According to a Dan Hoppen tweet last night, Braylon Heard has moved back to running back after moving to play cornerback this spring. Hoppen is with Huskeronline.com, Nebraska's rivals.com site.
According to Tim Beck, Braylon Heard has moved back to running back.
— Dan Hoppen (@danhoppen) July 20, 2012
The moves makes sense given the logjam of guys at corner and the transfer of running back Aaron Green to TCU. Heard didn't get a whole lot of carries in 2011, only 25 attempts for 122 yards (4.6 average) and scored his first career touchdown against Wyoming. Given the load in front of Rex Burkhead, it'll be good to have another back that's spent some time on the field in college.
That wasn't all Hoppen had to share....
According to Beck and Papuchis, most improved players in spring ball were Brent Qvale and Ciante Evans.
— Dan Hoppen (@danhoppen) July 20, 2012
I suppose a lot of you will let out a collective groan given the mention of Evans. Evans played pretty well as a freshman, but seemed to be lost in the shuffle last season - which made him not much different than the rest of last year's secondary, thanks ex-secondary coach Corey Raymond. Perhaps the improvement came in the form of a coach that Evans could connect with instead of a guy who wasn't a good fit at Nebraska.
The mention of Qvale is very good news, however, as it means more depth and talent that's ready to go on the offensive line. If this keeps up, the pollyannic view will be that the Huskers are getting ready to return to the days of yore when they didn't need freshman (i.e., Tyler Moore) to play right away because of a lack of talent and depth. Instead, they'll be letting those guys spend a year or two in the "system" preparing to play and getting bigger, stronger, and faster.
But wait! Just like a ginzu knife commercial, there's more!
Beck: Imani Cross "looks like a 30-year-old guy physically." Did 41 pull-ups in one lifting session. Wow.
— Dan Hoppen (@danhoppen) July 20, 2012
That's your typical "guy shows up ready to play" mention as Cross has yet to play a down as a Husker running back.
And if you call now, you can get one more!
Papuchis: Kenny Bell, Jamal Turner, Charles Jackson, Braylon Heard will compete for return spots opposite Ameer Abdullah.
— Dan Hoppen (@danhoppen) July 20, 2012
No Tim Marlowe? Honestly, I hope that's an oversight on the part of Papuchis. Granted, it'd be interesting seeing Turner and Bell get an opportunity to show what they can do in the return game, but before you get all giddy, neither of them exactly earned the Santino Panico award last season for catching every ball thrown their way, while Marlowe has proven to be a fairly solid returner despite being overlooked in the "Who's That Guy?" category of big playmakers. (Marlowe was second behind Abdullah in both kick and punt returns last season with 10 for 195 yards and two for 13 yards, respectively.)