C Mike Caputo, 6-1, 275, Jr.

Nebraska’s likely starting center would appear to have the daunting task of filling Jacob Hickman’s shoes - but we suspect he’s more than up to it. Caputo is one of the strongest Huskers on the team, enjoys a low center of gravity, and capably filled in for an injured Hickman last year. Will he serve as the same leader Hickman was? Probably not - and he shouldn’t have to. Offenses shouldn’t rely on their centers for emotional leadership.

We predict Caputo will be a two-year starter at NU with an outside shot at the NFL, depending on whether teams can get over his size.

Want All 50 Huskers? Join Husker Locker for free!

Permanent Link to this Blog Post

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. 45 Cameron Meredith - Exceeded expectations in 2009, figuring heavily in a six-man platoon along the defensive line. Meredith didn’t skip a beat when he entered games for Barry Turner or Pierre Allen, and flashed considerable potential for years to come. A great initial push, good closing speed and a willing, nasty attitude at the point of attack make Meredith a force to be reckoned with in 2010. He’ll enter our spring list in the top 20.

No. 44 Taylor Martinez - We didn’t think T Magic would play in 2009, but we wanted to keep an eye on his development. And, apparently, coaches and teammates like the athleticism and sheer speed that Martinez showed off during his time on the scout team. He’ll get his crack at quarterback this spring - we said he deserved as much last summer - and if he doesn’t win the starting or backup role there, he’ll play some Wildcat or receiver.

No. 43 Adi Kunalic - Changed his number to 1, and did one thing exceedingly well - boot kickoffs. That is, until his kick in the Big 12 Championship. The question in 2010: Does he red shirt so he can kick field goals for a season? It may depend on Kunalic’s aspirations - and whether Nebraska wants to use the scholarship in 2011 for someone else.

No. 42 P.J. Smith - Larry Asante capable backup at strong safety, Smith was inserted with confidence by the Husker coaches whenever Asante got hurt - or needed a message sent because he blew an assignment. Smith is smart, confident and more instinctive than Asante. He’s the starter at strong next year - for three years to come.

No. 41 Mike Caputo - Filled in capably for starting center Jacob Hickman throughout 2009, and will take the job in 2010 without a second’s hesitation. In some ways, we prefer Caputo - a squat, burly strongman - to Hickman, and predict he’ll be in the running for all-conference honors by next year.

Permanent Link to this Blog Post

Shotgun to stay? Whether we or you or any Husker fans prefers an under center power game is immaterial to what offensive coordinator Shawn Watson’s players can actually execute. And the Huskers look better in a shotgun spread offense. They just do. It suits the quarterbacks, the running backs, the offensive line, the receivers and the Wildcat formation.

How long does it take Zac Lee to recover - and is recovery successful? Funny that Nebraska fans would pin a potential national title run on the health of No. 5, but, after seeing Cody Green’s wobbly work in the Holiday Bowl, so be it. Lee is unquestionably the No. 1 guy going into spring practice - and he still isn’t very good. So not only does he have to rehab after surgery on his right torn flexor tendon, he has to find a way to improve without throwing the ball - possibly through all of spring camp.

Can Cody Green capitalize on Lee’s absence to develop for 2010 and beyond? We can’t ignore his struggles during the last half of the season - but we also can’t take too much from them, either. Green hasn’t been allowed to grow into a starter - too much attention for a handful for a good plays, too short of a leash for a handful of bad ones - and he should make “the leap” in the spring. Well, he’d better, anyway.

Whither Kody Spano? The things Spano reportedly did best - throwing those skinny slants and posts, and hanging in the pocket when bullets started flying - are attributes Watson appreciates most. Can he come back from two ACL tears? Can he trust his knee enough to make plays. It’s rare - but possible.

Is there a No. 2 receiver in the building? Some Husker - Brandon Kinnie, Khiry Cooper, Antonio Bell, Curenski Gilleylen - has to take the heat off of Niles Paul. And receivers coach Ted Gilmore has to stop sampling every guy on the roster for the role. Find two or three complimentary receivers, stick with them, and develop chemistry with Lee - when he returns - Green and whoever else tries out at QB.

How much can the redshirt freshmen - plus Jermarcus Hardrick - push the vets on he offensive line? Hardrick will push Marcel and D.J. Jones at right tackle - and potentially win the job. As for the redshirt freshmen, we’re talking about Brent Qvale (guard), Jeremiah Sirles (tackle), Jesse Coffey (guard) and Nick Ash(guard/center). At the very least, Qvale (huge, and nimble) and Sirles (looks the part) were slated for the two-deep before injuries tilted the risk/reward scale against burning their redshirt. Neither will likely start for NU in 2010, but they can provide important depth every third or fourth series, or serve as injury protection. At any rate - they sorely need experience for the future.

Where does Taylor Martinez fit in? We dug around in the few weeks after the Big 12 Championship game about Martinez, and found he was more feared as a receiver than he was at quarterback. And yet he’ll start at QB - potentially as a Wildcat guy - and take a run at the backup job. Either way - the kid needs to see the field, and get the chance to make plays. He’s among the fastest players on NU’s roster and he’s big enough to take some licks. T Magic is more like T Mystery.

