The Dedrick Mills saga might finally come to an end this week. Yes, Nebraska football fans have heard that before. It's been quite the wild ride trying to see if the JUCO transfer would actually make it to Memorial Stadium. The difference here is that it's no longer a matter of taking Mills at his word. This time around, the Huskers and their coaching staff have something they can review and make the final decision.

Grades are in

After telling the media that he expected to be a member of the Nebraska football team "by the end of the month" (Early May), it looks like his prognostication was accurate.

This weekend, the Cornhuskers officially got his final grades and transcript.

While the school has not said that what he managed to make the grades he needed, there hasn't been an indication from the school that he didn't. That's good enough for most when it comes to this kind of situation. It would also be rather odd for Mills to turn over his grades and his transcript and claim they were good enough to get him to Lincoln if they weren't.

There isn't a reason to lie at this point. If he's not making it, people are going to be finding out relatively soon. If the running back thought he wasn't going to be a member of the Nebraska football team, it would be better for him to start looking at other options.

Dedrick Mills told the Omaha World-Herald outright that “I have the grades I needed” for NCAA eligibility. There's always a tightrope to walk when it comes to this kind of thing. Mills had already graduated from Gardy City Community College. He needed to take a class after graduation in order to boost that GPA. He thinks he did what he needed to do, now the rest of Husker nation will just hold its breath and hope he's got it right.

Mills is a need

The Nebraska football team has a need at running back this coming season. With the question marks surrounding Maurice Washington, there are quite a few question marks in the backfield. At the moment, the starting spot is indeed Washington's to lose.

That's not necessarily a good thing no matter what happens with Washington's case at this point.

Washington had very little practice time this spring because of his legal issues. If, for whatever reason Washington isn't going to be able to start the season, or practice with the team in August, the starting spot will likely be a competition with true freshman Rahmir Johnson leading the way. That's why Dedrick Mills' arrival on the Nebraska football team is quite important in terms of having someone on the roster who actually has college experience. The fact that he's got experience running in the ACC means that he could grab that starting spot should he indeed get to campus, maybe by Tuesday.