Maybe one player can’t decide the outcome of an entire football season. But Nebraska’s addition of quarterback Tanner Lee certainly has changed the entire tone of preseason expectations for the Cornhuskers, who have endured wildly erratic quarterback play the past eight seasons.
Lee, a big-armed transfer from Tulane, has been touted to be exactly what third-year coach Mike Riley wants in a quarterback and for the Nebraska passing game. Nothing through the first couple of weeks of camp changed the notion that greatly improved quarterback play is expected out of Lincoln.
“It’s been going great,” Lee said after a recent practice.
Lee, who sat out last season, won the starting job in the spring, allowing him to take a leadership role that has continued into camp for a team that went 9-4 last season, mostly with dual-threat Tommy Armstrong Jr. under center.
Lee gives Riley the kind of pro-style thrower he put to good use during his tenure at Oregon State. But will improved quarterback play be enough to offset a talented, but rapidly dissipating receiving unit and a running game still searching for the dynamic back to replace Ameer Abdullah? Freshman wideout Jaevon McQuitty is out for the season because of a knee injury, while two others receivers were out during parts of camp due to injuries.
As for the defense, there is an abundance of talented but mostly unrealized potential, being molded by a new defensive coordinator deploying a drastically different scheme.
Ex-defensive coordinator Mark Banker did a nice job of improving the defense in his second year, but there was a growing feeling that his conservative scheme wasn’t going to fire up the engine responsible for charging Nebraska defense back to the Blackshirt days.
Enter 44-year-old Bob Diaco.
Despite the abysmal head coaching record he posted at the University of Connecticut — 11-26 in three seasons before being fired in December — there is little doubt that the fiery coordinator is one of the better signal callers in the business.
“Everything is positive,” Diaco said.
“Every coach is improving. Every player on defense is getting better. We’re a work in progress. We have a whole bunch of players that have never participated in the games but they’re getting ready. They’re working, they’re giving everything they possibly have to give. They are really embracing that and coming to work. No one is disappointed.”
On paper, Nebraska’s defensive personnel appears to be a good fit for Daico’s 3-4 scheme.
Much of the defense’s success will be predicated off nose tackle Mick Stoltenberg’s ability to take up blocks. Flanking Stoltenberg will be Freedom Akinmoladun and Carlos Davis. Akinmoladun is Nebraska’s leading returning pass rusher while Davis is the most intriguing second-year lineman on the team.
At linebacker, it’s anyone’s guess. Dedrick Young flashed major potential early in his career, but it remains to be seen whether he can make that next step. The rest of the linebacker unit is comprised of youth and some heady, yet not-super-talented players.
Even with the loss of cornerback Chris Jones, who suffered a meniscus tear in his left knee in July, the secondary appears to be the strength of the defense. Husker fans are familiar with the ability of safeties Joshua Kalu and Kieron Williams, but the coaching staff seems confident that highly rated corners like the long and angular Lamar Jackson are ready to emerge as capable Big Ten starters.
The Big Ten media picked Nebraska to finish third in the West division in a preseason poll. There are no easy predictions to make for this largely unproven Nebraska roster, but the talent on this team generally seems capable. But with an improved recruiting approach and the steady molding of a roster more in the making of a traditional Mike Riley attack, Nebraska should sustain a hint of optimism about the program’s long-term direction.
MOST IMPORTANT PLAYER: QB Tanner Lee — Sure, there is a lot of buzzing around Lee, but he wasn’t the picture of dynamic efficiency during his two seasons at Tulane, completing 53.6 percent of his passes with 23 touchdowns and 21 interceptions. Nonetheless, Lee looks the part. In a big way. His strong arm, accuracy and his pocket fluidity screams out next-level talent.
BREAKOUT STAR: S Joshua Kalu — With cornerback Chris Jones likely done for the season, Kalu is the unquestioned best defensive player on the team and a possible All-America candidate. Kalu will man centerfield while playing in the box from time to time. Kalu, a senior who started at cornerback the past two seasons, has 168 career tackles and five interceptions.
NEWCOMER TO WATCH: WR Tyjon Lindsey — If QB Tanner Lee has a breakout season, it will likely be partially attributed to Lindsey living up to being the vertical threat he was hyped as coming out of high school. Lindsey, at 5-foot-9, 160 pounds, moves differently than the other players on the roster, and the hope is he can become a John Ross-type player.
–DE Freedom Akinmoladun, the best pass rusher on the team, has displayed an ability to get to the quarterback but needs to stay healthy. Yet all the tools are all there, including the frame, explosion and size to be one of the Big Ten’s better pass rushers.
–RB Devine Ozigbo is not really a breakaway threat, but he’s a more-than-competent back who brings something of a power style with his 230 pounds. Halfway through camp, Ozigbo — who has 621 career yards on 135 carries — was in a three-way race to be the starting running back.
–LB Dedrick Young is most accomplished of Nebraska’s returning linebackers. New coordinator Bob Diaco needs Young to take the next step and develop into a playmaker capable of forcing turnovers and tackles for loss while continuing to contribute even more tackles.
–WR Jaevon McQuitty, a four-star freshman, suffered a season-ending knee injury in camp. Early impressions were that he would have been a help this season in the rotation.
–Nebraska will visit Minnesota on November 11th.
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