In the summer and fall, Husker Locker created its “50 Huskers to Know” list for the 2009 season. We now review our list by examining production, injuries and depth chart position.

We’ll present these in five-player increments. Here we go!

No. 50 Lester Ward and Austin Jones: Both backs were leapfrogged by true freshmen Rex Burkhead and Traye Robinson during the season; Ward appeared to be the No. 4 back based on his late appearance in the Holiday Bowl, while Jones slightly more time in midseason against Texas Tech and Iowa State. With the recruitment of Braylon Heard, Jones’ playing time seems limited in 2010. Ward actually looks like a capable running back; it’s the other stuff - pass-blocking, play recognition - holding him back.

No. 49 Brandon Kinnie: We predicted a slow start for Kinnie despite the hype and noise. His season was indeed quiet - 15 catches for 141 yards - but Kinnie seemed to emerge as the No. 2 receiver toward the end of the season. His ball skills aren’t in question - Kinnie knows how to catch and run - and he possesses a positive, infectious attitude. We forsee a leap forward for Kinnie in 2010, presuming health and continued development.

No. 48 PJ Mangieri: The freshman walk-on became NU’s starting long snapper and, after a poor performance at Missouri - along with a severe tongue-lashing from head coach Bo Pelini - Mangieri settled into a successful season. And, given Nebraska’s frequent punts and field goal attempts, he got plenty of work. The Huskers have a keeper in this kid for the next three years.

No. 47 Alonzo Whaley: We also predicted a muted impact from Whaley, who struggled during 2009 spring ball to pick up defensive concepts and get on the field. That proved true during the season, as Whaley, a red shirt freshman, rarely saw the field on defense. He didn’t play a significant role on special teams, either. Whaley better catch up in preparation - before he gets left behind.

No. 46 Derek Meyer: The fifth-year transfer from Kansas State got a scholarship in his senior year, and served as an important backup at both guard positions, especially for Keith Williams, who missed chunks of the first two games. Meyer, a solid pass-blocker, helped NU protect Zac Lee while the Huskers were still running the spread passing offense; his playing time dropped off a bit as the year wore on, but Meyer played a role on special teams and was well-liked among his peers. A success story - any way you slice it.

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The kids just keep back to school earlier and earlier it seems, doesn’t it? Strange that, right in the middle of the dog days of summer, you’ll have some 8-year-old trudging with his backpack into a hot school, hoping his lunch doesn’t melt in his metal lunchbox over on the food rack.

It’s really no different for college football teams, either, as Nebraska enters fall camp this Saturday, conducting nearly a month’s worth of practice before the first game, vs. Florida Atlantic, on Sept. 5.

Here’s five offensive questions as we enter the camp. For five more bonus questions, click here.

We know quarterback Zac Lee has the physical tools. Now – can he lead?

Lee presumably spent the summer cementing his relationship with Husker skill players and potentially treating his offensive linemen to a treat or two. In fall camp, does he emerge as a guy the offense looks to in tight spots, or does he defer to some of the more senior linemen? Clearly, the Husker offense no longer has Joe Ganz. But Lee has to leave his own imprint on the position.

Is [url=http://www.huskerlocker.com/blogs/browse/t/search/official/y/tag/niles paul]Niles Paul[/url] ready to step up and break out?

Our ears perked up a little when NU running back [url=http://www.huskerlocker.com/blogs/browse/t/search/official/y/tag/roy helu]Roy Helu[/url], Jr., mentioned at [url=http://www.huskerlocker.com/blogs/browse/t/search/official/y/tag/big 12 media days]Big 12 Media Days[/url] that Paul was Nebraska’s best receiverby far. Really? This wasn’t the guy we saw in 2008 running stop and curl routes, was it? Apparently, Paul’s going to be a deep threat this year, running the routes he wanted to run last year, and we’ll find out just how skilled and explosive a player he is.

Paul also has the ability to be a gifted leader, if he so chooses. He’s well-liked and has a strong personality. Does he become a vocal guy in 2009, or does he let the play do the talking?

