There was Will Compton, Sean Fisher and Alonzo Whaley at linebacker. Two of the three were strong candidates to play this season.
Then there was the secondary, which Sanders handles for head coach Bo Pelini.
"I looked at the back end, and I saw 6-2-plus safeties with Courtney Osborne and P.J. Smith," Sanders said. "John Levorson over at corner. Walk-on Jase Dean at a corner. Anthony Blue who's coming back (from knee surgery)."
Certainly Blankman makes no bones about his belief that there is plenty of talent being redshirted this season. If these guys could contribute this season, why aren't they out on the field? Good question. In some respects, I think Pelini and company know they have the luxury to do that this season. (The heat might get a little hotter if NU loses to Kansas, but right now, the Huskers are on pace to show improvement from 2007.) I'd consider this "living beneath your means"; saving up talent for future years. Letting them acclimate to football at this level. These players might not have been ready to contribute at the start of the season, so why not save them for 2012?
I do think it's interesting that guys like Matt Holt, Matt O'Hanlon, and Lance Thorell have been called upon to pick up the slack this season instead of players like Blake Lawrence and Major Culbert. For whatever reason, Pelini seems to be putting more emphasis on fundamentally sound play over raw athleticism:
"It's not always what you think by the naked eye," Pelini said. "To play good football, you've got to have 11 guys doing the right thing every play and playing their responsibilities so it all fits and works. We haven't had that consistently the whole year."
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