There’s “the first 57.”
There’s an important last 10 with, shall we say, a Roman kind of influence. We’ll get to that.
And the development of all those players in between will be as crucial as anything for the Huskers to have a program with championship fiber.
“I think the first thing you do is operate off the first 53, which we actually tweaked to 57. Because college football is a little different,” Rhule said of Nebraska’s planned 105-man roster structure. “So we have our first 57, built exactly off an NFL roster (by numbers at position group).”
After that, “I think you want to start to have a semblance of a second 53” in maintaining balanced position group numbers.
But there are other things to consider as you get to those final 10 or so on the 105. Rhule won’t necessarily get caught up in the position group numbers at that point.
“There are going to be guys that bring a lot to the culture of the team. There are going to be guys that are flexible at practice. Like Roman Mangini,” Rhule said of the third-year sophomore receiver from Mesa, Ariz.
“Whether he could be a starter next year or, I don’t know, but he’s going to be on the team. Because there’s no one that makes practice go better than Roman Mangini. He’s out there catching balls on the scout team, spiking them, just raising the level of everything around us.”
Some cuts unfortunately must still be made. The latest update by Rhule and Husker football chief of staff Susan Elza on Saturday had Nebraska at 126 players.
Husker staff was candid with everyone about if they’d be on the 105-man roster at this moment. Some chose to leave and Rhule is happy for whatever opportunities they are getting.
“But some guys have said, ‘Coach, I’m staying here until you guys kick me off. Like, I’m a Husker.’ And that’s hard for me to sit there and say, ‘Well, they’re not going to make the 105.’ We’ll compete it all the way to the end and see how the numbers play out.”
Rhule, who spoke of a two-pronged roster approach in December, believes the Huskers would have up until the first game to settle on the 105, and he mentioned the potential of having something like 115 in fall camp.
An understandable buffer space to have if doable.
“So you might go into camp with more and if a guy is out for the year he won’t count in the 105 so you can replace him with someone else,” Rhule said of the current understanding of the rule. “But it has to be before that first game.”
The 105 has certainly replaced the old 85-man scholarship watch for those of us outside the walls.
“The settlement’s not ratified all the way through, but I think there’s going to be some different ways in which you can help guys pay for school – revenue sharing or not,” Rhule said.
“So I think a good portion of our guys, more than 85, will probably have some way of paying for school.”
There’s of course no secret now that some players have a much bigger bank account than others.
The finances involved will not factor in deciding who’s at the top of the depth chart come kickoff, Rhule made clear.
“We’re never going to operate off that. The best players are going to play.”
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