Can Ricky Henry master the right guard position and win the job?
For Lee’s sake – and Nebraska’s sake – you’d hope so, as Henry’s emergence would allow Jacob Hickman to stay at center. Hickman probably projects to guard at the next level, but he should be much improved as the center this year – if Henry can win the job. Word is Henry’s plenty tough and physical – it’s just a matter of getting the offense and techniques down pat.

Two or three running backs?

Position coach Tim Beck seems to prefer three, but Helu and [url=http://www.huskerlocker.com/blogs/browse/t/search/official/y/tag/quentin castille]Quentin Castille[/url] are hungry for carries and plenty capable of carrying the load themselves. Will Beck and [url=http://www.huskerlocker.com/blogs/browse/t/search/official/y/tag/shawn watson]Shawn Watson[/url] allow for that to happen, or will the third running back see 5-10 touches per game, as was the trend in 2008? If so, who is the third running back? Lester Ward? Austin Jones? Collins Okafor? One of the freshmen?

Does the Wats Coast Offense change at all to fit the personnel?

Lee’s a fast guy, and a good runner. Nebraska now has more speed at the wide receiver position with [url=http://www.huskerlocker.com/blogs/browse/t/search/official/y/tag/marcus mendoza]Marcus Mendoza[/url] and Tim Marlowe. Does Watson try some wide receiver sweeps, more option, more zone read with QB keeps? Or does he keep what was ultimately a pass-heavy offense under Ganz? We suspect Watson has a few tricks up his sleeve, and we won’t see all of them until the Missouri game that opens Big 12 play.

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Derek Rau got his favorite Husker item the night before the Nebraska Cornhuskers won their most recent national championship.

Rau, then 17, was in Miami for the 1998 Orange Bowl and staying at the same hotel as the NU football team. While their parents were partying in the lobby with other Husker fans, Rau and his brothers were peeking through the window of the hotel’s game room watching players like Ahman Green shoot pool when one of them motioned for the brothers to come in.

“We were just admiring the players,” said Rau, a former Marine and currently a security guard from Omaha. “They said we could come in and I was like huh-uh, no way.”

When Rau and his brothers got inside, everyone in the room came up and signed the Husker jersey Rau’s brother was wearing. That jersey would become Rau’s favorite Husker item, not just because he cared about the autographs, which he did, but also because of the story behind the signatures.

That’s the same way with most Husker fans and their favorite piece of Big Red memorabilia. The item isn’t just cherished for what it is, it’s cherished because it reminds them of the story when their favorite NU icons became real humans before their eyes.

That’s why Stan Schleifer, a administrator at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a Husker fan from Bennington, and several members of his family have a picture of a sweaty Tom Osborne with Schleifer’s son hanging from their fire place mantles.

It was 1987 and Schleifer and his son were visiting Nebraska and they went up to the practice field to watch the Huskers run through plays. Afterward, Osborne was running around the track and eventually, he stopped and walked over to Schleifer and asked if he could do anything for them.

“How about a picture with you and my son?” Schleifer asked him.

“Not too many people would have stopped,” Schleifer said more than twenty years later.

Why is the sweaty picture of the former coach so cherished?

“It wasn’t the idea of having it as much as it was the story of how we got it,” Schleifer said.

Blake Jackson, an 8-year-old from Omaha, got his favorite Husker item at the end of last year’s Virginia Tech game. He and brothers were looking at the players near the end of the game with another group of kids, all of whom were asking the players to throw them their gloves.

Jackson said his brothers weren’t saying anything, which is why, he thinks, Marlon Lucky made sure the group left with a pair of gloves. He said they saw Lucky look at them and then walk over to Lester Ward and tell him something before Ward walked over and handed the brothers his gloves.

The used gloves are now sitting on Jackson’s dresser and remind him it takes more than a loss for Husker players to avoid recognizing their fans.

So what's your favorite Husker Item? BLCleveland from Husker Locker said he has n old Nebraska T-Shirt that he cherishes, let us know what your favorite item is, and be sure to describe how you got because, more often than not, that’s the whole story.

Leave us a comment down below!

And don't forget to visit Best of Big Red for more cool gifts and great Husker items!

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