Marcus Washington In, who’s out

[70county]

With such praise being cast on the WR room each and every offseason/spring/fall that frost has been here, it makes me wonder if this will be “his most talented group”

Another addition, another returning roster holder likely eliminated from the rotation. Sure makes me wonder what life would have been like had we give our previous single caller some help. From Manning to betts, Warner… hopefully some of the new additions life up to the….well hope.

 

[cthusker]

Since he's already played catch with Casey it could be a big pickup for the offense. Just have to see how it plays out but I'm impressed how Nebraska has used the portal this year.

 

[Cornjob]

The portal additions, including Washington, show urgency from the coaching staff. They seem to be ahead of the rest of the division in terms of adapting to the new realities of the portal. Has the rest of the league learned from the Spartan’s example?

The part I don’t understand is, how do you cut the chaff? What are a school’s obligations to a guy that is currently on scholarship? What is the ethical way to reduce your scholarship roster players to accommodate transfers in? Seems like there is a whole unspoken side to these equations. Staffs have to be proactive to avoid having gaping holes at entire position groups. But on the other side of that, how do they manage the guys already there who have failed to develop or just aren’t as good as expected?

 

[wcbsas]

The portal additions, including Washington, show urgency from the coaching staff. They seem to be ahead of the rest of the division in terms of adapting to the new realities of the portal. Has the rest of the league learned from the Spartan’s example?

The part I don’t understand is, how do you cut the chaff? What are a school’s obligations to a guy that is currently on scholarship? What is the ethical way to reduce your scholarship roster players to accommodate transfers in? Seems like there is a whole unspoken side to these equations. Staffs have to be proactive to avoid having gaping holes at entire position groups. But on the other side of that, how do they manage the guys already there who have failed to develop or just aren’t as good as expected?

There is a business side to this ... but I believe (and hope) that SF and his team are being fair, consistent and responsible.

Do not forget that quite a few players chose to move on ... 2AM, Riley and so on.

Where I do think there will be serious pain is the walk-on program ... kids who come with the objective of gaining a scholarship ... will there be scholarships available? Will the transfer portal, NIL and all the player movement allow for the walk-on program to exist as it was?

 

[DuckTownHusker]

Nobody wants to un-give a scholarship. It's a bad scenario, but you kind of hope somebody decides to quit football or has a season-ending injury so you don't have to take away something you promised.

 

[Cisco]

I don't think there is much reason to worry. We're only three over right now I think. In this era there's going to be people moving on for various reasons.

 

[Bleed Red]

There is a business side to this ... but I believe (and hope) that SF and his team are being fair, consistent and responsible.

Do not forget that quite a few players chose to move on ... 2AM, Riley and so on.

Where I do think there will be serious pain is the walk-on program ... kids who come with the objective of gaining a scholarship ... will there be scholarships available? Will the transfer portal, NIL and all the player movement allow for the walk-on program to exist as it was?

NU fans can always find something to fret over. Many posters have lamented the past "tradition" of saving a couple scholarships each year to offer to walk-ons who earned them as "wasted spots that could have been filled with talented recruits". Others have voiced concerns like yours.

I'm thinking that maybe NIL will be a saving grace and some of the deserving walk-ons will be rewarded with some of that pool of money.

 

[weaver75]

There is a business side to this ... but I believe (and hope) that SF and his team are being fair, consistent and responsible.

Do not forget that quite a few players chose to move on ... 2AM, Riley and so on.

Where I do think there will be serious pain is the walk-on program ... kids who come with the objective of gaining a scholarship ... will there be scholarships available? Will the transfer portal, NIL and all the player movement allow for the walk-on program to exist as it was?

Exactly. We had about 13 players enter the portal and picked up 15. Iowa only lost a couple of players and added 1. Teams with coaching changes lose a lot and need to get a lot. Stable franchises not so much.

 

[wcbsas]

NU fans can always find something to fret over. Many posters have lamented the past "tradition" of saving a couple scholarships each year to offer to walk-ons who earned them as "wasted spots that could have been filled with talented recruits". Others have voiced concerns like yours.

I'm thinking that maybe NIL will be a saving grace and some of the deserving walk-ons will be rewarded with some of that pool of money.

One could argue that the walk-on program is THE one thing that was/is uniquely Nebraska.

I also have argued that scholarship players should be higher in depth chart, playing time rotations and roster considerations. I believe if we are counting on more than one or two walk-ons to round out our 2-man depth chart then we are in trouble.

