NU’s new practice style should give a better evaluation of RB position
The hardest thing to sometimes evaluate over spring practice and fall camp can be the running back position.
The last several years NU has done very little if any “live” to the ground tackling in practice with their running backs. It’s become extremely common for the play to be blown dead at first contact.
Under new head coach Scott Frost, we’ve already seen a change in that approach, which should help guys like new running backs coach Ryan Held get a clearer picture of the position group.
“Well I’ve got to be able to see who can make the first guy miss,” Held said. “A trait of a great running back is you need to be able to make the first guy miss, and then what do you do after that when there’s nothing there? Can you make something happen when the hole’s not there? At least get us back to the line of scrimmage; we just can’t have lost yardage plays. And in the second level, we’ve got to get better in the second level setting safeties up and not be too robotic out there.
“I tell these guys they’ve got to have a game plan. You’ve got to break through and know what the formation was and where the other guys might be. All those little things that add up, so we can get 50, 60-yard plays instead of 10 yard plays. There was good stuff (Saturday), but there was stuff that we’ve got to get better at, there’s no doubt about it. We’re not satisfied at all with what (Saturday) brought.”
And even though Saturday wasn’t the offense’s best practice, junior college transfer running back Greg Bell showed some flashes at times.
As practice ended, a group of former Husker players on their way out raved what they saw from Bell during’ Saturday’s practice.
“He had a good day,” Held said of Bell on Saturday. “He’s got really good feet. He’s nicknamed the eel – he can get in little, small slots. (Saturday) he had a really good run; I want to see him try to outrun a guy, not cross his face and score, but he did some really good things, he’s picking it up. I think our guys, we’ve got to get used to when we run eight, nine plays in a row and we’re going fast, you’ve got to be in great shape.
“I don’t want to have to substitute you; you’re going to have to suck it up … I like my room, I do, we’ve just got to run the ball a little better when we have the next scrimmage.”
Unlike traditional high school incoming backs, you can sense the urgency with Bell when he runs. He only has two years to prove himself, and without a strong spring, that could potentially set him back. He’s the first junior college running back the Huskers have signed since Kenny Wilson in 2006.
“You’ve got to come in and do your job right away,” Bell said. “Because I don’t have four years to play.
“My approach is just to come in and work hard. Put my head down and just work hard. Just keep listening and pay attention and work hard.”
Along with quarterback, running back is far and away the most tightly contested position battle on the offense this spring.
Besides Bell, seniors Devine Ozigbo, Mikale Wilbon and sophomore Jaylin Bradley are all battling for the job this spring among others.
“That competition feeling never leaves, especially because, in my position, I’ve never really come into a spot like, ‘I’m going to have this.’ I’ve always had that work attitude, and I feel like this is just going to add to the fire,” Ozigbo said of the spring running back competition. “The other backs here, too, they’ve never really had it outright. It doesn’t really bother us, it honestly just makes us better. It’s just a family environment. Iron sharpens iron – they’re going to make us better.”
