This explanation can only mean one of two things. Either Nicol is one of the toughest men to throw on football pads and play through the pain, or we're so thin at DB that someone with a pretty major injury is being counted on to fill a huge hole, even in the running for a starting spot. I only hope it's not the latter.

Bob,

Thanks for the update. It is unfortunate to hear, but this explanation makes me feel a little bit more comfortable with the situation. Injuries are part of the game I guess.

Totally understandable situation when it comes to football, especially with his size (only 170 lbs). My brother had a similar situation playing football at Central (lack of size plus injuries), but went on to play baseball at the school.

This explanation is a bit of a relief, isn't it. Not that it helps Husky Nation, much. What have we got to do to get a cornerback around here?

Yea DJ- one would think that every hot CB in the nation would want to come to UW and try to contribute immediately. Buzz often follows kids if they get on the field early and rock. We focused on RBs this year, and won. Next year its DBs and lineman for sure.

I don't get it. We have a crisis at RB, THEN we go and load up at that position with the next recruiting class. Now were ridiculously thin at CB, and we're talking about loading up there with the NEXT recruiting class. Granted, the injury situation hasn't helped the cause, but from the sounds of it, we would've been thin at DB regardless this season. Shouldn't Ty and his staff see this coming and address the situation before it becomes an issue, rather than wait until it's too late and we're screwed? After all, injuries are going to play a big role every season, so everyone knows good depth is key.

pdx,
I don't think anyone could have foreseen this coming. Yes, the Dawgs were thin coming into the season. But how could anyone imagine, at the end of the recruiting period in January, that this would be the state of things at the CB position?!
Who could foresee Murchison's arrest? Or Davenport's injuries? Who? Certainly, you're not saying that TW should have. I mean, oh yeah, I remember all those 4 and 5 star DB's who wanted to sign with Washington, but TW just turned them away... (sarcasm)

Recruiting is more than signing players that want to play for you. It's a sales/marketing effort to secure players that initially want to play somewhere else. This recruiting "process" has not been evident in Willingham's tenure at Stanford, Notre Dame and now, UW. According to Rivals.com Willingham is now at 36th in the nation, 7th in the Pac-10. Unless you can recruit in college football, you shouldn't be coaching in college football

Tyrone forcing a kid with major injury to the point he nearly uses use of his leg. What a classy guy.

Roman,
I'm not a Ty hater at all, and have in fact stuck up for him many times before on this very blog. However, you said it yourself, that we were already thin coming into the season. And while one obviously can't blame him for player arrests, injuries, etc., as the head coach he still has to shoulder some of the blame for the state of his team. Injuries are a fact of life, and you have to be prepared to adapt when they occur. Especially for a position that involves as much physical contact as DB's will encounter. And some of these injuries (Nicol's in particular) where pre-existing when they joined the team. Isn't Ty's responsibilty to recognize the severity of these problems and prepare accordingly? I'm not a doctor, but from everything I've heard, groin injuries are hard to fully recover from, if ever. I hope Ty was thorough enough in getting to know the state/history of his players when deciding to what extent he would be relying on them to contribute. Who know's, maybe these kids weren't completely honest with him from the beginning, in which case that's an unfair argument for me to make, but it's all speculation at this point, and I have a hard time giving the coaching staff a pass when we're in this kind of a situation 4 days before kickoff. Hopefully I'm wrong and we're all pleasantly surprised with our pass coverage Friday.

The blob, aka Charlie Weis, still has eligibility. Instead of bump and run, he could bump and then sit on WRs while eating twinkies and telling them in their earholes how brilliant he is.

any news on how McDowell has looked over the summer? heh, I know he was a 4 star recruit, but it seems like he hasn't stood out.

This just means that our D line and LBs need to be the nastiest ever and not allow opposing QBs to get comfortable in the pocket.

Yea Southbendloser...I'll speak for everyone else a say what a hoax you and ND are these days. This year the TWINKIE marches out two years of recruits. The same guy that took Samardja and Quinn down the path of very average seasons. TY is doing the right things. UW is building its base with solid recruiting classes. The reality and the joke is this: football is a violent game where only those (generally) that have character, physical skill and body type can suceed. There are lots of variables of which I think Ty and HIS STAFF are outstanding judges. UW is a dream location- a city with countless iconic companies and geographic beauty and thirsty, excited fan base. Look at dying schools like Michigan..COOL HELMUTS but a tired university with a tiny endowment relative to UW and diminishing presence among global employers- if you want life beyond football, UW is your calling.

Bob,
With all that's happened at the CB position I am thinking that maybe Persley might be called on. At the beginning of camp he was obviously way down on the depth chart and pretty much assured of a Redshirt; therefore we heard little about him. Anyway, might he play and how has he looked? Thanks in advance.
Shane

I'm sure the UW alumni is very proud of their brother, HuskyNationNYC.

Add "southbendplaya" to the list of bashers who "played" themselves. Yeah right, Ty really "forced" a walk-on to play. Whatever man.

I'm traveling today and picked up a USA Today. As I thumbed through the sports section, I came across this story on Colt Brennan, the Hawaii QB the Dawgs will face in their season finale:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/wac/2007-08-27-hawaii-colt-brennan-focus_N.htm
I couldn't help but think about the secondary issues we face. Then, I got back to my room to check the hometown paper and my e-mail to find this story on Nicol. I sure hope some of these youngsters can play. Is there a Nate Robinson in the bunch??? Doubtful, but we'll soon see. Go Dawgs.