The Nebraska football team lost its third player in two days, just over a week before the new season kicks off.
Linebacker Avery Roberts is no longer with the Nebraska football team. A university spokesman confirmed the departure on Wednesday afternoon.
Roberts becomes the third Cornhusker player that has left the team this week. Roberts is the second of the two who have left because he didn’t like his spot on the depth chart.
The other, Jalin Barrett has retired from football entirely because of several concussions he’s suffered in recent months. Roberts, like Will Jackson yesterday, seemed to have this decision foreshadowed by his position coach.
For those asking, Avery Roberts and Will Jackson count against the scholarship limit until December. That's two less scholarships you can give to a walk-on.
— Sam McKewon (@swmckewonOWH) August 22, 2018
As the Journal Star reports, linebacker coach Barrett Ruud felt Roberts was going to struggle in order to crack the starting lineup anytime soon.
“He’s got to get in shape and he’s got to get his movements a lot better,” Ruud said earlier this spring. “He’s a smart kid and he’s worked hard at it, but his movements aren’t where they need to be and his conditioning’s not where it needs to be, so the summer’s going to be huge for him. I think he needs to lose a little bit of weight and I think he needs to really, really buy in to what Coach (Zachary) Duval wants him to do this summer.”
It appears that Roberts was unwilling, or unable to do what the coaching staff was asking him to do. Colin Miller has moved from the outside to inside linebacker and immediately bumped Roberts out of a starting spot.
Avery Roberts was a big recruiting get for Mike Riley and company. He was good enough that he played in a few games last year as a true freshman.
The player was the top-ranked player in the state of Delaware for the 2017 class. He was also the 8th rated inside linebacker in the entire class.
Despite the promise and talent, he had just four tackles last year. Now he’ll be looking to move on from the Nebraska football team and find a new home.