CajunGuru Wrote:The following athletes are no longer on the squad;
LB James Roberts
LB GW Rudick
WR Ty Brown
OL Darren Marquis
WR Frank Johnson
TE Briggs
Key injuries;
RB Levier pulled hamstring, looked bad!
Brown saw limited action at WR last season, we are very deep at that position.
Marquis never played a down of football for us nor participated in a practice. Heard he was a good player but from what I have read with the new players we have, no big loss.
Johnson, don't know the story as to why he is no longer with the team. All I know of Johnson is that he is a relative (cousin) of Fred Stamps and that he was reported to be the only player we signed not eligible. Then it was reported he had gained his eligibility. Again, never played or practiced a down with us and we are very deep at wide receiver.
Briggs, looked good in the spring but apparently was homesick for California and went home without finishing the semester. Losing him hurts but not as bad as it would have if we had not recruited 2 other TE's (Campbell and Jones) to go along with Johnson. This loss of Briggs means we MAY not be able to redshirt Jones. Depends on how good the walk-on TE's like Belton are.
Roberts, can't deny I liked this kid. I thought he played well when he started against South Carolina and the rest of the season when he subbed for C.C. Brown. He was also a good special teams player. Don't know the story here but Derek Morel, Wes Simon or Joseph Hadnot needs to step up and backup Tyler Norman.
Prater, is said to have left the team last month becuase of some personal issues he needed to resolve. I do not know anything beyond that. I thought Prater played hard and gave 100% but Lamar Morgan is a hell of a lot better free safety and had in fact taken the job away from Prater during the season only to get injured. I believe Morgan and/or Kingsby will be very good this year.
Rudick, was a good player and he played he showed me alot of heart. I have heard rumors about why he is no longer with the team but I will not discuss them either here or in a PM because I think it is unfair to him and his family since I do not know the facts. Regardless, his leadership will be missed but we have better athletes to fill his shoes.
Just my .02
