“Premier Player Development Program”

[Stenge85]

This is supposed to be our MO



But where is it?



Through 2.33 years, I feel like you can only point to really 2 guys who seemed to “develop”

1. Ty Robinson
2. John Bullock

And even then, they were no all conference players or high picks. They went from “forgettable” to “solid”

And

In just 4 years and Temple and 3 at Baylor, Rhule produced a whole slew of NFL talent that he still (too often) references



But all our best guys are either transfers, or showed up good



Meanwhile Cockeye just produced another 1st round OT out of thin air.



What’s the deal? Why don’t our players get better?

 

[HughJanus]

I think we're overreacting

 

[Carm]

I think we're overreacting

It's always this way. It starts after the prior season, when people are pessimistic and believe improvement is unlikely. Then the optimism grows and grows, out of nothing it seems (in retrospect), until by the time we get to the start of the season everyone believes the roster is gold, the coaches are all geniuses 100% of the time and we will be a double-digit win team. Then we lose a game, and it is because the organization is incompetent and all the players suck.

In reality, we talk ourselves into believing we will jump from .500 to double digit wins and then are pissed when that turns out to be untrue.

 

[RedTillDead]

It's always this way. It starts after the prior season, when people are pessimistic and believe improvement is unlikely. Then the optimism grows and grows, out of nothing it seems (in retrospect), until by the time we get to the start of the season everyone believes the roster is gold, the coaches are all geniuses 100% of the time and we will be a double-digit win team. Then we lose a game, and it is because the organization is incompetent and all the players suck.

In reality, we talk ourselves into believing we will jump from .500 to double digit wins and then are pissed when that turns out to be untrue.

10 wins was a stretch but I don’t believe 9 in season is too much to ask for. Should be 7-1 heading into USC, absolutely no worse than 6-2.

 

[Blakejc]

Maybe everyone believed Dylan was destined to improve and ultimately become a draft pick regardless of where he went, but it’s hard to argue his development.

Other players who have obviously developed:

Emmett Johnson
Jacorey Barney
Luke Lindemeyer
Heinrich Haarberg
Justin Evans
Henry Lutovsky
Donovan Jones
Vincent Shavers
Keona Davis

It’s a young team. Gonna be some growing pains as they develop. But they ARE developing.

 

[Goskers07]

I think we're overreacting

This. We can be upset about how the OL is playing. I feel that is quite valid. But people keep acting like we are winless or got blown out. Michigan is a solid team, particularly in the trenches, and we were right there for the win.

 

[Carm]

10 wins was a stretch but I don’t believe 9 in season is too much to ask for. Should be 7-1 heading into USC, absolutely no worse than 7-2.

I don't think SC has the same kind of OLB/Edge talent as Michigan, either

 

[Stenge85]

Maybe everyone believed Dylan was destined to improve and ultimately become a draft pick regardless of where he went, but it’s hard to argue his development.

Other players who have obviously developed:

Emmett Johnson
Jacorey Barney
Luke Lindemeyer
Heinrich Haarberg
Justin Evans
Henry Lutovsky
Donovan Jones
Vincent Shavers
Keona Davis

It’s a young team. Gonna be some growing pains as they develop. But they ARE developing.

I’ll give you Emmett and Luke, good calls

I would argue everyone else on that list is about as talented now as they were when they showed up, maybe slightly older. But Barney and Shavers showed up explosive

Which of those guys is a nfl player

 

[Goskers07]

I’ll give you Emmett and Luke, good calls

I would argue everyone else on that list is about as talented now as they were when they showed up, maybe slightly older. But Barney and Shavers showed up explosive

Which of those guys is a nfl player

Haarberg was a developmental QB recruit that is now a pretty decent TE. I think if he would have made the switch last year instead of this year he'd be a pretty highly regarded TE actually.

Justin Evans came in as a lowly rated, undersized lineman and is now arguably our top OL.

Donovan Jones also came in rated very low and pretty much was an after thought as an out of nowhere recruit. Now he's possibly going to be our top DB for the next 2-3 seasons.

Those 3, plus the two you conceded, have all developed well. As for who's an NFL guy, I think its hard to tell yet. Our best players are still so young, which of itself lends to some of the issues we see on the field.

 

[Flabio]

I’ll give you Emmett and Luke, good calls

I would argue everyone else on that list is about as talented now as they were when they showed up, maybe slightly older. But Barney and Shavers showed up explosive

Which of those guys is a nfl player

Both of those guys are solid 2nd stringers but not starters vs our peer group. Emmett has maxed out and has worked really hard to get where he’s at but he isn’t a B1G starting RB stud that we need. He would be a great 2nd string change of pace but seeing us have an A+ QB who needs a running game and then a C+ RB is really hard to watch.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

Maybe everyone believed Dylan was destined to improve and ultimately become a draft pick regardless of where he went, but it’s hard to argue his development.

Other players who have obviously developed:

Emmett Johnson
Jacorey Barney
Luke Lindemeyer
Heinrich Haarberg
Justin Evans
Henry Lutovsky
Donovan Jones
Vincent Shavers
Keona Davis

It’s a young team. Gonna be some growing pains as they develop. But they ARE developing.

I'd add in:
Ceyair Wright
Williams Nwaneri
Rex Guthrie
JEJ
Lateef

some of these guys are still very young, but look like good talent evaluations and development so far

 

[Sous Chef]

I'd add in:
Ceyair Wright
Williams Nwaneri
Rex Guthrie
JEJ
Lateef

some of these guys are still very young, but look like good talent evaluations and development so far

Guthrie had some head scratching moments but yes the talent is getting better in the underclasses.

