Nebraska Football 2011: 10 Players Cornhuskers Cannot Lose to Injury

Injuries can make or break football team. How many times have we seen a team hyped for success and an injury to a star player dramatically changes the dynamics of the team?

Last year the University of Houston had lofty expectations. Their quarterback, Case Keenum, was a preseason Heisman trophy candidate. When Keenum tore his ACL against UCLA, Houston’s season went downhill. The same happened to Northwestern when their star quarterback, Dan Persa ruptured his Achilles tendon last season.

It happens every year!

Here is a list of my 10 players the Cornhuskers cannot afford to lose to injuries this year.

Jared Crick

The Blackshirts are the heart and soul of the Nebraska team in 2011. Many people believe Nebraska will go as far as the defense takes them.

The heart and soul of the Blackshirts is Jared Crick. He is the most important player for the Cornhuskers and the No. 1 player Nebraska cannot afford to lose.

Jared Crick missed spring practices with a knee injury. He is healthy now and ready to go. If Crick were to get injured again, the Blackshirts would have a hole that would be hard to fill.

Crick often draws double-teams from opposing offenses. This leaves the other defensive lineman to work one-on-one and allows linebacker Lavonte David to make tackles. Besides making his teammates better, Crick wrecks havoc on quarterbacks.

Without Crick in the game, defensive tackle Baker Steinkuhler would see more double teams and offensive lineman would be free to block Lavonte David and the other Blackshirt linebackers. Not to mention the pure loss of having Crick’s pass rush ability in the defense.

If Jared Crick gets injured, the Blackshirts will be good, but not great!

Taylor Martinez

The second most important player for the Cornhuskers is quarterback Taylor Martinez.

The quarterback is always the most important player on the team, but if I wouldn’t have seen the spring game, Taylor Martinez would have been No. 1 on the list.

Nebraska is inexperienced at the quarterback position. With the transfer of Cody Green, the Cornhuskers are left with a freshman Brion Carnes backing up Taylor Martinez.

When a team has a freshman as the backup quarterback, you would think the starting quarterback would be the most important player on the field. Taylor Martinez came started last season and proved that a freshman can play well at quarterback for the Cornhuskers.

Brion Carnes had a nice spring game for the Cornhuskers. Carnes rushed for 49 yards and passed for 173 yards with two touchdowns. While this was not against the No. 1 defense, it still proves that Carnes can get the job done if called upon.

As good as Carnes looked in the spring game, the Cornhusker still need Taylor Martinez at quarterback.

Lavonte David

You would think a preseason All-American would have to be higher on the list. While tackling is an important part of the game, handling the ball is more important. Lavonte David comes in on the list at No. 3.

Replacing a single-season record 152 tackles would be an impossible task to ask any player who had to fill in for David. Not only was David a tackling machine, he was second on the team in sacks.

The Blackshirts have two other quality linebackers who could fill in for David. Sean Fisher and Will Compton are both experienced linebackers. Although they did not play much last year, they will be used heavily in 2011.

David’s backup, Graham Stoddard, also has playing time under his belt. If the Cornhuskers were to lose David, these three linebackers would need to step up because the shoes they would need to fill are big ones!

Mike Caputo

The offensive line is the most important part of the offense, and the most important lineman on the Cornhuskers in 2011 is Mike Caputo.

Caputo brings leadership to a young Cornhusker offensive line. Caputo has been added to the Rimington Award watch list as one of the best centers in college football. He makes all of the blocking calls for the offensive line, which is a crucial part of the offense.

If Caputo were to go down, the Cornhuskers would be left with an experienced lineman who would be responsible for a large part of the offense.  

Alphonzo Dennard

Cornerback Alphonzo Dennard is the leader of the secondary for the Blackshirts.

Many NFL draft analyst predicted Dennard to be a top pick if he had entered the draft last season. Dennard has already been added to the Jim Thorpe Award watch list as the best defensive back in college football.

Cornhusker fans will find out quickly how much the loss of Dennard hurts the team. Dennard strained a muscle and is listed as out indefinitely.

With Dennard out, Antonio Bell and Dijon Washington will receive a lot of playing time. Although these are not experienced players, I have faith in defensive coordinator Carl Pelini to design a scheme to make these players successful.

The lost of Dennard hurts the Cornhuskers, but it isn’t an injury the team can’t overcome.

Rex Burkhead

How can Rex Burhead be so far down the list?

Burkhead is as skilled of an athlete as the Cornhuskers have on their team. The reason why he is so far down the list is because of the depth at the position of running back.

Braylon Heard, Aaron Green, and Amir Abdullah are the three freshmen who will backup Burkhead in 2011. No one knows how good the three freshmen are, but most people expect them to be capable of filling in for Burkhead.

If Burkhead was to be injured early in the season, the loss would impact the Cornhuskers more than if he were to be injured late in the season.

The three freshmen will see a lot of playing time this season, and it would help if they had some playing time before being asked to carry the load of starting running back for the Cornhuskers.

Jeremiah Sirles

Nebraska has two offensive linemen who started every game last year. One is center Mike Caputo, and the other is Jeremiah Sirles.

Sirles brings some experience to the offensive line. The Cornhuskers' plan to rotate many of their young skilled offensive linemen this season. Losing Sirles would definitely be a blow to an already young line, but I think the Cornhuskers could mix and match pieces to get them through a game or two.

If Sirles went down for longer than that, the Cornhuskers may have big problems!

Jamal Turner

One skill that the Cornhuskers have this year that they haven’t had in a long time is speed.

Freshman Jamal Turner is predicted to start as a slot wide receiver, kick returner and punt returner. Turner is a dynamic player that can provide the Cornhuskers excellent field position based upon his return skills.

During the spring game Turner returned a punt 59 yards, a kickoff 54 yards, and caught a touchdown pass for 49 yards. This is the kind of play making ability the Cornhuskers have been lacking and the reason why a freshman made this list.

If Turner were to be injured, Tim Marlow would fill in on return duties. Marlow has had his moments of big plays, but he is nowhere close to being as dynamic as Turner.

Look for Turner to be the X-factor for the Cornhuskers this year and a player the team cannot afford to lose.

Cameron Meredith and Baker Steinkuhler

The last two players on this list had to be included based on their skills.

Cameron Meredith is on the Lombardi Award watch list for the best lineman in college football. I think Meredith is the most underrated player on the Blackshirts defense. He makes play after play while the other players receive all of the attention.

Baker Steinkuhler is the player that reaps the rewards of the dominance of Jared Crick. Steinkuhler played well in his first season as a starter for the Cornhuskers. He had big shoes to fill, replacing Ndamukong Suh.

If either Meredith or Steinkuhler were to miss time in 2011, the Cornhuskers have the depth to overcome. What will be lost are their playmaking ability and their experience.

If the Blackshirts want to finish the season as the No. 1 defense in college football, they need Meredith and Steinkuhler to stay healthy.

Health Is Key to Cornhusker Success

High expectations have been placed on the 2011 Cornhuskers.

To meet these expectations the team must remain healthy. An injury to any of these key players could spell disaster for a team expected to win their conference.

With another year in the weight room, hopefully the Cornhuskers will remain healthy and able to make a run for Pasadena.