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2015 DEPTH CHART ANALYSIS: Week 4

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

Thus far, no running backs have started for Kansas State this season, unless you count Winston Dimel. If that changes Saturday, I really hope it's this guy whose number is called.
Thus far, no running backs have started for Kansas State this season, unless you count Winston Dimel. If that changes Saturday, I really hope it's this guy whose number is called.
Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports

The fourth official depth chart for the 2015 season was unveiled today. Have a look:

WILDCAT OFFENSE
POSITION NO. PLAYER NO. PLAYER NO. PLAYER
Wide Receiver 6 Deante Burton 12 Stanton Weber 13 Steven West
Left Tackle 55 Cody Whitehair 76 Ajahne Brager 78 Bryce Fitzner
Left Guard 77 Boston Stiverson 56 Terrale Johnson 69 Reed Bergstrom
Center 71 Dalton Risner 69 Reed Bergstrom 67 Reid Najvar
Right Guard 68 Luke Hayes 70 Will Ash 59 Jason Lierz
Right Tackle 65 Matt Kleinsorge 64 Aaron Bennett 75 A.J. Allen
Tight End 80 Cody Small OR 88 Dayton Valentine 84 Zach Heiman
Quarterback 8 Joe Hubener 9 Jonathan Banks 18 Zach Davidson
Fullback 48 Glenn Gronkowski OR 38 Winston Dimel 39 Austin Katsorelos
Running Back 24 Charles Jones 32 Justin Silmon 3 Dalvin Warmack
Wide Receiver (Slot) 19 Kody Cook 81
Kyle Klein 15 Zach Reuter
Wide Receiver 4 Dominique Heath 2 Andre Davis 31 Taylor Hilgers

WILDCAT DEFENSE
POSITION NO. PLAYER NO. PLAYER NO. PLAYER
Defensive End 75 Jordan Willis 93 Davis Clark 51 Reggie Walker
Defensive Tackle 95 Travis Britz 92 Matt Seiwert 94 C.J. Reese
Defensive Tackle 60 Will Geary 97 Demonte Hood 99 Trey Dishon
Defensive End 45 Marquel Bryant 34 Tanner Wood 90 Joshua Little
Weakside Linebacker 9 Elijah Lee 58 Trent Tanking 47 Myles Copeland
Middle Linebacker 35 Will Davis 41 Sam Sizelove 59 Jayd Kirby
Strongside Linebacker 52 Charmeachealle Moore 57 Colborn Couchman 36 Logan Thompson
Nickelback (Cat Safety) 10 Donnie Starks 24 Nate Jackson 28 Nate Guidry Jr.
Cornerback 33 Morgan Burns 13 Ryan Mack 5 Jesse Mack
Strong Safety 22 Dante Barnett 24 Nate Jackson 21 Kendall Adams
Free Safety 4 Kaleb Prewett 29 Sean Newlan 18 Brogan Barry
Cornerback 7 Danzel McDaniel 23 Cre Moore 24 Nate Jackson

WILDCAT SPECIAL TEAMS
POSITION NO. PLAYER NO. PLAYER NO. PLAYER
Place-Kicker 16 Matthew McCrane OR 3 Jack Cantele 40 Ian Patterson
Punter 14 Nick Walsh OR 9 Mitch Lochbihler 40 Ian Patterson
Punt Returner 4 Dominique Heath 12 Stanton Weber 33 Morgan Burns
Kickoff Returner 33 Morgan Burns 4 Dominique Heath 12 Stanton Weber
Kickoff Specialist 40 Ian Patterson 8 Dillon Wilson 16 Matthew McCrane
Holder 23 Collin Sexton 12 Stanton Weber 14 Nick Walsh
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.

Offense

My attempt to sort out the wide receiver depth chart becomes harder and harder every week, but this is my best try.

Despite Davis' start against Louisiana Tech, I will follow the official chart and keep Heath as a starter because (1) Davis had no statistics against the Bulldogs, (2) he allegedly was injured in the first overtime, and (3) Heath has played in one more game and has a touchdown, while Davis does not.

Beyond that, it flows something like this:

  • Burton: 3 games, 3 starts
  • Cook: 3 games, 2 starts
  • Heath: 3 games, 1 start
  • Davis: 2 games, 1 start
  • Klein, Weber and Reuter: 2 games apiece
  • West, Hilgers and Munds: 1 game apiece

Since Klein did not play against Louisiana Tech, I suspect he either is not performing or he is banged up again. My guess is Reuter has replaced Klein as Cook's backup in the slot, but I have seen him in a lot of four-wide sets, too.

Delton still is listed on the official depth chart as Hubener's backup, but that's just Bill Snyder being coy. All indications are that Delton is done for the year, or at least most of it, but let's hope we don't have to see Banks soon.

Stiverson has been suited up and in pads the last two games, so hopefully he makes his 2015 debut on Saturday. If he does, I pray the coaches move Johnson to the right side and force either Hayes or Kleinsorge to earn his spot.

Finally, I'm removing the "OR" between Silmon and Warmack. That debate's been settled. The true debate is whether to put one between Jones and Silmon, but that would require that the coaches actually stop being stupid.

Defense

This has got to be one of the most boring defensive depth charts in history. Other than Barnett, each of the starters has played most of the way in all three games. There's just really nothing to change week to week.

The backups have played their appropriate time, too, with only Clark missing a game (against Louisiana Tech).

I did amend things on the safety front. Assuming Barnett will be out for a while, I thought Jackson had to be at least second-string at that position since he has two starts there and the coaches clearly don't trust Adams to start.

Other than Adams and Newlan, Ryan Mack is the only backup to play three games in the secondary, but that's mostly been on special teams, so I left the cornerback spots the same for now.

Special Teams

The addition of "ORs" at place-kicker and punter are the closest admissions we will get from Snyder that McCrane is going to miss significant time and that Walsh is playing himself out of a starting job with poor consistency.

What are your thoughts on the fourth depth chart of the season? Let's get some discussion going in the comments!