College Football Recruiting: Will Aaron Green Back Up Rex Burkhead In 2011?
The Nebraska Cornhuskers' lone five-star recruit this year is a running back out of Texas by the name of Aaron Green.
Green is a 5'11'', 190-pound running back who could be one of the Huskers' most explosive players in recent memory.
But how fast can he climb Nebraska's depth chart with his 4.4 40-yard dash time?
The Rest
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The Huskers generally only play three backs.
Two primary, and one backup.
That means a large group of guys will be competing to try and get up to third on the depth chart. Among those names are Austin Jones, Collins Okafor, Zach Taylor and Lester Ward.
Austin Jones, who will be a senior, is the probably the best of this group. He could push for playing time as the No. 3 guy after putting up decent numbers in limited playing time in 2010.
The other guys are all younger, with Ward and Okafor entering their junior seasons, and Taylor his sophomore.
These guys have their work cut out for them, with likely four good backs ahead of them, but we'll know more in the spring.
3. Dontrayevous Robinson
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Robinson has been given limited carries in two seasons with the Huskers.
After a decent freshmen campaign with 39 rushes for 165 yards and two touchdowns Robinson had a down year this past season.
His 24 rushes for just 67 yards gave him a measly 2.8 yards a carry, and he also showed a tendency to put the ball on the ground.
Rather than giving competition to Green for the No. 2 spot at running back, I think he will be fighting to hold on to the No. 3 spot which Jones will be gunning for.
2. Aaron Green
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Okay, so the kid hasn't played a snap of college football yet so these are pretty high expectations.
But the good news for Green is that between Taylor Martinez and Rex Burkhead he can be slowly implemented into the system the same way Burkhead was just last year.
Green will give the Huskers another big play man in addition to Martinez, as Burkhead isn't exactly known for huge runs.
He will have to earn the No. 2 spot, and one way he could do that is by being a star in the return game. However, who knows if the Huskers would want to risk having him in the return game if he looks solid in early season practices.
His receiving skills are one thing that will have to improve for him to win the backup position.
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1. Rex Burkhead
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Rex Burkhead wasn't exactly a backup in 2010 as he split carries with Roy Helu Jr. for the majority of the season.
The result was good to say the least.
Burkhead rushed 160 times for 912 yards at a clip of a 5.7 yards a carry. He is a gritty runner who plays smart and rarely puts the ball on the ground.
He was also responsible for running the Huskers' Wildcat offense which was fairly successful when used.
It would be hard to envision a scenario, other than injury, that would see Burkhead vacate the role as the Huskers' No.1 back in 2011.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
