Nebraska Football: All-Time Husker Greats Fantasy Draft, Rounds 13-18

Now that we are reaching the end of the Nebraska Football All-Time Husker Greats fantasy draft, it’s time to move things along a little bit. For your recollection, here are how the teams sit after 12 rounds.

RED TEAM	WHITE TEAM
QB: Frazier, Tommie (1)	QB: Gill, Turner (2)
IB	IB: Rozier, Mike (4)
FB	FB
OG: Brown, Bob (9)	OG: Shields, Will (8)
OG	OG: Dean Steinkuhler (24)
OT: Wiegert, Zach (17)	OT: White, Daryl (20)
OT: Ed Weir (23)	OT
C: Rimington, Dave (5)	C
TE: Miller, Junior (13)	TE
WR: Rodgers, Johnny (3)	WR: Fryar, Irving (10)
WR	WR
DE: Wistrom, Grant (7)	DE
DE	DE
DT: Glover, Rich (11)	DT: Suh, Ndamukong (6)
DT: Smith, Neil (21)	DT
OLB	OLB: Thomas, Broderick (12)
OLB	OLB: Alberts, Trev (14)
MLB: Ruud, Barrett (19)	MLB
S: Brown, Mike (15)	S: Minter, Mike (22)
S	S
CB	CB: Brown, Ralph (16)
CB	CB: Groce, DeJuan (18)
PK	PK
P	P

Much like the NFL draft, we will accelerate the process as we reach the end, going through six rounds instead of three. That means the 24-round draft will be over with the next posting. So let’s take a look and see how the teams are filling out.

Round 13

Red Team: Mike Rucker

With defensive end being one of the few competitive positions left to be resolved, the Red Team went with Rucker to put on the other side of Grant Wistrom. Rucker, an all-conference player, holds Nebraska’s record for most sacks in a game by a defensive end, and finished his career with 136 total tackles, 40 tackles for loss and 17 sacks.

White Team: Josh Bullocks

The White Team stayed on defense in round 13, closing up its defensive secondary with Bullocks. At free safety, Bullocks finished his career with 160 total tackles and 13 interceptions, and holds Nebraska’s record for interceptions in a season by a defensive back.

Draft Tracker

25: Red Team, Round 13—Rucker, Mike (DE)

26: White Team, Round 13—Bullocks, Josh (S)

Round 14

Red Team: Frank Solich

Yes, you read that right. Most fans will remember Solich as having the misfortune to be the guy that followed a legend in Tom Osborne coaching Nebraska. But answer me this. Who is the only fullback to have held Nebraska’s record for most yards rushing in a game? Yep, it was Solich, who piled up 204 yards and three touchdowns against Air Force. Combine that with his dedication to the program and obvious leadership skills, and Solich becomes a clever—if a bit unorthodox—selection.

White Team: Alex Henery

Round 14 seems to be the place for the unorthodox picks. But with the competitive positions to select dwindling, the White Team moved to seal up one of the most important, and potentially the most underappreciated, position on a football team. The Skinny Assassin piled up record after record in his Nebraska career, and demonstrated his versatility with both placekicking, punting and kickoff duties.

Draft Tracker

25: Red Team, Round 13—Rucker, Mike (DE)

26: White Team, Round 13—Bullocks, Josh (S)

27: Red Team, Round 14—Solich, Frank (FB)

28: White Team, Round 14—Henery, Alex (PK)

Round 15

Red Team: Kenny Bell

Nebraska has a tremendous history of generating talented players. Unfortunately, not at wide receiver. So if the Red Team is looking to take a second wideout, why not draft for potential? After his sophomore year, Bell has 82 receptions for 1,324 yards. That’s enough to put him in Nebraska’s record books at No. 10 in career receptions and No. 8 in career yardage. And remember, he’s only a sophomore.

So while there are some deserving candidates to consider, there’s no shame for the Red Team to think outside the box and draft on potential.

White Team: Sam Koch

With Bell’s selection, punter became the last contested position on the board. So, while round 16 is awfully high to take a punter, there was little risk in the White Team securing the best punter on the board. Koch holds the Nebraska record for best season average punting, and has the second-longest punt (84 yards) in school history.

Draft Tracker

25: Red Team, Round 13—Rucker, Mike (DE)

26: White Team, Round 13—Bullocks, Josh (S)

27: Red Team, Round 14—Solich, Frank (FB)

28: White Team, Round 14—Henery, Alex (PK)

29: Red Team, Round 15—Bell, Kenny (WR)

30: White Team, Round 15—Koch, Sam (P)

Round 16

Red Team: Lavonte David

With all the contested positions filled, we have reached the point in the draft where teams will start taking the best players available to fill needs. While only playing at Nebraska for two years, David piled up mind-boggling statistics, logging 285 tackles and 28 tackles for loss in his two seasons in Lincoln.

White Team: Carlos Polk

The White Team went with a linebacker as well, filling its linebacking corps with Polk at middle linebacker. An All-American who logged 227 tackles, 32 tackles for loss and 10 sacks, Polk should anchor the middle of the White Team defense.

