Marcel Frost suspended for 2006 season

Starting Tight End Marcel Frost has been suspended from the team for the entire season for a violation of team rules. Although it is not specified what rules he broke, they must have been pretty serious considering he will be missing a whole season, and Alex Boone probably won't miss a single game for a DUI.

This is a pretty big blow to our offense, but I feel it is one that can easily be overcome. The starting Tight End spot was down to Frost and Rory Nicol, but even if Frost had lost out, his pass catching abilities were superior to that of Nicol's, and he probably would have seen plenty of action in big games, especially in passing situations where the defense would be so focused on Smith/Ginn/Gonzalez that Frost could get a favorable matchup and get a big gain.

But now, the question is, who will replace Frost? The likely answer will probably be sophomore Brandon Smith, but I feel a better replacement for Frost would be our starting fullback, Stan White Jr. White has plenty of experience playing tight end, and saw a lot of time there last season, seeing how our newfound spread offense doesn't really require a fullback. White is a good pass-catcher, similar to Frost, but what I like about this move is that it could put Dionte Johnson in at fullback in the short-yardage situations that require a jumbo set. Johnson is probably the best lead blocker on the team at this point, and having both him and Stan White in the game (not to mention, Rory Nicol and Chris Wells/Antonio Pittman), could open things up tremendously on play action fakes.

If it isn't White to replace the void left by Frost, it will most likely be either Smith, or one of two true freshmen, Andy Miller or Jake Ballard.

Although this blow hurts us offensively, it is still one that can easily be overcome without our offense missing a beat.