On Monday, Andrea Adelson who covers the Big East for ESPN spoke about newly released Cincinnati Bearcats depth chart. Actually she was the one who released it to the public first. Anyways, she mentions the obvious storyline of Munchie Legaux and Brendan Kay battling for the starting quarterback role. Ultimately I think Legaux ends up winning the job. But I wanted to discuss some of the other observations about the depth chart.
Here is the two-deep in its entirety (Starter | Backup):
Quarterback: Munchie Legaux -or- Brendan Kay | Patrick Coyne
Runningback: George Winn | Ralph David Abernathy IV -or- Jameel Poteat
X-Wide Receiver: Kenbrell Thompkins | Chris Moore
Slot Receiver: Anthony McClung | Jordan Luallan -or- Danny Milligan
Y-Wide Receiver: Alex Chisum | Damon Julian
Tight End: Travis Kelce | Demetrius Richardson
Right Offensive Tackle: Sean Hooey | Parker Ehinger
Right Offensive Guard: Kevin Schloemer | Sean McClellan
Center: Dan Sprague | Sam Longo
Left Offensive Guard: Austin Bujnoch | Daniel Murray
Left Offensive Tackle: Eric Lefeld | Cory Keebler
Strongside Defensive End: Walter Stewart | Brandon Mills
Nose Guard: Jordan Stepp | Mitch Meador
Defensive Tackle: Camaron Beard | Mitch Meador
Weakside Defensive End: Dan Giordano | Silverberry Mouhon
Strongside (SAM) Linebacker: Nick Temple | Corey Mason
Middle (MIKE) Linebacker: Solomon Tentman | Greg Blair
Weakside (WILL) Linebacker: Maalik Bomar | Corey Mason
Boundary Corner: Deven Drane | Trenier Orr
Strong Safety: Drew Frey | Adrian Witty
Free Safety: Arryn Chenault | Malcolm Murray
Nickelback*: Chris Williams | Rueben Johnson
Field Corner: Camerron Cheatham | Dominque Battle
Long Snapper: Kirk Willis | Kevin Hyland
Holder: Pat O’Donnell | Danny Milligan
Place Kicker: Tony Miliano | A.J. Fleak
Punter: Pat O’Donnell | John Lloyd
Kickoff Returner: Ralph David Abernathy IV | Anthony McClung -or- Shaq Washington
Punt Returner: Ralph David Abernathy IV | Anthony McClung -or- Danny Milligan
*Nickelback wasn’t listed but this is what the two-deep at this position will be.
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
1) The Offensive Line is Going to be HUGE. The line as a whole looks way different now from what I had predicted pre-Spring. There appears to have been a lot of movement including flip-flopping Eric Lefeld and Sean Hooey, posting Sam Longo as the backup Center, and seemingly removing Andre Cureton from the two-deep all together. The one that caught my eye was Kevin Schloemer from a backup right tackle position to right guard. The 6’6″ sophomore was hampered last season with an injury but I figured he would be in line to take over for Mt. Hooey beginning in the 2013 season. That doesn’t appear to be the case now and the change makes the Bearcat offensive line one of the tallest in the conference. From left to right, UC linemen measure in at 6’6″, 6’4″, 6’3″, 6’6″, 6’9″ averaging 6’5.6″ per man. Part of this is a result of careful recruiting from Butch Jones to bring in the ideal players to protect his quarterbacks and pave a path for his runningbacks. I don’t think it’s a bad thing but thank goodness Munchie Legaux is a tower in his own right.
2) Cincinnati Will Be Extremely Thin on the Interior of the Defensive Line. Brandon Mitchell is no where to be seen. Whether it be his inability to develop physically or mentally the redshirt freshman was surpassed by Mitch Meador this Spring. This was one of the biggest surprises to me since I thought his size, experience along the line in high school, and wrestling background made him a surefire rotational defensive tackle behind Jordan Stepp and Camaron Beard. I didn’t expect him to take more than 20% of the snaps but he would gain valuable experience giving the starters a breather in 2012. So it seems there is a battle behind Stepp and Beard between a converted linebacker Mitch Meador, Roney Lozano who will be unavailable due to injury until the middle of the season, a JUCO Elijah Shuler, and Brandon Mitchell who appears to be lagging behind in his development. Overall, I’m much less confident about the interior of the defensive line next year.
3) There is Almost as Little Depth at the Tight End Position. Travis Kelce is the starter and has been throughout the Spring. He got a lot of reps coming off a suspension last season and reminds me a lot of Brent Celek. But what was a real surprise was not seeing Blake Annen posted as his backup. I really don’t know the story behind this but as the 2nd most experienced tight end on the team, it only made sense (at least to me) to slot him as TE-2. Instead, senior Demetrius Richardson has taken his place. The problem if this remains unchanged is that there will be two graduating seniors taking most of the reps next season. The remaining tight ends on the roster have a combined two (2) receptions and both of those are credited to Annen. Cincinnati’s offense isn’t designed to make the tight end the #1 target (few offense are) but the Bearcats will be crazy green at this position in 2013 if Annen doesn’t get some reps this fall. On a side note, the depth at this position should be addressed in the 2013 recruiting class.
4) The Wide Receiver Corps Has a Nice Mix of Vets and Newbies. This position group is about where I thought it would be before the Spring. Kenbrell Thompkins, Anthony McClung, and Alex Chisum round out the starters in 3-WR sets. If they can cut down on their drops this unit should be as explosive as we have seen in years. The backups include Damon Julian (not unexpected) and Jordan Luallen who is extremely athletic and will have the opportunity to do some special things as a slot receiver. For me the most disappointing news about this unit revolves around Dyjuan Lewis. The redshirt sophomore has been through a lot in his time at Cincinnati and by God he has risen above those challenges each and every time. This Spring he was faced with yet another hurdle when he injured his foot. He has been sidelined for most of the last few months and Chris Moore, who has impressed this Spring, has since supplanted him backing up Kenbrell Thompkins.
5) Silverberry Mouhon Might be the Next Big Thing. The redshirt freshman was the practice squad’s defensive player of the year and has made the most of his offseason in the weight room and learning defensive schemes. I thought he might wiggle his way into a backup role in my pre-Spring predictions of the DL and it appears that is exactly the case. I’m very encouraged about this move because he will have a chance to learn from experienced players like Dan Giordano, Walter Stewart, and Brandon Mills. Most importantly he will have gained a slew of reps when he will surely be a starter on a very young defensive end unit in 2013.