CFB DeptHITS: Tuesday, September 10

As we gear up for week three around college football, let's take a look at some of the most impactful injury updates coming in from Monday pressers and other observations.

Sep 10, 2024

We are making hundreds of little tweaks to these 134 depth charts every day. This feature pulls out some of the most impactful and “need to know” items from the last 24 hours…

Oklahoma ::: C Geirean Hatchett will miss the rest of the season after biceps surgery and WR Nic Anderson is "close" to returning. If not this week it will be the following week. Leaving him as questionable.

Further: Hatchett was a role player on the offensive line and will be missed for depth purposes. He was a former 4-star recruit at Washington. Anderson brings a veteran presence to this receiving corps and he will be a boon to a struggling passing game. There is plenty of talent in that room and on this offense, it just hasn’t clicked quite yet. We will see if they can get it together against Tulsa this week.

Another note: This team is banged up pretty good. Take a look at the “Injury & Status” tab on their depth chart page for updates on the walking wounded (and those who can’t walk).

Auburn ::: WR Cam Coleman is now looking doubtful to play week three after an injury in the week two loss to Cal.

Further: The freshman phenom is banged up and this does not help an offense in desperate need of a bounce back after scoring just 14 points on Cal in a loss in week two. Fellow freshman Malcolm Simmons and (possibly) Perry Thompson need to step up in his absence.

Arizona ::: RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt's eligibility is in question, hence the unexpected DNP in week two. This does not sound like a quick resolution and thus Quali Conley will be leaned on heavily as the starter for the near-term.

Kansas State ::: Starting LG Hadley Panzer and RT Carver Willis are not practicing on Monday and Chris Klieman is not sure they will be ready for week three Friday night against Arizona.

Iowa ::: Kaleb Johnson was the workhorse against Iowa State and despite the losing effort, Johnson has emerged as the leader in the running back room, jumping Kamari Moulton.

BYU ::: Update on both BYU running backs hurt on Friday night of week two; LJ Martin and Hinckley Ropati are both doubtful to make it back week three against Wyoming.

Texas Tech ::: A lot of injuries hitting the Red Raiders. This includes star RB Tahj Brooks listed as questionable after missing last week & starting LG Vinny Sciury III out for the season with an injury. There are eight others that play heavily in the rotation that are listed as questionable for week three.

Northwestern ::: There is a quarterback change at Northwestern. The Wildcats will go with Jack Lausch over Mike Wright for their week three tilt with Eastern Illinois.

Troy ::: Both QB Goose Crowder and starting center Eli Russ are considered probable for week three.

Notre Dame ::: Tracking an injury to DE Josh Burnham who had to leave the NIU week two game with an injury. He's questionable but has made good progress the last 48 hours, accoring to Marcus Freeman.

Florida ::: QB Graham Mertz is still working through concussion protocols but is expected to be a "go" for week three. Freshman DJ Lagway will continue to see time in games after a great first performance in week two.

Michigan State ::: CB Chance Rucker update; he is out for 6-8 weeks with an injury.

Florida State ::: RB Jaylin Lucas is out for the season after an injury suffered in the Boston College game week one.

North Texas ::: RB Juwaun Price suffered a season-ending broken leg injury in week two. His season is over.

|||||| OBSERVATIONS & DEPTH/VOLUME UPDATES

Wisconsin :::

1.) TE Riley Nowakowski only played 10 snaps against South Dakota in week three. Either he was injured or they were resting him. He is the clear-cut starter and they will want him healthy against Alabama.

2.) RB: With Tawee Walker missing week two and remaining questionable, we are making an adjustment down on him and giving a slight bump to Cade Yacamelli, but mostly putting even more on starter Chez Mellusi, who will need to find running room against Alabama for the Badgers to have a chance.

Alabama ::: WR Freshman Ryan Williams already has three explosive plays for touchdowns and has moved into the No. 2 spot behind only Germie Bernard in this passing game pecking order.

Tulsa ::: RB Freshman Lloyd Avant split carries with Anthony Watkins in week two as Bill Jackson fell to 3 totes. We are moving Avant ahead of Jackson as we haven’t heard of any injury that caused the move. Avant leads the team with 25 carries and is averaging a healthy 5.0 yards per carry thus far.

Illinois ::: WR Moving Zakhari Franklin ahead of Pat Bryant as the top receiver for the Illini moving forward. Both will be important to this passing attack, but Franklin has caught 10 of 15 targets on the season. Bryant has caught all eight of his targets on the young season.

|||||| READY FOR WEEK THREE

We do not make automated updates here. We make thoughtful and researched edits and updates to each depth chart heading into each week. It may take a little more time, but it is worth the wait. We go in order of the next weeks schedule and will updated here when teams are moved to “ready for” status each week.

Yesterday: Updated the seven FBS squads playing on Thursday/Friday night: