With a quarterback, people point to interceptions, yardage, touchdowns, completion percentages and offensive efficiency numbers. Running backs get touchdowns and yards, perhaps even some receiving yardage numbers if they're fancy. Receivers have their own set.

Hell, even on the defensive side sacks, tackles, interceptions, TFL and total defensive stats are how most folks try to explain whether or not Player D is doing their job.

Meanwhile, offensive linemen have no such metric by which to grade them.

Sure, you can count pancakes, a stat that speaks to some explosive power and ability to ride a guy into the ground. Some people look to sacks allowed and rushing yardage as a way to prove their case.

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Mark Emmert tried to flex his muscle. He tried to radiate confidence. He tried to push back at the countless columns—much like this one—that have pointed out his trials and tribulations over the past few months that called for change.

And although the president of the NCAA finally came out swinging while meeting the media in Atlanta before the Final Four, the attempt didn’t quite get the intended results.

In fact, it fell well short. Confidence morphed into arrogance, and despite plenty of words said and important topics discussed, we once again learned very little.

While answering questions about reform, new developments at Auburn, the aftermath at Miami, which remains an open book, the damning article on his past business and leadership failures posted by USA Today, the Freeh report and more, Emmert was visibly frustrated. 

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When it comes to spring, everyone is dialed in to his own team and respective position battles.

Folks at Florida State are wondering who is going to win the three-man derby at quarterback. Nebraska fans are wondering what Bo Pelini's plan is for fixing the defense. USC fans wonder how the switch from the Tampa-2 to this 3-4/4-3 hybrid of Clancy Pendergast is going to work.

And of course, Texas A&M fans want to know about Johnny Football.

Sifting through it all, here are the storylines that get us excited here at Your Best 11.

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Thursday, and while my girlfriend sits on the couch enjoying a week off from teaching for Spring Break, I am here, putting that work in. The mailbag is our staple, and we've got some very good questions today so let's get into it!

This is a play on this post at Your Best 11 from yesterday. People asked questions that, I thought, were common knowledge and that is my fault for assuming. To answer the question, yes. After players make the team they get team issued gear (shorts, shoes, shirts etc.) and equipment (pads, helmets). They don't make walk-ons pay for the stuff and they damn sure don't want things guys bring from home.

These guys also go to meetings. They don't eat in the football cafeteria, unless they pay for it. Just like preferred walk-ons. Players all have to go to meetings; that is where you install schemes, go over what you're doing at practice that day and what you did wrong the day before.

So, apologies for leaving that stuff out. Also, thanks to Joshua for that question.

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Last month, here at Your Best 11, we talked about what the offseason is like for college football coaches. Between their glad-handing obligations, recruiting and hoping kids avoid trouble, the guys running your programs have a lot on their plates.

For the players, things are no different. Instead of the media obligations, the players are tasked with getting better, dodging those same pitfalls their coaches are hoping they avoid and, yes, trying to squeeze some fun into it all.

As spring ball slowly wraps up through April, for most teams, that transition coincides with the semester coming to an end. Players put in some more workouts, and they have their post-spring exit interviews, talk about their futures with their position coaches and then get ready for exams to close things out.

While players work out after spring, the official start to the offseason comes with summer school. As college football has grown into the big business in which million-dollar deals are dependent upon the performance of 17- to 23-year-olds, summer school has become a non-negotiable. 

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Probably for things like this:

Or perhaps instances such as this one:

Thus, despite Nebraska having a 27-12 record with Taylor Martinez in the lineup, more folks are pointing at what he does wrong than what he does right. Especially given the strides that he made in his third year at Nebraska.

Yes, his interceptions went up in 2012, but so too did his attempts and completion percentage. Truth be told, Martinez grew into a legitimate quarterback in 2012, and yet, all folks can remember are the bad days.

During the 2010 and 2011 seasons, the Huskers lost games because of young Taylor Martinez. Their offense was stagnant and could not produce points. In losses in 2010, Nebraska averaged just 11.5 points per game. In 2011 losses, the offense only put up 18 points, topping 20 just once in a loss to Northwestern.

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The world of the college football walk-on is one that remains a mystery to most fans. They either see the guys like Jared Abbrederis and Clay Matthews, who start out as walk-ons and then become full-fledged, big-time contributors, or they envision the Rudy Ruettiger's of the world.

The typical walk-on at a big time program generally lies somewhere in the middle. Most guys don't end up becoming All-Conference or, in the case of Matthews, All-Pro players. However, the bulk of kids that stick on collegiate rosters also are not nobodies from nowhere who cannot play a lick.

Walk-ons tend to fall into two main categories: recruited and unrecruited. Under the recruited category, you get guys who were certainly good enough to warrant the school's interest, but could not be offered a scholarship in that cycle. Unrecruited means exactly what it says, guys the school never actually looked at or reached out to.

Recruited walk-ons are essential to the world of college football. There is a reason your favorite team has 85 scholarships but damn near 130 players on the roster. Between greyshirts and preferred walk-ons, the bulk of those extra guys were accomplished ballplayers in their own rights.

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The compensation formula for collegiate athletes is deeply flawed, and the entire system could drastically change in the not-too-distant future based on one court ruling. The business model, which has banked on amateurism staying constant, could very well be turned on its side. 

Most importantly, no one’s really quite really sure what to do next. There’s an urgency building as we approach the unknown, but the rest is a mystery, even to those most closely involved.

By already preparing for the possibility of defeat—whether he’s posturing, which is very likely, or simply blowing off steam—USC athletic director Pat Haden is beginning to speculate “what if.”

If you’re sitting in his shoes, it’s easy to see why.

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