The Nebraska football team saw some of the bigger casualties of the upcoming roster crunch arrive on Wednesday as Alante Brown and Hunter Johnson depart.
The Nebraska football team was likely always going to be losing some names that Husker fans knew. Considering the roster is still around 100 and needs to get down to 86 before the season starts next fall, there are going to be some players that are shed in the next couple of months.
Having said that Alante Brown being the latest player to go is more than a little surprising. He is after all, one of the receivers that seemed to be showing some growth over his short career in Lincoln. He also looked like he might be one of those guys who would benefit from a competent coaching staff in 2023. But at least for now, Brown is no longer on the roster.
Brown had the third most catches of any Nebraska football player in 2022 and finished the campaign with 16 receptions for 191 yards. At the moment, it’s not known why he’s decided to leave the Huskers, especially after sticking around during the period of time when so many others decided it was time to move on.
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The same could be said of offensive lineman Hunter Anthony. The transfer from Oklahoma State was quite heralded when he arrived in Lincoln last year. He was considered a pretty big get for the revamped Scott Frost regime, especially considering the struggles of the offensive line the last few years.
In 2023, he appeared in 11 games on the offensive line and as part of the program’s special teams. He only had one start, against the Purdue Boilermakers. Considering the lack of depth at offensive line, it’s possible that Anthony’s departure is even more surprising than Brown’s.
Nebraska Football: Alante Brown, Hunter Anthony the first casualties of roster crunch
At least the Nebraska football team’s wide receiver room has quite a few bodies that can try and step up and replace Brown’s production.
There’s a couple of different takes from the moves on Wednesday. The first is that neither Brown or Anthony are anywhere close to the last names that will show up as suddenly no longer being a part of the program. It seems as we get closer to spring practice, that there will be quite a few other names popping up.
It’s also been reported that the door hasn’t closed entirely on either player. It’s said especially that should Alante Brown want to come back to Nebraska football, the door would absolutely be open.