Dan Hinxman

RGJ

The most intriguing position heading into spring camp for the Nevada football team is offensive line, which struggled last season following the unexpected loss of six eligible players after the 2012 season.

But closing in fast at No. 2 is wide receiver, a position that didn't appear to be a concern when last season ended.

Aaron Bradley, a two-year starter at wide receiver who was expected to battle for the No. 1 receiver position in the fall, has left the team following a team violation, second-year coach Brian Polian said Tuesday.

Bradley, who would have been a senior, is expected to graduate in May, which would allow him to transfer to another FBS program and play right away. Polian said Bradley, who had 40 catches for 474 yards and two touchdowns in 2013, chose to transfer rather than having to serve any team suspension in the fall.

Also, receiver Nigel Westbrooks, who would have been a senior, was dismissed from the team for multiple rules violations, Polian said. Westbrooks did not catch a pass last season, but likely would have contributed to the depth in 2014.

"Wide receiver depth obviously took a hit," said Polian, who opens spring camp at 6:30 p.m. today at Wolf Pack Park (closed to the public).

Senior Richy Turner, who was second on the team with 61 receptions (for 755 yards and four TDs) behind Brandon Wimberly's 97, will enter camp as the team's top receiver, and sophomore-to-be Hasaan Henderson is coming off a freshman season in which he showed great potential, but there is little experience behind those two.

Sophomore Jerico Richardson is expected to see more playing time, and speedster Andre Fuller is coming off of his redshirt freshman year.

"He's got a chance to be an impact player," Polian said of Richardson.

Julian Brooks has been moved from safety to wide receiver to provide more depth, as well.

True freshmen Drew Celis and Wyatt Demps come in in the fall, and while Polian said he was more concerned now with spring ball, he conceded that the loss of Bradley and Westbrooks could lead to an opportunity for at least one of the true freshmen to play right away.

"My mind hasn't shifted there yet," Polian said. "It's on the here and now."

The here and now will include two returning starting offensive linemen who either won't take part in spring drills or will be very limited — senior center Matt Galas and junior guard/tackle Connor Talbott. Polian said Galas has a chronic knee injury and will be limited, and Talbott is coming off ankle surgery after the 2013 season ended and won't practice.

The only returning starting linemen who will take part in the spring is senior tackle Kyle Roberts and sophomore guard Jeremy Macauley, who was a part-time starter.

"There's a lot of new faces on the offensive line," Polian said. "We've got to develop some chemistry."

Fortunately for Polian, three of the five mid-year transfers and signees are offensive linemen — Humberto Lopez, Chad Specht and Daren Echeveria. Polian said of those three Lopez is most likely to be the most ready to play. The other two are almost like freshmen because of their lack of experience.

One offensive lineman Polian is eager to see is Austin Corbett, like Roberts is a Reed graduate, who weighed in at 242 pounds when camp opened last fall. The coaches have liked Corbett, now a redshirt freshman, and he's up to 290 pounds.

"I'm very anxious to see how Austin Corbett looks," Polian said. "In the offseason, his body changed so much."

Polian, whose team went 4-8 in his first season, said the biggest thing he wants to see this spring is focus and attention to detail. He pointed to two games last season — close losses to San Diego State and UNLV — in which late-game penalties and mistakes proved costly.

"The most important thing to me is we need to be a fundamentally better team from practice one to practice 15," he said, referring to the annual Silver and Blue scrimmage on April 26 at Mackay Stadium. "I'm not overly concerned with how much installation goes in. We've got to get better at blocking, tackling and block construction."

Polian said he was also eager to see Duran Workman, a mid-year transfer at safety. The Wolf Pack is fairly thin at safety and needs Workman to have an impact.

The Wolf Pack played 18 freshmen last season, and there are others who redshirted who bring a lot of potential.

"I'm very excited and very optimistic," he said. "People can choose to look one way or the other, and I choose to look at it from a very positive, optimistic point of view. We're going to be young, especially on the offensive line. There's no way around that. And we're young at defensive back. But we're young with experience. The beauty of playing 18 freshmen last year is they become sophomores and then juniors and seniors."

In other news as the team enters camp:

Bryan Lane Jr., who has played both outside linebacker and safety, is solidly at linebacker. Polian said Jonathan McNeal, Jordan Dobrich and Matthew Lyons are all in the mix at middle linebacker.

Offensive lineman Zach Brickell has been moved to the defensive line.

Frank Schnicker, a redshirt freshman defensive back, has left the team for personal reasons.

WOLF PACK FOOTBALL

Spring Camp

Nevada will conduct 15 practices over three weeks at Wolf Pack Park, Mackay Stadium and area high schools. The only practices open to the public are at Carson High on April 12, at Manogue High on April 19 and the Silver and Blue Scrimmage at Mackay Stadium on April 26. There is no cost to attend scrimmages.