Fall roster breakdown
Time for the annual attempt to make sense of the Marshall football roster. It’s what a roster geek does….
Before getting to the roster breakdown, I’ll take care of the status of some players who aren’t on the team for 2018.
*** First, DL Charkie Johnson is no longer on the roster. He had a career that never really got going due to multiple injury issues. Johnson sat out 2015 as a non-qualifier, then played 2 games in 2016 with 2 assisted tackles. Johnson never saw the field in 2017.
| Player | Status |
|---|---|
|
Sharrod Frazier |
Enrolled at Eastern Arizona. |
|
Corey Gammage |
Will enroll as a future. |
|
Bakari Jackson |
Will enroll as a future. |
|
Patrick Keenan |
Will not enroll at MU. |
|
Caleb McMillan |
Will enroll as a future. |
|
Jalynn Sykes |
Will enroll as a future. |
|
Jaquan Webb |
Showed up but left school and plans to run track at Ole Miss. |
| Player | Status |
|---|---|
|
Isaiah Duncan |
Status Unknown. |
|
Breon Hayward |
Could still end up at Marshall. |
|
John Jiles |
Enrolled at Fort Scott CC. |
|
Aaron Morgan |
Will enroll as a future. |
|
Lawrence Papillon |
Will enroll as a future. |
|
Reggie Thompson |
Status Unknown. |
|
Jordan Wayne-Prather |
Signed with Bowling Green. |
|
Kenny Wilkins |
Could still end up at Marshall. |
| Player |
|---|
|
Tyler Brown |
|
Robert Lefevre |
|
Joey Maddox |
|
Cain Madden |
|
Nazeeh Johnson |
|
Brandon Drayton |
|
Terence Ricks |
Here’s a look at each position group, with the class/eligibility status of each player. New scholarship players are noted as either ‘2018 LOI’ for those who signed letters of intent, ‘2018 Commit’ for those who signed scholarship papers or otherwise committed to Marshall, ‘2018 Gr Transfer’, ‘2018 Transfer’ or ‘2017 NQ’. Those who enrolled in 2017 as blueshirts are labeled ‘2017 BS’. The ‘IC’ total is a count of the 2018 initial counters.
| Notes |
|---|
|
Isaiah Green RS FR, Garet Morrell RS SO, Alex Thomson RS JR (2018 Gr Transfer), Jackson White RS SO. |
|
4 Scholarships: 1 JR, 2 SO, 1 FR; 1 IC. |
|
1 Walkon: Luke Zban FR |
| Notes |
|---|
|
Anthony Anderson RS SR, Keion Davis RS SR, Sheldon Evans RS FR, (2017 NQ) Tyler King RS SO, Brenden Knox RS FR (2017 BS). |
|
5 Scholarships: 2 SR, 1 SO, 2 FR; 2 IC. |
|
3 Walkons: Mookie Collier FR, Joseph Early RS SO, Tyler Lichter RS SO. |
|
2 NQ’s: Lawrence Papillon FR (2018 Commit), Jalynn Sykes FR (2018 LOI). |
| Notes |
|---|
|
Tyre Brady RS SR, Donquell ‘Gator’ Green RS SR, Artie Henry III JR (2018 LOI), Willie Johnson RS SO, Talik Keaton FR (2018 LOI), Jeremiah Maddox RS SO, Nick Mathews SR, Obi Obialo JR (2018 BS), Naquan Renalds RS FR (2017 NQ), Ty Terrell FR (2018 LOI), Marcel Williams SR. |
|
11 Scholarships: 4 SR, 2 JR, 2 SO, 3 FR; 5 IC. |
|
5 Walkons: Daniel Darko FR, Lorinzo Penn FR, Stone Scarcelle RS FR, Brennan Tibbs RS SO, Simino Walden RS SO. |
|
2 NQ’s: Corey Gammage FR (IC-2018 LOI), Caleb McMillan FR (IC-2018 LOI). |
| Notes |
|---|
|
Jacob Cassidy FR (2018 LOI), Xavier Gaines RS SO, Armani Levias RS JR, Devin Miller (2017 BS), Cody Mitchell RS SO. |
|
5 Scholarships: 1 JR, 2 SO, 2 FR; 2 IC. |
|
1 Walkons: Ryan Burke FR. |
| Notes |
|---|
|
Tarik Adams RS SO, Sean Behrens RS SO, Ethan Bingham FR (2018 LOI), Levi Brown RS JR, Nate Devers RS SR, Jordan Dowery RS SR, Zack Ferris FR (2018 LOI), Trey Livingood FR (2018 LOI), Alex Locklear RS JR, Cain Madden RS SO, Alex Mollette RS SO, Alex Salguero RS SO, Kyron Taylor RS FR, Dalton Tucker FR (2018 LOI), Will Ulmer RS SO. |
|
15 Scholarships: 2 SR, 2 JR, 6 SO, 5 FR; 4 IC. |
|
4 Walkons: Adrian Henley FR, Wale Layeni RS FR, James Magee RS FR, Kendrick Sartor RS FR. |
Offense Subtotals:
40 Scholarships: 8 SR, 6 JR, 13 SO, 13 FR; 14 IC
14 Walkons
| Notes |
|---|
|
