roster changes

[Total Red]

A review of the updated roster on GoRedbirds reveals that several names are missing. Prominent names among the non-returnees - RB Aritss Henderson, OT Donavin O'Day (I guess we know where Meggison will line up) and DL Matt Swaine / more.

 

[cpacmel]

Swaine is a big time surprise.

 

[fourthandshort]

DE Swaine went from 32 tackles with 6 sacks, to 5 tackles with 0 sacks .. he fell way out of favor. I don't recall him being injured, but maybe he was playing hurt, and decided it wasn't worth it .. the drop off in production from his SO to his JR season is hard to explain, if not an injury.

Can't assume anything, but best wishes to him.

 

[fourthandshort]

and sorry to hear about RB Henderson .. he gave us some speed, but wasn't going to see many reps the next 2 years with Robinson and Smith in the fold.

 

[StLRedbird]

I thought that there may be some defections due to the coaching changes. Natural to expect that the departing coaches had developed good relationships with some players and that could have caused them to re-evaluate their situations.

 

[Reggie Redbird]

and sorry to hear about RB Henderson .. he gave us some speed, but wasn't going to see many reps the next 2 years with Robinson and Smith in the fold.

You can have 5-6 WRs, 3 TEs, and a ton of linemen who get a lot of reps on offense based on the number of open slots for them. If you have a starting QB, you aren't going to have too many other guys who want to play stick around when they are 3rd or later on the depth chart and past their first two seasons. Same with the guys who are 4th or later on the RB depth chart when you have a 1-2 punch that gets most of the carries. They might figure they could be a top-2 guy somewhere else in the FCS or in another division.

It has to be hard for some guys to come in and not play for a year or two. Some guys may want to be an impact player from Day 1 and play their whole four years.

Here's hoping we can get a couple of impact transfers and maybe a diamond in the rough guy or two with these newly open scholarships.

 

[Redbird1]

DE Swaine went from 32 tackles with 6 sacks, to 5 tackles with 0 sacks .. he fell way out of favor. I don't recall him being injured, but maybe he was playing hurt, and decided it wasn't worth it .. the drop off in production from his SO to his JR season is hard to explain, if not an injury.

Can't assume anything, but best wishes to him.

O’Day and Swaine are returning to play their final season. Their removal from the roster is a mistake.

As to the drop off in productivity, Swaine suffered an AC joint separation during the Eastern game. He played through the injury, but it had a detrimental effect on his stats.

 

[Total Red]

O’Day and Swaine are returning to play their final season. Their removal from the roster is a mistake.

Thank you

 

[ISUBU]

We've seen these omission errors before. And I think I remember players being pulled off as a signal that they need to get their act together. Usually they'll come around to clarifying players who are departing.

 

[fourthandshort]

Good to hear on both fronts. Hope Swaine gets healthy .. he had a very promising SO season.

 

[Chi-bird]

Bummed about Artiss. I felt that he might have been the most electrifying player on the team.

 

[TreRoberson4Heisman]

Bummed about Artiss. I felt that he might have been the most electrifying player on the team.

His Twitter profile looks like he confirmed this

“Dallas ->>> Normal ->>> ?”

Has a lot of talent just no spot for him

https://mobile.twitter.com/ArtissTheRB?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

 

[MadBird]

Bummed about Artiss. I felt that he might have been the most electrifying player on the team.

His Twitter profile looks like he confirmed this

“Dallas ->>> Normal ->>> ?”

Has a lot of talent just no spot for him

https://mobile.twitter.com/ArtissTheRB?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

And my gripe would be that the coaches (especially the departing co-OC's I'd guess) didn't try very hard to find him a spot. In a season where our WR's were underwhelming, you could have found a way to get this kid the ball in the passing game, get him a few touches each game, used his talent and kept his assets here. Maybe it ain't so, maybe he had hands of stone. He had 18 runs and 5 receptions in 11 games.

Tough all the way around, it's not like we're short of RB talent.

 

[fourthandshort]

what made the RB situation more discouraging (from players perspective) the last 2 years is that so many were young ... meaning, why would you patiently stick it out if your 1 of 4 guys all within a year of each other. You might be waiting your turn to step up as junior/senior .. and never get a turn because every else is young.

Think about what we've had and lost before graduation at the RB position in the post-Coprich era:

- from 2016: lost SO Moreira and RS FR Corbin; they had to share time with SR Towns and true FR Robinson ... 3 of 4 were FR or SO, and lost 2 after season, plus Towns graduated
- from 2017: lost RS FR Birch and RS FR Henderson; they had to share time/scraps with SO Robinson and SO Smith ... 4 of 4 were FR or SO, and again lost 2 more after season
- going into 2018 .. sitting on 2 studs in JR Robinson and JR Smith, but have zero backups currently on roster !!!! The next crop of young RBs only have to wait 2 years .. 1 year if you ignore redshirt year.

Impressive how we keep reloading that RB group .. deep, young, and talented. But we are thin right now after Robinson and Smith.

 

[MadBird]

Birch?? Still listed on the roster, did I miss him leaving too??

 

[DannyCooksey]

Bummed about Artiss. I felt that he might have been the most electrifying player on the team.

His Twitter profile looks like he confirmed this

“Dallas ->>> Normal ->>> ?”

Has a lot of talent just no spot for him

https://mobile.twitter.com/ArtissTheRB?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

And my gripe would be that the coaches (especially the departing co-OC's I'd guess) didn't try very hard to find him a spot. In a season where our WR's were underwhelming, you could have found a way to get this kid the ball in the passing game, get him a few touches each game, used his talent and kept his assets here. Maybe it ain't so, maybe he had hands of stone. He had 18 runs and 5 receptions in 11 games.

Tough all the way around, it's not like we're short of RB talent.

totally agree. i thought he was underutilized. his speed would have been a great weapon IMO.

 

[fourthandshort]

Birch?? Still listed on the roster, did I miss him leaving too??

thought he left for Tenn St ??

 

[MadBird]

Birch?? Still listed on the roster, did I miss him leaving too??

thought he left for Tenn St ??

Corbin to TSU, reported by Total Red on another thread, from a JC I think? That what you were thinking of?

 

[fourthandshort]

oh shoot .. my bad !!!!!!!!

Very glad to still have Birch on roster .. dude is a load and can move. Similar RB size and style as Corbin.

 

[Chi-bird]

I don't see birch as a long-term running back. I look for him to be moved at some point to safety or undersized outside linebacker.