Maybe leaving the front page blank isn't entirely fair. Johnny Rodgers was a wingback, and made his name by catching passes and running with them, sometimes a long ways for a touchdown. See, here he is, doing against Oklahoma in the Game of the Century!
Or not. Wait! How ‘bout this one......
Okay.... at least that one was against Alabama. And in an ass-kicking too.
So Nebraska hasn't had much in the receiving department. There's been some pretty decent receivers, but as far as "great" goes, you've got Rodgers and Irving Fryar. Fryar was a damned good receiver, but not all that productive in college. His best season came in 1983 - 40 receptions for 780 yards.
Rodgers still holds the single-season receiving record with 942 yards, which is just another way of saying that Nebraska has never had a 1,000 yard receiver. From a receiving perspective, things have improved over the past decade. Nate Swift broke Rodger's career reception record in 2008 (166). Seven of the top ten leaders in career receptions have come within the last decade. Terrence Nunn, Marlon Lucky, Niles Paul, Todd Peterson, Maurice Purify, and Mike McNeill - all in the top ten in receptions.
The same is true for career receiving yardage - seven of the top ten are from the last decade. Swap Mike McNeill for Matt Herian, and you've got the same group.
As far as tight ends go, things haven't changed much (from a strategic sense) since a "Best Tight Ends in Husker Football History" article I did in 2009. Matt Herian had a whole mess of potential until he broke his leg. He was never the same after that. That's a damned shame.
So... as far as proposing a Nebraska receiver or tight end for the SB Nation Hall of Fame, I think we'll just forget that and use ol' Johnny when it comes to special teams.
I should point out that this year's receiving corps have some good potential (Jamal Turner, Quincy Enunwa, Kyler Reed and Kenny Bell). The argument could be made, however, that Nebraska's last decade hasn't been nearly as successful as the preceding years, and that the reason is because the Cornhuskers have moved away from a steady, powerful running game to rely more heavily on the pass.
Or it could be that Tom Osborne was a great coach and those that have attempted to replace him haven't come close to his prowess as an offensive coordinator.
Offensive emphasis or great coaching? You tell me.
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