My guess to the spring depth chart

[willlevi]

With all the signings, this is a guess to what the spring depth chart may appear like based on the final game depth chart


Offense
QB Johnny Stanton (6’2 230)/Kurt Palendech (6’2 185)/Dalton Sneed (6’0 185)/Christian Lopez (6’0 195)
RB Keith Whitely (5’9 195)/Lexington Thomas (5’9 165)/Xavier Campbell (5’11 220)
FB David Greene (6’0 210)/Marc Phillipi (5’10 230)
WR Devonte Boyd (6’1 175)/Malik Demetz (6’3 220)/Justin Brown (5’6 160)
WR Brandon Presley (6’0 175)/Andrew Peterson (5’10 175)
WR Kendal Keys (6’4 200)/Darren Woods (6’0 220)
TE Andrew Price (6’6 255)/Tim Holt (6’3 235)/Phillip Haynes (6’4 265)/Trevor Kanteman (6’4 245)
LT Kyle Saxelid (6’7 270)/Patrick Carroll (6’5 300)
LG Alex Neale (6’3 290)/Justin Polu (6’4 330)
OC Will Kreitler (6’0 290)/Blake Coggins (6’5 260)
RG Michael Chevalier(6’4 290)/Chris Lopez (6’4 280)/Gavin Peterson (6’4 295)
RT Nathan Jacobson (6’5 270)/J’Ondray Sanders (6’5 260)

Defense
DE Tui Maloata (6’3 260)/Jeremiah Valoaga (6’6 260)/Iggy Porchia (6’2 245)
DT Michael Hughes (6’2 310)/Jason Fao (6’0 300)/Dominic Baldwin (6’5 265)
DT Zack Singer (6’3 320)/Salanoa-Alo Wily (6’0 285)/Nick Dehdashtian (6’1 290)
DE Mark Fanau (6’3 230)/Antonio Zepeda (6’6 265)/Gabe McCoy (6’2 200)
SLB Brian Keyes (6’2 240)/Matt Lea (5’10 215)/Soli Afalava (6’2 200)
ILB Ryan McAleenan (6’2 220)/Trent Langham (6’2 205)
WLB Tau Lotuelei (6’1 230)/Tony Gutierrez (6’2 230)/Bailey Laolagi (6’1 205)
CB Tim Hough (5’11 190)/Jay’Onn Myles (5’8 165)
CB Torry McTyer (6’0 180)/Robert Jackson (6’1 205)/Charles Henry (6’2 190)
Nickel Darius Mouton (5’10 165)/Jaricho Flowers (5’10 165)
FS Troy Hawthorne (6’3 210)/Evan Austrie (6’0 185)/J.T. Nettleton (6’3 195)
SS Michael Adams (6’2 205)/Javin White (6’2 190)/Chaz Eldridge (6’1 190)

Developing a depth at WR, a pass rusher off the edge, depth at corner, depth on the OL and quality play at safety will be the biggest question mark.
The linebacker play should be improved and generally the first team on both sides of the ball have quality bodies.
Stanton should have room to develop being a spring transfer while Decker came in for the fall his first season.

 

[bcvegaspt]

I would probably throw a TE or two into the H-Back position (in place of a FB depth chart). That being said, looks like we are getting some depth on the O-line and that our freshmen recruits can actually redshirt should they want/need to. Also, our LB depth is becoming a real strength.

 

[RebelinWA]

I want to see Gutierrez and Lotu on the field at the same time. I have a feeling that those two will be able to mix it up and cause chaos. I even think that Guiterrez is fast enough to be a safety or a drop back mlb.

I wonder how they will use Singer. I remember seeing him being interchangeable at guard, dt and center.

 

[rebelbuck]

I think Valaoga is #1 at one D end spot (when healthy he was our best player their last year after Sanitoa). Unless he makes a huge jump I see Finau being passed up , but maybe after getting some experience at this level he will produce a little better. Maolota was coming off a Knee injury so I hope he shows some promise in the spring. Zepeda is a nice athlete who could excel here as he gets more reps at the spot. Wouldnt mind seeing a late JC add at DE to help this group.

D Tackle could end up being a solid group. Singer, Hughes are a nice Pairing. Wily, Fao, Dedashtian , Baldwin ( I can see him sliding out to DE this year). Round out a nice group.

I could see Keyes seeing time at MLB, WLB and Some DE in obvious passing downs. Some interesting battles in the LB group but I agree that Afalava will be moved up from Safety and into the box. I want to see how Laologi progresses and if we see some shake up in the depth chart here with Gutierrez and Keyes coming on board.

WR will be a fun group to watch with Presley and Woods getting more looks. Boyd and Keys are known commodities and with Dumetz getting in early there is (5) Scholly WR for spring. Some Walk ons will get looks and some decent reps to make an impression before Harris and Trosclair get to campus in the summer.

Mike Adams will get every opportunity to take one of the vacant Safety spots. After that it is all up for grabs. Will be interesting to see where Austrie, White, Nettleton and Eldrige settle in. CB-will have some nice depth with Hough, McTyer, Mouton (Nickel), Jackson, Myles, Flowers.

This spring will be a fun/interesting one. The staff will have had these guys for a season now and has a better grasp of what they have. Belton and Co will get these guys right with winter work outs so I expect to see some serious changes with some of these younger guys and older guys to boot. Spots in the 2 deep will be earned that is for sure.

 

[Bullmastiff 1]

David Greene was a senior this year.

I think we will see a lot of 2 TE sets this year. You could probably move Tim Holt between TE and FB.

At LB I think its Keyes at MLB with Tau and Gutierrez at the 2 OLB spots. I like Ryan M. and he will be in the mix as well, but Gutierrez offers us more speed off the edge. Keyes seems more suited to play MLB vs OLB.

