This will be TL for some, so feel free to DR.
Scott Frost said this spring that there is no depth chart. I think he is an honest guy who tells it like it is. Most of the time. But just look at the Red/White game roster and tell me with a straight face that there is no depth chart. Right.
So, because I like football discussions, I offer some observations on the current depth chart. For this purpose, I am excluding the guys who aren’t yet on campus, even though looking at the depth chart, it appears to me that some of these guys (Pola-Gates, Benhart, Mills, Rahmir Johnson, Hannah) have a real opportunity to make the two deep.
To start, below is my projected two-deep depth chart. It hasn’t changed a lot. Guys who are currently hurt or not playing are in brackets.
WR-X Williams; Woodyard
LT Jaimes; Sichterman?
LG Hixson; Rairdon
C Jurgens/W. Farniok; Miller
RG Wilson; Sichterman/Forbes
RT M. Farniok; Gaylord
TE-Y [Stoll]; Allen/Rafdal
WR-Z Hunt; Warner
QB Martinez; Vedral; Bunch
RB [Washington]; Mazour; Belt/Bradley?
WR-R [Spielman]; [Robinson]; Warner/Jones
DE K. Davis; Thomas
NG Darrion Daniels/Damion Daniels/C. Davis
DE Stille/C. Davis
OLB Ferguson/Domann; Dixon
ILB Barry; [Heinrich]/Johnson
ILB Miller; [Honas]
OLB Domann/Davis; Tannor
CB Jackson; [Clark]
S Williams; Taylor?
S Dismuke; Lee
CB Bootle; Taylor
Nickel Taylor; ?
K Pickering; Lightbourn
P Armstrong; Lightbourn
LS Urbach; D. Jackson
Back-up Left Tackle. My first question is who is the backup left tackle? By my count, five offensive linemen are listed on both the red and the white roster: Rairdon, Forbes, Gaylord, W. Farniok and Sichterman. That is pretty clearly the second team offensive line (maybe along with Hunter Miller). They will start for the White team and, at some point, probably late in the first half, but no later than the second half, the starters will be done for the day and the second team line will move to red. But I only see one tackle—Gaylord. We have been told Sichterman is working only at guard, Rairdon and Forbes are guards, and W. Farniok is a center and I think currently co-number 1 with Jurgens, but since Jurgens is not on both teams, I presume he is ahead right now (and they could be limiting his workload to protect him from injury). So, I listed Sichterman as a tackle since he played there before. But I honestly have no idea. I’m on record as saying I don’t think true Freshman are ready to play offensive and defensive line. But Bryce Benhart, come on down—an opportunity awaits.
Wide Receiver. The rosters are very interesting, and if I were McQuitty, I’d be pretty troubled. The red team has the following guys: Nance, Hunt, Williams, Warner, Woodyard, Todd Honas and only one guy, Thurman, who has a number between 20 and 79. Throw in Spielman and Robinson to this list as they have been working in the rotation with the top unit when healthy. That looks like the top guys.
The white roster is McQuitty, Folkers, Banker, Robbins, Holm, Chaffin, and Liewer. Five of those guys have numbers between 20 and 79. I know you can wear any number you want, but how many receivers have we had start that wore numbers like that? Add to that the fact that the white quarterbacks are Bunch (who still might transfer), Masker, and McCaffrey (listed on both teams and highly likely to redshirt, even though with any luck he will play in a handful of games), and it strikes me that McQuitty either really needs to get it into gear like Ozigbo last year, or he is likely done. Has Nance already passed McQuitty? Chase and Houston show up in a few months.
I have listed Spielman has the number 1 Duck R with Robinson second. I really believe that we will often see them on the field at the same time, with Spielman playing Z or even X some as we try to move him around to avoid double coverage, and Robinson playing R (or even RB, especially if Washington is not available). I find it interesting that Miles Jones is only on the white team (like McQuitty and Bradley who I think are in danger of losing their place), but I think that is more a feature of a very thin running back room—I hope/expect Jones to contribute at R as well and think Saturday is a great opportunity for him to make a statement.
