CFB DeptHITS: Tuesday, September 17
Let's get caught up on the big news from the past 24 hours around college football and what it all means...
We make hundreds of little tweaks and adjustments to our 134 live, dynamic depth charts at CFBDepth.com. This feature is designed to pull out the interesting and impactful from those edits and provide you with an overview of what is going on. Enjoy.
North Carolina State ::: Head coach Dave Doeren has named CJ Bailey the starter for week four. Grayson McCall was injured in the week three game; this could be Bailey's shot to hold the job.
Further: So, the injury opens the door for the talented and hyped true freshman Bailey to get his shot. This definitely looks like a situation that could turn into a full-time role if he shows his ability to handle it. That relies heavily on the opposition he’ll face over the next 2-3 weeks. So, let’s take a look:
Week 4: at Clemson - Rank: 3rd
Week 5: vs. Northern Illinois - Rank: 102nd
Week 6: vs. Wake Forest - Rank: 74th
If he can get through the Clemson game unscathed, he’ll certainly have an opportunity to show what he can do in leading this offense in the following two games. McCall is out of eligibility and Bailey, as mentioned, is a true freshman. The consideration here is whether McCall gets back in time to preserve a redshirt for Bailey (can not play in more than four games) or if they just decide to roll with him going forward.
Arizona State ::: Injury updates from Kenny Dillingham included WR Raleek Brown back to "questionable" as they don't want to rush him back until fully healthy. CB Laterrance Welch will miss week four at Texas Tech.
Further: Somebody may want to remind Dillingham that Brown may never be “fully healthy” as he continues to battle injuries. He could not stay on the field at USC and it’s a shame because he was very highly touted and when he has been able to flash his talents, it has been impressive.
(LT) Welch is a starting corner back for the Sun Devils, so the loss is going to be felt. However, they have a pair of solid ones in Keith Abney II and now Javan Robinson, who will cover things (pun intended) until Welch can make it back. The depth behind these two is suspect so that’s something to keep an eye on if another player goes down with injury in this secondary.
See full Arizona State Injury & Status report tab on the Sun Devils Depth Chart page »
Notre Dame ::: Loses two more impact starters with the loss of DE Jordan Botelho and OL Ashton Craig for the season. Additionally, Billy Schrauth is going to “miss a few weeks” with an ankle injury of his own.
Further: The hits just keep on coming. Botelho and Craig are the 5th and 6th players announced officially “out for the season” per the Notre Dame Communications department. Two of them (Charles Jagusah and Styles Prescod) reside on the offensive line, so further losses there continue to impact what the Irish can do on offense.
We’ll have to see how things shake up in week four against Miami (OH), but our best guess is that Rocco Spindler (primary) and Chris Terek (backup) take over at right guard while Schrauth heals up. Pat Coogan moves to center with Joe Otting backing up for the duration. Coogan took 20 snaps at center thus far (moving from Guard) and has a solid rating in our system. Here is a snap shot of the "3-deep” on the offensive line currently for the Irish:
Michigan ::: QB Alex Orji will get the starting nod against USC in week four. He's repalced Davis Warren, who clearly failed the test as the starting quarterback, throwing six interceptions in his short time at the helm.
Further: It only seemed like a matter of time before this happened. The role of the quarterback in the Michigan system is to stay mistake-free and make a play every once in a while. Nobody expected either of these guys to step in and be J.J. McCarthy. That’s a good thing because neither has come close to living up to that billing. Orji is better known for what he can do with his legs, though he has a 66% touchdown rate on his throws this year (2-of-3). Obviously, a blip on the small sample radar, and it is important to remember that Orji did not beat out Warren for this job throughout camp. That’s an indictment. All that said, coaches don’t always get it right the first time as we’ve seen in the recent past (see: 2022 TCU).
Wisconsin ::: QB Tyler Van Dyke confirmed to be out for the season with the knee injury suffered Saturday against Alabama. The Badgers will roll with Braedyn Locke
as the starter and Mabrey Mettauer backing up.
Further: Things just never really clicked with Van Dyke in his 2.4 games played with the Badgers. It’s a shame we couldn’t see it play out a bit more but this injury moves Locke into the starting role. He looked okay against a tough Alabama squad and there is plenty of talent around him to make this work. This is one team that shows immense talent on the roster, but the on-field results simply have not been there.