Interesting to see how it all shakes out. Which red shirts and even true freshmen crack the 2 deep.

 

[RebelinWA]

I guess the defense depends on what kind of look we run. We switched a lot between the 4-2-5, 4-3-4, and on occasion the 3-4-4. I liked how we looked with the 4-2-5, but we just didn't have the speed last year. On the whole, it looks like we have some solid upgrades to every piece of the defense, except the ends. If Valoaga can stay healthy, he looks like he can be a solid replacement for Sonny.

I know they said that they wanted to add some h-back plays for the offense. Ability wise, I wonder how far they'll spread the plays with Stanton vs Decker vs Sneed. I feel like the staff was a little bit too conservative when they wrote the offensive play book last spring(out of necessity) since Palandech was no where near as good of a passer as Decker. It ended up paying off since the season broke Decker. I wonder if they will keep with the same offensive design to account for Palandech's deficiencies since I do not think Sneed has the experience to jump Paladech on the depth charts quite yet.

 

[RebelTomola]

i hope there is good competition in spring. i just let the coaches do the depth chart

 

[rebelbuck]

I feel like Stanton will obviously see a fair amount of reps , not only to learn the new system but gain Chemistry with WR's & TE's. I think Palandech will see some reps but if he doesnt show a nice jump in the passing game I could see a scenario where Snead starts to take the #2's if he has progressed as we had all hoped. The staff knows , for the most part, what Kurt brings to the table. I think they will be curios to see what Snead can do with more reps.

Price, Holt, Kanteman . That is a nice group of TE/H. Price should be an almost everydown TE. Holt and Kanteman look to be able to fill in as almost H/Fullbacks so there will be some flexibility in the offense. Add in big bodied WR's in Woods and Dumetz , we should be able to have some mismatches int he middle of the field and Red Zone.

 

[RebelBuzz]

You don't have Kevin Thomson on your depth chart at QB. How long is his recovery supposed to take? I certainly think he would be above walkon Christian Lopez on the depth chart.

Or did I miss something?

 

[rebelbuck]

Not sure but Thomson had Tommy John in the fall. He might be able to throw a bit but unsure of what his overall workload will look like. Another thing to keep an eye on.

 

[Bullmastiff 1]

You don't have Kevin Thomson on your depth chart at QB. How long is his recovery supposed to take? I certainly think he would be above walkon Christian Lopez on the depth chart.

Or did I miss something?

Question might be does he even want to come back? He will be in year 3 with program. This year depending on recovery could be lost as well. Add in the competition at QB with Stanton. He is a left over from Hauck, not a Sanchez guy. He may see the writing on the wall and not want to come back.

 

[RebelBuzz]

And that's why I asked. I could definitely see him wanting to leave. Didn't know if it had already happened and I didn't know.

 

[Bullmastiff 1]

And that's why I asked. I could definitely see him wanting to leave. Didn't know if it had already happened and I didn't know.

Yeah a lot of question marks surrounding his situation. Nothing definitive.

 

[rebelbuck]

Being in year 3 it would seem odd to leave honestly. He is probably pretty far along toward graduating. Unless there is a "guarantee" transfer situation where he would be the "guy" I think he sticks it out. Some guys just like being part of a team. His education is paid for , some things are bigger than football & playing time. Just another angle.

 

[Bullmastiff 1]

Being in year 3 it would seem odd to leave honestly. He is probably pretty far along toward graduating. Unless there is a "guarantee" transfer situation where he would be the "guy" I think he sticks it out. Some guys just like being part of a team. His education is paid for , some things are bigger than football & playing time. Just another angle.

Possible as well.

 

[BleedRebelRed90]

Comments by Coach Sanchez on the radio at the end of the season made it sound to me like we should expect to see Gabe McCoy on the field a lot next season. Could he see time at multiple positions (like linebacker?) to get him onto the field?

 

[DocRebel]

McCoy reminds me of a Vegas kid named DeShone Myles who played for UNR back in the 90's. Myles was a little undersized but tougher than nails and very quick. McCoy and Myles have similar body types and instincts. I think to this day Myles is Reno's all-time leading tackler on defense. If McCoy can become anything like how Myles was in college he'll have a big time career at UNLV.

 

[Bullmastiff 1]

Comments by Coach Sanchez on the radio at the end of the season made it sound to me like we should expect to see Gabe McCoy on the field a lot next season. Could he see time at multiple positions (like linebacker?) to get him onto the field?

I think McCoy will play a hybrid LB/DE spot. This fall camp he showed some explosion off the edge and with a couple different pass rush moves. He is also a strong kid, just undersized. He really is built more like a safety than a defensive end. Not sure he could hold up in the run game on a consistent basis. At least not as a DE. If he was 6'4 230-240 with the same skill set he probably would have been a 4* guy.

I think we will see him play with his hand in the dirt on obvious passing downs. On regular downs, he may see some time standing up at OLB.

Despite not playing this year, Sanchez has brought him up on two different occasions. That hints to him showing well in practices and the staff liking what they see.

 

[Sam-I-am]

...I wonder how they will use Singer. I remember seeing him being interchangeable at guard, dt and center.

Pretty certain Singer will only play DT/NT this spring.

 

[rebelbuck]

Singer and Hughes have the potential to be a very solid combo at the center of the D line.

Both coukd occupy blockers and allow the LBs free lanes to make plays. Keyes , Gutierrez, Tau could be the biggest benefactors of this pairing.

 

[RebelinWA]

Tau, keyes, and gutie sounds like a wet dream of lb corps. I think our linebackers will have a solid havok rating as long as they click and stay healthy. If we move to a 3-4 line and throw in McAllenan or Soli Afalava, we'd look like a Ditka defense (the good kind).

Now about those defensive ends.