Running Back. We have been told, and we all know, that the running back room is really thin. But the spring roster makes it crystal clear. Without Washington we lack playmakers. Mazour can contribute, but I don’t think he has the kind of talent Frost and Held want in their starter. It appears to me that Brody Belt is beating out Jaylin Bradley based on coaching comments and the roster. Saturday may be Bradley’s last chance. We need one or both of Mills and Rahmir Johnson to come in and contribute right away. I like Thompkins too, but still think he is better served with a redshirt year to heal. This looks pretty dire right now if Washington is not available in the fall, for whatever reason. Looking at this, I feel much better about finding a replacement for Stanley Morgan than I do for Devine Ozigbo.
Inside Linebacker. Well RSS, can any of you play inside linebacker? Do you have eligibility left? Because it sure looks like we need help. Other than Barry and Miller, 3 of the 4 other ILBs are listed on both rosters. We need to hope that Will Honas is healing nicely. Losing Heinrich hurts, but given his size and injury history, a redshirt year is probably a good thing. I’m looking forward to seeing Joey Johnson because I’ve heard some good things, and it’s not clear to me whether Heinrich was ahead of him or not. Johnson is listed for both red and white and he will be one of the players I am watching most closely. I sure hope Jackson Hannah is the real deal and arrives on campus ready to help out too. I’m not sure he is going to have the luxury of taking a redshirt year-kind of like Caleb Tannor last year.
Outside Linebacker. I think right now we have a three-man situational rotation of Ferguson, Domann and Davis—three starters for two positions if you will. Davis is the surprise. Dixon is on the red team and I am going to hope that the light is coming on for him in the classroom and with his effort. He is another guy I’m watching closely. It is too bad Tannor is not healthy so we can see how he is progressing.
Safety. This looks thin to me too. I can see why they have moved Lee to safety and are playing Cam Taylor there as well. I was very excited to get Cam Jones, but by all appearances he is screwing up his opportunity. Come on young man, get it together in the classroom! We need your talents on the field. Clearly CJ Smith isn’t anywhere close to being healthy. Which makes it interesting to me that they are talking about starting Pola-Gates and Farmer out at CB. Safety must be much more complicated to learn in our system then CB. That is the only way I can really see moving Lee to safety, having Taylor learn the position too and having Pola-Gates at CB.
The red/white game is really only one more practice. But it’s a lot of fun, right? I’m glad our coach says we are “going to play football”.
Scott Frost said this spring that there is no depth chart. I think he is an honest guy who tells it like it is. Most of the time. But just look at the Red/White game roster and tell me with a straight face that there is no depth chart. Right.
So, because I like football discussions, I offer some observations on the current depth chart. For this purpose, I am excluding the guys who aren’t yet on campus, even though looking at the depth chart, it appears to me that some of these guys (Pola-Gates, Benhart, Mills, Rahmir Johnson, Hannah) have a real opportunity to make the two deep.
To start, below is my projected two-deep depth chart. It hasn’t changed a lot. Guys who are currently hurt or not playing are in brackets.
WR-X Williams; Woodyard
LT Jaimes; Sichterman?
LG Hixson; Rairdon
C Jurgens/W. Farniok; Miller
RG Wilson; Sichterman/Forbes
RT M. Farniok; Gaylord
TE-Y [Stoll]; Allen/Rafdal
WR-Z Hunt; Warner
QB Martinez; Vedral; Bunch
RB [Washington]; Mazour; Belt/Bradley?
WR-R [Spielman]; [Robinson]; Warner/Jones
DE K. Davis; Thomas
NG Darrion Daniels/Damion Daniels/C. Davis
DE Stille/C. Davis
OLB Ferguson/Domann; Dixon
ILB Barry; [Heinrich]/Johnson
ILB Miller; [Honas]
OLB Domann/Davis; Tannor
CB Jackson; [Clark]
S Williams; Taylor?
S Dismuke; Lee
CB Bootle; Taylor
Nickel Taylor; ?
K Pickering; Lightbourn
P Armstrong; Lightbourn
LS Urbach; D. Jackson
Back-up Left Tackle. My first question is who is the backup left tackle? By my count, five offensive linemen are listed on both the red and the white roster: Rairdon, Forbes, Gaylord, W. Farniok and Sichterman. That is pretty clearly the second team offensive line (maybe along with Hunter Miller). They will start for the White team and, at some point, probably late in the first half, but no later than the second half, the starters will be done for the day and the second team line will move to red. But I only see one tackle—Gaylord. We have been told Sichterman is working only at guard, Rairdon and Forbes are guards, and W. Farniok is a center and I think currently co-number 1 with Jurgens, but since Jurgens is not on both teams, I presume he is ahead right now (and they could be limiting his workload to protect him from injury). So, I listed Sichterman as a tackle since he played there before. But I honestly have no idea. I’m on record as saying I don’t think true Freshman are ready to play offensive and defensive line. But Bryce Benhart, come on down—an opportunity awaits.
