Boise State numerical roster countdown 2015: Day 97, Austin Silsby

We have just 97 days until the ultra-rare kickoff on The Blue™, so today we'll be highlighting the player that currently wears #97 on the Boise State roster—Austin Silsby

#97, Austin Silsby, Sophomore, DE

Stats

Height: 6'3"

Weight: 244 lbs.

High School: Kuna High School, Kuna, ID

How'd he get to The Blue™?

By making the trek from the Kuna desert to Albertsons Stadium. Silsby was a standout athlete at Kuna High School, playing for coaching vagabond Lee Leslie, earning 3 varsity letters in football and 4 in wrestling. Silsby led his team in tackles as a senior (69) from the outside linebacker position and for his efforts was named second team All-SIC and snagged an invite to the Shrine All-Star game.

Nickname

"Kaptain Kaveman"

The "Kuna Kid" seemed too boring.

Look-a-like

Channing Tatum when he had "bro" hair

Career highlights

Won 3 letters at Kuna High School, culminating with a 2nd team All-SIC selection as a senior. Played outside linebacker for Kavemen as a senior and led team in tackles with 69. Accomplished wrestler, earning 3rd place at the state championships as a senior.

2015 prospectus

I haven't really heard much about Silsby's progression, so any guesses about his place on the depth chart is just that—a guess. I do know this, however...Boise State's DE rotation is rather less robust than that of the interior D-line and that could bode well for a youngster looking to get his feet wet. Obviously, DE wunderkind Kamalei Correa will be the headliner on the outside...but behind him the starters and rotations get a bit more unclear. Beau Martin's graduation and Mat Boesen's dismissal do leave a few voids that need filling (although Boesen didn't play during the end of the '14 campaign anyway). I think that Correa, Tyler Horn (if he moves outside), Sam McCaskill and Gabe Perez are the likely "top four" and I have a hunch that Kaleb Hill and Jabril Frazier will be hard to keep off the field after redshirting a season ago. After that, it's anyone's guess and I don't see why Silsby couldn't fall into that "third wave" with the likes of Rondell McNair (who came on strong at the end of '14) or Durrant Miles (who may be rusty after a 2 year mission, but has a lot of upside).

My honest takeaway here is that we aren't quite as deep at the DE position as we appear to be at DT and I think Boise State will have to be creative and really focus on the "STUD" types this year with the lighter, more nimble DEs. I trust Steve Caldwell to get the entire unit performing at a high level, but going into the season, we have just one superstar at the position and several other role players that could develop into mini Correas if they keep their noses to the grindstone.

Is he on Twitter?

Reasonably sure that he is not.

Completely made up fact

A lot of people are named after cities and Silsby is no different. His parents happened to be watching Austin City Limits on PBS one night when Lyle Lovett totally KILLED IT.