Good morning! For those of you all who are finely in tune with social media and things, the initial (and sometimes only) depth chart was released for the Houston game. You can find the game preview here and the PDF version. Many times the staff simply doesn’t update the depth chart after Saturday, which is fine, but just something to keep in mind.

Offense

I think we’ve had a pretty decent handle on the starters, at least I think that most of us have known who the starting offensive line will be, the quarterback was announced, there’s a pecking order on running backs, and the receivers are pretty well established.

The best part of me was seeing who were the back-up offensive linemen. We’ve talked quite a bit about how the line is better, but honestly, I had no idea who the back-up left tackle is, or if Landon Peterson was a remote possibility at tackle or guard. This really has been good to see, and I had no idea that Larry Moore had worked his way up the depth chart and was the second team offensive left tackle. He was an athletic freak and I’m excited to see that the staff maybe won’t swing Caleb Rogers out there (maybe they still will) if Storment is injured. Regardless, it is nice to see some new faces on the line.

Defense

For the first time in a really long time I feel like there is developed depth on the defensive line. I feel . . . settled. We’ve known who is going to be at nose tackle, although I was unsure about who would be at end alongside Tyree Wilson and who would end up at tackle, but I’m pleased to see a developed JUCO tackle in Devin Drew and a young player man the tackle spots and hopefully split time, with Wilson and Mbanasor at the end and another young player working in with L.B. Moore.

At linebacker, if there’s four to start, it will be Schooler, Merriweather, Jeffers, and Bouyer-Randle. Again, as solid as a group as I can remember. I’d imagine that Curley, Matthews, Robinson, and Lewis are just off of those starters. I’d also add that with Bouyer-Randle at the Will, that’s likely that he’ll be the pass-rushing type of player, which means that maybe Pierre will be that guy too.

I sort of love Pearson at the Spur position, which means that the coaches wanted a thumper and combined with Eldridge, that gives the coaches a different look depending on the offense.

I fully admit that I’m incredibly suspect of Eric Monroe covering and tackling, two very important things to do if you are a safety. Would it bother me if Taylor-Demerson or Seth Collins got more reps? No it would not. I love that Waters is a starter and if I remember White playing last year, there were some really iffy plays, so the depth there may not be great, but my guess would be that Pearson would roll over and you’d maybe go from there.

I’m also a bit surprised that Dunlap and Williams get the nod at one side of the field and Fields and Frye are on the other. The coaches are ready to roll with the transfers and I’m here for it.

Special Teams

No surprises at punter or really at place kicker. May they have the swift feet of Mercury.

I’m ready for someone to bring the thunder at either of the returner spots. I want Townsend to rumble for a touchdown this year and appreciate how Geiger is a completely different and change of pace. notice that Brooks and Price are similar, a little of thunder and lightning.

The biggest surprise for me is the punt returner, Mannix was not even in my thought process, but I’m here for it.

I’ve had a family situation arise and this weekend is going to be incredibly busy. I’ve been mulling over whether or not to do game day threads and because of this situation, I’m not going to do game day threads on Saturday other than just the general game day thread for college football.

I will have the post-game review where you can grade the coaches and position groups after the game and I believe that Spencer and Michael will be posting their post-game podcast after every game, so there will be plenty of place to comment after the game.

If you need an outlet to post things during the game, maybe Twitter would be an excellent option with everyone using the same hashtag, like #stpgameday or something like that. This really has become a time-management issue, one where I’m just not capable policing that at this time.