Wide Receiver. The rosters are very interesting, and if I were McQuitty, I’d be pretty troubled. The red team has the following guys: Nance, Hunt, Williams, Warner, Woodyard, Todd Honas and only one guy, Thurman, who has a number between 20 and 79. Throw in Spielman and Robinson to this list as they have been working in the rotation with the top unit when healthy. That looks like the top guys.
The white roster is McQuitty, Folkers, Banker, Robbins, Holm, Chaffin, and Liewer. Five of those guys have numbers between 20 and 79. I know you can wear any number you want, but how many receivers have we had start that wore numbers like that? Add to that the fact that the white quarterbacks are Bunch (who still might transfer), Masker, and McCaffrey (listed on both teams and highly likely to redshirt, even though with any luck he will play in a handful of games), and it strikes me that McQuitty either really needs to get it into gear like Ozigbo last year, or he is likely done. Has Nance already passed McQuitty? Chase and Houston show up in a few months.
I have listed Spielman has the number 1 Duck R with Robinson second. I really believe that we will often see them on the field at the same time, with Spielman playing Z or even X some as we try to move him around to avoid double coverage, and Robinson playing R (or even RB, especially if Washington is not available). I find it interesting that Miles Jones is only on the white team (like McQuitty and Bradley who I think are in danger of losing their place), but I think that is more a feature of a very thin running back room—I hope/expect Jones to contribute at R as well and think Saturday is a great opportunity for him to make a statement.
Running Back. We have been told, and we all know, that the running back room is really thin. But the spring roster makes it crystal clear. Without Washington we lack playmakers. Mazour can contribute, but I don’t think he has the kind of talent Frost and Held want in their starter. It appears to me that Brody Belt is beating out Jaylin Bradley based on coaching comments and the roster. Saturday may be Bradley’s last chance. We need one or both of Mills and Rahmir Johnson to come in and contribute right away. I like Thompkins too, but still think he is better served with a redshirt year to heal. This looks pretty dire right now if Washington is not available in the fall, for whatever reason. Looking at this, I feel much better about finding a replacement for Stanley Morgan than I do for Devine Ozigbo.
Inside Linebacker. Well RSS, can any of you play inside linebacker? Do you have eligibility left? Because it sure looks like we need help. Other than Barry and Miller, 3 of the 4 other ILBs are listed on both rosters. We need to hope that Will Honas is healing nicely. Losing Heinrich hurts, but given his size and injury history, a redshirt year is probably a good thing. I’m looking forward to seeing Joey Johnson because I’ve heard some good things, and it’s not clear to me whether Heinrich was ahead of him or not. Johnson is listed for both red and white and he will be one of the players I am watching most closely. I sure hope Jackson Hannah is the real deal and arrives on campus ready to help out too. I’m not sure he is going to have the luxury of taking a redshirt year-kind of like Caleb Tannor last year.
Outside Linebacker. I think right now we have a three-man situational rotation of Ferguson, Domann and Davis—three starters for two positions if you will. Davis is the surprise. Dixon is on the red team and I am going to hope that the light is coming on for him in the classroom and with his effort. He is another guy I’m watching closely. It is too bad Tannor is not healthy so we can see how he is progressing.
Safety. This looks thin to me too. I can see why they have moved Lee to safety and are playing Cam Taylor there as well. I was very excited to get Cam Jones, but by all appearances he is screwing up his opportunity. Come on young man, get it together in the classroom! We need your talents on the field. Clearly CJ Smith isn’t anywhere close to being healthy. Which makes it interesting to me that they are talking about starting Pola-Gates and Farmer out at CB. Safety must be much more complicated to learn in our system then CB. That is the only way I can really see moving Lee to safety, having Taylor learn the position too and having Pola-Gates at CB.
The red/white game is really only one more practice. But it’s a lot of fun, right? I’m glad our coach says we are “going to play football”.
