My theory is the same as wfufb2014. Maybe the most recent offers are backup plans for key targets? On one hand it would seem strange to give someone an offer and then tell them they need to hold off on committing. On the other hand, it’s notable that none of the new offers were immediately accepted the way Alex Bachman, Christian Matthew and Andrew Rector did last year. I could be wrong, and we may see some commits in the next few days. But if I’m right, it might look like this:
Slot Receiver: 1 spot
Plan A: Moe Neal (7 other P5 offers)
Plan B: Greg Dortch (no other P5 offers)
Offensive Line: 1 spot
Plan A: Tremayne Anchrum (12 other P5 offers)
Plan B: Tyler Watson (no other P5 offers)
Defensive Tackle: 1 spot
Plan A: Sulaiman Kamara (6 other P5 offers)
Plan B: Jordan Jackson (not offered yet)
Safety: 1 spot
Plan A: Traveon Redd (6 other P5 offers)
Plan B: DeAndre Delaney or Lukas Masterson (both have no other P5 offers)
Cornerback: 1 spot
Plan A: Sir Patrick Scott (12 other P5 offers)
Plan B: Brandon Moore (no other P5 offers)
Note: I wouldn’t be surprised to see an LB offered soon. If that happens, then you might assume there is a spot for an LB and maybe not for a CB or DT.
Additional Note: There may not be a long wait with some of these. We will know soon whether Redd, Neal and possibly Scott are committing elsewhere. The staff may know even sooner than we do.
This scenario would require 5 more scholarships. It would also still require additional scholarships to be made available if we were to land Elysee Mbem-Bosse, Jordon Brown or Larry Collins. But assuming 5 more scholarships, I agree with DeacsOrDie that greyshirts would probably have to be part of the equation. Clawson has already acknowledged the possibility, and said that the staff would have that agreement with the recruit upfront (in other words, no Matt Colburn situations). So it could look like this:
9 current openings
6 early graduations
2 greyshirts
That would still leave Wake 3 over the scholarship limit. That could be solved by attrition between now and June 2016. That seems reasonable. This year we lost DaiQuan Lawrence, Tyler Henderson and Bo Archibald. Or by recruits flipping before NSD. If neither of those things happen, the staff would probably be in a position where they would have to deny more seniors a fifth year. Or maybe they have an understanding with a player like former walk-on Grant Dawson where he wouldn’t necessarily be guaranteed a scholarship every year.
This might seem like risky business, but if you don’t manage scholarships this way you are pretty much guaranteeing that you won’t fully utilize all 85 scholarships. This year Wake gave 2 scholarships to former walk-ons and took 2 post-grads and are STILL only using 83 spots. I think Wake could be more aggressive with their roster management.
With that being said, I am not really a fan of greyshirting. It is an odd approach. Kind of like saying that you think that your lowest rated recruit in the current year will be better than your highest rated recruit next year.