CFB DeptHITS: Thursday, August 22
Get all caught up on another busy day around camps as the season is nearly upon us. Plenty of news breaking and depth charts moving constantly.
We make hundreds of updates and little tweaks to these depth charts every day. This feature is designed to pull out the movement that impacts the most and we feel you should know.
Texas ::: Added SMU transfer RB Velton Gardner to the RB room after his late commitment to the Longhorns. Much needed depth to this room that has been hit hard with injuries. It will take him some time to get acclimated; but he is a veteran and should work his way into a role this season, his final season of eligibility.
Further: Last week, head coach Steve Sarkisian mentioned looking for additional depth either by moving players (which they did) and even the Portal. It is now clear who he was referring to. And, it’s a pretty good one. Gardner is a veteran, something else that is needed as the room is very young. He’s played over 690 snaps between his time at Kansas and most recently SMU. It would not surprise if Gardner carves out a role for himself as he gets time to enroll, get acclimated and work his way up the depth chart. Here is how we have it currently standing in the Texas RB room:
View full, live Texas Longhorns depth chart »
Nebraska :::: The Dylan Raiola era will officially begin in week one as the Cornhuskers have made it official that the true freshman, consensus top recruit will start at quarterback.
Feedback: No surprise, but still noteworthy. The hype around Raiola is real and is beginning to be justified. Winning this job as a true freshman is no small feat. Sure, his path to the job was not as challenging as Texas’ Arch Manning from the 2023 class. Quinn Ewers made that impossible and it could have been that opportunity to start right away that ultimately led Raiola to flip to the Huskers from Georgia during his recruitment. The opportunity is there; we now will see how he handles it. Heinrich Haarberg will backup and we believe Daniel Kaelin will be the third-stringer.
San Diego State ::: RB Kenon Christon downgraded to OUT after news that he'll need surgery and is out 6-8 weeks. Best case scenario has him back by Central Michigan week five. More likely, he'll need until after the second bye in week 8 to return against Washington State.
Further: He is the anticipated second-stringer to starter Marquez Cooper. This absence will open the door for Jaylon Armstead to see more carries beyond his short-yardage, goal-line role we anticipate for him in 2024. Christon’s return will be a nice in-season boost for this offense and we’ll keep an eye on his progress as he works towards that return.
East Carolina ::: OL Panda Askew has been added to the Pirates' roster after leaving Charlotte. He is a nice addition and while he'll need some time to get up to speed; he should end up starting on an offensive line that needs some help.
Further: This is an impactful addition right before the season starts. We are not clear on how long Askew has been around the team, but we are thinking he just showed up. That means there needs to be a “ramp up” period to allow him to get acclimated, but by our ratings, he should be starting on the interior of this offensive line at some point in the near future and that would be an upgrade:
Current projected starting LG Darius Bell - 7.6 rating
Current projected starting RG Hampton Earle - 10.2 rating
Panda Askew: 11.0 rating
It should also be noted that Jacob Sacra, another interior offensive lineman is dealing with an injury, so this move helps depth that is sure to be tested.
View the full ECU Pirates live depth chart »
Louisiana-Monroe ::: Word is leaking that General Booty is going to be named the starting quarterback at ULM. The former Oklahoma quarterback (with a great name) will get the call and finally get to show what we can do. We haven't heard who finished runner-up, but our guess is that is will be Hunter Herring.
Further: It’s time for General to be known for more than just his name. Let’s not forget that he was also a relatively highly thought of recruit out of Allen, TX back in 2021. He spent time at Tyler J.C. after leaving OU and showed us something, leading the Apaches to seven wins and throwing for 3,410 yards and 27 touchdowns. All of that out of the way, it can’t be ignored what an uphill battle this will be. We have ULM with a 132nd ranking among FBS teams in terms of offensive talent.
Fresno State ::: Injury & Status updates include: Starter C Mose Vavao removed as he is back to full speed. Other starting offensive linemen - Jacob Spomer and Daniel Taumalolo are still not practicing. Spomer has not practiced all camp. Check out the I&S tab for all of their injuries; and there are quite a few. Barkboard is all over it.
