Brandon Kinnie Most Likely to See Time
5 comments so far
February 5, 2009 by
One of the favorite games of fans right after signing day, is “who will see early playing time�? While you’d expect at least a handful of players from this class to contribute in 2009, the top candidate is probably junior college wide receiver Brandon Kinnie.
The logic is simple. Every other player on the roster has a redshirt year available and Kinnie comes in at a position of need. When Maurice Purify arrived in 2006 (with a redshirt year available) under similar circumstances, he became a major component of the offense, and made the play of the year against Texas A&M. Kinnie may not be quite the prospect Purify was, but he certainly will get a good luck to contribute this season.
Other players have the benefit of a head start. Defensive back Dejon Gomes, arrived mid-year, as did quarterback Cody Green and receiver Antonio Bell. There also may be players with more talent. But all of those players have a redshirt year available which means if they don’t seem ready (which is usually the case for first-year players), they will benefit from sitting a year.
You wouldn’t expect any of the players in this class to steal a starting job in 2009, but Kinnie might be the one that fans see most. If you want to see new blood, watch out for the class of 2008. You’ve got a bunch of talented players coming off of their redshirt year. Alfonzo Dennard already showed a lot this past season as he burned his. Ricky Henry sounds ready to take a starting job. Josh Williams, Cameron Meredith, Will Compton, and Sean Fisher may all be featured heavily in the front seven. And there are a number of other receivers and defensive backs that will compete for playing time.
Yesterday was a good day for looking ahead for Nebraska. But it was really about looking years ahead versus months. Kinnie could be the best bet for 2009, but they’ll all be in the mix come 2010.
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darren Feb 05 09
Good perspective, Steve. Most fans need to realize that you don't recruit players (at least ideally) to fix last year's issues. It's more about 2 and 3 years from now.
On immediate contributors, I agree about Kinnie. He has the physical tools for it, and WR is a place where newcomers can contribute right away. Plus NU has some need at that spot.
Now, I offer Dejon Gomes as a counterpoint. He could (should?) play right away. Like Kinnie, he's a JC guy and more physically mature(dude is 6', 190) Next, CCSF has a history of sending contributors to NU. Also, George Darlington famously talked about how corners should be able to play in their first year if they were worth recruiting at all. With the right talent, it's pretty easy to get on the field quickly there. We've seen NU use JC corners right away before (Murillo, Bowman). Finally, he's already on campus and ready to work.
NU might have a lot of DBs on the roster, but none other than West played extensively this year. Amukamara and Hagg are developing, Dennard played on special teams, and Blue is healing. I think Gomes will get every opportunity to compete with them. In the pass-happy Big 12, they will need him.
JBLING Feb 05 09
I agree with you on Gomes... on the fact that he could be used right away.. But I don;t know that hes much more physically mature then Middleton whom is also about 6'-6'1'' and about 190... yes he has more stubble on his face but I don't know if that means he's that much more physically dominant than the other DB's brought in, in this class... Yes the others probably have a little more growing to do, but time will tell...
P.s. one position pelini and the Lsu staff seemed to have no problem playing newbies at was the DB position...
FischAlum'83 Feb 05 09
I am looking forward to see the class of '08 begin to make an impact. What has been heard about young Steinkuhler, D-line or O-line.
I am excited about this class but also have confidence in coaching staff to make the most of the players that join the bigred. A lot is made of the big 5 star recruit but if they start as freshman and go pro after junior we might be better off with the 3 or 4 star that redshirts and stays 5 to work with our coaches and learn our program inside and out.
JBLING22 Feb 05 09
From what Ive heard in the past steinkuhler practiced as a DT last year so I would think thats where hes gonna stay especially since we seem to have a pretty good depth on the o-line at least this year and the DL is going to need some depth after Suh and Turner leave next year......
I think it will be interesting to see how much the class of 08 makes an impact this year.... On the offensive side you will probably see a lot of henry, and maybe some of the recievers/TE, but I wouldn't count on many else playing most should only be back up roles which is actually a good thing..Of course theres always special teams as well..
On the defense is where you actually could see a few more younger players getting significant time.. A DE or two from the class should get some back up roles atleast, and the linebackers and dbs from that class, look prime to at least get a chance...
The one huge thing that we have going right now is the fact that most of these guys got to sit and learn their first years and develop... Its hard to generalize at this point because theres still a lot of time for these kids to develop from now till august... Some kids that look pretty shaky now, could look like totally different players come season start or for that matter season;s end.....
At the very least I would expect some of these 08 kids to make a major contribution to the specials team unit...
Andy Feb 06 09
Fisch,
You make an interesting comment about having 3 and 4 star guys stick it out for 5 years and really get the program.
In college basketball, I have long believed the reason you hav Cinderella teams (George Mason comes to mind) is that they're not stocked with that "gotta make the jump to the NBA" talent, just solid hard working guys that put in their 4 or 5 years and really get it.
The nice thing about recruiting (and I use this term very loosely) lesser talented players is that it puts less pressure on any given recruiting season. Rather than needing to score a big class of recruits to make up for not only graduating seniors but also early departures, the staff can focus on a smaller, select group of guys that fits their model for a good football player.