Reading into the Roster
The latest additions to the 2012 Husker Recruiting class have their official bio's and are listed on the Huskers.com football roster. Signing day makes it official, but seeing the names of those players listed and ready contribute makes it real. Along with these additions, the graduated players have been removed and various other changes appear to have happened.
The roster always has some attrition due to many reasons that affect scholarship players. Would-be Senior I-Back Collins Okafor is no longer on the team for unspecified reasons. The 6'1", 225 lbs. back would have been an excellent change of pace and blocking back had the team not been mainly focused on speed and burst this year. Another change that affects the backfield is the missing Lester Ward. While he has one year of eligibility, the 6'3", 230 lbs. fullback has elected not to use it after his graduation.
On signing day this year, Bo Pelini also mentioned during the press conference that Josh Williams (would be Senior defensive end, 6'4", 260 lbs.) is no longer a part of the program for an unspecified violation of team rules.
One item of note that was not in any press conference or news, is would-be Junior tight end J.T. Kerr is no longer listed on this year's roster. This 6'4", 245 lbs. player was trying to get playing time behind Kyler Reed and Ben Cotton. His Huskers.com bio indicates that he had battled injuries during his college career, but there have been no indications for the reason he is not listed.
Many of the roster position changes often happen during the spring and summer when workouts and injuries shape where players have to fill in. So far, the only change to a position appears to be with walk on Justin Jackson. Jackson is a senior this year, and had a red-shirt season in 2008. The 6'3", 270 lbs player is now listed as an offensive lineman when he was a defensive lineman on the roster last year.
While the walk on program is one of the most valued parts of the Husker football program, the very nature of it means that there will be losses every year. Broderick Boehm (LB, 5'11", 210 lbs., Fr. from Lincoln SE) is not listed anymore. Andy Gdowski (DE, 6'3", 255 lbs., RFr from Grand Island) is no longer on the roster. Walk on reserve center/guard Brian Thorson (OL, 6'3", 280 lbs.) would have been a senior, but is no longer listed on the roster.
Walk on long snapper Sam Meginnis (a Junior last year) is no longer on the roster. There are now only two long snappers listed. One long snapper is walk on red shirt freshman Joseph Rotherham. One of the walk on success stories, Senior long snapper P.J. Mangieri was awarded a scholarship in 2011 after walking on in 2009. He will continue to play a large part in special teams his final year.
2/17/2012
You’ve got a couple typos. Doesn’t seem to be in common on big red network…
Kansas City, MO
2/17/2012
Apologies, my editing was too hasty, I have fixed a few things.
2/17/2012
Guys I realized for a moment just how much I appreciate BRN when I checked in a couple of times earlier this morning and noticed that nothing new had been posted. Thanks for keeping the site going and thanks for taking time away from family and friends to tend to idiots such as myself. You guys are truly appreciated. . .
2/18/2012
Okafor uspecified reasons? In previous post by Hanway I understood Okafor was leaving same way as Ward…
“Nebraska may have had to alter its recruiting strategy late in the game when Lester Ward and Collins Okafor announced their intent to leave Nebraska after four years with degrees (and kudos to them for earning those degrees). “
You are implying there may be another reason…are Okafor and Williams transferring to TCU as undercover players? I mean, if you’re trying to be mysterious, what the heck.
San Diego, Ca.
2/18/2012
Josh Williams getting dismissed is disappointing, mainly on his behalf. Off to the real world; hopefully he’ll continue his studies.
Other than that, hmmm.
Tough, at the moment, to project out how good the team will be. They’ll be good. You see loads of competitors, at each position. Good to really good athletes, that have so far, played… good.
It was a good team, that lost 3 top drawer players. Almost irreplaceable players, at that level.
Will they be better than good? It’s an inescapable question. Time for the solid, recruited prospects of recent years to play “mad,” in a good way. There’s so many players, I can think of. Especially, on the D.
The offense, though. There’s some speed. A lot of good speed, really.
Just don’t see any game breakers yet, who will do it against similarly skilled teams.
Kansas City, MO
2/18/2012
Yeah, all I read on a previous Pelini press conference was that no reason was given. I wasn’t trying to be mysterious, it’s just I couldn’t find the information and didn’t want to make something up. If only the athletic department would let us poor independent news sites contact them for up to date information.
2/22/2012
Now that was truly informative.