The biggest worry of Nebraska football fans so far this spring is apparently not a concern anymore. Anthony Grant returned to practice ending what a short team suspension for violating rules that appear to have to do with his grades and other internal issues was.
New Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule announced that Grant was suspended from the team on the first day of spring practice. However, he also made it clear that he didn’t think the leading rusher from 2022 was going to be out all that long. It turns out he was right. Grant wasn’t gone for an entire week.
Grant reportedly came back to practice on Saturday, just a few days after defensive back/ wide receiver Tommi Hill also apparently finished off his suspension. That means that the entirety of the Nebraska football team that wasn’t hurt coming into the spring is now practicing with Rhule and his coaching staff. That’s obviously good news.
Grant’s return does open up a number of questions. Chief among those questions is just what will the role of Grant be this spring and for the future of Nebraska football. While Grant was one of the best running backs in the Big Ten last year, he wasn’t without reason for criticism. More than a few commentators and Husker fans pointed out that there were times when he seemed to be looking to get extra yards before he had the first one.
Grant was clearly a shifty runner but didn’t hit the hole right in front of him at times because he was hoping a hole that would provide more yards would open up. It’s possible that he would have lost playing time as the season went on to Ajay Allen and Gabe Ervins if Allen especially hadn’t suffered a season-ending injury in the contest against Oklahoma.
Having said that, Anthony Grant ran for 916 yards and six touchdowns last year for an offense that had plenty of problems getting yards and points. His return to the team isn’t anything other than a positive.