Locke was a consensus 4-star recruit out of Rockwall, Texas back in the class of ‘22. He originally went to Mississippi State and then transferred over to Wisconsin. He’ll get his shot to help move this underachieving Badgers offense along.
Oregon State ::: We were tracking a possible injury to NB Noble Thomas and now he does not appear on the week four depth chart. We'll move him to doubtful until we get more information on the severity of the injury.
Further: This was on of those snap count inconsistencies we saw coming out of week two. Thomas played extensively in week one (50 snaps) before sitting week two and again last week against Oregon. We were given confirmation of the injury based on circumstantial evidence in the week four depth chart that removed him. Andre Jordan Jr. and Sailasa Vadrawale III both are getting solid playing time in the secondary and that will continue as long as Thomas is sidelined.
See below for a collection of those “snap count inconsistencies” we saw from week two to week three and some impact potential injuries.
Texas A&M ::: DB Tyreek Chappell suffered a season-ending injury in week three and will be replaced in the rotation by Jaydon Hill. Yet another key injury for the Aggies.
Michigan State ::: OL Gavin Broscious is the latest Spartan injury to be deemed likely "season ending" after an injury against Prairie View A&M.
Colorado State ::: WR Tory Horton tried to give it a go this week against Colorado but does not appear to be able to do that in week four against UTEP.
Bowling Green ::: Good news for the Falcons as it is noted by head coach Scott Loeffler that star RB Terion Stewart will make his return to the field for week four.
Western Kentucky ::: QB TJ Finley will miss "several weeks" with an injury sustained in week three game; he'll be replaced by Caden Veltkamp for the time being. We are looking at targeting week 6/7 for the earliest return.
North Carolina ::: WR Nate McCollum is once again on the injury radar. He was added as being "monitored" for an undisclosed issue. Given his injury history, this should not be ignored.
Texas Tech ::: Backup RB Cam'Ron Valdez is announced out for the season after an unexpected absence week three.
|||||| IMPACT SNAP COUNT INCONSISTENCIES (SCI) TRACKING
I know, we need to think of a better name for this, but “hidden” injuries didn’t seem to cut it either. While we work on that, we just wanted to introduce you to a smattering of what we are seeing coming in from the data. This is a quick list of the top ten SCI’s we are seeing and don’t have full confirmation of an injury at this point. These players are also well above replacement level players, thus the “impact” part of the title.
Hawaii ::: OL Luke Felix-Fualalo (14.1) - starting RT was apparently banged up in week one against UCLA. He had a bye week to recover but didn’t play against Sam Houston State week three. James Milovale played in his stead and was not good against the Bearkats, allowing five pressures in his 55 snaps.
Utah ::: DL Simote Pepa (14.1) - starting interior defensive tackle played just seven snaps before departing. We was replaced by Keanu Tanuvasa who played well in his stead.
Tennessee ::: OT Lance Heard (14.0) - starting left tackle was announced “inactive” prior to week two. We didn’t get much of an update on if this is considered a long-term injury; but we will certainly keep track because he is a key component to this offense as a whole. (Note: they didn’t need him against Kent State).
Colorado ::: LG Justin Mayers (14.0) was a surprising DNP week three against Colorado State. They moved Phillip Houston to RT and Tyler Brown to LG to complete the shuffling. They didn’t lose a ton of production in this set-up, but obviously a health Mayers is the best situation for the Buffs. We’ll be tracking for any news about the severity of an injury or discipline.
Coastal Carolina ::: DL Will Whitson (14.0) did not play week three after playing extensively in weeks one and two. Not seeing much by way of injury updates for him and thus we are moving him to questionable moving forward for the Chanticleers.
Nebraska ::: DE Jimari Butler (13.5) posted a surprising DNP week three.
Arizona ::: RG Leif Magnuson (12.9) DNP week three.
Nevada ::: EDGE Kaden Johnson (13.3) played a full load in weeks one and two before week three was cut short with just 21 snaps. He sat week three and appears to be injured. Adding him to our tracking list.
Eastern Michigan ::: C Broderick Roman (12.8) started a full load at center the first two weeks, but played just six snaps in week three and there is an apparent injury here. No news on him readily available. Tracking for week four.
Appalachian State ::: NT Markus Clark (12.4) is a contributor on the defensive line for the Mountaineers. He posted a DNP after racking up a healthy 34 snaps the week prior.
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