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DEPTH CHART ANALYSIS: Week 4

BracketCat breaks down the depth chart by position group to see what has changed since the Auburn game.

Say hello to our new starting weakside linebacker for the rest of the year. Sorry, Will Davis.
Say hello to our new starting weakside linebacker for the rest of the year. Sorry, Will Davis.
Jamie Squire

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

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

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.