LINCOLN — Just look at Rex Burkhead now.
Nebraska's 19-year-old I-back is all grown up. He shaved down his high school haircut. Grew a little goatee. Added about 15 pounds to his playing shape from last season.
And Burkhead plans to take his game along for the ride.
Meet Rex 2.0, a bigger, stronger, more well-adjusted and prepared-to-lead version of the true freshman who wowed the Huskers with his readiness and instincts last fall.
“There are very few things that you don't like,” NU running backs coach Tim Beck said.
The phenom from Plano, Texas, bulked up to 210 pounds for spring football practice. He's sharing time with senior Roy Helu and fellow sophomore Dontrayevous Robinson. And if the end of 2009 provides an indication, Burkhead will get plenty of carries next season.
He rushed 52 times in the Huskers' final three games — nearly twice the attempts given to 1,100-yard rusher Helu — after Burkhead returned from a broken bone in his right foot that cost him five games.
In part because he played in just eight games, Burkhead's first season at Nebraska went by like a blur. He's had time, after a winter in the weight room, to digest all that happened — and to consider how much room he has for improvement.
“The game's slowed down,” Burkhead said. “I'm not just thinking about where I need to run, but what I need to do when I get there. That's a major difference.”
The extra weight allows Burkhead to take on tacklers with more power and perform better in pass protection, he said. One thing that hasn't changed: the size of his head. Burkhead refused to embrace his celebrity status around Plano as a high school star.
And though he's yet to accomplish as much at Nebraska, the recognition factor remains high.
Many observers view Burkhead not only as the future I-back at NU, but the present.
“I wouldn't go that far,” Burkhead said, “but it's fun to be a football player.”
The straight-ahead focus isn't going to change, Beck said.
“From the word go, he runs into the huddle and plays full speed,” Beck said. “He's a lunch-pail guy. He knows it's a team game and plays the way the game is supposed to be played.
“And that's why we recruited him. That's why we wanted him as bad as we did. We knew he was a good fit here.”
Burkhead gained 219 of his 354 rushing yards in those final three games against Colorado, Texas and Arizona. He ran for 97 yards in the Holiday Bowl and operated a handful of Wildcat plays on which he took direct snaps in the shotgun without a quarterback on the field.
Expect more of it next season, but the Huskers haven't practiced any Wildcat this spring, Burkhead said.
“Maybe at the end of the spring,” he said, “or definitely when fall camp opens, we'll do it.”
Burkhead enjoyed the offensive twist. It harkened to his time as a prep quarterback. Burkhead played QB as a sophomore and running back in his other three years at Plano High School.
Maybe it's the experience at quarterback that leads Burkhead to embrace a leadership role so early in his Nebraska career.
“You just have to do your job,” he said. “Whatever that is, I'm comfortable with it.”
Contact the writer:
402-444-1031, mitch.sherman@owh.com
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
RSS Feeds