2017 Roster Updates

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ST_Lawson
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ST_Lawson wrote: Tue Jul 18, 2017 1:40 pm Next update: #82, WR Tyler Mahnke is no longer on the roster. He was redshirted last year, so hadn't had any playing time yet. Since we have 10 WR's currently on the roster, some of which look like they could be very talented Fresh/Soph's, I'm not sure he'd end up seeing much playing time in the near future either. I have not heard if he is transferring elsewhere or if he's just staying at Western, but not playing on the team.
Here's the story on Mahnke:
[tweet][/tweet]
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I don't think you can be upset about someone leaving to go be with such a great organization as make a wish foundation.
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leatherneckcountry wrote: Fri Jul 21, 2017 1:30 pm I don't think you can be upset about someone leaving to go be with such a great organization as make a wish foundation.
Exactly. I think what he's doing is commendable. He's essentially giving up on something that was probably a dream of his when he was younger (to play football at a high level...college...maybe pro), to do something to help people in need and improve the lives of people who are going through difficult situations. Selfless and admirable.
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Wasn't really sure where to put this, but there's a guy who puts together all the teams (FBS and FCS) and lists the percentage of stats lost at each position year-to-year. Like, maybe you lost two of your offensive guys, but they didn't play anyway, so that's going to be nearly 0% lost. But, if you lose your starting QB who played every down, then that's going to be 100% for QB and a good chunk of your overall offensive stats lost.

Here's the link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

The ones highlighted in yellow are ones that he hasn't received 2017 updates for yet. But the important bit is, if you sort by the amount lost, we've lost the fewest defensive "stats" of anyone in the FCS (essentially only lost one starting D-Lineman from last year...every other starter returns). Offensively, we obviously lose a pretty good amount of our WRs, but otherwise, less than 25% of our stats for O-Line, RB, and QB, which puts us as pretty high on that list too. So, out of all the teams, we're near the top in returning starters and frequently playing players from last year.
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Just saw that Lineman Jacob Barnes is no longer listed on the roster: http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=14673&path=

He didn't play any last year as a redshirt freshman listed as a defensive lineman. He was listed as an offensive lineman this year, but apparently something just didn't work out. I'll let you know if I hear/see anything.
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Ok, apparently today is the day that the freshman get their numbers (or at least the day it's updated on the website). Got a lot to parse through, so I'll see if I can figure out what all changed. Just fyi, since most of these guys are redshirting this year and will not be playing, some of them have number overlap with existing players.

Freshman RB James Bailey, Jr. assigned #3
Freshman DB Andre Whitley assigned #4
Redshirt Freshman WR Trey Cervantes moves from #4 to #84
Junior RB Steve McShane moves from #34 to #5
Sophomore DB Eric Carrera moves from #20 to #11
Freshman QB Adam Mullett assigned #11
Sophomore DB Darius Patterson moves from #11 to #26
Freshman QB Tyler Ward assigned #12
Freshman DL J'Len Smith assigned #13
Sophomore K Sam Crosa moves from #13 to #32
Redshirt Freshman P/K Kyle Coale assigned #14
Freshman WR Eli Watson assigned #14
Redshirt Freshman RB Clint Ratkovich moves from #16 to #25
Freshman RB Isaiah Cherrier assigned #20
Freshman DB Brent Carter assigned #22
Redshirt Freshman LB Larry Harleston moves from #28 to #34
Sophomore P/K Nathan Erickson moves from #49 to #33
Freshman DT Bryce Biddle assigned #43
Freshman TE Nathan Karsjens assigned #47
Freshman DL Cole Watts assigned #55
Freshman OL Fawaz Ayoola assigned #57
Redshirt Freshman Fabian Harris moves from #96 to #60
Redshirt Freshman Kyle Sanft moves from #60 to #73
Freshman OL Matt Ricketts assigned #65
Freshman OL Michael Ross assigned #68
Senior OL Lucas Holder moves from #68 to #70
Redshirt Freshman OL Myron Cunningham moves from #70 to #71
Freshman OL Austin Hopp assigned #75
Freshman DT Shabar Wilson assigned #96
Freshman DT Luke Terrill assigned #98

Senior DL Jordan Veloz, Freshman LS Erik Abrell, and Freshman WR Devon Mondy all appear to not be on the roster anymore.
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Just realized that a lot of these roster changes are going to screw up my countdown stuff, so if a player shows up in the listing with their old number, just roll with it.
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There were more roster additions today, although most are going into their position preview threads. I haven't done O-Line yet, so here's that:
Matt Kielbasa - 6'2" 290lb Redshirt Freshman from Huntley, IL. We actually talked about him a bit last year but something didn't quite work out at that point, but he's here now.
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Couple of minor updates came through between yesterday and today. Looks like weights have been updated...some slimming down, some bulking up. I'm not going to go through and list them all, but you're welcome to peruse the list to see where everyone is at now.

The only update other than that is that Larry Harleston, who had joined the program in the spring had his year and hometown fixed. He's now listed as a Junior, which makes sense since he played for University of Dubuque in 2015, and he's from Racine, WI.
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Redshirt Freshman Kicker Kyle Coale is no longer on the roster.
I wondered if we'd see some movement on the kicking front after I saw that they had a scrimmage practice on Saturday and new transfer kicker (from Bowling Green) Sam Crosa went 4/4 on field goals.

In addition to Crosa, we also still have Sophomore Nathan Erickson and Redshirt Freshman Adam Fellner. I would guess that Crosa will likely handle placekicking duties and one of the other two guys will handle punts, since Crosa is listed as just a kicker and the other two are listed as Punter/Kicker.
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