In late August I printed out a team roster (8-22-19 to be exact), wanting to keep in mind for myself how young this team was and that it would be in for the kind of season we have seen so far. This is about what I have expected. For those who have expected NU to challenge Ohio State,etc., I offer this food for thought (Caveat: the roster may be slightly outdated but you'll get the point):
The roster lists 152 total players.
Of those 152, fully half (77) are listed as freshmen or redshirt freshmen and 26 are listed as sophomores, placing 103 of 152 bodies into the freshman or sophomore category. I find this amazing.
There are 24 seniors listed.
Starting with the 24 seniors, I categorize six as stars: Eric Lee, Mo Berry, Lamar Jackson, Darrion Daniels, Khallil Davis, Carlos Davis. I define these guys as those who will be tough to replace. I categorize 9 seniors as contributors: Noa, M. Williams, A. Davis, Ferguson, Stovall, Urbach, Karel, Armstong and Mazour. They all play but in my humble opinion can be easily replaced. I place the other 8 seniors into a category I call "Who?"
Then I went to the underclassmen: Of the 26 sophomores, two are among the team's biggest names: AM2 and Mo Washington. Of the others, I am struck by the number that have been called on to play major roles: Cam Taylor, Austin Allen, now McCallum, Rafdal. Look at the sophomore linemen who have been thrown into action: Hunter Miller, Bando, Hixson, Damion Daniels, Deontre Thomas, even Sichterman. In an ideal world, all of them would be spending their second or third year in the weight room and would emerge in the next two years ready to kick ass. In the present world of NU football, it is baptism by fire for them.
Finally, the freshmen. Lots of parallels to the sophs. Way too many being called on to be contributors: Wandale, Luke Reimer, Garrett Nelson and, notably, Jurgens. That this young man is able to make all the line calls and play at a level of competency with his lack of experience is amazing to me. There are other examples, including Bryce Benhart and Casey Rogers, guys who should be in the weight room for another couple of years before even seeing the field during crunch time.
This is offered for whatever it may be worth. For me, it explains what we saw at Illinois and in Boulder, even against NIU. What is important to me is that I continue to see improvement from week to week, which I believe we are seeing. I have no idea what will happen this weekend -- we well may get thumped -- but I will continue to be positive in my support as Frost and his staff build their roster and continue to make progress toward being a team that can play with most anyone else. They are doing ti the right way. We're not there yet. We will have more Illinois-type mistake-filled games. But this guy's opinion is that we are moving in the right direction. I support this team and these coaches 100%, and I hope you do too.
The roster lists 152 total players.
Of those 152, fully half (77) are listed as freshmen or redshirt freshmen and 26 are listed as sophomores, placing 103 of 152 bodies into the freshman or sophomore category. I find this amazing.
There are 24 seniors listed.
Starting with the 24 seniors, I categorize six as stars: Eric Lee, Mo Berry, Lamar Jackson, Darrion Daniels, Khallil Davis, Carlos Davis. I define these guys as those who will be tough to replace. I categorize 9 seniors as contributors: Noa, M. Williams, A. Davis, Ferguson, Stovall, Urbach, Karel, Armstong and Mazour. They all play but in my humble opinion can be easily replaced. I place the other 8 seniors into a category I call "Who?"
Then I went to the underclassmen: Of the 26 sophomores, two are among the team's biggest names: AM2 and Mo Washington. Of the others, I am struck by the number that have been called on to play major roles: Cam Taylor, Austin Allen, now McCallum, Rafdal. Look at the sophomore linemen who have been thrown into action: Hunter Miller, Bando, Hixson, Damion Daniels, Deontre Thomas, even Sichterman. In an ideal world, all of them would be spending their second or third year in the weight room and would emerge in the next two years ready to kick ass. In the present world of NU football, it is baptism by fire for them.
Finally, the freshmen. Lots of parallels to the sophs. Way too many being called on to be contributors: Wandale, Luke Reimer, Garrett Nelson and, notably, Jurgens. That this young man is able to make all the line calls and play at a level of competency with his lack of experience is amazing to me. There are other examples, including Bryce Benhart and Casey Rogers, guys who should be in the weight room for another couple of years before even seeing the field during crunch time.
This is offered for whatever it may be worth. For me, it explains what we saw at Illinois and in Boulder, even against NIU. What is important to me is that I continue to see improvement from week to week, which I believe we are seeing. I have no idea what will happen this weekend -- we well may get thumped -- but I will continue to be positive in my support as Frost and his staff build their roster and continue to make progress toward being a team that can play with most anyone else. They are doing ti the right way. We're not there yet. We will have more Illinois-type mistake-filled games. But this guy's opinion is that we are moving in the right direction. I support this team and these coaches 100%, and I hope you do too.