Join Husker Locker today - it's free!

Permanent Link to this Blog Post

The story of Nebraska’s offense in 2009 turns out to be a crackerjack courtroom drama, complete with compelling characters, riveting testimony and a twist ending - touched off by a surprising revelation - that has some Cornhusker fans sailing out of theater satisfied, and others wondering if all plot threads meet up.

The men on trial - offensive coordinator Shawn Watson, his staff and quarterback Zac Lee - won acquittal in a 33-0 thumping of Arizona, returning to the shotgun, unveiling an effective version of the Wildcat - which running backs coach Tim Beck correctly described as an offense, not merely a play - and getting Lee to a point where he can run the zone read competently - if not beautifully - for yards and first downs.

Everything you could have hoped to see vs. Arizona - third-down efficiency, big running plays, Niles Paul, Mike McNeill, a dominant offensive line - you saw. Roy Helu got hurt early, but Rex Burkhead capably replaced him.

For the first time since the Kansas game, Lee looked like the solution instead of the problem. Afterward, when he revealed he’d been playing with a torn flexor tendon in his throwing arm, which requires surgery and nearly three months of rehab, it was like that beer glass in the novel “Presumed Innocent” that nobody could find - because nobody ever asked the guy who took it from the evidence room to return it.

“It was them that (screwed) up,” Lipranzer tells defendant Rusty at the end of Scott Turow’s best book.

In this case, the few left in Watson’s corner could say the same of his many naysayers. If you only you knew of all the injuries on the offensive line, at running back, in Lee’s right arm.

You can see how the arguments set up.

Credit where it’s deserved: Watson crafted a good plan, and called an even better game. He and Barney Cotton got their offensive line to fire off the ball. He trusted Lee on third-and-long to extend drives. Lee did. In short, Watson seemed to be returning to midseason 2008, when Nebraska sliced and diced Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State with a dizzying array of formations and plays.

Lee was a poor man’s Joe Ganz, which, with Bo’s defense, was more than enough. He’s a tough kid who chooses to struggle with injuries and inconsistencies in relative silence. Commendable enough.

But “Holiday Bowl scoreboard” isn’t a sufficient salve for every offensive problem in 2009.

“Torn flexor tendon” isn’t a sufficient answer for why Watson had Lee throwing the ball in the Missouri rain, or why Watson couldn’t bear to call a trick play - just one! - vs. Texas in the Big 12 Championship.

“O-line injuries” doesn’t explain why the wide receiver corps fell apart, with two starters apparently so unmotivated and disinterested that they spent two weeks on the scout team.

No, Watson didn’t suddenly forget how to call plays.

But we can’t suddenly gloss over real struggles, either.

The offseason, beginning with Lee’s surgery and rehabilitation, will be a test of patience, creativity and coaching for Watson and his assembled crew. I look forward to watching skilled - but embattled - guys whittle away the problem, with a prominent chip on their shoulder, I suspect, and something to prove.

*At quarterback, Watson will have to play it by doctor and trainer as to when Lee can return. Then he’ll have to develop quarterbacks Cody Green, Kody Spano and Taylor Martinez in three distinctly different places in their career. Will Ganz, a new graduate assistant, help? Sure. But even that’s a adjustment, for these Huskers know and respect Ganz quite a bit, and may initially see Lee - or any signal-caller - in stark relief of the former No. 12. When a former teammate suddenly becomes a mentor, it’s can be an interesting transition. Ganz isn’t going to sugarcoat anything, nor should he.

*At running back, Tim Beck has to manage Roy Helu’s health, devise new ways to exploit Rex Burkhead’s skills and find a No. 3 running back between Traye Robinson, Lester Ward and Austin Jones.

*At offensive line, Barney Cotton gets to integrate young pups Brent Qvale, Jeremiah Sirles, Jesse Coffey and Nick Ash, get JUCO signee Jermarcus Hardrick quickly up to speed, break in center Mike Caputo, wait out the recovery of Keith Williams - who has a torn pectoral muscle - and hone the games of Ricky Henry, Mike Smith, Marcel Jones and D.J. Jones. Cotton has the most important - and arguably toughest - job of the bunch. As goes the offensive line, so goes NU.

*At wide receiver, Ted Gilmore needs to build around senior-to-be Niles Paul, with an emphasis on guys who can actually catch, run and keep their balance on a wet field. Gilmore has to put a better product on the field than NU offered up in 2009, when Menelik Holt’s drops cost the Huskers at Virginia Tech, and Paul’s midseason lapses in concentration contributed heavily to losses vs. Texas Tech and Iowa State.

*At tight end, Ron Brown just needs to keep doing what he’s doing, juggling time and snaps for a gifted unit.

Presuming he has enough healthy pieces, Watson then gets to play chemist. Which combination of formations, plays and players make the best brew? Injuries, execution and “inexperience” - plus Bo’s intervention right around the Oklahoma game - prevented him from figuring that out in 2009.