I do like your thoughts on NIL and walk-ons.

 

[70county]

Couple of things I see:

how do they manage the guys already there who have failed to develop or just aren’t as good as expected?

This one is easy, for the last 20+ years we’ve been starting them, playing them a lot and complaining that they aren’t Tommie Frazier, Grant Wistrom and Jason Peter.

Will the transfer portal, NIL and all the player movement allow for the walk-on program to exist as it was?

Not a direct response, but related a bit. The walk-ons that earn spots (Spencer Long, Alex Henery..etc) will continue to earn scholarships and the ones that don’t will have an easier time moving on to greener pastures (Noah Vedral) I really don’t see this hurting the walk-on program as it has been dwarfing into a different animal than in 70’s/80’s/90’s for several years. I remember 1 particular time under Bo we trotted out a walk on kicker, snapper, and holder for game winning kick (perhaps henery’s ~63 yarder) and everyone was in a frenzy that pelini had “brought back the walk-on program” (hip hip hooray)….. ignoring completely that all three players walked on under Callahan… but acknowledging that didn’t fit the narrative…. Anyway, like your statement below, if your filling a team full of feel good stories then you probably not gonna be very good in the win loss column.

I believe if we are counting on more than one or two walk-ons to round out our 2-man depth chart then we are in trouble.

 

[BigRedOhio]

Love the portal... best thing that has happened to Husker football since before they reduced schollies to 85. It doesn't guarantee success, but it certainly has made our talent pool deeper.

 

[Bleed Red]

Couple of things I see:


This one is easy, for the last 20+ years we’ve been starting them, playing them a lot and complaining that they aren’t Tommie Frazier, Grant Wistrom and Jason Peter.

Not a direct response, but related a bit. The walk-ons that earn spots (Spencer Long, Alex Henery..etc) will continue to earn scholarships and the ones that don’t will have an easier time moving on to greener pastures (Noah Vedral) I really don’t see this hurting the walk-on program as it has been dwarfing into a different animal than in 70’s/80’s/90’s for several years. I remember 1 particular time under Bo we trotted out a walk on kicker, snapper, and holder for game winning kick (perhaps henery’s ~63 yarder) and everyone was in a frenzy that pelini had “brought back the walk-on program” (hip hip hooray)….. ignoring completely that all three players walked on under Callahan… but acknowledging that didn’t fit the narrative…. Anyway, like your statement below, if your filling a team full of feel good stories then you probably not gonna be very good in the win loss column.

Odd because BC basically terminated the walkon program and reduced the roster size to a more "NFL-like" level.

 

[RedRum]

Couple of things I see:


This one is easy, for the last 20+ years we’ve been starting them, playing them a lot and complaining that they aren’t Tommie Frazier, Grant Wistrom and Jason Peter.

Not a direct response, but related a bit. The walk-ons that earn spots (Spencer Long, Alex Henery..etc) will continue to earn scholarships and the ones that don’t will have an easier time moving on to greener pastures (Noah Vedral) I really don’t see this hurting the walk-on program as it has been dwarfing into a different animal than in 70’s/80’s/90’s for several years. I remember 1 particular time under Bo we trotted out a walk on kicker, snapper, and holder for game winning kick (perhaps henery’s ~63 yarder) and everyone was in a frenzy that pelini had “brought back the walk-on program” (hip hip hooray)….. ignoring completely that all three players walked on under Callahan… but acknowledging that didn’t fit the narrative…. Anyway, like your statement below, if your filling a team full of feel good stories then you probably not gonna be very good in the win loss column.

During the Callahan years, both Nebraska-Omaha and Chadron State became top 10 D2 teams. It's no coincidence that talent improved at lower division instate schools when Callahan was here.

 

[NU_Alum]

I don't think there is much reason to worry. We're only three over right now I think. In this era there's going to be people moving on for various reasons.

We're going to lose 5 or so most likely. I don't know who they are for sure, but the staff has a very good idea. We aren't done in the portal for this year.

 

[Phillysker]

As much crap and hand wringing that we have endured over the years, the portal has been very good to us lately. I remember people wanted to jump off bridges when we lost Tuioti and then Rogers and the xfer from NC whose name escapes me. Our dline at least in paper now looks stout as does our secondary and QB depth. Kudos to the coaches ignoring the Chicken Littles and backfilled nicely. Now let's see them produce on the field