CFB DeptHITS: Thursday, August 29
Ah, the day is upon us. Week one kicks off this evening with a lot of teams in action. We'll stay focused on providing updates and getting our depth charts tight in preparation for all of week one.
We make hundreds of minor tweaks and adjustments to our depth charts every day. This feature is designed to pull out some of the more impactful movements and keep you informed throughout the college football landscape.
UTSA ::: Jeff Traylor let us know that the Roadrunners would be without two key players in their week one matchup with Kennesaw State. WR De'Corian (JT) Clark and RT Makai Hart. Both will miss the game, but are "trending up."
Further: Clark just can’t seem to get healthy and it’s a shame because he is a talent to watch. This will hurt the UTSA offense that is undergoing a bit of a transition with no more Frank Harris leading the charge at quarterback. This means Devin McCuin, who has some injury history of his own, and Willie McCoy will be asked to step up and help whoever is throwing the ball with Eddie Lee Marburger and Owen McCown entering the season as “co-starters”. They will get newly minted FCS to FBS convert Kennesaw State in week one this Saturday.
Florida ::: RB Montrell Johnson Jr. is a full go for week one against Miami. He has been removed from the Injury & Status (I&S) report.
Further: Good news for the Gators here. Johnson is their lead back now that Trevor Etienne has moved on to Georgia. The injury concern has been wiped and they will lean on him early and often in the showdown with Miami on Saturday.
Nevada ::: QB Chubba Purdy has been cleared to begin activities after being held up by a bad shoulder. He'll resume his competition with Brendon Lewis for the starting job in Reno. He will be a "full go" by week three if that is, in fact, the plan for head coach Jeff Choate.
Further: This is an interesting one. They likely didn’t get a full look at Purdy and thus Lewis won the job. Lewis showed some glaring arm strength issues in week one against SMU and while he is dynamic with his legs, we’ve seen Purdy’s brother (Brock, you may have heard of him) be a pretty dynamic dual-threat quarterback in his time. We’ll keep an eye on this situation as Purdy gets back to full strength.
Ole Miss ::: WR Deion Smith, the prized JUCO transfer is not eligible to play in 2024. He'll need to get his academics in order and he could debut in 2025 (with less competition for targets).
Further: The parentheses is where the emphasis should be above. This may actually work in both Smith and Ole Miss’ favor in the end - assuming he can actually clear the hurdles that left him ineligible this year. The WR room in Oxford is absolutely loaded with talent and while most of the players have a year of eligibility left, you’d have to think a couple (maybe three?) would go to the NFL after this season. That will clear the way for the talented (one-time LSU commit) JUCO transfer to make his impact at Ole Miss. We’ll track this throughout the off-season.
Syracuse ::: The fact that WR Justus Ross-Simmons is not on the Syracuse official depth chart is telling that he is likely not ready to go in week one. We'll move him to doubtful and disperse his target shares elsewhere.
Arkansas ::: Razorbacks injury updates: RB Rashod Dubinon will play in week one; but will not start. OL Patrick Kutas will get a check-up on Friday and is now very doubtful to play and WR Andrew Armstrong will play sparingly.
Oklahoma ::: Updating the injury report for the Sonners ahead of week one as WR Andrel Anthony will be avialable for week one; however WR Nic Anderson will sit it out.
Further: It will be good to see Anthony available on Friday night. He’s a talent and injuries has slowed him. Anderson’s issue does not appear to be season-threatening in any way, so giving him a little time to rest/heal up is probably a good thing. According to our depth chart, that puts Anthony 4th in the pecking order behind Deion Burks, Jalil Farooq and Brenen Thompson. Though, he could establish himself and earn his way up that chart with a solid first showing against Temple.
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Temple: WR Ian Stewart has suffered yet another season-ending injury. This poor guy just can’t stay healthy.
Texas State: OL Jimeto Obigbo is not on the depth chart and is still working back from an injury.
Florida State: LB Shawn Murphy missed the Georgia Tech game and is questionable moving forward. They do expect him to play a role when he is healthy, which may be a couple more weeks.
SMU: OL Andrew Chamblee missed week zero against Nevada. He is “inching” back towards a return. He is the backup to LT PJ Williams. He provides a nice depth the offensive line.
Fresno State: DL Charles Remlinger is out for the season after suffering an injury in camp. He was projected to be in the defensive line rotation (¼ snaps).
Vanderbilt: OL Grayson Morgan is dealing with a back issue that will keep him out until mid-season at the earliest.
James Madison: OL Tyshawn Wyatt was not listed on the depth chart and is likely recovering from some sort of injury. Added to I&S report.
Nebraska: Moved the RB share to more of a committee approach between Rahmir Johnson, Emmett Johnson, Gabe Ervin Jr. and even some Dante Dowdell.
DEPTH CHARTS “READY FOR WEEK 1” |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Virginia Tech at Vanderbilt ::: Saturday at 12:00 PM EST
Kent State at Pittsburgh ::: Saturday at 12:00 PM
Clemson vs. Georgia ::: Saturday at 12:00 PM (Atlanta, GA)
Note: Neither team is releasing a full depth chart prior to the game. Georgia could have some suspensions looming.
Purdue vs. Indiana State ::: Saturday at 12:00 PM
Navy vs. Bucknell ::: Saturday at 12:00 PM
Louisville vs. Austin Peay ::: Saturday at 12:00 PM
Connecticut at Maryland ::: Saturday at 12:00 PM
Iowa vs. Illinois State ::: Saturday at 12:00 PM
Penn State at West Virginia ::: Saturday at 12:00 PM
Tennessee vs. Chattanooga ::: Saturday at 12:45 PM
Oklahoma State vs. South Dakota State ::: Saturday at 2:00 PM
Cincinnati vs. Towson ::: Saturday at 2:30 PM
Washington State vs. Portland State ::: Saturday at 3:00 PM
Miami (FL) at Florida ::: Saturday at 3:30 PM
Iowa State vs. North Dakota ::: Saturday at 3:30 PM
Northern Illinois vs. Western Illinois ::: Saturday at 3:30 PM
Miami (OH) at Northwestern ::: Saturday at 3:30 PM
Appalachian State vs. East Tennessee State ::: Saturday at 3:30 PM
Air Force vs. Merrimack ::: Saturday at 3:30 PM
Florida International at Indiana ::: Saturday at 3:30 PM
Akron at Ohio State ::: Saturday at 3:30 PM
Kennesaw State at UTSA ::: Saturday at 3:30 PM
That’s our show for today. Keep an eye out on X for updates and expect to see our Thursday/Friday edition of (CFBDm) model betting plays later today. Later!
Thank you.
