Thoughts on the First Depth Chart

The first depth chart of the year was released by Charlie Weis on Friday, and while he said it is very much subject to change over the next couple weeks of camp, there were some interesting moves made since the spring.

• Morrice Richardson is listed as the starter at one of the defensive end positions over 5th year senior Justin Brown.  Brown has had his ups and downs over the last 3 years, but was expected to start opposite Pat Kuntz at one of the ends.
• Pat Kuntz is back after not being enrolled this spring and as expected has moved over to DE after playing NT last year.  With the emergence of Ian Williams, the move of Kuntz to DE makes sense.
• Harrison Smith is listed as the starter at the SAM linebacker spot.  Weis has said that Smith is going to be used in a lot of different positions this fall and will be primarily a linebacker against teams who run the spread according to Charlie on Sunday.
• Brian Smith was moved inside the MIKE position.  At 245 lbs it makes sense that he is inside and from what Weis has been saying so far, it sounds like he is expecting big things from him.
• Raeshon McNeil is listed as the starting CB opposite Terrail Lambert in the absnece of Darin Walls.  Weis has said a couple times that McNeil’s edge in experience is the biggest reason he is currently ahead of Gary Gray.
• As expected, Kyle McCarthy is listed as the starting strong safety.  Early reports are that he has bulked up a bit this off-season and has been more vocal.
• Leonard Gordon is currently listed as the 4th CB (as Lambert’s backup), but is going to have a heck of a time holding off freshman Robert Blanton for that spot.
• There aren’t any freshmen in the current two deep on defense since they just reported, but Ethan Johnson, Steve Filer, and Robert Blanton have been creating some buzz and seem like the most likely to crack the two deep before the start of the San Diego State game.
• Michael Turkovich has moved from RG to LT behind starter Paul Duncan.  Turkovich spent most of last year as the starting RG, but  struggled as times.  He looked slow when Notre Dame tried running screens last year so it’ll be interesting to see if he is quick enough to play LT – the hardest of the offensive line positions.
• Chris Stewart is now the starting RG and all accounts have him as a player on the rise for the Irish.  Ever since he breifly left campus last year, he has been steadily rising.
• Mike Ragone is listed as the starting TE over Will Yeatman who returns after missing the spring for disciplinary reasons.
• Golden Tate is not listed on the two deep at either wide receiver position, but he should still see a whole lot of time this fall.
• The depth chart at RB looks much like last summer’s did at QB with a bunch of “OR’s”.  Aldridge, Allen, and Hughes are all listed with the OR distinction meaning Weis isn’t ready to name his starter.  My money is still on Robert Hughes.
• The only freshman on two deep on offense is Trevor Robinson – the OG who enrolled early.  Michael Floyd and Kyle Rudolph seem to be the most likely to crack the two deep by the end of fall camp based on early reports.
• Armando Allen is listed as the top punt returner replacing Tom Zbikowski with David Grimes and George West behind him.  Allen makes the most sense as the punt returner for his open field moves.
• Allen and Golden Tate are listed as the top two kick returners with West, Barry Gallup, and Gary Gray behind them.  My dark horse candidate here is freshman running back Jonas Gray.