Kellogg Might Be Special
There are a number of ways to interpret the competition at backup quarterback for Nebraska. Joe Ganz let it slip that walk-on Ron Kellogg III (RKIII anyone?) might emerge as #2 behind Taylor Martinez. It sounds like true freshman Tommy Armstrong might be close behind. But Ganz didn't seem to totally count Brion Carnes out of the race either. What does that say about backup spot overall, and Kellogg in particular?
Sometimes when a walk-on emerges, people take that to mean that the scholarship players aren't living up to their potential. There are certainly counter-examples in the history of Nebraska football, including more recent history. Some walk-ons have become All-Americans and many others all-conference. Meanwhile, both Armstrong and Carnes were four-star recruits.
You might have expected Carnes to win the job on his combination of talent and experience and the fact that he was the top backup a year ago. That experience is pretty limited though. Carnes only threw two passes last season, completing both for 26 yards. His rushing total was negative on two attempts. You would expect Armstrong to lack a command of the offense, having not had the benefit of a full year to learn it. Still, his rushing skills have to be a challenge for the Husker defenses that he sees in practice.
Then there's RKIII. He's the oldest of the three, but has no more experience than Carnes in Tim Beck's offense. By most accounts, he's a pocket passer. The fact that he's the leading candidate at this point to be the backup tells you something about his passing prowess. Bo Pelini defenses tend to make pocket passers look bad and dual-threat players look good. Despite that, RKIII still looks like the best option to back up Martinez. The bar is set pretty high for a pocket passer to look good against NU's defense. Ganz probably wasn't just blowing smoke when he called RKIII a "really, really good passer". Ganz should know something about that, since he holds Nebraska's single season record for passing. Yet he couldn't stop at one "really".
It wouldn't be unprecedented for NU to be hiding a quality passer behind a dual-threat player that's more suited to an option offense. Bruce Mathison ended up lasting for years on NFL rosters despite sitting behind Jeff Quinn and Turner Gill at Nebraska. Brook Berringer famously sat for much of his career behind Tommie Frazier. In Berringer's case, he brought a dimension that Frazier probably lacked as a passer. He had some good passing days during NU's undefeated run in 1994. He threw a touchdown pass in the Orange Bowl victory over Miami after Frazier had gotten off to a slow start.
You wonder if RKIII might have similar potential. In particular, if the Huskers find themselves without Martinez or perhaps needing to bench him as he struggles, could RKIII come in and lift the team with his passing? I wouldn't rule it out. If he's earned the respect of a defensive mind like Bo Pelini, he deserves the respect of the Husker Nation too.
8/29/2012
RKIII - love it. You have a knack for coining nicknames.
Regardless of whether he is “special” or not, here are some reasons I like RKIII as QB2:
- Experience/Knowledge of the offense. If NU gets in a spot where they are without QB1 they will need a steady presence in the storm, an older player not a freshman.
- Based on experience, he has the knowledge of the offense to get NU in to good plays and out of bad ones before the snap. That’s critical.
- Because he is more of a thrower than a runner, it means he’s also more of “distributor”. Yes, it would be nice to have a running threat at QB. But the Huskers have so many other talented skill players, that it could be worse to have a QB who’s main goal is to get playmakers the ball.
- It keeps Tommy Armstrong on the bench and in his red shirt. I know there is a TON of hype about Armstrong. I’m as anxious to see him as anyone. But if he has a chance to be a truly great player, then you need to make sure he can impact your program to the maximum potential - that means 4 solid years of playing. Hate to lose a year of a great player by putting them in spot duty.
If RKIII gives them a #2 they can count on, Carnes is the emergency #3, then that is more than enough to keep Armstrong available to grow into a very special player.
8/29/2012
First off, Steve, we have been calling, Ron, RK3 since high school. So do not take any credit for coming up with this nickname. Second, even though Ron may be able to put great touch on the football that does not mean e can perform in a game situation. As you said, he has absolutely no game time experience….as a senior. He did not develop this throwing motion over night, he has been able to throw the ball deep and tight since high school. The reason he will not be seeing the field is because he lacks mobility. If it came down to the nitty gritty, Ron would be unable to escape pressure on the ground. When you have a linebacker blitzing and DE coming up your back side, being a good passer can only do so much.
