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The fourth official depth chart for the 2014 season was unveiled today. Have a look:
WILDCAT OFFENSE | ||||||||
POSITION | NO. | PLAYER | NO. | PLAYER | NO. | PLAYER | ||
Wide Receiver | 16 | Tyler Lockett | 7 | Judah Jones | 13 | Steven West | ||
Left Tackle | 55 | Cody Whitehair | 76 | Ajhane Brager | 64 | Aaron Bennett | ||
Left Guard | 77 | Boston Stiverson | 70 | Will Ash | 67 | Reid Najvar | ||
Center | 66 | B.J. Finney | 69 | Reed Bergstrom | 71 | Dalton Risner | ||
Right Guard | 68 | Luke Hayes | 61 | Drew Liddle | 74 | Kason Hostrup | ||
Right Tackle | 65 | Matt Kleinsorge | 64 | Aaron Bennett | 75 | A.J. Allen | ||
Tight End | 85 | Zach Trujillo | 89 | Zach Nemechek | 88 | Dayton Valentine | ||
Quarterback | 15 | Jake Waters | 8 | Joe Hubener | 17 | Jesse Ertz | ||
Fullback | 48 | Glenn Gronkowski | 89 | Zach Nemechek | 34 | Adam Weber | ||
Running Back | 20 | DeMarcus Robinson | 24 | Charles Jones | 28 | Jarvis Leverett Jr. | ||
Wide Receiver (Slot) | 14 | Curry Sexton | 2 |
Andre Davis | 12 | Stanton Weber | ||
Wide Receiver | 6 | Deante Burton | 19 | Kody Cook | 31 | Taylor Hilgers | ||
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WILDCAT DEFENSE | ||||||||
POSITION | NO. | PLAYER | NO. | PLAYER | NO. | PLAYER | ||
Defensive End | 44 | Ryan Mueller | 90 | Laton Dowling | 34 | Tanner Wood | ||
Defensive Tackle | 99 | Valentino Coleman | 60 | Will Geary | 97 | Demonte Hood | ||
Defensive Tackle | 95 | Travis Britz | 91 | DeAndre Roberts | 92 | Matt Seiwert | ||
Defensive End | 75 | Jordan Willis | 45 | Marquel Bryant | 9 | Taylor Godinet | ||
Strongside Linebacker | 52 | Charmeachealle Moore | 9 | Elijah Lee | 47 | Myles Copeland | ||
Middle Linebacker | 21 | Jonathan Truman | 58 | Trent Tanking | 3 | D'Vonta Derricott | ||
Weakside Linebacker | 32 | Dakorey Johnson | 35 | Will Davis | 6 | Isaiah Riddle | ||
Nickel Back (Cat Safety) | 15 | Randall Evans | 10 | Donnie Starks | 28 | Nate Guidry Jr. | ||
Cornerback | 33 | Morgan Burns | 23 | Cre Moore | 30 | Corey Jackson | ||
Strong Safety | 22 | Dante Barnett | 20 | Dylan Schellenberg | 29 | Sean Newlan | ||
Free Safety | 2 | Travis Green | 4 | Kaleb Prewett | 17 | Weston Hiebert | ||
Cornerback | 7 | Danzel McDaniel | 24 | Nate Jackson | 13 | Jesse Mack | ||
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WILDCAT SPECIAL TEAMS | ||||||||
POSITION | NO. | PLAYER | NO. | PLAYER | NO. | PLAYER | ||
Place-Kicker | 3 | Jack Cantele | OR | 16 | Matthew McCrane | 40 | Ian Patterson | |
Punter | 14 | Nick Walsh | 9 | Mitch Lochbihler | 40 | Ian Patterson | ||
Punt Returner | 16 | Tyler Lockett | 14 | Curry Sexton | 2 | Andre Davis | ||
Kickoff Returner | 16 | Tyler Lockett | 33 | Morgan Burns | OR | 24 | Charles Jones | |
Kickoff Specialist | 40 | Ian Patterson | 8 | Dillon Wilson | 16 | Matthew McCrane | ||
Holder | 23 | Collin Sexton | 14 | Nick Walsh | 9 | Mitch Lochbihler | ||
Long Snapper | 46 | Dalton Converse | 43 | Drew Scott | 38 | Dalton Harman |
By way of analysis, I'll hit the high points for each major position grouping. There was just one actual change to the official depth chart this week, so I took the opportunity to continue to make a few minor adjustments of my own.
Offense
With two starts under his belt, Hayes appears to have up-ended Liddle permanently, although the latter still plays about a series every half.
I don't care what the depth chart says. Robinson has drawn all three starts, so until Jones actually starts a game, I'm listing Robinson as the starter.
It doesn't matter, though, because both play about equal snaps, with maybe a slight edge going to Robinson.
Other than that, nothing exciting. We'll see Saturday if Thursday's ineffectiveness prompts some shakeups on this side of the ball to mirror what we saw on defense against Auburn.
Defense
I am removing the "ORs" from the defensive tackle positions because neither Hood nor Seiwert has played in the last two games. The two-deep appears set on the defensive line.
Clearly, there is no way Johnson isn't starting the rest of the season, barring injury, so I moved Truman over to MIKE linebacker, which are more of his responsibilities anyway, and gave his old spot to Johnson.
That forced me to slide Davis to Johnson's backup spot. At this point, we have to say that Mike Moore must be hurt.
That said, I can count on one hand the number of times we've lined up in the classic 4-3 alignment this season, so I guess it doesn't really matter except when we're rushing the passer, and Lee excels in that role so much that I don't know if Moore would be playing those snaps or not.
I flipped Green and Schellenberg to complete the secondary shuffle, although in truth, Barnett was really playing free safety and Green strong safety against Auburn. I will stick with K-State's official designations for now, however.
We all will wait with bated breath to see how bad Burns' injury is, but if it causes him to miss time, I will adjust this to reflect Jackson and McDaniel as the starting cornerbacks.
Special Teams
Boy, am I glad now that I left that "OR" between Cantele and McCrane! After Thursday's debacle, you have to think that competition is as open as it ever will be.
Walsh officially moved ahead of Lochbihler this week on the depth chart, so I was prescient on that move. Barring a slide in performance, he will hold that spot for a while. I also demoted Lochbihler on backup holder duties.
It seemed like Scott handled most of the long snapping, but given how bad some of those snaps were, I think it's only a matter of time before Converse reclaims his position for good, so I will leave him atop the list.
That leaves kick returns. Burns' injury and shaky return performance at Iowa State had me think about dropping him, but I left him for now and instead swapped out Sexton for Jones, who lined up with Lockett in the deep backfield for most of Thursday night. There has been no indication whatsoever that Sexton will have anything to do on kickoffs.