Nothing Safe About Safety Position
The movie Marathon Man had one of the most frightening scenes in cinema history (as of 30 years ago anyway). Dustin Hoffman finds himself being tortured by a Nazi dentist played by Laurence Olivier asking him "Is it safe?" The real horror of the situation isn't the mutilation of Hoffman's teeth at the hands of a dentist seeking to cause maximum pain. Rather, it's that Hoffman's character has no idea what the sadist with the sharp tools is talking about and knows that he won't be able to give an answer that will end the interrogation quickly.
If Nebraska safeties coach Bill Busch found himself in a similar situation, at least he'd know how to answer. "No, not by a long shot".
When you compare the 2006 NU roster to the 2005 roster, you can find reason to expect improvement just about everywhere (except for safety, the defensive tackle spots, and punter). No one but the special teams coach loses sleep over punting and while tackles LeKevin Smith and Titus Adams will be missed, the cupboard isn't completely bare at the d-tackle positions either.
Safety? That's another story altogether. Both starters graduated. Daniel Bullocks was a good safety and will be drafted by an NFL team in a few weeks. Blake Tiedke, hmmm, let me change gears here.
Every kid that's ever walked-on at Nebraska is a better football player than I could have ever hoped to be. They work their tails off and deserve our respect. They're young guys that don't deserve criticism. But...when I think of Blake Tiedke in 2005 an image comes to mind of an old English woman saying, "You are the weakest link!"
Entering this coming season, the only player returning with any real experience at safety is Andrew Shanle. Again, great guy, fine athlete. But...this is the guy that couldn't beat out Blake "the link" Tiedke a year ago despite being the more experienced player and higher on the depth chart.
To help shore up the safety spot the coaches shuffled some players from other positions. Tierre Green and Brian Wilson have been moved from cornerback. I expect these guys to play a lot, but both will be facing a learning curve. Special teams cult favorite Brandon "kid-size" Rigoni has also practiced at safety for a while but really has no hope of matching up with the big receivers and tight ends of the conference. Other players like Jordan Adams and Dan Erickson have also been moved to safety from the offense but there's little chance that they'll play a whole lot this coming season.
So Shanle, Green, and Wilson will likely be all Nebraska has. Sure there are some nice athletes that will be coming in as true freshman, but safety is not a great spot to throw guys in who haven't had the benefit of Spring practice. If athleticism was all that mattered, we would have seen a lot more of Leon Jackson last season. These guys have to take their lumps and hopefully they'll get better. Fast.
Yes, there is reason for optimism at almost every position for Nebraska next year. Almost.
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