Nebraska's view of this years matchup

[Coolew01]

I think if Duke stays healthy we will be fine at TE this coming from a huge Maxx guy, plus maybe you hit on one of the other ones like Wozniak

 

[MNVCGUY]

The Huskers may have better talent when the kids first hit campus, but that changes pretty quickly. Our LBs will be very good this year, better than last year. Top to bottom, the D improves. Top to bottom the O improves as well. You can not name one position where we can not be improved, including ILB and RB. Well, TE might be pretty tough, but we should be strong there in any case.

RB and TE are the two spots I am not convinced we will be equal or better at. Maxx is a huge loss and having any TE equal what he could do is going to be rough, there are just very few great TE's in the college or pro game for that matter and we were very fortunate to have a guy like Maxx on the roster. I am also not convinced yet that we will be able to replicate what Cobb did the past few years. I think the RB position will be fine overall but it remains to be seen if any of them can be the difference maker that Cobb was for the offense. OL should be equal to or better than last year and WR position has nowhere to go but up considering the black hole that spot has become the past few years.

Assuming that Wilson's replacement gets the job done up the middle the defense should be as good as last year and hopefully take another step up towards being a top defense in the conference.

 

[Sparlimb]

Remember, we don't need any one TE to replace Maxx. We need the entire Wide Receiving core plus the tight ends to pick up those receptions. That seems like it could and should happen.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Remember, we don't need any one TE to replace Maxx. We need the entire Wide Receiving core plus the tight ends to pick up those receptions. That seems like it could and should happen.

I always dislike the numbers argument. Yes the runs and catches will be there but there is more to it than just the raw numbers. A player like Maxx forces the defense to account for him at all times, it changes what they do and takes them out of their comfort zone. For example the past few years I doubt any defensive coordinator has lost sleep worrying about any of our WR and how they might hurt his defense whereas I am sure most of them devoted quite a bit of time to figuring out how they were going to limit the impact Maxx could have.

It is hard to replace great players. You may be able to replicate some/most of their production but it is tough to replicate their impact on the game.

 

[Kuato Lives!]

I always dislike the numbers argument. Yes the runs and catches will be there but there is more to it than just the raw numbers. A player like Maxx forces the defense to account for him at all times, it changes what they do and takes them out of their comfort zone. For example the past few years I doubt any defensive coordinator has lost sleep worrying about any of our WR and how they might hurt his defense whereas I am sure most of them devoted quite a bit of time to figuring out how they were going to limit the impact Maxx could have.

It is hard to replace great players. You may be able to replicate some/most of their production but it is tough to replicate their impact on the game.

What if the receivers we have now have a different type of impact that Maxx or the previous receivers didn't have? There is more than one way to play football. If this program is as good as advertised then we will be fine. Good teams lose good and even great players all the time and the world still turns.

 

[MNVCGUY]

What if the receivers we have now have a different type of impact that Maxx or the previous receivers didn't have? There is more than one way to play football. If this program is as good as advertised then we will be fine. Good teams lose good and even great players all the time and the world still turns.

Obviously that is the hope, that new stars emerge to replace the departed stars. That has not happened at the WR position for quite some time but there are a lot of young guys that hopefully pan out. I'm in no way trying to imply that things are going to go in the tank or fall apart, just making the comment that it is not as easy to replace great players as some on here like to make it out to be. Maxx was a second round NFL draft pick, those guys don't just come out of the woodwork on a year to year basis.

If Mitch continues to progress and the young guys on offense pan out we will be just fine on that side of the ball. But we lost a huge portion of last year's offense so people should also be preparred for some potential difficulties in replacing that amount of key talent. It may not be as easy as just plugging in a new face.

 

[everybody knows my name]

2 cents from a guy who admittedly knows little about football, but a little about cycles.

Maxx wasn't a 2nd round draft pick coming out of high school. He was an obscure 2-star.

New playmakers coming out of the woodwork is exactly what happens in the college game. In 2015 it might be Gentry, Holland, or Jeff Johnson, it might be someone (like Maxx) who you didn't expect. But at the end of this year we'll have a new irreplaceable playmaker, and when he graduates we'll find another one.

 

[hungan1]

2 cents from a guy who admittedly knows little about football, but a little about cycles.

Maxx wasn't a 2nd round draft pick coming out of high school. He was an obscure 2-star.

New playmakers coming out of the woodwork is exactly what happens in the college game. In 2015 it might be Gentry, Holland, or Jeff Johnson, it might be someone (like Maxx) who you didn't expect. But at the end of this year we'll have a new irreplaceable playmaker, and when he graduates we'll find another one.

The player organized practices this summer is crucial. Hopefully, the new look O-Line & the passing game will improve through all the series of reps.

They'll dial it in in no time. We may have a few surprises.

 

[Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0]

2 cents from a guy who admittedly knows little about football, but a little about cycles.

Maxx wasn't a 2nd round draft pick coming out of high school. He was an obscure 2-star.

New playmakers coming out of the woodwork is exactly what happens in the college game. In 2015 it might be Gentry, Holland, or Jeff Johnson, it might be someone (like Maxx) who you didn't expect. But at the end of this year we'll have a new irreplaceable playmaker, and when he graduates we'll find another one.

I know you're talking about Jeff Jones but I saw what you wrote and could only think about this:

 

[DoubleB]

I always dislike the numbers argument. Yes the runs and catches will be there but there is more to it than just the raw numbers. A player like Maxx forces the defense to account for him at all times, it changes what they do and takes them out of their comfort zone. For example the past few years I doubt any defensive coordinator has lost sleep worrying about any of our WR and how they might hurt his defense whereas I am sure most of them devoted quite a bit of time to figuring out how they were going to limit the impact Maxx could have.

It is hard to replace great players. You may be able to replicate some/most of their production but it is tough to replicate their impact on the game.

Let me first say I loved what Maxx brought to the Gophers and wished he would have stayed another year to really help this next season out but will enjoy watching him on Sunday's

But, I got a news flash for you. They did not lose any sleep over thinking how to stop Maxx. Maxx's ability to do some things above the norm was how Maxx impacted the game. Maxx jumped over guys and made unbelievable catches. he did not get special treatment by the defense. they did not put their best defender on Maxx. in fact most team eventually forgot about him and Maxx slipped down the seam for a great gain

On many plays the defense was right there and Maxx made a play that no matter what they did he would have made that play.

I can guarantee DC's worried more about Cobb than Maxx.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Let me first say I loved what Maxx brought to the Gophers and wished he would have stayed another year to really help this next season out but will enjoy watching him on Sunday's

But, I got a news flash for you. They did not lose any sleep over thinking how to stop Maxx. Maxx's ability to do some things above the norm was how Maxx impacted the game. Maxx jumped over guys and made unbelievable catches. he did not get special treatment by the defense. they did not put their best defender on Maxx. in fact most team eventually forgot about him and Maxx slipped down the seam for a great gain

On many plays the defense was right there and Maxx made a play that no matter what they did he would have made that play.

I can guarantee DC's worried more about Cobb than Maxx.

Obviously teams were going to be more concerned with containing the run game because we are a run first/second/third team but you are kidding yourself if you don't think they keyed on Maxx in terms of defensing our passing game. If they didn't then our coaches are idiots for not getting the ball to him more then 2-3 times most games. Game planning on defense is all about figuring out ways to eliminate your opponents best players and in our passing game Maxx was the only player that warranted any sort of special attention.