Marcus Satterfield says young receivers bring speed to offense

One thing came to mind when Nebraska offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield was asked about the true freshman receivers: Speed. And an abundance of it.

Satterfield was quick to point out that the speed has not translated to knowing the playbook or the finer points of route running, which many of the freshman still need time to master. But he — and defenders — can’t deny the speed.

“A lot of speed. A lot, a lot of speed. It’s pretty impressive. They don’t know what to do yet, obviously. But when they’re just out there running routes, one-on-ones and stuff, they have a lot of speed,” Satterfield said.

All told, Nebraska brought in six freshman receivers: Malachi Coleman, Demitrius Bell, Jaidyn Doss, Brice Turner, Jaylen Lloyd and Jeremiah Charles.

Coleman was the crown jewel of Nebraska’s 2023 signing class as the top prospect in the state and the No. 60 overall prospect nationally. Coleman will likely be on the field early and often for the Cornhuskers. Beyond him, the rest of the freshman seem to stand a good chance of competing for roles.

And from what Satterfield let on, they’ll all bring some speed to the table.

Satterfield also shared his initial thoughts on the Nebraska offense

Questions surrounding the 2023 Nebraska offense this offseason have been spearheaded by the fact that there are new personnel in every level of the Cornhuskers’ effort.

Having a new head coach, new offensive coordinator and a new quarterback all come in during the same offseason brings some growing pains. Marcus Satterfield, who is entering his first season as Huskers OC, is confidence in his offense’ ability to adapt based on the growth he has seen this offseason.

“It’s still early in the stages. I told the guys that I appreciated the work they did in the summer,” Satterfield said. “They made a huge jump in the summer as a unit in knowing what to do, how we do it. The leadership is starting to step up at the top.

“We’ve had a great summer. Strength staff did an incredible job. The player-run practices — I think the leaders on our team did a really nice job. It has been a really smooth transition from spring to fall camp.”

Leading that charge on offense is the undeniable presence of incoming transfer quarterback Jeff Sims, who has completely embraced his role as a leader this offseason. His numbers on the field back up his leadership status as well.

In three years at Georgia Tech, he rushed for 1,166 yards and 11 touchdowns on 4.3 yards per carry. His game isn’t one-dimensional, either. In three years for the Yellow Jackets, Sims threw for 4,464 yards and 30 touchdowns. He didn’t throw the football as often as a normal ACC quarterback, but still managed to amass 1,000 yards through the air in each of the three season played for Tech.