Nebraska's backfield does not seem nearly as crowded this spring because it did just a couple days before. Rex Burkhead is gone, and we certainly knew that has been coming. Then Braylon Heard left the staff, and while which was type of surprising, eh, it occurs. So now the I-back opposition is right down to junior Ameer Abdullah and sophomore Imani Cross, plus two true freshmen who will arrive in a small number of walk-ons and summer time. Now comes word that for another couple of weeks, we could damage Abdullah off that number as well. In accordance with the Lincoln Journal Star, Bo Pelini announced his star tailback had suffered a knee injury, and the Huskers might not rush to have him back on the field: Working back Ameer Abdullah, the team's leading returning rusher, injured a knee Saturday. But, Pelini said Monday the damage is not serious. "He tweaked his knee a little bit, nothing big," the coach said. "He will undoubtedly be in 2-3 weeks full-go. "He will undoubtedly be back time for section of spring. Whether we let him do that, I really do not know. It gave us a little bit of a shock, however not a large deal." Breathe easy, Husker supporters, because an ACL split might have shelved Abdullah for the growing season, no questions asked. Beginning tailbacks could miss spring. They've that luxury. Except...Abdullah might not. Here's why. Imani Cross is the prohibitive favorite to be Nebraska's top I-back throughout the spring period, and once he shows off his capability to get 20, 25 carries a game with the top system in place of getting used situationally, it's possible that his role with the crime keeps once Abdullah works his way back in to the rotation. Don't get us wronga'Abdullah is very, very good. If you please examine this spotlight reel, desire a note and gaze in amazement at his ability to cover 10 yards off a cut in enough time it takes you to blink. Hey, we told one to gaze, not blink. That acceleration is elegant. Cross was already a monster, one unlike any Nebraska has had at tailback in years, and he just spent the offseason getting himself into superhuman shape. Here is more from a recent survey by the Omaha World-Herald: He is down to 221 pounds. His daily calorie count went from 4,500 to 3,500. He originally focused 225, but that didn't feel right. Therefore he dropped four more pounds. He's relaxed now, but Cross described in an interview Monday that as a higher school sophomore he weighed 217 and pleasantly ran within an offense much like what Nebraska is running now. The NU coaches won't complain, accepting Cross maintains increasing his figures in the weight room. At this time, he's not lost any energy a' a child who knocked out 41 pull-ups and 200 push-ups in a health check a year ago still reps 500 pounds on the lift, according to operating 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 bigger role in Nebraska's offense. It is something to function as the goal-line bruiser and beat the right path to the end zone a number of times a game. That's good, but at the end of the day you're perhaps not topping the 100-yard mark like that. If that's likely to enable you to get picked by the NFL, a category that, with some rare exceptions, shies away from the 230-plus pound shells in any such thing but spot roles and it is questionable. But man, if your relentless opponent like Cross gets his weight to where he's a powerful every-down rusher, he's one sure pair of hands from establishing himself as a more reliable solution than the butter-fingered Abdullah, who has haunted Huskers together with his penchant for unforeseen fumbles in his first two seasonsa'seven dropped fumbles in 2012 alone, including muffed punts. Cross is not faultless both, but if he's a good normal fumble rate, he'll be miles before Abdullah on that front. And when you have got a crime that is created to move the stores instead of travel down the area in three plays and a security that's going to struggle at times, the absolute last thing you need is definitely an unreliable ball-carrier at I-back. The great news is that after Cross gets his audition at tailback during the spring, he and Abdullah must have a spirited competition for the starting I-back spot in the summer. And really, whoever wins that opposition continues to be planning to see a large amount of his carries go to his backup; Cross and Abdullah are different enough that Nebraska will find value in a platoon. Here is the formula, If there were a situation where a 1,100-yard rusher gets Wally Pipped.
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