Draft Tracker

25: Red Team, Round 13—Rucker, Mike (DE)

26: White Team, Round 13—Bullocks, Josh (S)

27: Red Team, Round 14—Solich, Frank (FB)

28: White Team, Round 14—Henery, Alex (PK)

29: Red Team, Round 15—Bell, Kenny (WR)

30: White Team, Round 15—Koch, Sam (P)

31: Red Team, Round 16—David, Lavonte (OLB)

32: White Team, Round 16—Polk, Carlos (MLB)

Round 17

Red Team: Ahman Green

One of the most fascinating discussions about Nebraska history might well be who is the second-best I-back of all time? While consideration on raw talent had to be given to Lawrence Phillips, if we are constructing a team then it would be hard to defend putting a man with the kind of demons that haunted Phillips on the roster.

So we turn instead to one of the most overlooked greats in Nebraska history. Green finished his Nebraska career with 3,880 yards rushing, second only to Mike Rozier. He scored 42 touchdowns, had 20 games with 100 or more yards rushing and averaged 6.76 yards per carry. Green over a great like Roger Craig? Let the debate begin.

White Team: Tony Davis

While the Red Team went a little with a sentimental pick at fullback, the White Team went with production. While “Tough” Tony Davis was remembered more as an I-back, he played enough fullback to qualify at the position. And his performance is certainly worthy of a draft pick, with his career rushing total of 2,153 yards good enough for No. 24 all time in Nebraska history.

Draft Tracker

25: Red Team, Round 13—Rucker, Mike (DE)

26: White Team, Round 13—Bullocks, Josh (S)

27: Red Team, Round 14—Solich, Frank (FB)

28: White Team, Round 14—Henery, Alex (PK)

29: Red Team, Round 15—Bell, Kenny (WR)

30: White Team, Round 15—Koch, Sam (P)

31: Red Team, Round 16—David, Lavonte (OLB)

32: White Team, Round 16—Polk, Carlos (MLB)

33: Red Team, Round 17—Green, Ahman (IB)

34: White Team, Round 17—Davis, Tony (FB)

Round 18

Red Team: Aaron Taylor

The Red Team finishes off its offensive line by taking Taylor off the board. A member of one of the most dominant offensive lines in school history, Taylor won the Outland Trophy in 1997. He is also the only Nebraska player to be an All-American at two different positions, giving the Red Team even more flexibility on the offensive line.

White Team: Dominic Raiola

Raiola’s place in Nebraska history may suffer due to him playing for Frank Solich during Nebraska’s fall from grace after the three national titles in the mid-'90s. But there can be little doubt about Raiola’s ability, as an All-American and a finalist for both the Lombardi and the Outland Trophies in 2000.

Draft Tracker

25: Red Team, Round 13—Rucker, Mike (DE)

26: White Team, Round 13—Bullocks, Josh (S)

27: Red Team, Round 14—Solich, Frank (FB)

28: White Team, Round 14—Henery, Alex (PK)

29: Red Team, Round 15—Bell, Kenny (WR)

30: White Team, Round 15—Koch, Sam (P)

31: Red Team, Round 16—David, Lavonte (OLB)

32: White Team, Round 16—Polk, Carlos (MLB)

33: Red Team, Round 17—Green, Ahman (IB)

34: White Team, Round 17—Davis, Tony (FB)

35: Red Team, Round 18—Taylor, Aaron (OG)

36: White Team, Round 18—Raiola, Dominic (C)

Team Summary

Here is a summary of how the teams currently stand, with the players selected, the overall draft selection position (in parentheses) and the remaining positions to fill in italics.

RED TEAM	WHITE TEAM
QB: Frazier, Tommie (1)	QB: Gill, Turner (2)
IB: Ahman Green (33)	IB: Rozier, Mike (4)
FB: Solich, Frank (27)	FB: Davis, Tony (34)
OG: Brown, Bob (9)	OG: Shields, Will (8)
OG: Taylor, Aaron (35)	OG: Dean Steinkuhler (24)
OT: Wiegert, Zach (17)	OT: White, Daryl (20)
OT: Ed Weir (23)	OT
C: Rimington, Dave (5)	C: Raiola, Dominic (36)
TE: Miller, Junior (13)	TE
WR: Rodgers, Johnny (3)	WR: Fryar, Irving (10)
WR: Bell, Kenny (29)	WR
DE: Wistrom, Grant (7)	DE
DE: Rucker, Mike (25)	DE
DT: Glover, Rich (11)	DT: Suh, Ndamukong (6)
DT: Smith, Neil (21)	DT
OLB: David, Lavonte (31)	OLB: Thomas, Broderick (12)
OLB	OLB: Alberts, Trev (14)
MLB: Ruud, Barrett (19)	MLB: Polk, Carlos (32)
S: Brown, Mike (15)	S: Minter, Mike (22)
S	S: Bullocks, Josh (26)
CB	CB: Brown, Ralph (16)
CB	CB: Groce, DeJuan (18)
PK	PK: Henery, Alex (28)
P	P: Koch, Sam (30)

What do you think of the teams so far? Who should be taken next? Who has been the biggest snub? Let me know in the comments section below!

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