(7/30/12) Depth Chart & Fall Position Battles

Most reports said that Kalis was possibly college ready as a HS senior, so another year should be good.  Now, he won't be a great college player yet, but it's very possible he's good enough to be the 5th best guy on our OL. 

That said, I think people are too quick to overlook Chris Bryant.  He came in last year way too big, but has since lost a lot of that bad weight.  He was starting to get some good reviews during bowl practices, but seemed to take a bit of a step back in the spring when he wasn't mentioned much as the possible LG despite there not being a sure thing at that spot.

I'm hoping he's a guy who can step in and do some things this fall, since we need another OG, and we're losing at least one starter after this year.

I remember that position switch (or flip flop rather) came up a few months back.  I'm assuming it had a lot to do with the WR depth that we had the past few years no longer being there as well as incoming freshmen filling in the depth chart gaps we had at TE.  Hope he can transition back to WR smoothly because he sure had bulked up big time to get into TE playing shape last year.

Yes, he moved back to WR after apparently dropping his weight below 230, which is still a tad large but at least a potential redzone threat. I'm willing to bet he cuts another 5-10 pounds before the season starts and should be playing around Hemingway's weight with a couple extra inches in height.

I like that movie he's in that rips off ALL OF CHARLIE KAUFMANS WORK in one single movie.  It's called Cold Souls http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1127877/

Watch the trailer.. Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine and Synedoche New York rolled into one.. Pathetic.

No, even Hoke said recently they don't know yet.  

Gardner is technically a junior this season.  Last I heard, it was unlikely that he would be awarded a fifth year.

I'm a fan of what I saw out of Clark late last season, but virtually everyone says that Beyer had distanced himself a bit by the end of the spring.

I bet WR is better than people think.  We know what we have with Gallon and Roundtree, and that's two guys who are "good" at the very least.  Probably not stars, but certainly good receivers.  Then we have four guys - Gardner, Robinson, Chesson and Darboh who all have star receiver potential.  They won't all be, but one of them might be, or maybe 2 of them are also just "good."  And realistically, if you have four WRs who are starter-level guys, it's going to be a pretty strong group because a defense can't gameplan against any one guy.

Other than Roy and Snoop we have 4 wild cards. J Robinson, DG, Darboh and Chesson. We know what we have with Jackson and Dileo. I feel like Dileo will be a nice target and utility player this year. While Jackson seems doomed to repeat his productivity.. Sorry Ricardo, I've lost faith that you will find your way..

I've thought about this.  We're only screwed if 2 guys get hurt.  I think we'll have at least one OL, could be Mealer, Kalis or Bryant, who are utility back-ups, much like Schofield last year. 

Let's say the starting unit is Lewan, Mealer, Barnum, Omameh, Schofield.

If Lewan gets hurt, Schofield moves to LT and Kalis plays RT (or maybe Omameh moves to RT and Kalis plays RG).  If Mealer or Omameh get hurt, Kalis comes in for them.  Miller for Barnum, obviously.  It might be Bryant playing the Kalis role, or possibly Brzynski is he ends up being legit. 

Two injuries though, and you're right. Big trouble in Little China.

100% Rawls is going to split some facemasks this season. How did this kid not have 20 BCS offers? Also.. Kalis will take the lg job at halftime of the bama game and won't look back for 4 years.

Perhaps he is not as good at playing football as the other players at his position.

Kaleb Ringer tracked him down in the spring game.  I'm not convinced that Hayes is as lightning fast as some people hope.  He might be the reincarnation of Clarence Williams, but I don't think many of us are begging for a Clarence Williams clone.

(I'm not bagging on Williams.  He was a decent player on a good team, but he wasn't a superstar.)

Andrew Quarless started 9 games in '05/'06 for Penn State as a true freshman, had 21 receptions for 288 yards and 2 touchdowns. Although not in the Big Ten, Kyle Rudolph started for Notre Dame in 2008 as a true freshman in all 13 games, had 29 receptions for 340 yards and 2 touchdowns.  

I think AJ Williams would play more than Funchess in a TE type role considering one guy is like 280 and the other is more like a large WR right now. That being said, would anyone be surprised to see Funchess play a little WR this year before he grows enough to be a TE? Does he have the skills to help out at WR?

As hopeful as I am about Gardner's potential as a game-breaking WR, If the coaches thought it was necessary to take snaps away from Denard to give Devin meaningful in-game snaps last season, then I doubt Bellomy will be apointed backup. Now, if several games into the season Devin is ahead of the curve and becoming a dominant WR, then I think Bellomy might have the chance to move up, but not to start out the season. Devin just has too much valuable experience to be third on the depth chart right off the bat IMO.