Nebraska Football 2013 Spring Wrap Up

Spring Summary

Biggest question marks are on defense, and frankly, they still exist because I don’t think you get an adequate opportunity to evaluate wholesale changes like Nebraska needs in a limited spring game.

Everybody knows Nebraska needs help on defense (Wisconsin scored 70?), and with several defensive linemen out this spring…well, we’ll have to wait and see.  We’re going to see a lot of redshirt freshmen contributing this fall up front.

Name a few players who emerged that could breakout this season

Other than Jack Hoffman?  🙂 Let’s start with wide receiver Alonzo Moore, who’s got speed to burn. Linebacker Zaire Anderson was limited due to an ACL injury from last fall, but I’m expecting him to be a major cog in the defense this season.  Safety Corey Cooper had a couple of big hits, and could be a standout back in the secondary.

Grade each position group  

Quarterback:  A  Taylor Martinez is an all-Big Ten candidate, and we finally have a capable backup for him in Tommy Armstrong.

Running Back: B+ Ameer Abdullah still has some ball security issues, but has great moves and elusiveness in the field. Imani Cross looks faster yet still powerful.

WR:  A  Might be the best group in the Big Ten.

OL:  B  Solid on run blocking, but need to improve dramatically on pass protection.

DL:  D-  Due to injuries, I didn’t see enough to ease my concerns about a problem position last season.

LB:  C+  Lots of inexperience, but lots of potential in a pack of freshmen and sophomores.  Nebraska will be more athletic at linebacker in 2013.

Secondary:  B-  Still searching for the right combination back there.  You know that Ciante Evans will play somewhere, either nickel back or corner.  After that, it’s all a bunch of speculation.

Are there any “surprises” we can expect from this team?

Nebraska’s fundamentals broke down in key games: UCLA, Ohio State, and Wisconsin.  They spent a lot more time tackling live this spring – and thus had more injuries.  Clean up those mistakes, get more athleticism on the field, and you never know.

The schedule sets up nicely to make another trip to the Big Ten title game, but that also means we may not have a good read on this team until November.

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Mike Jaixen of Husker Mike’s Blasphemy and Corn Nation provided the information for our Nebraska Football 2013 Spring Wrap Up.  For more Nebraska football information, commentary and analysis, you can follow Mike on Twitter @Husker_Mike.

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