37 DAYS TO KICKOFF: Cody Marley

#37 Cody Marley Redshirt Junior 5-11 | 243 Denton, Texas Bio

Position: Linebacker Previous College: None Projection: Third-String Status: On Scholarship

There's a bit of a soft spot in my heart for William Cody Marley (b. Oct. 2, 1990). He wasn't one of our more heralded recruits, but he just seemed to have ... something ... that I thought would lead to him seeing the field early.

Until he suffered a season-ending injury, that is. And then followed that up with a serious illness that put him in the hospital. He lost 16 pounds the first time and 17 the second time, so he's way behind the 8-ball weight-wise.

Another reason I'm fond of the young man is because his mother has posted many times on GoPowercat.com's message board, dating back to when Marley was a recruit in high school.

That provided a rare glimpse for the common fan into the hectic whirlwind that is college football recruiting. To those who were posting on GPC at the time, Marley seems like more of a flesh-and-blood person than the average recruit.

Marley saw action in 2011 against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, but did not play in 2012 (although with a track record like that, one might expect to have seen him playing at Baylor). He's back up over 240 pounds now, though.

Given his weight regain, Marley ought to be able to break into the third string at linebacker, but I don't expect more.