Your 2025 Nebraska Cornhuskers

[macroboy]

Of the list @default_28 made, who do you think goes?

 

I think Gabe Ervin goes. Never gonna see playing time here.

 

Who else?

[SouthLincoln Husker]

26 minutes ago, macroboy said:

‘It’s a little early for this.

I think it is, but trying to provide information for everyone.  

[BigRedBuster]

7 hours ago, SouthLincoln Husker said:

Not really, only a couple players who are unhappy with playing time & would have moved with or without the roster limits.  I think Rhule will let it play out until after the bowl game.  Let them have their fun with the team.  

So, players have started to leave….but it hasn’t started yet. 
 

There will be more players gone before the bowl game. 

[default_28]

The names and position numbers compared to what we’ll actually see next August are undoubtedly wrong. But I was struck by a couple of things.

 

1. 105 was a pretty natural cut line. I live abroad and so midday kickoffs are in the middle of the night where I am, for this reason I don’t see every game and just highlights. So when making the list I picked guys who were listed in recruiting classes and names of walk-ons who have already been big contributors. In doing that, I only had to pick a random walk-on to fill spots 1-2 times. And I only left off a name I recognized and wanted to put on there 1

time. 
 

2. I like to think of Nebraska as not being a cut throat, win at all costs type of program. But the roster limits will see how the coaches feel about cutting guys loose if they don’t pan out right away. There isn’t any wiggle room to try a guy at a different position or let him just finish his degree if he’s not contributing. That is really a shame.

[SouthLincoln Husker]

43 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

So, players have started to leave….but it hasn’t started yet. 
 

There will be more prayers gone before the bowl game. 

Prayers?

[Red Five]

6 hours ago, SouthLincoln Husker said:

Not really, only a couple players who are unhappy with playing time & would have moved with or without the roster limits.  I think Rhule will let it play out until after the bowl game.  Let them have their fun with the team.  

 

Players are going to start leaving ASAP.  They’ll need to find spots on other teams.  Waiting until after the bowl game would be very dumb of them.

[SouthLincoln Husker]

Just now, Red Five said:

 

Players are going to start leaving ASAP.  They’ll need to find spots on other teams.  Waiting until after the bowl game would be very dumb of them.

85 scholarship players, limit 105. There will be several who will just give the sport up as they are walk-ons & are good with a unl degree. 

[SouthLincoln Husker]

14 minutes ago, Red Five said:

 

Players are going to start leaving ASAP.  They’ll need to find spots on other teams.  Waiting until after the bowl game would be very dumb of them.

Let me dumb this down for you.  Scholarship players are going to leave because of playing time.  The conversation was getting down to the roster limit of which are going to be walk-ons as we have 40+ of them on the team.

[BigRedBuster]

5 hours ago, macroboy said:

Of the list @default_28 made, who do you think goes?

 

I think Gabe Ervin goes. Never gonna see playing time here.

 

Who else?

Unfortunately, Kaelin might be gone. 

[BigRedBuster]

21 minutes ago, SouthLincoln Husker said:

Let me dumb this down for you.  Scholarship players are going to leave because of playing time.  The conversation was getting down to the roster limit of which are going to be walk-ons as we have 40+ of them on the team.

What you’re not accepting is that scholarship players are also going to be leaving, before the bowl game, because they will have conversations with the staff and realize they need to. 

[SouthLincoln Husker]

28 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

What you’re not accepting is that scholarship players are also going to be leaving, before the bowl game, because they will have conversations with the staff and realize they need to. 

Scholarship players will come & go every year.  I agree some of these will leave over the next couple weeks. Some will leave later due to coaches being let go.  With the new roster regs, we will have 20 additional scholarships next year with 40 to 50 walk-ons.  Rhule is not going to fill spots left by a scholarship player leaving the program with a walk-on.  I do believe that some walk-ons will earn a few of those extra scholarships.  It would be nice to know how many Jr. & Sr. walk-ons we have on the team.  My conversation from the beginning has been getting to 105, which will happen with losing / cutting walk-ons, not scholarship players.

[macroboy]

2 hours ago, BigRedBuster said:

Unfortunately, Kaelin might be gone. 

‘Have you heard something or are you speculating?

[BigRedBuster]

42 minutes ago, macroboy said:

‘Have you heard something or are you speculating?

Total speculation. 

[Red Five]

3 hours ago, SouthLincoln Husker said:

Let me dumb this down for you.  Scholarship players are going to leave because of playing time.  The conversation was getting down to the roster limit of which are going to be walk-ons as we have 40+ of them on the team.

Do the walk-ons not want to find a home somewhere? Or are all of them going to just be done playing football?

 

I’m under the impression that FCS school will need to be at 105.  I’m seeing conflicting info if D2 needs to be at 105.

[floridacorn]

3 hours ago, default_28 said:

2. I like to think of Nebraska as not being a cut throat, win at all costs type of program. But the roster limits will see how the coaches feel about cutting guys loose if they don’t pan out right away. There isn’t any wiggle room to try a guy at a different position or let him just finish his degree if he’s not contributing. That is really a shame.

 

I think you're overstating this a bit and the football factory mentality has been, is, and will remain a dirty reality of the game even at NU. What it does is effectively kill the walk-on program.  The ability to take flyers with a wide net and the opportunity for career long scout team players to enjoy a life inside the program.  Guys like Elliot Brown are gone from the program.  

 

But, any honest conversation has to begin with how we got here, and the truth is NU has used NIL & the walk-on program to circumvent scholarship limits.  They aren't alone, but they are among the most egregious.  When you blatantly jump through loop holes in plain sight, surprise, people take notice.  

 

I'm as nostalgic for the way things used to be as anybody, but in this era of NIL & the transfer portal, is it possible having all these extra bodies in the program is actually a detriment?