TLDR TLDR sorry for long post:
I really thought skill positions would be a source of strength for Nebraska under Frost but it is crazy how much RB/WR depth has been bungled. Some of it is due to Riley - they took 3 WRs and a RB in the 2017 class and all have transferred away. But Frost has also lost his share of signed players including RBs: Mo Washington and Greg Bell and WRs: Jaron Woodyard, Andre Jones, Miles Hunt, Dominick Watt, and Darien Chase.
With JD absent from the team, they have 4 scholarship WRs for the spring. One is WanDale Robinson, a flex guy who spends a lot of time at RB (where he’s also desperately needed). One is former walk-on, Kade Warner, who is solid if unspectacular. The other two are redshirt freshmen who didn’t make an impact last year despite the desperate search for any WR not named JD to make some plays. Maybe they’ll be ready this year idk. I understand blaming Riley for a lot of things, but howtf does the WR room look that barren by year 3? Taking academic risks and making bad promises are two theories I’ve seen (well the academic risks are facts at this point).
Speaking of, they are hoping to get 2 ready-to-play WRs in the fall. Their 2nd highest rated ‘20 recruit, Zavier Betts, and the nation’s highest rated JUCO WR, Omar Manning, are both academic risks. They don’t know if they’ll be eligible. They managed to get RB Dedrick Mills miraculously qualified last year tho so maybe they’ll be alright. But it’s also a system that has seemingly had a steep learning curve (they take a lot of pre-snap penalties from skill positions).
At RB they have Dedrick Mills, who is a workhorse for them. Previously mentioned flex guy WanDale Robinson is real good, but also small and gets banged up. A RS freshman who had trouble getting on the field last year (I think naturally had blocking and playbook issues), but I would assume he will be better this year. And then a couple of fall arrival freshmen. They had these same depth issues last spring and it sounds like it really hamstrung Martinez’ development with basically a wasted spring. Looks like they got that figured out this time around lol.
They lose their entire starting DL, their leading tackler at ILB, and their top CB. And they have a ridiculously back-loaded schedule. 5 wins would be a good year for Frost!