Nebraska loses some important playmakers on offense with the graduation of Roy Helu Jr., Niles Paul and Mike McNeill, but the cupboard certainly isn’t bare going into next season. The following is a look at what Nebraska will have to work with in its first year in the Big Ten.
QUARTERBACK
Leaving: Zac Lee, Latravis Washington
Returning: Sophomore Taylor Martinez, junior Cody Green, junior Kody Spano, sophomore Ron Kellogg, redshirt freshman Brion Carnes
Coming: Jamal Turner, Bubba Starling
Nebraska entered its 2010 fall camp with a serious quarterback competition. Will it have one again next season? Martinez was magnificent in five of his first seven starts last year and looked like the exciting future of Nebraska’s offense. Once he started racking up injuries, though, he was never the same. His confidence turned into indecisiveness, and his frequent mistakes cost NU dearly late in the season. He’ll have to fight to get his starting spot back next year.
If he isn’t the starter, though, who would be? Green appeared in nine games and led NU to a win at Iowa State but didn’t make a significant amount of progress in his second year. Starling is an unbelievable talent, but he’s also the No. 1 baseball recruit in the nation according to Baseball America. If he really wants to play college football and baseball, he’ll need to turn down a multi-million dollar signing bonus in August.
But NU does have two other talented young passers in the mix already. Carnes impressed coaches with his dual-threat ability on the scout team, and Turner started school this week so he could participate in spring ball. Both will need to make rapid progress if they hope to seriously compete with Martinez for his job next fall.
RUNNING BACK
Leaving: Roy Helu Jr., Dontrayevous Robinson
Returning: Junior Rex Burkhead, senior Austin Jones, junior Lester Ward, junior Collins Okafor, senior Tyler Legate, sophomore C.J. Zimmerer
Coming: Aaron Green, Braylon Heard
Rex Burkhead established himself as an offensive leader and multitalented weapon this season. He’s thrived in both zone read and power-run schemes and is in for a much bigger workload next fall now that Roy Helu Jr. has graduated and Dontrayevous Robinson has transferred (see page 10).
No matter what offense NU rolls out next fall, though, Burkhead can’t be NU’s only I-back — he’ll need someone to take on the 12 carries per game he averaged this season. Green is one of the top running back recruits in the nation and could make an instant impact for NU, as could Heard. The speedy 2010 signee hopes to join the program this spring, but he has yet to enroll at UNL due to academic issues.
Jones, Ward and Okafor haven’t been able to step up and earn anything more than mop-up time over the past two seasons. Legate returns for a third season as the starting fullback and Zimmerer is his top backup.
WIDE RECEIVER
Leaving: Niles Paul, Mike McNeill, Joe Broekemeier, Will Henry
Returing: Senior Brandon Kinnie, sophomore Quincy Enunwa, junior Tim Marlowe, senior Curenski Gilleylen, junior Khiry Cooper, junior Steven Osborne, redshirt freshman Kenny Bell, sophomore Stanley Jean-Baptise, redshirt freshman Tyler Evans
Coming: Taariq Allen, Daniel Davie
Nebraska’s receiving corps is perhaps the offense’s big question mark going into next season. NU’s offense requires playmaking receivers who also excel in blocking on the perimeter, and Kinnie’s the only one returning who has that experience.
The former junior college transfer had a team-high 44 receptions and caught five touchdowns in his second season. Enunwa didn’t redshirt as a true freshman but recorded one catch, and no other returning receiver had any in 2010. More than one of them has to step up to help Kinnie shoulder the load. Bell was NU’s Scout Team Offensive MVP, and Jean-Baptiste is an intriguing juco prospect who joined the program late and redshirted.
TIGHT END
Leaving: Dreu Young
Returning: Junior Kyler Reed, junior Ben Cotton, sophomore Jake Long, sophomore J.T. Kerr, junior Mychael McClure
Coming: To be determined
Reed was a revelation as a redshirt sophomore, pulling in 22 catches and eight touchdowns to tie the NU single-season school record for tight ends. He became a favorite deep target for Martinez and had four touchdown receptions of 30 yards of more. Cotton is the unit’s best blocker and started 13 games this season.
Behind them, though, NU is far from deep at the position and the three other returning tight ends dealt with injuries this fall. Darien Bryant gave Nebraska coaches a verbal pledge in mid-December but backed out of his commitment a couple days later. NU still hopes to land one in the next few weeks for its 2011 class.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Leaving: Ricky Henry, Keith Williams, D.J. Jones
Returning: Senior Mike Caputo, sophomore Jeremiah Sirles, senior Jermarcus “Yoshi” Hardrick, senior Marcel Jones, sophomore Andrew Rodriguez, sophomore Brent Qvale, sophomore Cole Pensick, junior Brandon Thompson, redshirt freshman Nick Ash, sophomore Jesse Coffey, sophomore Scott Criss
Coming: Tyler Moore, Ryne Reeves, Zach Sterup, Ryan Klatchko, Givens Mordi Price
Nebraska’s offensive line was occasionally impressive but, more often than not, disappointingly inconsistent in 2010. It played an important role in NU’s late-season offensive struggles and made Martinez’s job difficult in the Big 12 title game and Holiday Bowl. That has to change as NU’s offense prepares for Big Ten play.
Caputo and Sirles lead a group that’s deep and experienced, and Hardrick saw the field often as Sirles’ backup in his first year in the program. Rodriguez burned his redshirt in the season opener but rarely played the rest of the way, and Qvale didn’t contribute much either. NU brings in an impressive five-man recruiting class on the line led by Moore, who enrolled this week after playing in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
KICKER/PUNTER
Leaving: Alex Henery, Adi Kunalic
Returning: Junior Brett Maher, senior Jon Damkroger, sophomore Jason Dann
Who’s next: To be determined
There’s really no replacing Henery, the All-American who finished his career as NU’s all-time leading scorer and also impressed in his two years as the starting punter. The same goes for Kunalic, a fan favorite who starred as a kickoff specialist for four seasons.
Maher served as NU’s holder for two seasons and is likely the favorite for at least the kicking job. Damkroger was a punter at UNO in 2007, and Dann can both kick and punt. NU is looking for a kicking recruit after Niklas Sade, one of the nation’s best kicking prospects, decommitted this month and gave a verbal commitment to N.C. State.