 

[Blakejc]

I’ll give you Emmett and Luke, good calls

I would argue everyone else on that list is about as talented now as they were when they showed up, maybe slightly older. But Barney and Shavers showed up explosive

Which of those guys is a nfl player

not sure how many are NFL guys besides Dylan. Keona and Shavers have a shot if they maximize.

What needs to happen for Nebraska to take the next step is develop and maximize their best recruits.

We’re really good at shining the 3 star into a solid starter, but to win big we need to shine the 4 star into all-conference material and the 5 star into an all american. We haven’t seen that around here in a long time. Here’s the 4&5 stars since Rhule came on.

2023
Malachi bailed
Princewill bailed
RVP could develop into a beast
Cam Lenhardt - solid starter

2024
Dylan is a beast
Carter Nelson is a question mark
Grant Brix needs at least another year
Mario Buford already seems to be getting passed up
Preston Taumua needs at least another year
Roger Gradney is getting passed up
dae’vonn Hall is gone

2025
Dawson Merritt showing promise
Cortez Mills showing promise
Malcolm Simpson too early
Christian Jones too early
Jeremiah Jones too early
Isaiah Mozee showing promise
TJ Lateef showing promise
Pierce Mooberry - too early

 

[V-Doub]

This is supposed to be our MO



But where is it?



Through 2.33 years, I feel like you can only point to really 2 guys who seemed to “develop”

1. Ty Robinson
2. John Bullock

And even then, they were no all conference players or high picks. They went from “forgettable” to “solid”

And

In just 4 years and Temple and 3 at Baylor, Rhule produced a whole slew of NFL talent that he still (too often) references



But all our best guys are either transfers, or showed up good



Meanwhile Cockeye just produced another 1st round OT out of thin air.



What’s the deal? Why don’t our players get better?

I would forget all about that statement OP. That statement was made by Benedict Alberts and was made before the impact of NIL and the transfer portal were fully understood. Yes, it was also justification as to why Alberts chose Rhule and he (Rhule) embraced that goal. But a lot has changed since then.

Development is no longer as important as having enough money and knowing how to spend it better than the next guy. Both skills as a coach/program are important, but it’s a whole new world since those sentiments were shared with us. Now it’s more about rebuilding and retooling your roster each year through the portal and NIL.

Sure, development is still important. But you can spend all your time, effort and resources developing freshman and redshirt freshman just to have them take their skills to a different team as sophomores and juniors. Teams willing to pay them more. You expend your time and resources developing them. Someone else spends their resources to recruit them away from you and win games with the players you developed.

 

[ZJSARENOTFREE]

not sure how many are NFL guys besides Dylan. Keona and Shavers have a shot if they maximize.

What needs to happen for Nebraska to take the next step is develop and maximize their best recruits.

We’re really good at shining the 3 star into a solid starter, but to win big we need to shine the 4 star into all-conference material and the 5 star into an all american. We haven’t seen that around here in a long time. Here’s the 4&5 stars since Rhule came on.

2023
Malachi bailed
Princewill bailed
RVP could develop into a beast
Cam Lenhardt - solid starter

2024
Dylan is a beast
Carter Nelson is a question mark
Grant Brix needs at least another year
Mario Buford already seems to be getting passed up
Preston Taumua needs at least another year
Roger Gradney is getting passed up
dae’vonn Hall is gone

2025
Dawson Merritt showing promise
Cortez Mills showing promise
Malcolm Simpson too early
Christian Jones too early
Jeremiah Jones too early
Isaiah Mozee showing promise
TJ Lateef showing promise
Pierce Mooberry - too early

Gonna need Tyson Terry to develop big time.

 

[EwokRhuler]

Fix the lines or lose.

 

[Irv]

I’d be curious how many teams have a delta between their recruiting rankings and results similar to what NU does.

Perennial top 25 classes. No top 25 teams. Really no argument that we ever among the 25 most talented programs.

We can all probably list all of the reasons it happens, but it feels like very few programs are as consistently underperforming (by substantial margins) vs recruiting rankings the way Nebraska does.

 

[Cash68847]

I’d be curious how many teams have a delta between their recruiting rankings and results similar to what NU does.

Perennial top 25 classes. No top 25 teams. Really no argument that we ever among the 25 most talented programs.

We can all probably list all of the reasons it happens, but it feels like very few programs are as consistently underperforming (by substantial margins) vs recruiting rankings the way Nebraska does.

Plus we usually have a solid portal class every year on paper.

 

[Flabio]

Gonna need Tyson Terry to develop big time.

He’s currently injured and probably what 2-3 years away? Not a highly recruited DT either.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

I think our roster overall is significantly better than it was in 2023, particularly at key positions like QB, WR and CB. the team is more athletic overall and team speed is significantly better. special teams is massively improved.

I get the frustration with those improvements not showing up on the field as much as we'd hoped, but now that teams are adapting to the portal and NIL and now with the revenue share I think the Big 10 as a whole has improved, too. NIL, revenue sharing and unlimited transfers has made the talent more concentrated in the P2, and to a lesser extent the ACC and Big 12 as well. It seems like there's been more blowouts than ever against G5 teams as their rosters get more and more depleted