Ngalu Tapa, Romello Harris, Amosa Sakaria all leave team

We are just 38 days from WSU’s opener against the Montana St. Bobcats but some scholarships have opened up on the roster. Cougfan.com confirmed through the school today that nose tackle Ngalu Tapa, running back Romello Harris and offensive lineman Amosa Sakaria have left the team.

Tapa’s departure shouldn’t come as too big of a surprise; he was, as Mike Leach said, "diligently working on his academics", and missed spring practices as a result.

Tapa’s departure does leave the Cougs with a pretty large problem up front (no pun intended). Though he had trouble being in good enough shape to be on the field for too long, Tapa was the team’s only remaining true nose tackle on the roster following Robert Barber’s graduation. Daniel Ekuale is the likely candidate to slide over and take that spot but after this season ... boy, WSU is going to have a problem. Kingston Fernandez or Hunter Mattox might be able to fill that void but calling it a difficult spot to be in would be an understatement.

For Harris and Sakaria, this is a hit to the depth chart and not too much more. As near as I can tell, neither played an offensive snap in 2016 and with plenty of depth at both positions, the Cougs should be just fine.

We wish Tapa, Harris, and Sakraia all the best wherever their academic and football paths take them!