Husker Notes: Daniels Overwhelmed By Accolades

Darrion Daniels came to Nebraska with the intent of playing one final football season with his younger brother, Damion.
 
He never imagined making the impression he has in Lincoln.
 
Darrion earned a starting position at nose guard, became a team captain per a vote of his teammates, and on Monday received a coveted Blackshirt.
 
"Where it's taken me right now, it was beyond my imagination," Daniels said Monday's first weekly news conference of the season. "It was nothing I expected … and it was a shocker to me how fast everything has come and how respected I've been, you know?
 
"It's kind of cool."
 
Perhaps becoming a captain surprised Daniels the most of his accomplishments. He didn't believe teammates would look up to someone who just joined the program in the spring, and only for one season.
 
"But to be voted, you know, it was overwhelming," Daniels said. "It was a shocker. I was surprised, and I don't know, I got warm inside. It's just a great feeling knowing that my teammates, you know, think that highly of me to vote as the captain, and I just got here."
 
Daniels came to Lincoln with a history of strong leadership. While playing at Oklahoma State, he earned the Vernon Grant Award for outstanding leadership, spirit and enthusiasm after his junior season.
 
It didn't take his teammates long to notice Daniels had a strong desire and work ethic. Senior linebacker Mohamed Barry, another team captain who also received his Blackshirt on Monday, saw immediately that Daniels was here to prove himself.
 
"I was in Hawks three days in a row working on footwork, and I saw him running sprints," Barry said of the 6-foot-4, 340-pound Daniels. "That's what you want in a leader; you want him to be the hardest worker. He proved it to everyone and earned their respect, and now everyone loves to follow him."    
 
Sophomore quarterback Adrian Martinez, also voted team captain, credits Daniels for being an integral part of the confidence the Nebraska defense has gained throughout the spring, offseason and into fall camp.
 
"They respect him a lot, and there's a reason," Martinez said. "He always brings it. He's a great vocal leader and he's a good football player. I think it speaks volumes to the type of man he is and the type of player he'll be this season."
 
Daniels played in only four games last year at Oklahoma State because of injury, which, under a new NCAA rule, allowed him to preserve a season of eligibility. As a junior with the Cowboys, he played in 10 games and had 26 tackles, five for loss, and a half sack, with two pass breakups.
 
His brother, Damion, is a redshirted sophomore who's the top backup to Darrion at nose guard. Damion had 12 tackles in 12 games last season.
 
Among everything else he's accomplished in less than a year in Lincoln, Darrion Daniels posted a 4.0 GPA in his first semester in graduate school.
 
"I believe he's going to be a captain on two different power five teams in two years," Nebraska coach Scott Frost said, "and he did a great job of coming in and not just doing things right himself but holding others to a standard he expected. It was great to see our team recognize that."


 
Back In Black
 
The idea was quite spur of the moment, but very popular.
 
Rather than reward players with Blackshirts by hanging the coveted practice jerseys in top defenders' lockers, as has been tradition, Frost wanted to do something different, something to make the presentation mean a bit more.
 
So on a whim, he got on the phone, called up as many former Blackshirts that he knew who lived in the general area, and asked them to come to Monday's practice. Each former player spoke, most talking about what being a Blackshirt meant to them, and personally handed a new Blackshirt to current players.
 
"Now, the shirt is not just a shirt; it comes to life," said Barry, a senior linebacker and one of 14 players to receive a Blackshirt. "It's a real thing, with the person who's worn it, a representative of all that went into that shirt, and he's giving it to you, telling you, 'You have to earn it every day.' So, it meant a lot how they did it this year."
 
Darrion Daniels was equally impressed by the presentation.
 
"Just seeing them come back, to want to spend time out of their day to come talk to us and to in a way pass the torch and hold us to the standard of the Blackshirts, it was great," Daniels said. "It was real great just seeing that the tradition is that rich here."
 
In addition to Barry and Daniels, others who received Blackshirts were Carlos Davis, Khalil Davis, Ben Stille, Caleb Tannor, Alex Davis, Lamar Jackson, Marquel Dismuke, Deontai Williams, Dicaprio Bootle, Cam Taylor, Collin Miller and Will Honas.
 
Among the former Blackshirts who presented and spoke were Chris Kelsay, Chad Kelsay, Jason Peters, Steve Warren, Barrett Ruud, Marc Munford, Kenny Wilhite, Tony Veland, Keyuo Craver, Zack Bowman and Jay Foreman.
 
