Robert Morris has released its official 2014 preseason football roster, and there are a few notable absences.
As ColonialsCorner has previously reported, DB Marcelis Branch and LB Kimani Smith have been suspended and will miss the 2014 season. Also suspended are LB T.J. Waters and DE T.J. Matrascia, and they also will miss the 2014 season.
The other significant development regarding returning contributors is QB Paul Jones. The redshirt senior hurt his foot in the spring, but even if he was healthy, he won't play this fall. Jones has been ruled academically ineligible by the NCAA. John Banaszak had opened up the competition at every spot in spring, especially on offense, so there was no guarantee Jones would start in 2014. But of the five quarterbacks on the roster, Jones was easily the most experienced. Now Marcus Prather - a redshirt sophomore with one start under his belt - and Derik Abbott - a redshirt sophomore with a few snaps to his name - are the only players with Division I game experience. Prather and Abbott will battle for the gig along with redshirt freshmen Luke Brumbaugh and Joe Carroll.
Others who are not part of the fall roster after taking part in spring ball include DB Christopher Batts, DL Zac Bennett, H-Back Nick Sponyoe and H-Back Marty Thomas. Letter of Intent signee Gennaro Trovato is also not on the roster and we're working to find out the reason for that.
There are also a couple new names who hadn't previously been revealed, either by the team or by ColonialsCorner.
Druhv Kohli, a Moon graduate, appears to be a walk-on who will likely work in at the H-Back/TE spot. Kohli graduated from Moon in 2013, so he's listed as a sophomore. Offensive lineman Marcus Coury, a teammate of Trovato's at Quaker Valley, is also on the roster, and he'll likely be a walk-on as well. Finally, DL Justin Boyette is a graduate of North Penn High School near Philadelphia. He appears to be more of a track and field guy (shot put, et al.), but is listed at 6-foot-4 on some North Penn rosters.
There are no major number changes for veteran players, but here are the numbers for the freshmen. These are subject to change in camp. DL Justin Boyette, DB Tyler Donahue and OL Marcus Coury do not have numbers assigned just yet.
#1 - DB Cameron Sutherland
#4 - WR Jamison Williams
#10 - WR/DB Craig Thompson
#24 - RB Rameses Owens
#30 - DB Owen Nearhoof
#31 - DB Ryan Richards
#35 - DB Shane McFarland
#36 - DB Cole Blake
#40 - S Drew Hogan
#42 - TE Ben Line
#43 - TE Austin Brown
#44 - LB David Steele
#46 - LB Joseph Uhatafe
#50 - LB Gerald Ferguson
#54 - LB Kenneth Ward
#57 - LB Collier Smith
#64 - OL Steven Barnes
#66 - OL Mike Lamb
#78 - OL Mitch Morrison
#82 - WR Zach Walker
#88 - TE Dhruv Kohli
#92 - DE Collin Giesey
#94 - DL Cody Roop
#98 - DE Grant Lanza
We'll be ramping up our football coverage over the next couple of weeks. The team reports July 31 and begins practice on August 1.
As ColonialsCorner has previously reported, DB Marcelis Branch and LB Kimani Smith have been suspended and will miss the 2014 season. Also suspended are LB T.J. Waters and DE T.J. Matrascia, and they also will miss the 2014 season.
The other significant development regarding returning contributors is QB Paul Jones. The redshirt senior hurt his foot in the spring, but even if he was healthy, he won't play this fall. Jones has been ruled academically ineligible by the NCAA. John Banaszak had opened up the competition at every spot in spring, especially on offense, so there was no guarantee Jones would start in 2014. But of the five quarterbacks on the roster, Jones was easily the most experienced. Now Marcus Prather - a redshirt sophomore with one start under his belt - and Derik Abbott - a redshirt sophomore with a few snaps to his name - are the only players with Division I game experience. Prather and Abbott will battle for the gig along with redshirt freshmen Luke Brumbaugh and Joe Carroll.
Others who are not part of the fall roster after taking part in spring ball include DB Christopher Batts, DL Zac Bennett, H-Back Nick Sponyoe and H-Back Marty Thomas. Letter of Intent signee Gennaro Trovato is also not on the roster and we're working to find out the reason for that.
There are also a couple new names who hadn't previously been revealed, either by the team or by ColonialsCorner.
Druhv Kohli, a Moon graduate, appears to be a walk-on who will likely work in at the H-Back/TE spot. Kohli graduated from Moon in 2013, so he's listed as a sophomore. Offensive lineman Marcus Coury, a teammate of Trovato's at Quaker Valley, is also on the roster, and he'll likely be a walk-on as well. Finally, DL Justin Boyette is a graduate of North Penn High School near Philadelphia. He appears to be more of a track and field guy (shot put, et al.), but is listed at 6-foot-4 on some North Penn rosters.
There are no major number changes for veteran players, but here are the numbers for the freshmen. These are subject to change in camp. DL Justin Boyette, DB Tyler Donahue and OL Marcus Coury do not have numbers assigned just yet.
#1 - DB Cameron Sutherland
#4 - WR Jamison Williams
#10 - WR/DB Craig Thompson
#24 - RB Rameses Owens
#30 - DB Owen Nearhoof
#31 - DB Ryan Richards
#35 - DB Shane McFarland
#36 - DB Cole Blake
#40 - S Drew Hogan
#42 - TE Ben Line
#43 - TE Austin Brown
#44 - LB David Steele
#46 - LB Joseph Uhatafe
#50 - LB Gerald Ferguson
#54 - LB Kenneth Ward
#57 - LB Collier Smith
#64 - OL Steven Barnes
#66 - OL Mike Lamb
#78 - OL Mitch Morrison
#82 - WR Zach Walker
#88 - TE Dhruv Kohli
#92 - DE Collin Giesey
#94 - DL Cody Roop
#98 - DE Grant Lanza
We'll be ramping up our football coverage over the next couple of weeks. The team reports July 31 and begins practice on August 1.