What are the key questions for this offseason? Click here.

Otherwise, continue the debate. Does the Holiday Bowl resolve your concerns? Does the end of the movie forgive its dull middle?

In 2010 - a national-title contending season - we’ll have the sequel.

Permanent Link to this Blog Post

It’s one of the odder transitions you’ll ever find Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini make.

Literally seconds after saying he’d kicked junior running back Quentin Castille off the team, Pelini pulled out a white index card and announced the dreams of six in-state Husker walk-ons had come true: They were put scholarship for the 2009 season.

Senior linebacker Colton Koehler, senior wide receiver Wes Cammack, senior offensive linemen Derek Meyer, junior kicker Alex Henery, junior tight end Dreu Young and sophomore center Mike Caputo will be scholarship players this year. All six should play one role or another on this current squad. Henery is considered one of the best kickers in the nation, while Young, Koehler and Caputo played often in 2008. Cammack is one of NU’s best tacklers on special teams.

“This is a great group of guys and it is great to be able to have the ability to recognize their contributions by placing them on scholarship,” Pelini said. “Each of those guys has shown a great commitment to our football program, and they do things the right way on and off the field.”

Pelini said there were more walk-ons who were deserving of scholarships, and he continues to strive toward rewarding them eventually, as well. Sophomore WILL linebacker Mathew May and sophomore nickel back Lance Thorell would have to be, presumably, high on that list.

Join Husker Locker today - it's free!

Permanent Link to this Blog Post

Another day of fall camp in the books for the Nebraska football team equaled more changes and movement along NU’s offensive line Tuesday.

Position coach Barney Cotton opened his chat with the media after a 2 ½-hour workout on the grass fields just east of the Hawks Center with news that true freshman Brent Qvale, who had been working as the No. 2 right guard, will be held out for the remainder of fall camp with an undisclosed injury.

Only head Bo Pelini goes into any depth on injury issues, and he doesn’t speak on Tuesday.

In Qvale’s place: Redshirt freshman Quentin Toailoa, one of the few scholarship players to miss the original 105-man roster.

Qvale’s absence is another curve ball thrown at Cotton. Left tackle Mike Smith and right guard Ricky Henry have missed practices. True freshman Jesse Coffey is out for the rest of camp with an MCL knee injury. Even now, Henry, who is a contender to start at right guard, is “probably going a fourth of the time,” Cotton said.

“Sometimes your development is maybe not as fast as you would like,” Cotton said. “On the other hand, when you’ve got guys who aren’t out there for periods of time, you’ve got more depth.”

Cotton said he’s got a good idea of which ten players he’ll be using this fall on the line.

“We don’t necessarily know the order of which those guys are going to be placed on the depth chart yet,” Cotton said. “Little by little, it’s starting to fall into place.”

In the meantime, Cotton has experimented with a number of his linemen at different positions. Seniors Andy Christensen and Derek Meyer have worked at both guard positions. Marcel Jones, currently No. 1 at right tackle, has also worked at left tackle. Junior D.J. Jones was at left tackle briefly, but is now challenging Marcel Jones for the top job on the right side.

“Marcel and D.J. are locked in a good battle right now,” Cotton said. “It’s a very even competition.”

Center Jacob Hickman “experimented for one day” at right guard, Cotton said, but he’d prefer to keep the senior right where he is. Hickman previously started at right guard before moving to center, where a capable backup, sophomore Mike Caputo, now provides a viable starting option, if needed.

Continuity is important as the Huskers installed more of the two-minute offense and worked on third down situations Wednesday.

“Lots of running for the skill guys, lots of pass blocking and lots of pass rushing for the big guys,” Cotton said.

One skill guy held out: Junior running back Roy Helu, who walked among the rows during stretching encouraging linemen, and guided younger running backs to their spots. His injury, whatever it was, did not seem serious.

“Just the normal strain of practice,” Cotton said when asked why Helu wasn’t practicing.

Permanent Link to this Blog Post

For one day at least.

Nebraska's head football coach was highly displeased with the effort put forth in NU's spring practice Wednesday.

"We didn't get better today as a football team," Pelini said. "We took a step back."

About Sunday's scrimmage: "It was fine. We've got a lot to correct...we've scrimmaged plenty enough. We scrimmaged fine. We scrimmage when we decide to scrimmage."

What didn't Pelini like?

"You can go right down the board," he said. "We didn't play well. We didn't practice well. Not everybbody, but we're not getting it collectively as I'd like to see."

The last question regarded how a setback in spring might hurt progress.

Pelini's response: "What do you think? It's not good. Because you've only got 15 practices and I didn't like this one."

Well, folks, the man's honest.

NU jostled its offensive line a little bit. Guard Jacob Hickman continues to work at guard, while Mike Caputo is currently the No. 1 center. D.J. Jones, who had been at right guard, moved to backup left tackle behind Mike Smith. That would seem to pave the way for Ricky Henry at right guard, if he can pick up the offense quickly enough.

See also: How Shawn Watson breaks down his offense

Permanent Link to this Blog Post