“He’s got ‘thump.’ Some guys can push and do certain things, but when he hits you, he’s got a heavy, heavy hit to him — what I call ‘thump.’ He has that ‘thump’ with his hands, with his face. He’s got that big rear end; when he gets that second foot in the ground, I expect great things out of him. And he’s got a great attitude, too.”
That is, Foster brought his best on a daily basis. Papuchis saw it against his first-team defense, calling Foster “one of the better linemen in the program, period.”
That’s part of why Foster shared offensive scout team player-of-the-year honors. The guy he shared it with, I-back Mikale Wilbon, was the other redshirting freshman on the tip of Husker tongues.
“Mikale’s a stud,” linebacker Trevor Roach said. “He’s one of the best running backs, including the games, that we’ve faced ... he’s really quick. You try to tackle him in the hole, and it’s hard.”
Papuchis said the 5-foot-8, 190-pounder out of Chicago has “great change of direction and great burst when he comes out of his cut.”
“He’s strong and physical,” the coach said, “with a low center of gravity.”
Athlete Freedom Akinmoladun: worked as a scout team tight end this year but may also project to defensive end. His high school coach said he thought the 6-foot-4, 230-pounder would be better on defense. I agree.
“He’s too good of an athlete not to play somewhere, but I wonder if, naturally, defense might be a better fit,” Papuchis said. “But that’ll be for the next staff to decide.”
OWHWide receiver Jariah Tolbert: NU cornerback Daniel Davie said the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Tolbert is “head and shoulders” better than the other scout team wideouts.
“He’ll make some noise,” Davie said. “Big guy. Possession guy. Runs great routes. Not the fastest, but runs great routes.”