Further: Okay, this may be a problem. While there isn’t panic quite yet, missing two starting interior offensive linemen with a trip to the Big House (Michigan) in week one is not quite ideal. We’ll be tracking it.
In other news, tight end Tyler Carr is removed from the depth chart as is he no longer showing on the official roster. Barkboard tells us that he is still hanging around and helping out. He could return at some point. Carr is the son of former Fresno QB great David Carr.
Oregon ::: RB Jordan James is being held out of practice for "precautionary reasons." We never like to hear this. It could be nothing. It could be the start of something. We're tracking. Added to I&S report as "probable" until we hear more.
Further: We’ve seen this song and dance before. It starts as a ‘precaution’ and ends up with a trip to the sidelines. We don’t have a lot of context around what sparked this - but it had to be something. We’ll reserve full judgment until we see more; but we are keeping this one at the top of our radar.
North Carolina ::: LB Amare Campbell is working his way back to the practice field despite a heavily taped broken hand. He remains questionable for week one against Minnesota.
Further: The linebacker depth is not something the Tar Heels are particularly strong at in looking at that room and losing a starter could really impact things. It was thought all along that he would not miss time; however, playing through a broken hand means you are not playing at 100% and that could also be a hidden impact. We’ll have to see how this all plays out.
Ole Miss ::: Added LB Rodney Groce Jr. to the LB room after his late transfer in to the Rebels. It will take him some time to get acclimated, but he can eventually work his way into the rotation at some point in 2024.
Akron ::: Veteran QB Ben Finley wins the starting quarterback job for the Zips. He beats out Tahj Bullock and get the reigns of the offense for one more "go" at it.
Virginia Tech ::: Brent Pry confirmed that Collin Schlee will be the back up to starter Kyron Drones for the '24 season. It is Schlee's last season of eligibility and if anything happens to Drones, he'll get the first crack to fill the void.
Virginia Tech ::: Injury updates include: Adding WR Takye Heath who is working on the side along with TE Nick Gallo. Keeping them questionable. Added RB Jeremiah Coney, who was in a blue "non-contact" jersey; and upgraded WR Stephen Gosnell to "probable" as he has shed his blue jersey. Source: The great Andy Bitter.
Auburn ::: K Alex McPherson is starting to ramp up activities as he is still getting over that gastrointestinal illness. He still remains very questionable for the opener. @JFergusonAU also notes that Towns McGough was very heavily recruited and now that they need him; they are glad they have him. Boosted McGough’s rating slightly more.
LSU ::: Updated the I&S Report with the following: Added starting CB Sage Ryan to the I&S report with a hamstring injury. JK Johnson was replacing him and would be in line for more snaps if this lingers. There is no word that it is expected to keep Ryan out, but we are tracking.
2.) Added starting RG Miles Frazier to the I&S report as it was reported he was in a boot today. He was replaced there by Tyree Adams, who we move over to the backup RG spot from his previous backup RT role.
UCLA ::: Late, prized FCS transfer EDGE Cherif Seye is now getting on the field and starting to work towards being game ready. He's still questionable to be fully up to speed in time; but this is a step in the right direction for the FAMU transfer.
Penn State ::: Bumped redshirt freshman RB Cam Wallace to number three behind the big two (Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen) as word is that he has broken camp in that spot. It's close though with some highly touted true freshman nipping at his heels.
Illinois ::: Gave a slight boost to redshirt freshman WR Collin Dixon who is making waves at camp and may have entered the rotation. We have him at about a 5-7% target share; but that could grow as the season rolls along.
2.) Ezekiel Holmes moved from the LB room to the DL depth chart. He'll remain at a 1/4 snap count role and play a hybrid DE/OLB position.
Georgia Southern ::: We know that JC French was named the Eagles' starter a couple days ago. Now, it's more clear what the depth chart behind him will look like. David Dallas is a name you'll want to store away. Clay Helton is really high on him and he is named the backup, beating out Indiana transfer and oft-injured Dexter Williams.
