Jersey numbers

[DallasDiehard]

Who knows whether the jerseys assigned to players will remain the ones they play in in the fall. But from what I can find out, here's some returning players who have changed numbers, and the numbers assigned to the new guys.

Johnnie Fitzgerald has switched not only from RB to OLB, but he's switched from 25 to 43. And it looks better. 43 is a legitimate college LB number.

Charles Akinyemi has switched from 10 to 12, and to be honest, I'm not crazy about the switch. The people I've talked to have said he's looked sensational at practice in the first week, but 12 doesn't work for me on a CB. 10 was OK - going with the slightly edgy, low number works - especially for a speed guy. 12 should be kept to QBs and PKs. There's no rhyme or reason for this (11 or 13 would have been OK, I guess - but not 12. Don't ask why.)

Foy Munlin has switched from 40 to 32. He looked good standing on the sideline in 40. But 32 is perhaps the most celebrated RB number there is, and following a great RB like Kincade .... maybe there's some yardage left in that thing.

Duke Hassan has moved from 9 to 14. And I'm told he's also playing WR, but I haven't been able to confirm that.

Cory Muse has switched from 88 to 11. I absolutely love this. In 88, he looked like a guy who still might play TE, or he might stay at LB. You don't see a TE wearing a number below 40 most of the time. But linebackers have done it before, and it looks great. They're generally fast and nasty, and Muse is really fast. And I hear he's added 25 pounds or something, so the nastiness possibility is there.

As for the new guys:

Devin Lowery is wearing 3, which guarantees a successful career, right? Before him, there was the great Jonas Rutledge. Before him, there was the great Jacoby Rhinehart. Maybe we should start calling him the great Devin Lowery.

Tony Eckert is wearing 4. Now, when I think of QBs wearing 4, I automatically think the guy should be a little heavy, always unshaven and talk a little weird. But Eckert isn't as thick as Brett Favre. I don't know if he shaves, and I don't know what he sounds like. So initially, I'm not too wild about this number. However .... upon further review .... he's been talked about (during recruiting and by coaches) as a "gunslinger," whatever that means. If that means he's going to scramble around and make plays out of nothing and throw for 4,000 yards a year and throw for so many touchdowns that the receivers start jumping into the stands, then he can have 4 tattooed directly on his back for all I care. This one gets to stay for a while (according to my official jersey ruling....)

Jerad Romo is wearing 9. And in the mugshot in the PF.com Recruiting Roundup, he has sort of a Jim McMahon haircut. So although he's a lefty, he could pull this off. He needs to start wearing sunglasses (he's from California - maybe he already does) everywhere he goes, and he needs to start playing the biggest of games with WAC commissioner Karl Benson's name written on his sweatband.

Bobby Chase is wearing 82. Perfect. This will be the key to his effectiveness. 82 is a number that can go back and forth between WRs and TEs, and that lack of decisiveness is just what we want here. Teams will look at him, see him as a WR and then he'll eat up the small DBs assigned to cover him. Or they'll look at the number and how big he is and treat him like a TE .... and then he'll blaze right past the LB assigned to cover him.

There will be further analysis when the freshmen arrive in August.

[Mickey]

Johnnie Fitzgerald is 2nd team SS behind Jamey Harper. You are correct on the #43.

Ryan Rowland is #9, and he is left handed. Romo is #13 and is left handed as well.

[Corso]

The coaches have said Fitz is playing LB.
Or has he moved to SS since that was reported?

[MrMustang1965]

The only numbers that matter to me are the ones etched in the "W" column. All of the Mustangs could be wearing fractions or Roman numerals on their jerseys this fall, for all I care, as long as they're WINNING! GO MUSTANGS!!!