Initial Depth Chart Packed with Surprises

3 comments so far August 28, 2007 by Steve Hanway

On first look at the long awaited depth chart you say, “Where’s the tight end?” In fact, when a position up and disappears you wonder what effect that might have on the Husker Nation. You’re reminded of Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters, “Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together - mass hysteria!”

But in truth, we all know the H-back is the tight end. We’ve seen them line up in the backfield before. It’s no big deal. No one’s surprised to see J.B. Phillips or Josh Mueller at #1 and #2. But Dreu Young at #3 is definitely an eye-opener. Until a week ago, most of us didn’t even know his name. Then we heard Callahan mention his prowess at receiver and now he’s the #3 guy (and quite possibly the top receiving threat at TE). We all knew Mike McNeil has potential, but as a co-#4 it sounds like Young is the guy to watch. You also don’t see Teafatiller which could be a one-week deal or might mean he’s in the doghouse, lost a step or both.

Despite the encouraging words we heard about Matt Slauson, he’s listed second as co-#1 at right guard, which suggests his health is still in doubt. On the same note, Mike Huff (the first right guard listed) must be mostly healthy to hold that spot.

Niles Paul cracked the depth chart as both the #4 Z-wide receiver and a #4 (or #7 depending on how you look at it) as a kick returner and #5 punt returner. While none of that means certain playing time, you still kind of smell a burning redshirt year.

The biggest bombshell might be at I-back. Marlon Lucky is no surprise at #1 and the absence of Cody Glenn is understandable given his foot and hamstring problems. But Quentin “Truck Stick” Castille at #2 and Roy “Cutback” Helu at #3 are a bit of a surprise. You’d have expected the longer tenured Major Culbert to grab the #2 spot or even Marcus Mendoza. Culbert sits at #4 and Mendoza is nowhere to be seen (including special teams, which might mean there are injuries). You hope this is just a sign of how good Castille and Helu are (versus a real depth crisis). Let’s not forget Adrian Peterson played pretty well as a true freshman, and so did Ahman Green.

Kevin Dixon grabbed the #2 defensive tackle spot, and from the looks of things he needed to as true freshman Ben Martin sits third. Likewise, Clayton Sievers and Pierre Allen grabbed the #2 defensive end spots. Behind them are walk-ons. Injuries along the defensive line would be hard to absorb.

Speaking of walk-ons, we see two of them cracking the two-deep at linebacker (and neither is named Kyle Moore). Junior Tyler Wortman is a co-#2/#3 behind Bo Ruud and Lance Brandenburgh, splitting time with true freshman Blake Lawrence. True freshman Thomas Grove is the sole #2/#3 behind Steve Octavien and Lance Brandenburgh at weakside linebacker.

Andre Jones has lost his starting cornerback spot to Armando Murillo. Cortney Grixby is listed ahead of captain Zack Bowman…for now. Larry Asante and Tierre Green hold the starting safety spots and Rickey Thenarse is listed at free safety behind Green. Brian Wilson is the #2 strong safety behind Asante.

Adi Kunalic and Alex Henery are listed as co-#1’s but you’d suspect that means Kunalic will handle kickoffs and Henery will handle field goals (though perhaps Kunalic would handle the longer ones). The main new face on returns is Andre Jones (listed as the #1 kick returner and #3 punt returner). If you were hoping Paul, Mendoza, or Prince Amukamara were going to jump in and make a big splash right away, then those hopes are on hold at least another week.

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