CornNation.com: Offseason Season 1

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Recruiting
Nebraska enters the offseason with very little in terms of team needs. As can be seen in the post above, there are a few key cogs of the national title that move on, but this team is young, and deep at the skill positions, offensive line, linebacker and safety. The only weakness, Cornerback is getting recruited, and recruited, and recruited to overcome 4 contributing Seniors. Only Sophomore Jonathan Rose is a returning starter at CB next season. Other positions will round out depth, or redshirt to balance out classes.
Key Targets in Offseason:

Name	Ovr	Pos	Int
D. Busch	79 (+3)	DE	1st
B. Marcus	75 (+1)	ATH (QB, RB, WR, CB)	1st
T. Johnson	73 (-1)	OLB (OLB, MLB)	1st
C. Bennett	73 (+6)	TE	2nd
E. Coley	69 (+6)	TE	3rd
C. Foster	68 (+4)	HB (HB, FB)	1st
L. Keller	67 (+2)	G	3rd
I. Scott	66 (-2)	DT	2nd

Coaching Carousel

Offensive Coordinator Tim Beck shocked the nation. After Jerry Kill had one too many seisures on the sideline, the Goofers hired the young offensive-genius as head coach away from the Huskers. Not a good feeling sitting among Nebraska faithful. Minnesota comes to Nebraska this season, and expect it to get ugly.

The Huskers then turned and hired former Husker QB Scott Frost from Oregon for the same position. Frost was the interim Head Coach while Degenerate disappeared on the job early in the season with no word. Frost is most remembered for his big games versus Mizzou and Tennessee in the Orange Bowl. While the Coordinator position doesn't allow Frost to move up in Nebraska, he inherits an offense as lethal as the one in Oregon, and gets to live close to home.

We hesitate to ask who looks most trustworthy. The easy answer is Beck, who appears to be a lunatic. But then again, Scott Frost looks a bit too much like that guy from Breaking Bad who shot the little boy on the dirtbike.

Recruiting Recap

Name	Ovr	Pos	Int
D. Busch	79 (+3)	DE	SIGNED
B. Marcus	75 (+1)	ATH (QB, RB, WR, CB)	No
T. Johnson	73 (-1)	OLB (OLB, MLB)	SIGNED
C. Bennett	73 (+6)	TE	SIGNED
E. Coley	69 (+6)	TE	No
C. Foster	68 (+4)	HB (HB, FB)	No
L. Keller	67 (+2)	G	No
I. Scott	66 (-2)	DT	No

What a terrible Spring signing Period for the Huskers. The most important recruit Brad Marcus chose Eastern fucking Michigan over Nebraska despite a huge lead, and major points allotment in the offseason. Only 3 out of 8 targets signed in the winter.

Position Changes:
HB Eric Parham to FB -- The walk-on will get no reps whatsoever at RB. The staff is red-shirting him at FB to beef up and learn from Janovich.
LT David Knevel to RT -- Moved to start immediately as a Redshirt Freshman.
RT Dwayne Johnson to LT -- Less polished, The Rock will backup at LT for a year of season before taking over next year.
LG Chongo Kondolo to RG -- Losing all everything Stephen Long, the man with the cool name moves over to potentially start. But Freshman Zach Hannon may have something to say about that come spring.
ATH Isaac Thompson to RT -- With the depth on the D-Line, Thompson will redshirt for experience.
C Mike Nelson to RT -- For depth purposes. Every position will suit up 2 players on the OLine this season this way.
RE David Busch -- The recruit lost a coin flip with Golden and will move while Golden battles with Randy Gregory for the RE spot.
LOLB Tommy Johnson to MLB -- The athletic recruit will redhshirt to learn the defensive playcalls for next year.
MLB John Wilson to LOLB -- The walk-on will redshirt or be cut. Moved for depth.
CB Travis Jenkins to FS -- See below. Jenkins, one of a trio of equally talented recruits was moved to safety for lack of coverage skills, and less athleticism.
FS Charles Jackson to CB -- Originally recruited at CB, Jackson moves back to fill out the DBs, allowing two recruits to fight for the sixth and final spot while one sits and develops with a red-shirt.

Player Cuts:
Walk-on QB - worthless
Walk-on WR - worthless with 70-something speed.
Walk-on LOLB - Wouldn't work at DE, had no LB skills.

Spring Game:
After a fun offseason of partying, and displaying the crystal ball, Nebraska had to regroup and decide who replaces Taylor Martinez. In comes hot-shot recruit Bobby Hale, poised to challenge Tommy Armstrong at QB for the reins of this explosive Huskers offense. After the annual Red-White scrimmage was rained out and held indoors away from the public, it's clear that this offense belongs to Armstrong.  Hale is being designated as a redshirt to start the year, but will be #2a on the depth chart. Should Armstrong go down with a major injury, Coach Jeanneret will not hesitate to pull the redshirt. But should he stay healthy, redshirt freshman Johnny Stanton can mop things up and manage the game just fine.

Ameer Abdullah returns, and Nebraska has a stable of RBs behind him licking their chops for carries. The surprise of the Spring Game is the removal of the I-Formation from the playbook to add more Pistol and Shotgun looks with the influence coming from new offensive coordinatorm Scott Frost. Expect each RB to have their own preferred packages to divide up the carries. With a new starting QB, also expect a heavy dose of the running game.

Kenny Bell will be the star of the offense. After a good year, Bell was less than 300 yards from his targeted 1,000 yard season. Can he improve?

The defense is stocked with depth in the front seven. Highly touted DE recruit Brad Golden is even redshirting to take over for Randy Gregory next year. Seven linebackers are vying for 3 spots.  The only question mark, Cornerback, is less of a question mark after progression and player swaps. There is a clear hierarchy in the DB groups instead of a logjam of average backups. 

OFFENSE X-FACTOR
WR Kenny Bell - The wide receiver corps is accomplished, talented, and deep. Without elite, top end speed, the offense needs the run game to exceed to open up the passing lanes for the receives to get their separation.

OFFENSE Player to Watch
QB Tommy Armstrong - There's a lot of pressure taking over as a first time starter for Taylor Martinez. Nebraska hasn't had a different starting QB since 2010. That was forever ago. Can he handle the new offensive system Frost wants to call?

DEFENSE X-FACTOR
MLB David Santos - An underrated stud a year ago as a first time starter, who took a lot of highlights away from highly touted OLB Zaire Anderson. With a year of experience, Santos is only a Junior and ready to really leave his mark on his opponents. With his cleats. After stomping all over them of course.

DEFENSE Player to Watch
CB Josh Mitchell - After 4 seniors departed, the logjam cleared, and Mitchell steps up as the lone senior leader this year ready to prove he belongs and can limit a dropoff at the production of Ciante Evans, a top NFL prospect cashed his paycheck. Like the wide receivers, the corners do not have elite athleticism in the secondary. If the front of the defense cannot get pressure, the corners will have to be on top of their game in coverage to limit big plays.

Added coaching/position changes.