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DEPTH CHART ANALYSIS: Week 5

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

Although Stanton Weber caught his first career pass and Steven West did not play Saturday, I'm not quite ready to move Weber ahead of West on the S-curve of the depth chart. Weber is a perfect fit as third-string slot receiver.
Although Stanton Weber caught his first career pass and Steven West did not play Saturday, I'm not quite ready to move Weber ahead of West on the S-curve of the depth chart. Weber is a perfect fit as third-string slot receiver.
Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports

The fifth 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 74 Kason Hostrup
Center 66 B.J. Finney 69 Reed Bergstrom 61 Drew Liddle
Right Guard 68 Luke Hayes 61 Drew Liddle 67 Reid Najvar
Right Tackle 65 Matt Kleinsorge 64 Aaron Bennett 75 A.J. Allen
Tight End 85 Zach Trujillo 89 Zach Nemechek 80 Cody Small
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 9 Elijah Lee 57 Colborn Couchman 47 Myles Copeland
Middle Linebacker 32 Dakorey Johnson 35 Will Davis 3 D'Vonta Derricott
Weakside Linebacker 21 Jonathan Truman 58 Trent Tanking 31 Kip Keeley
Nickel Back (Cat Safety) 15 Randall Evans 10 Donnie Starks 28 Nate Guidry Jr.
Cornerback 33 Morgan Burns 23 Cre Moore 13 Jesse Mack
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 30 Corey Jackson

WILDCAT SPECIAL TEAMS
POSITION NO. PLAYER NO. PLAYER NO. PLAYER
Place-Kicker 16 Matthew McCrane 3 Jack Cantele 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 3 Jack Cantele 8 Dillon Wilson
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 a few minor changes to the official depth chart this week, so I took the opportunity to continue making more minor adjustments of my own.

Offense

Very little happened against UTEP that was notable, really. We didn't go deeper than second string on receivers, so nothing was learned there. Same with QBs. We did learn, however, that Levi Morss is the fourth-string running back.

As for the offensive line, when the mass substitutions began,  we went with Brager-Ash-Liddle-Najvar-Bennett.

It seems that Liddle, who's almost a co-starter at right guard, eventually came out in favor of Bergstrom, but all else was unchanged, so on the second string, I moved Najvar ahead of Hostrup, who did not play at all.

One other note: Small finally saw his first career action, which I took to mean he now is at least the third-string tight end. That should allow the coaches to preserve Dayton Valentine's redshirt this season.

Finally, Robinson moved back ahead of Jones on the official depth chart. That comes as a surprise to nobody.

Defense

Geary clearly has moved ahead of Hood at defensive tackle, given that he started for an apparently injured Coleman. But Hood, Roberts and Seiwert all played considerably, so I left things as they were.

Terrell Clinkscales finally saw the field for the first time late in the fourth quarter, but did nothing notable that I saw.

The official depth chart has been updated to remove Charmachealle Moore, who is out for the season. I have updated this to reflect the subsequent shuffling at strongside linebacker.

Keeley also saw his first action of his career, which is more than Isaiah Riddle has seen, so that substitution was made at third-string weakside linebacker.

I'm pretty close to removing Derricott, too, as a redshirt nears, but I'm not quite ready to pull the trigger on it just yet.

Injuries to Johnson and Burns throw things into flux, but until I hear they are out for a significant period of time, I will leave them penciled in as starters. Just don't be surprised if Davis and/or Nate Jackson start against Texas Tech.

Speaking of Jackson, I thought he acquitted himself well in Burns' absence, but Saturday will be an entirely different can of worms. McDaniel did not play in the second half last Saturday, allowing Mack to see his first playing time.

Special Teams

The "OR" remains on the official depth chart, but not here. Cantele is done and McCrane is the bright, shining future.

Cantele did come in late for Patterson on kickoffs, however, so I moved him up to reflect that role.

I will keep Walsh ahead of Lochbihler for obvious reasons, and I hope and pray the only reason the latter saw the field was for much needed development time, and not because the former is hurt after being run into roughed.