It has seem that Carnes has struggled to pick up the system, but we like to run the ball nowadays and I think he is capable, and so is Tommie.
8/29/2012
Scarlet - Roman numerals > than regular numbers. RKIII…
When push comes to shove, give me the senior over the freshman.
NU has other players (lots of them) to put pressure on a defense with the run game. Heck, Burkhead could be the option QB in spots.
Kellogg gives NU the ability to get Bell, Turner, Reed and all the others opportunities.
8/29/2012
I’d rather have Taylor running a triple option pass, than have a senior drop back and pass. Taylor gives us a dynamic of runnning and passing that keeps defensives on their heels. Easy on throwing Taylor under the bus so fast, we have not even take the field for pre game calisthenics. T-Mart (dashes>regular spacing) displayed the ability to spread the ball around to our receivers last year, and at a successful rate towards the end of the season.
Once again a senior that has not seen the field compared to a freshman with athleticism dripping from every pore on his body, I’m taking the firey freshman. If we need to throw a hail mary at the end of the game, alright you got me put in RK3.
8/29/2012
Besides our special teams, our strength is our TE’s and WR’s. Someone who can get them the ball quickly sounds like the KU offense Beck operated. Accuracy getting the ball to our best weapons sounds like a very good option.
8/29/2012
RKIII looks too much like RKill. I support RK3.
While I agree that having an elder backup has it’s advantages. It still makes me sad that there is no clear #2. QB is just too important of a position not to have a quality game ready backup. I hope someday we return to winning so big that the backups play the entire 4th qtr in our non-conference games. That experience is so important to getting ready for the big game when your number is called.
Don’t count out this being a poker bluff by Pelini just trying to keep the attention away from the younger contenders.
Grand Island,NE
8/29/2012
RKIII who we lovingly refer to as carlton ie fresh prince of bel air
can certainly handle any of the passing duties but would lack the get out of trouble speed and agility….Still love the guy and hope
nothing happens to Martinez to warrant the test….Would be nice if we could get some good leads and cycle these backups in but
we rarely play our backups with the trying to get martinez up to speed the last few years…..So pumped saturday game day!
8/30/2012
Kellogg as R kill? Sounds like a cereal killer.
California
8/30/2012
Did you mean “serial killer”, or were you trying to reference someone who wanted to knock off Tony the Tiger?
8/30/2012
Based on the Huskers past seasons I don’t know what difference it makes who the #2 QB will be because he won’t play anyway. No wonder Carnes is getting moved down the depth chart with the amount of playing time he got last year. Why in the world didn’t we bring Carnes in when we had a big lead, or getting beat badly (Wisc/Mich) late in the game? So, now we have Martinez, who is the only QB with any experience and if he gets hurt the QB replacing him will basically have no playing time under his belt. If there is one critizism of Bo that is warranted, is his inability to get the 2nd and 3rd players in the games, especially at obvious times.
8/31/2012
Hi Bill. Well since he’s Kellogg, he’s prolly going to go after Sugar Bear or some military dude named Mills. He’ll have an accomplice with a colorful beak, because if one can do it, toucan do it better.
8/31/2012
I love it! His name has officially gone from Ron Kellogg III to RK3 to RKIII to RKill to Serial Killer.
I don’t think we absolutely have to have a mobile QB to run this offense. With 4 capable I-backs this season there isn’t an immediate need for a mobile QB. Taylor’s running ability is an added bonus. Scarlet, I think you missed the point of the article. We would all take Taylor as our starter right now, but as a back-up goes, there is a lot to be said about senior leadership, and the opportunity to have Armstrong redshirt this season and back-up next year and then start for 3 years with a solid foundation in the offense is one that looks enticing from a program standpoint.
California
8/31/2012
Well… I would expect Cereal Killer to run Beck’s offense in a manner much more similar to how Todd Reesing ran it at KU a few years back… but with MUCH more explosive weapons at his disposal.
That said, I am not of the mind of redshirting the second best QB in the program if Taylor goes down with an injury. Who’s to say that he would even BE the starter for the next 4 years (especially with Stanton coming on board next year)?
I think Bo has the right idea in saying that if we need him in order to win… he will play.
California
8/31/2012
Ron Flakes
9/1/2012
The Depth chart is out and it seems that Serial Killer is on the two deep. No head games here guys.