Nebraska's Imani Cross Dropped to the Prime RB Part, and He Could Perhaps not Give It Up

Nebraska's backfield doesn't seem not quite as crowded this spring as it did just a few months ago. Rex Burkhead is gone, and we clearly knew that was coming. Then Braylon Heard left the team, and while that has been type of unexpected, eh, it occurs. So now the I-back competition is down to junior Ameer Abdullah and sophomore Imani Cross, plus two correct freshmen who'll arrive in the summer and a number of walk-ons. Now comes word that for another couple of weeks, we are able to scratch Abdullah off that number as well. In accordance with the Lincoln Journal Star, Bo Pelini reported his star tailback had suffered a leg injury, and the Huskers might not rush to obtain him straight back on the field: Working right back Ameer Abdullah, the team's primary returning rusher, hurt a leg Saturday. However, Pelini said Monday the damage is not critical. "He improved his leg a little bit, nothing big," the coach said. "He will soon be back 2-3 weeks full-go. "He is going to be back in time for part of spring. Whether we let him do that, I do not know. It gave a little bit to us of a shock, although not a large deal." Breathe simple, Husker supporters, because an ACL tear would have shelved Abdullah for the summer season, no questions asked. Starting tailbacks could miss spring. They've that luxury. Except...Abdullah might not. Here is why. Imani Cross is the prohibitive beloved to be Nebraska's top I-back throughout the spring session, and once he shows off his ability to get 20, 25 has a game with the top model rather than used situationally, it is fairly easy that his role with the offense continues once Abdullah works his way back in to the turn. Do not get us wronga'Abdullah is very, very good. If you please check this highlight reel, desire a reminder and look in amazement at his power to protect 10 yards off a cut in the full time it takes you to flash. Hi, we told one to look, maybe not blink. That acceleration is sublime. Cross was already a creature, one unlike any Nebraska has had at tailback in years, and he just used the offseason getting herself into superhuman form. Listed here is more from a recent report by the Omaha World-Herald: He's down to 221 pounds. His daily calorie count has gone from 4,500 to 3,500. He formerly focused 225, but that didn't feel right. So he dropped four more pounds. He is relaxed now, but Cross described in an interview Monday that as a top school sophomore he considered 217 and comfortably competed within an offense similar to what Nebraska is running now. The NU coaches will not complain, assuming Cross maintains enhancing his numbers in the weight room. At this point, he has not lost any power a' a child who knocked out 41 pull-ups and 200 push-ups in a training check a year ago still representatives 500 pounds on the squat, according to managing backs coach Ron Brown. That is freakish. Be very afraid. And Cross had a really specific goal in your mind with that weight loss: a more impressive part in Nebraska's crime. It is something to function as the goal-line bruiser and beat the right path to the end zone a couple of times a game. That's great, but by the end of the afternoon you are maybe not topping the 100-yard mark like that. If that is likely to allow you to get picked by the NFL, a group that, with some rare exceptions, shies away from the 230-plus pound backs in any such thing but location tasks and it is doubtful. But person, if your constant competitor like Cross gets his weight to where he's a successful every-down rusher, he's one certain set of arms away from establishing herself as a more reliable option compared to the butter-fingered Abdullah, who has haunted Huskers together with his penchant for early fumbles in his first two seasonsa'seven lost fumbles in 2012 alone, including muffed punts. Cross isn't faultless both, but he'll be miles ahead of Abdullah on that front, if he's a normal fumble price. And when you've got an offense that is built to go the stores instead of fly down the field in three plays and a security that's likely to challenge at times, the absolute final thing you need is definitely an unreliable ball-carrier at I-back. The good news is that after Cross gets his audition at tailback during the spring, he and Abdullah needs to have a lively competition for the starting I-back position in the summer. And actually, whoever wins that opposition is still going to see a large amount of his bears visit his backup; Cross and Abdullah are different enough that Nebraska will find value in a platoon. This is the menu, when there were a situation in which a 1,100-yard rusher gets Wally Pipped.