Foreman, Frost's former teammate at Nebraska, had one of the "neatest" messages in Frost's opinion.
 
"He said there's only two jerseys in his office: His first Husker jersey and his Blackshirt," Frost said of Foreman, who played on four different NFL teams in a seven-year professional career. "Actually, in his will, he said he's going to be buried with his Blackshirt. So if anything tells you what it means to those guys, his message told us that."


 
Martinez Ready
 
Since stepping on campus as a true freshman, quarterback Adrian Martinez has not only met, but probably exceeded the expectations of his Nebraska coaches.
 
Martinez is even better as a sophomore, Frost said, so it's no wonder expectations are high entering this season.
 
"I feel like I haven't even reached the surface yet," Martinez said. "There's a lot more that we as a team want to accomplish, that I want to accomplish, and I think that we're going to do that, so when it's all said and done here, I think that'll be the time for me to look back and reflect on those things.
 
"But, in the now, in the moment right now, I'm focused on this season. Just accomplishing what we can now."
 
With so few seniors on the offensive side of the football, Frost saw it no surprise that teammates voted two underclassmen as captains – junior tackle Matt Farniok, and Martinez.
 
"It's something that means more than anything that's happened so far in my career here," Martinez said. "It's a huge deal to me, and to be voted by your brothers as a captain is a big deal."
 
On the field, Martinez continues to make at least one "wow" play each day in practice, Frost said.
 
"He made a throw the other day that I've never really seen before – maybe watching the Chiefs play last year," Frost said, referring to Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
 
"We just need him to play like he's been practicing. He's way more comfortable in the offense; obviously, he has the talent to make any play he needs to on the football field. Now we just need to be efficient and have that at a high rate."
 


Depth chart news
 
Monday's first depth chart of the season answered some questions at certain positions but didn't necessarily have any eyebrow-raising surprises.
 
At quarterback, sophomore transfer Noah Vedral, who played a year in Frost's system at UCF, edged true freshman Luke McCaffrey for the top backup spot to Martinez. Only an "or" separates junior college transfer Dedrick Mills and sophomore Maurice Washington at running back, and two newcomers, graduate transfer Kanawai Noa and true freshman Wan'Dale Robinson will start at wide receiver, joining returning sophomore starter JD Spielman.
 
Mills is a former Georgia Tech player who spent two years at Garden City Community College and has impressed coaches with his blend of power and speed, along with his work ethic.
 
"I think he's surprised me on how quickly he's caught on. and his talent," Frost said. "He's been a real pleasant surprise in camp, and I see good things coming from him. He runs really hard and plays hard and comes to practice every day and works. He probably has better breakaway speed than I expected, and he's hard to bring down."
 
Robinson, meanwhile, has picked up the offense fast, Frost said, and can be used at multiple spots, including running back.
 
"He is one of the kids that we have that just really understands football, understands space, how to get open, concepts," Frost said, "and on top of that he is a talented kid."
 
Also, as Frost indicated Friday, redshirted freshman Cameron Jurgens will start at center, marking the first time in Nebraska history a freshman will start a season opener at that position. Jurgens made a strong push late in fall camp after overcoming an injury that slowed him at the start of practice.
 
"Cam has done a great job in his rehab," Frost said. "We weren't really expecting to have him until a couple weeks into the season, I would say. He healed up pretty quick, got out onto the field faster than we thought, and made an impact faster than we thought once he got out there."
 
Frost said coaches may limit the number of snaps Jurgens sees on Saturday, meaning redshirted freshman Will Farniok will see ample time.
 
Defensively, the depth chart shows only two players at each of the three defensive lineman positions, but that isn't reflective of how deep the Huskers are up front.
 
"There's a lot of guys that we feel great about that are ready to play now," Frost said, noting coaches didn't want to leave any players out toward the bottom of the depth chart, hence stopping at two deep.
 
"We feel like there's going to be a lot of great players around here in the future. There's a lot of names, but that's one of our deepest and most veteran units. There are some guys that aren't on this list that are talented enough to be great players this year and beyond."
 
On special teams, Spielman will again return punts, with Washington and Robinson the top two returners on kickoffs. Also, senior incumbent Isaac Armstrong edged redshirted freshman Michigan State transfer William Przystup at punter.
 
"Isaac, obviously, when called into duty last year, came in and did really well for us," Frost said. "Both those guys have been punting the ball really well, so I feel great about both of them. We don't like to put pressure on guys by saying if you don't do a good job someone else is there, but we feel good that if something isn't going well, we have another guy in the chamber ready to be put in the game."
 
Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.