Aggie Depth Chart Up

Texas A&M posted its football depth chart today. You can scope it out here. Some thoughts:

-One guard position appears to still be up in the air with Grant Dickey battling Chris Yoder. Yoder earned Freshman All-American honors in 2004 when he was the starting center. I don't have any insight on who will win this job, but it seems like a nice problem to have.

-Courtney Lewis and Jorvorskie Lane are listed as co-starters at tailback. Given the durability concerns that Lewis brings to the table, both should see plenty of carries this season. Highly touted true freshman Mike Goodson is the co-backup with Brandon Leone. Leone is a converted DB and something of a special teams ace so I think that Goodson will see more playing time down the stretch this season.

-The starting wide receivers are Chad Schroeder, Earvin Taylor and L'Tydrick Riley. Riley and Taylor are big possession receivers, but Schroeder is a home run threat with good speed. I think that this is a really nice mix of targets, especially when you factor in Howard Morrow, Kerry Franks and Pierre Brown coming off the bench.

-Moving over to defense, the front 6 (A&M runs a 4-2-5) doesn't seem to have any big surprises. Red Bryant will anchor the defensive line, being joined by senior Bryce Reed in the middle. The ends, Chris Harrington and Jason Jack, are returning starters. Linebacker Justin Warren is probably the best player on the defense. The other LB spot will be filled by JUCO transfer Mark Dodge who I've heard was around this spring. Fellow JUCO Misi Tupe has sparked a lot of optimism amongst the Aggie faithful, but will start the season behind Dodge.

-The secondary also looks remarkably similar to it's post-spring version with Danny Gorrer and Jordan Peterson at the corners. Devin Gregg and Melvin Bullitt will be the safeties with Japhus Brown serving as the WHIP. Another highly regarded freshman, Jordan Pugh, is trying to unseat last season's INT leader, Marquis Carpenter for the backup position behind Gorrer. If Johnathon Batson is back at full strength, he will provide good depth at safety.

So, in summary no big surprises here. A&M has the advantage of having four games to get things sorted out and locked down before Texas Tech comes to town and provides the first big test of the season. I'll be at Kyle this weekend taking notes and trying to figure out what to make of the situations at quick guard, running back, the second linebacker position and the defensive secondary.

Gig 'em