Rumored in the winter that Newell was looking to leave. That seems to be off the table now. POB is gone now. How many spots over 85 is the roster now?
Newell visited a friend down at KSU in the winter and this led to the rumor that he was looking to be a graduate transfer. Turns out, that was only a visit to see his friend and nothing more.
Previous number was 89 scholarships. With POB gone, it should be down to 88. If Vedral is granted his release from UCF, he will more than likely take POBs scholly.
Frost needs like 5 players to leave after spring to get below the 85 limit and to give scholarships to certain players.
I'm curious who others think we take off scholarship?
Just going by names available from :
http://dataomaha.com/documents/husker-scholarship-distribution
Would you pick any Seniors?
FB/RB Wilbon, Ozigbo, Ben Miles, Trey Bryant (I think at least 1 from here, maybe 2 if there is a medical involved)
Linebackers Sedrick King, Alex Davis, or Collin Miller?
The Senior long snapper Jordan Ober?
It's pretty thin looking around and trying to pick names I never hear of..
Not a word has been mentioned about Ben Miles during spring practice by the coaches that I am aware of. The only comments have been about fullbacks being short down and distance RBs and being special teams players since they are not used in this offense. Miles should find a school that uses a fullback if he wants to get any real playing time.
Tre Bryant is a wait and see. From everything I have read, he will get a chance in fall camp to show what he has since his injury is still lingering this spring. Surely this staff will find a role for him, but at this point, no one seems to know whether his knee will hold up.
Some insiders think Wilbon is one of the top 2 backs on the team. With Bell having some back issues this spring, Mikale, Oz, and Bradley will have a good competition to get playing time. Nothing is decided at RB and from the sounds of it, the coaches are looking to use several backs during the season.
C. Miller has been playing well in practice according to some who have watched a practice or two. Not likely to transfer from my understanding of his situation on the depth chart.
The coaches seem to like A. Davis's body type. Not sure if that will equate to any playing time though. I have never been a fan of recruiting kids that have never played football until their junior or senior season of high school. Most don't end up being a major factor as NU anyways that I can recall.
I recall some early words about S. King, but nothing lately. He was one player that I thought of back in January as one that NU could stand to lose in order to open a scholarship, but no word on that.
Ober has been injured this spring. One article I read mentioned that the ST coach would not give scholarships to long-snappers going forwards (and would just train current players on the team to fill that role), but then a more recent article quoted the coach as leaving the door open for a long-snapper scholarship. Ober will stay here IMO.
Sounds like Frost and staff will meet with players after spring to be straight with them about their standing on the team and depth chart. I would guess that doing this will get several players to move on from scholarship that have no significant role moving forwards with the team.
Looking at that scholarship distribution chart you linked, I agree. It is hard to find players that might move on at this point in time. I am guessing rumors will swirl a day or two before each player officially leaves over the next couple of months, similar to POB.
As far as the 85 scholarships go, Maurice Washington is far from a lock to arrive this summer. He is focusing on school and nothing else in order to make it here, but there hasn't been any updates for quite awhile now because he is focusing on schoolwork and not talking to the media. If he arrives on campus by fall camp, I would guess he would red-shirt in order to get acclimated to college and to get his studies in order before terrorizing defenses in 2019.
At one point, people were saying B. Bando would not make the depth chart and that he would be a body that fans want to move on, but his name came up recently as practicing with the 2nd stringers and fighting hard for a backup role.
Good luck to Frost. He's going to need it when trying to figure out who to let go from the team to get under 85 if Washington makes it and Vedral gets his release. I sure as hell can't figure out any juniors or seniors to push out, sans maybe J. Barnett (and the aforementioned King). I will throw out the name M. Snyder as one that should have been in the mix at TE, but has not stood out and one I could see leaving if he ends up low on the depth chart after spring (EDIT: and B. Brokop if he doesn't move up the depth chart).
I could see an injury causing one or two players to have their football career end, but hopefully not as those injured players have a lot of talent.
(eye roll)