Sam Burton FR (2018 Commit), Marquis Couch RS JR, Rodney Croom RS FR, Kody Cumberlander RS FR (2017 NQ), Jamare Edwards RS FR, Darius Hodge RS FR (2017 NQ), Milan Lanier RS JR, Arak McDuffie (2018 LOI), Owen Porter (2018 LOI), Juwon Young RS SR. |
|
10 Scholarships: 1 SR, 2 JR, 7 FR; 5 IC. |
| Notes |
|---|
|
Ryan Bee RS SR, Jermane Cross (2017 NQ), Aaron Dopson RS JR, Channing Hames RS JR, Joey Maddox RS JR, Malik Thompson RS SR, Ty Tyler RS JR. |
|
7 Scholarships: 2 SR, 4 JR, 1 FR; 1 IC. |
|
1 Walkon: Mikeal Lipscomb RS SO. |
|
1 NQ: Aaron Morgan (2018 Commit). |
| Notes |
|---|
|
Tavante Beckett RS SO (2018 Transfer), Tyler Brown RS JR, Omari Cobb JR, Chase Hancock RS SR, Frankie Hernandez RS SR, Artis Johnson RS SR, Dallas Martin JR (2018 LOI), Donyae Moody RS SR, Jaquan Yulee RS SO. |
|
9 Scholarships: 4 SR, 3 JR, 2 SO; 2 IC. |
|
4 Walkons: Lawrence Cunningham FR, Domenick Murphy RS FR, Brooks Parsons FR, Tanner Williams FR. |
|
1 NQ: Bakari Jackson FR (IC-2018 LOI). |
| Notes |
|---|
|
Markeis Colvin FR (2018 LOI), Taymon Cooke FR (2018 Commit), Steven Gilmore Jr. FR (2018 LOI), Chris Jackson JR, Dontrell Johnson RS SR, Jaylon McClain-Sapp RS JR, Kereon Merrell RS JR, Jestin Morrow RS SO, Nirion Washington RS FR. |
|
9 Scholarships: 1 SR, 3 JR, 1 SO, 4 FR. 3 IC. |
|
2 Walkons: Christian Joyner FR, Trent Wilderbraithwaite RS JR. |
| Notes |
|---|
|
Chad Clay RS SO (2017 BS), Brandon Drayton RS SO, Malik Gant RS JR, Nazeeh Johnson RS SO, Kenard King RS FR (2017 NQ), Terence Ricks RS SR. |
|
6 Scholarships: 1 SR, 1 JR, 3 SO, 1 FR; 2 IC. |
|
1 Walkons: Paris Ballard FR. |
Defense Subtotals:
41 Scholarships: 9 SR, 13 JR, 6 SO, 13 FR;13 IC
8 Walkons
| Notes |
|---|
|
Matthew Beardall JR, Robert Lefevre RS SO, Justin Rohrwasser RS JR (2018 LOI). |
|
3 Scholarships: 2 JR, 1 SO; 1 IC. |
|
3 Walkons: Zach Appio RS FR, Shane McDonough RS FR, Zach Wagner FR. |
GRAND TOTALS:
84 Scholarships: 17 SR, 21 JR, 20 SO, 26 FR; 28 IC
25 Walkons
*** The math in the roster breakdown shows 28 initial counters. From my roster analysis last year, RB Trey Rodriguez was a 2017 blueshirt along with Brenden Knox, Obi Obialo, Devin Miller and Chad Clay. Even though he left early in the season, under the blueshirt rule Rodriguez must be counted as a 2018 initial counter. That would make 29 initial counters for this season, and that’s 4 too many.
*** The way to get new players on scholarship without having to be an initial counter for this season is the blueshirt rule. For a new player to be a blueshirt, one requirement is that he not have signed a letter of intent. There are four players of the 18 eligible potential initial counters that aren’t 2017 blueshirts or 2017 non-qualifiers that didn’t sign a LOI: Taymon Cooke, Sam Burton, Alex Thomson and Tavante Beckett. If those four are blueshirts, then there are 25 initial counters.
*** I only have come up with 84 scholarship players and the word is all 85 scholarships are filled. The only other walkons who have been in the program for two seasons and can be put on scholarship without being an initial counter are RS SO RB Joseph Early and RS SO WR Brennan Tibbs. One of the those two could be the 85th player on scholarship and I’ll still try to find out who it is.
*** Looking forward, there are several factors that would impact the size of the 2019 recruiting class. There are 17 scholarship seniors on the roster, with all 85 scholarships used. Two players (LB Donyae Moody and DB Kereon Merrell) have a possibility of getting an extra season and playing in 2019 with a successful appeal to the NCAA. If my breakdown is accurate, there are at least six non-qualifiers who will be trying to gain eligibility for 2019 and four blueshirts who will be 2019 initial counters. Some of the walkons who were given scholarships for 2018 could go back to being walkons in 2019.