. I can see him staying at right and switching
with Henry. After all, Offensive Line Coach Barney Cotton would ideally like a
healthy rotation at the guard and tackle spots, if he can get it.
Here are some other names I think you might want to pay
attention to, and this could be for guard or tackle:
Redshirt freshman Jeremiah Sirles – He’s filled out
wonderfully. He now looks like a lineman in this conference, versus the kid I
saw in Colorado standing next to Matt Slauson and looking like he needed about
a hundred pounds. He looks great, and we know he’s a solid athlete.
I look at fellow redshirt freshman Jesse Coffey as a tackle
right now, simply because I think that suits his skill set better. I’d expect
him to start at the left side to see how he works there and then move over to
the right. Honestly, I think Hardrick owns that left side even before he’s
taken a snap there.
Sophomore Brandon Thompson is the mystery to me. Lord knows
he has the size, and I think he’s physically closer to where he needs to be now
versus maybe a year ago. But even a year ago I thought he was more than big
enough to compete. But it would seem he’s moving inside instead of staying
outside at tackle. I don’t have one good answer as to why this kid hasn’t
played much and has basically been invisible since he arrived. That could
perhaps put him at left guard, maybe three-deep, behind Williams and Qvale. It’s
hard to say right now.
Providing he stays healthy, Qvale should be a starter at one of
the spots coming out of Spring.
Overall: Honestly, I think this line is in good shape. There’s
going to be ample shifting around, and you could see players who started all of
last year find themselves on the two-deep.
But that’s going to be due to more depth being established and newer
players stepping up after having had a year getting physically more up to the
task along with becoming more mentally adept at this system. And with the
notion that there is going to be more read option over this Spring than we have
seen at Nebraska in some time, there will be an emphasis on not just being big,
but being athletic. That could mean guys who haven’t gotten many reps will get
exactly that, because they can get out of the blocks quicker than the other
guy.
Of course, this ultimately goes back to the quarterback. The
success of the offensive line is as much dictated by a good quarterback as the
other way around. It doesn’t really
matter how good of a line you are if your quarterback can’t execute the plays.
It’s going to hurt the team, I believe, not to have Lee in there. Because as
much as he struggled for most of the year, against Arizona it looked like he
started to figure things out, at least in understanding that if he can’t run
with some semblance of authority and/or confidence, that option game is almost
pointless.
If there is one unit where I think the Spring will give them
the most in regard to a real understanding of where they are and where they
have yet to go, it’s this group right here. And I expect positive answers all
the way around, even if some former starters aren’t starters anymore.
The Roster
| No.
|
|
|
|
Name
|
|
|
|
Pos.
|
|
|
|
Ht.
|
|
|
|
Wt.
|
|
|
|
Yr.
|
|
|
|
70
|
Ash,
Nick
|
OL
|
6-5
|
270
|
RFr.
|
|
66
|
Barrett,
Cruz
|
OL
|
6-4
|
310
|
Sr.
|
|
58
|
Caputo,
Mike
|
OL
|
6-1
|
275
|
Jr.
|
|
51
|
Chapek,
Brandon
|
OL
|
6-5
|
325
|
RFr.
|
|
77
|
Choi,
Seung Hoon
|
OL
|
6-2
|
295
|
So.
|
|
71
|
Coffey,
Jesse
|
OL
|
6-7
|
300
|
RFr.
|
|
50
|
Hardrick,
Jermarcus
|
OL
|
6-7
|
315
|
Jr.
|
|
74
|
Henry,
Ricky
|
OL
|
6-4
|
300
|
Sr.
|
|
73
|
Jones,
D.J.
|
OL
|
6-5
|
315
|
Sr.
|
|
52
|
Jones,
Dwight
|
OL
|
6-4
|
245
|
RFr.
|
|
78
|
Jones,
Marcel
|
OL
|
6-7
|
310
|
Jr.
|
|
75
|
Lingenfelter,
Luke
|
OL
|
6-4
|
275
|
Jr.
|
|
*
|
Moudy,
Mike
|
OL
|
6-6
|
295
|
Fr.
|
|
69
|
Nickens,
Brodrick
|
OL
|
6-5
|
285
|
RFr.
|
|
*
|
Pelini,
Mark
|
OL
|
6-1
|
290
|
Fr.
|
|
62
|
Pensick,
Cole
|
OL
|
6-2
|
250
|
RFr.
|
|
76
|
Qvale,
Brent
|
OL
|
6-7
|
330
|
RFr.
|
|
*
|
Rodriguez,
Andrew
|
OL
|
6-6
|
300
|
Fr.
|
|
57
|
Sirles,
Jeremiah
|
OL
|
6-6
|
310
|
RFr.
|
|
65
|
Smith,
Mike
|
OL
|
6-6
|
295
|
Sr.
|
|
79
|
Thompson,
Brandon
|
OL
|
6-6
|
295
|
So.
|
|
59
|
Thorson,
Brian
|
OL
|
6-3
|
280
|
So.
|
|
68
|
Williams,
Keith
|
OL
|
6-5
|
315
|
Sr.
|
*Will enroll in the Summer or Fall
---------------------------------------
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