It’s been a long road for Ronald Thompkins just to get back to playing football, but that road appears to be leading to playing time this fall.
The redshirt freshman running back has been a “pleasant surprise†in workouts, according to Nebraska tight ends coach Sean Beckton, who recruited Thompkins, and appears to be pushing for playing time behind Dedrick Mills.
“You guys will get the opportunity to see a kid who has worked extremely hard to get himself in this position,†Beckton said Thursday. “He’s done an unbelievable job understanding what he needs to do physically in that training room, and then he’s also done an unbelievable job understanding what Coach (Ryan) Held (NU running backs coach) wants him to do offensively.â€
Thompkins had reconstructive surgery on both of his knees since his junior year of high school. The first knee injury ended his junior season about midway through. The second came in the first half of the first game of his senior year.
That means the 5-foot-11, 195-pounder from Georgia will be a 20-year-old first-timer whenever he steps on the field this fall.
“Obviously Mark (Mayer, head football trainer) and the training staff has done a great job with him, and Coach Held has done a great job of monitoring what he does on a daily basis,†Beckton said.
Brown continues to impress: From almost the day he first stepped on campus as a midyear enrollee in January, true freshman receiver Alante Brown has turned heads in Nebraska’s football facility.
That hasn’t changed as the months have gone by, with the 5-foot-11, 190-pounder earning praise Thursday from a veteran teammate and NU’s new offensive coordinator.
“I think Alante has turned some eyes,†senior tight end Jack Stoll said. “When he goes full speed, I don’t think anyone can stop him.â€
On the first day of spring practice way back when, Brown turned a slant route into a touchdown and drew praise from head coach Scott Frost.
Since then, the Chicago native’s work ethic has made an impression.
“I think his attitude and how hungry he is to get better has definitely impressed not only the coaches, but his teammates,†Husker offensive coordinator Matt Lubick said. “He always stays after and catches balls. He’s done a ton of work in the summertime just to learn the offense.â€
Brown was a quarterback for three years at Simeon High School in Chicago before playing receiver at St. Thomas More Prep School in Connecticut before coming to Lincoln.
“So he’s a brand new guy that’s not just new to Nebraska, he hasn’t played receiver before. So everything’s new to him — technique, scheme, plays, terminology,†Lubick said. “And to actually have a chance to play when you’re in that position, you have to put a lot of time in on your own. And he did that.â€
Vokolek poised to contribute: Beckton has a clear goal for Travis Vokolek now that the Rutgers transfer is eligible after sitting out last season.
“We’re expecting him to come in and be a dominant force in the running game, and a dominant force in the passing game, just like Jack Stoll and Austin Allen performed last year,†Beckton said.
Nebraska’s 2019 scout team MVP, the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Vokolek represents an intriguing addition to an already deep tight end room.
Vokolek, a Missouri native, caught 17 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns in two years at Rutgers, but did it in a passing attack that was, to put it mildly, anemic.
Now, with a year under his belt in a new system, NU is hoping for better results.
“When he came in, he was obviously an unbelievable athlete, and great blocking tight end, and great receiving tight end; really versatile guy,†Stoll said. “But I think the biggest thing he’s grown on is technique. His technique has gotten a lot better since he’s been here."
Tight end targets: In 2019, Nebraska’s tight ends combined for 17.5% of the team’s total receptions, 12.8% of total receiving yards, and just one touchdown.
With a deeper, more experienced room — and a new offensive coordinator scheming things up — the hope is that those numbers increase in 2020.
“I think Coach Lubick has done a great job of coming up with route schemes and stuff like that to help not only the tight ends, but everyone else get the ball and put us in the best situation to win,†said Stoll, who led NU’s tight ends with 25 catches for 234 yards and the lone touchdown last season.
Some of that is on the tight ends being more detailed in their work, Beckton said. Some of it is Lubick making tweaks to Nebraska’s passing game to get the group more looks.
“Some of the things that he’s brought to the table is making sure that we have tight end targets. And we’ve changed some things up to where the read goes first to the tight ends as opposed to being in a situation where it was maybe a last outlet,†Beckton explained. “We’re running a lot of the same plays that Coach Frost had and has always envisioned, but we’re getting to them in a lot of other ways.â€
Nebraska's tight end Jack Stoll (86) runs with the ball against Wisconsin's safety Eric Burrell (25) in the third quarter on Nov. 16, 2019, at Memorial Stadium.