(UHND.com) — Charlie Weis announced the rosters for the blue gold game on Wednesday (click here to view) giving us a little glimpse into what the possible depth chart looks like right now.
It appears the Blue team consists of the first team offense and second team defense with the Gold team being the second team offense and first team defense. There is also a Green team this year for the offensive line and specialists due to low numbers along the offensive line (thanks Ty).
First off lets speculate about the Blue roster. Freshman George West will be catching passes from Brady Quinn for the Blue team Saturday and is one of only three scholarship receivers on the team. The others two are starters Rhema McKnight and Jeff Samardzija. This could be a sign that West could be the third option at receiver now or it could mean that David Grimes or Chase Anastacio who will be the starting receivers for the Gold team could be the 3rd option with Weis wanting them to get more time.
John Carlson is the only scholarship tight end on the Blue team with Marcus Freeman on the Gold team. Carlson looks like he’s the starter for now, but this is a battle that could wage well into August.
Defensively, the linebackers for the Gold team are Mitchell Thomas, Steven Quinn, and Anthony Vernaglia — just as they were for the last scrimmage the media was allowed to witness. Mitchell Thomas looks like the answer at middle linebacker for the moment and his play on Saturday could go a long way to determining whether he is still that answer in September.
Along the defensive line, Ronald Talley is the starting defensive end opposite Victor Abiamiri with Justin Brown and Dwight Stephenson as the Blue team ends.
In the defensive backfield, Terrail Lambert will be starting at corner along with Ambrose Wooden for the Gold team with Mike Richardson injured. It appears he has passed Leo Ferrine on the depth chart and could be the nickel back for the Irish this fall. Ferrine will start for the Blue team.
At safety, Tom Zbikowski and Chinedum N’Dukwe are the starters for the Gold team making any speculation of a position switch for N’Dukwe irrelevant. Ray Herring and David Bruton, both of whom drew praise from Weis this Spring, will be the starting safeties for the Blue squad.
With all the offensive linemen on the Green team, we won’t get an idea of the race for the right tackle position until Saturday’s game. The severe lack of depth till the fall at offensive line is really limiting the Irish this Spring.
This is all speculation at this point, but the rosters do give us some clue as to where players stand at this point. There are still spots up for grabs and while none can be won this weekend, some can be lost especially with the talented freshman class coming in the fall.
