One Less Day Til Football Season, No. 47, Troy Sheppard

I bought an album today, because Nas is too good at rapping not to have my money. Life is Good came out today, and on first listen, it's pretty damn good. Creative minds should go through divorce lawsuits more often.

No. 47, Troy Sheppard, cornerback, freshman

Who he be: Troy is a walk-on corner from Providence Catholic, where Patrick Ward went to high school. He wasn't recruited heavily out of high school, but he has a Rivals page, so he wasn't unrecruited either. He was defensive team MVP! To be honest, I don't understand recruiting and have no intentions of trying, but it always seems like these walkon dudes have really good stats when I read their bios. Does everybody have good stats in high school? Does anybody play for teams that are just awful? WHY DIDN'T MATT SARACEN OR TIM RIGGINS GET A SCHOLARSHIP, I guess is my point.

Dearly Departed: Ricky Weina was the most recent wearer of No. 47, graduating last year after making spot appearances at cornerback over the last three seasons. Despite stars in Sherrick McManis and Jordan Mabin, the cornerback spot has lacked depth for NU recently, and Weina filled in without horrendous errors on multiple occasions. He will forever be remembered for blocking a punt against Indiana that led to a safety, for starting a single game against Penn State and for me hoping in vein that his last name is pronounced like it rhymes with "hyena".

Looking forward: Sheppard can hope to earn a schollie and contribute at the corner spot like Weina before him! But for now, he's just a walk-on true freshman, making him pretty unlikely to contribute.