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Nebraska Spring Practice Observations: Offense
Nebraska RBs coach E.J. Barthel (Zack Carpenter/Inside Nebraska)
Zack Carpenter • InsideNebraska
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@Zack_Carp
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Practice Observations: Defense
The Huskers hit the practice fields at Hawks Championship Center for spring practice No. 3 Thursday morning.
The first 40 or so minutes were open for the media to view, and there was a lot to take in. Here are some quick observations on each offensive position group before the post-practice press conferences with offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield and defensive coordinator Tony White, along with 2-3 players.
>>> RELATED: Nebraska Practice Observations: Defense
Quarterbacks
Jeff Sims (14) and the rest of the Nebraska quarterbacks at Thursday's spring practice. (Zack Carpenter/Inside Nebraska)
>>> Jeff Sims, as to be expected was the first quarterback in line for all of the individual drills. Sims was followed by Richard Torres, Chubba Purdy, Heinrich Haarberg and Jack Woche, the Ole Miss transfer who was added as a walk-on this offseason. Casey Thompson remains limited and was not on the field with the quarterbacks group during individual periods.
>>> At the beginning of practice, the quarterbacks were outside working with E.J. Barthel and the Husker running backs. Sims and Co. were working on ball-carrying drills through contact, running with the ball while their arms were getting hit with pads by assistant coaches while sprinting through a line. Sims got some praise from an assistant running backs coach for keeping the ball tucked safely and being physical while running through contact.
>>> Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Marcus Satterfield put the quarterbacks through drills working play-action rollouts – both short on short handoffs and stretch play-action plays. It won't be a surprise if we see the Husker quarterbacks be used more in the run game and if we see this offense rely a bit more on play-action plays in the fall.
>>> We didn't see the quarterbacks throwing much during the 40-minute open portion of practice.
Running Backs
Nebraska RBs coach E.J. Barthel pulls Ajay Allen aside during a teachable moment. (Zack Carpenter/Inside Nebraska)
>>> We got to see a slice of the intensity Barthel is going to bring to the table during drills that simulate contact while running through the line of scrimmage. The Husker running backs – with Ajay Allen and Gabe Ervin Jr. as the top-two at the front of the line – were working on taking a handoff, using a jump cut and then quickly accelerating vertically through the line.
>>> Allen and Ervin were followed by Emmett Johnson and Rahmir Johnson in the running back line. We'll see if Rahmir Johnson is going back to being a full-time running back or if the new staff will still experiment with using him as a hybrid running back/slot receiver.
>>> Barthel, during the drill, harped on having "five points of pressure" and displaying "dominant contact" and "violent contact" while powering through the line, finishing the drill and having vision with "eyes up." It was intense coaching without being over the top or dramatically animated.
>>> Barthel, the former UConn RBs coach, received a ton of praise during his run with the Huskies and received support from a couple of the guys from his room last year when he took the Nebraska job. His players, to a man, loved being coached by him. I saw a brief snippet of some teachable moments during the Huskers' individual drills.
>>> Barthel was not impressed with Allen's effort while he was going through those drills. Allen didn't go hard enough during the drill and didn't finish with the effort Barthel was looking for. He hollered at Allen a couple times to hustle back after finishing one rep, but when Allen continued to be lackadaisical jogging back, Barthel held him out of the drill momentarily and pulled him aside. Barthel put his arm around Allen, two two spoke briefly and Allen soon returned to the back of the line to continue going through the drill.
Receivers and Tight Ends
Billy Kemp IV (Zack Carpenter/Inside Nebraska)
>>> During individual punt return drills, the top two in line were Billy Kemp IV and Zavier Betts, respectively. Kemp looked much more comfortable than Betts, which isn't a surprise. The Virginia transfer was the Cavaliers' main punt returner, leading the team in punt returns and punt return yardage in four straight seasons from 2019-22 and totaling 2,337 all-purpose yards for his career.
>>> Garret McGuire didn't look like he had much trouble having a voice in his position group despite his age. During individual drills, McGuire had the Huskers run through a catch-and-run drill in which they simulated running through contact. After providing some energy and coaching up his unit on pad level, McGuire harped on the process of the drill and the process of turning upfield after a catch: "Remember, when I catch it, it's gotta be three separate movements: Catch. Tuck. Knife."
>>> Betts, by the way, looked very impressive physically. He is up to 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, and he looks even more like an NFL-type player physically, which isn't too much of a surprise. If he can put it all together, his combination of size and speed is going to open some big doors for this passing offense.
>>> Four-star Lincoln East product Malachi Coleman, Nebraska's top-ranked signee in the 2023 recruiting class, was attending Thursday's practice. Coleman is not an early enrollee but is allowed to go watch practice during a recruiting live period. He was following the Husker receivers group around and observing how his future position coach, McGuire, was conducting practice – in addition to keeping a keen eye on punt return drills as Kemp, Betts and a couple others took reps.
>>> I didn't observe too much from Arik Gilbert as it pertains to his work as a tight end specifically. He is, however, appearing to establish himself as a presence on special teams already. He was the Huskers' middle man on the punt unit and calling out coverages as the leader of the unit.
Offensive Line
Teddy Prochazka (Zack Carpenter/Inside Nebraska)
>>> Left to right, this was the top group at offensive line during the drills I watched: Bryce Benhart (LT), Nouredin Nouili (LG), Ben Scott (C), Ethan Piper (RG), Turner Corcoran (RT). No surprises there.
>>> The most notable observation was the presence of Teddy Prochazka. The Huskers' starting offensive tackle suffered a second straight season-ending injury and went through surgery during the fall. It was expected that he would be held out of spring ball completely, but it looks like he will be limited rather than held out entirely as Prochazka was going through some individual drill work on Thursday. He was definitely being careful and being sure to not expend too much energy or go too hard right off the bat. But it was good to see him back out on the practice field and getting some practice reps in.
>>> Benhart, who may wind up as a starting tackle in the fall, looks noticeably thinner and more in shape. He is now at 6-foot-9 and 315 pounds on the updated roster, and the physical changes stood out on Thursday.
>>> We don't get the curtain peeled back on Raiola very often, but we saw a snippet of that on Thursday. Raiola flashed some intensity – just like with Barthel, it was loud enough to get the players' attention without being over the top – and hollered to one of his players (I'm not sure who it was) that “either you care about your teammates or you don’t." It was some of that coaching persona that we don't get to see very often, especially from the very publicly reserved Raiola.
>>> Raiola and Matt Rhule were walking hand-in-hand throughout practice and talking quite a bit. Those two are going to be working very much in tandem with the offensive line. Rhule made that clear as the two share the same philosophies in terms of teaching and coaching the position.
>>> Last note: I liked how four-star 2023 Lincoln Southeast product Gunnar Gottula looked in pads. Offensive linemen are very, very rarely going to see meaningful snaps as true freshmen, and I don't imagine Gottula will be much different. But the 6-foot-5, 300-pounder looked good physically.
