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Brick by Brick: Zion Nelson

Canes Stan said:
I get what you saying but by your logic, “irrational star whores” were being proven correct every week because he was a starting 2* freshman at the second most important position on offense. But I agree with you about the developmental part and the intangibles.
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I don't think Zion's struggles during his fr yr validate the baseless claims made by the star whores because there are very few T that start as tf, let alone play well. Even a 5 * LT like Evan Neal didn't play LT as a tf. He played LG, and now he's a RT. My main pt though was that irrespective of whether Zion struggled immensely, or was a fr All-American, it was too early to jump to conclusions and judge his long term viability at LT, because fr seasons don't always predict long term success. Case in pt..Navaughn Donaldson. He was a fr All-American. How has his career unfolded since then?
 
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Ethnicsands said:
It’s great to see him progress.

A few things were clear last year. He wasn’t ready. No one could have expected otherwise. It’s an indictment of our OL and staff and other kids at the spot that Zion had to get thrown out there before he was ready.

It’s also a good way to illustrate why I’m often critical of simplistic ‘nfl kids’ statistics that get posted around here. Zion may well play in the NFL. That won’t be evidence of his being a good player in 2019. That’s why you have to look at actual roster talent, experience, depth, maturity at the time, and can’t just conclude some nfl stat from years later tells the story. If one team had a few future nfl players on its OL who weren’t game ready, and another team had juniors and seniors on its OL who weren’t nfl kids but we’re tough and experienced college kids, which do you think likely has a better OL?
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Wisconsin rarely has any top draft picks on the offensive line. None of them are ridiculous athletes.

Wisconsins starting O-Line currently consists of two Seniors and three Juniors. The LG is a walk-on. They dont care about star ratings or potential, they want to play the hardest workers. And that gives them very good results.
 
You see a player like Zion and he's proof that anyone is capable of getting better with hard work.... It's amazing that he can do what he's doing and get better at it but guys that are supposed to be so talented just stay stagnant... Coaches can only do so much , the players have to want it and Zion epitomizes a player that wants it... We need more like him attitude wise...
 
This work ethic and determination set the culture. Just need it to come from the team “stars”. When your best players are your hardest workers, your cookin.
 
The kid was obviously a project who had no business seeing the field last year. But give the coaches credit for a good evaluation of an under the radar guy. They saw a good athlete, hard worker with a frame that could be built upon. I like that they target kids like that. You can always gain weight but you can’t learn athleticism. I also believe that no freshman lineman should start unless he’s one of those rare unicorn, superstar recruits who is physically ready at 18. The other 99% of linemen shouldn’t see the field until their third season in the program ideally. There’s going to be fast risers who can push for a starting spot as a redshirt freshman or sophomore but for the most part, I want grown men on the line
 
305to954 said:
I’m not just going off last year..I know I brought up Bethune. But imo the oline functioned best with 74 at LT, 66 at LG, 65 at C, 51 at RG, 62 at RT
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That don't mean nothing, Zion has been the most consistent OL, going up against the opponents beat pass rushers and holding his own very well.
 
CFB_Hogan said:
Wisconsin rarely has any top draft picks on the offensive line. None of them are ridiculous athletes.

Wisconsins starting O-Line currently consists of two Seniors and three Juniors. The LG is a walk-on. They dont care about star ratings or potential, they want to play the hardest workers. And that gives them very good results.
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I don't understand your comment. Wisconsin has more top draft picks on the OL than most other schools in the country. They've had 5 first round OL in the past 13 years, 2 second round OL in that time, and numerous 3rd-4th round kids in that time. I'd guess they've got to be top 3 in the country at putting OL in 1st round or top 2 rounds in that time frame.
 
The posters who were criticizing a 2 star true freshman starting at LT are ******* idiots. He was out in a bad spot in an offense that didn’t protect him.
 
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Ethnicsands said:
I don't understand your comment. Wisconsin has more top draft picks on the OL than most other schools in the country. They've had 5 first round OL in the past 13 years, 2 second round OL in that time, and numerous 3rd-4th round kids in that time. I'd guess they've got to be top 3 in the country at putting OL in 1st round or top 2 rounds in that time frame.
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Past five seasons they had one first rounder and one second rounder. Other than that, they were mid to low round draft choices.

My point was that they have elite offensive lines in College Football without having a) elite prospects to start with and b) these players dont neccessarily turn out to be high draft choices.

Beau Benzschawel tore our D-Line apart on two occasions and was a 2x All-American. Didnt get drafted.
 
He definitely looks the part this year, he still looked like a skinny HS kid last year. He's the type of guy who's easy to root for.
 
305to954 said:
Yea that is True. Unfortunately football is not a game of absolutes. This line imo performed best with he and campbell on the left side and 53 standing behind Garin justice
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Agree, and a healthy Donaldson that doesn't weigh 400 lbs could move Scaife to the bench.
 
Canesfan1899 said:
Agree, and a healthy Donaldson that doesn't weigh 400 lbs could move Scaife to the bench.
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I still have faith in scaife. If Donaldson comes back in shape and healthy, I see him In competition at RT. Scaife is gunna have to hold off the youngins for that guard spot
 
SouthParkCane said:
Needs more kids with the heart of Zion. I know MEN who would have quit in his position. You can’t teach what he’s made of. All cane. Hats off
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This is first-guessing because I said it on here when people were killing him last year: The toughness he showed me last year is what made me know he would become a very good OL. He just kept getting up and dusting himself off and going back to battle despite the deck being stacked against him.

Good news is he'll only get better with more experience and with natural maturity and his hard work.
 
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So proud of Zion. I don't know if I would have been resilient enough to get my &hit pushed as a Freshman on a weekly basis and deal with the wrath of the fans and the national embarrassment on top of all of that. Takes a big man to deal with all the negativity and still have the determination and confidence to keep pushing and get better.

He's so much better than last year, it's not even debatable. I mildly hate the last staff for throwing him out there like that. I don't know of one true Freshman OL who would succeed as a starter. It's absolutely ridiculous.

Our problems at OL this year are not with our Tackles; it's our interior that has disappointed me. And each of those guys in the middle were solid 4 star recruits. I don't know what's going on there if it's lack of proper S&C for their roles or coaching technique or both, but we cannot whatsoever impose our will and establish a ground game. We've got to pass first to loosen things up so that Defenses sag off and open up running lanes.

We don't take that next step as a playoff contender until we address OL, LB and CB.

All that said, hats off to you, Zion. Wish more kids today had the grit and balls that you have, sir.
 
Canesfan1899 said:
You have faith in Scaife? Dude has played on roller skates all season.
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So has everyone else on the oline..to use your point he was the starting RG when we put up 600 yards last week lol..at one point another everyone on this line has struggled. 51 gets more **** because we all expected him to be the guy to step up the most this szn. Obviously hasn’t happened he’s had his struggles like everyone else. The only consistent performer Imo has been 62 when healthy. Zion is no longer forgetting to come out of his stance so that’s always a plus.
 
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