[Husker] Offensive linemen playing time

[Martin, Douglas]

I know a little about offensive line play and my non-coaching eye frequently is on these players during a game.  My assessment is that there are nine guys who all have about a sliver's difference in their ability.  O-line play in the West Coast offense is quite a bit different that of the Ozbone era.  West Coast o-linemen are in my opinion a bit more interchangeable (note how frequently you have tackles moving to guard, et al in the NFL when injuries arise).  True, a guy can get "hot" and start playing well sort of out of the blue.  I think there is probably a huge step up difference in what a few of our guys showed in the game compared to practice and this is probably what led them to get more playing time.
 
I think Wagner is a good o-line coach.  He gets a lot out of what some may call average players.  Don't get me wrong, some of our 0-linmen disappoint me with consistency (Murtha in particular) but I think I am guilty of comparing this era to the Zatechka-Taylor-Dishman era which is not fair.  Those guys and their compatriots were just plain studs.  Ask any of our opponent's coaches from that era and they will tell you how superior those guys from that era really were.
 
Doug Martin, MD
UNL - 87
UNMC - 91

________________________________

From: husker-bounces at tssi.com on behalf of Dick Karre
Sent: Wed 11/29/2006 7:31 PM
To: husker at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [Husker] Offensive linemen playing time



RMiller wrote:

>       [H]ow can someone (Mann) be a 3 yr starter, get sick and miss a few
games, be replaced by someone who played 1 set of downs the previous
2 years, and then practically never play again despite all reports
that he's fine.

If the OL coaches' (or maybe it's just Wagner's) assessments are
accurate, you could probably conclude that Byford is performing better
in practice. He played well enough to garner honorable mention on the
coaches' all-Big XII team.

>   Here's a quote from Slauson, who has been receiving praise for
the last 1.5 yrs as one of the most promising young linemen at NU.
He's apparently now clearly the 2nd team right tackle.
>   
>   "I've got to compete with Carl (Nicks), who's coming off a (1)
great game. If I have a great practice week and he doesn't do so well,
then I might step in. But if he keeps on performing like he performed,
I'm going to be second string, and I'm fine with that."

Given the issues at left tackle last week, the better question would
seem to be why Slauson or Nicks isn't playing at that position, rather
than battling for the right tackle spot.


>   How can a 2nd teamer (like Byford & Nicks) who saw extremely
limited action then move into the starting lineup (due to injury)
and now be clearly the better player? If this player was so much
better all along, why did it take an injury for them to supplant the
starter? If it's a close call, why would the 2nd teamer be getting
more playing time, like a 50/50 split?

In Nicks' case, the coaches figured he'd be in the mix all along. I can
only assume that it has taken him a while to learn the offense. This
whole philosophy is quite a change from the past. TO (and Solich, as
well, I believe) would not allow a starter to lose his job solely due to
injury. BC does it differently, and I guess people have to decide for
themselves which they prefer.

BTW, I believe Nicks is the first JC OL player to see any significant
action in the Callahan era.

--
Dick Karre
dkarre at comcast.net

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