With the release of the first depth chart of the season, we can begin to maybe have some questions answered, but we can also start to do some wild speculation. Like Donald Rumsfeld said, there are a lot of things we know. And there are a lot of things we don't know. And there are a lot of things we don't know we don't know.
Hell to the YES! I LOVE the speculation, let's get it on!
Let's break down the depth chart, after the jump
First, let's talk offense. I'll list position, then name. The first name that appears is considered the starter.
|
Position |
Player Name (starter) |
Player Name (2nd String) |
Player (3rd String |
Player (4th String) |
Player (Insurance Salesmen) |
|
WR |
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|
LT |
Pat Brown |
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LG |
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C |
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RG |
Rodney Huntley |
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|
RT |
|
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|
TE |
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|
WR |
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|
QB |
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FB |
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|
HB |
Adrian Peterson |
For the offense, there were a couple things that caught my eye. The firsrt was the WR depth, which I think I called, thank you very much: Harvin, Berrian, Jenkins, Camarillo, and Jaymar Johnson. I'm surprised Aromashodu is so far down on the depth chart, simply for the fact that the Vikings pursued him in free agency. I'm telling you, watch out for Jaymar Johnson, he might be worth a late round fantasy sleeper.
On the offensive line, I'm really surprised that DeMarcus Love is behind Brown and Welch. It was hard to keep track of all the different linemen unless you were specifically looking at one guy, but the few times I observed Love, he held his own. But admittedly, I didn't really pay attention to Brown and Welch. I'm also surprised Scott Kooistra is so far down on the depth chart. For the guards, it looks like Cook will probably be the top backup again, but it will be interesting to see how that shakes out when Anthony Herrera returns.
Kyle Rudolph is buried on the depth chart, and that was probably the most surprising. Granted, I'm only going off of two days of observation, and The Holy Trinity (Pelissero, Zulgad, Fowler) have been reporting over the last couple days that Rudolph has struggled a bit, but he really stood out early on.
I think Webb and Ponder are interchangeable at this point between the second and third spot, and Frazier will give both of them a fair shot to win the #2 job. It's not like I'll be upset with whoever is the #2 guy, because I think they're both good.
Let's look at the defense:
|
Position |
Player (1st) |
Player (2nd) |
Player (3rd) |
Player (Arena League Starter) |
|
LE |
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NT |
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UT |
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RE |
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SLB |
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MLB |
EJ Henderson |
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WLB |
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LCB |
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RCB |
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SS |
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|
FS |
There's a bit of a mild surprise, at least to me, with the starters. Tyrell Johnson is getting the nod over Jamarca Sanford, but it looked like that Sanford was a little bit a head of Johnson early on. Ross Homan is second string on the outside,which is a bit surprising. I think if Kenny Onatolu was healthy, he'd be second team on that side, but that's just me.
The nickel back feels like Chris Cook, and the dime back seems like Asher Allen, which I think is a good fit. Allen has talent, but he was way overexposed when forced in to a starting role last season. Seeing both Marcus Sherels and Devon Torrance buried on the depth chart was a mild surprise, as they both have looked good so far.
About the only other surprise, at least so far, was seeing Christian Ballard so far down on the depth chart, but when you look at the guys ahead of him, it makes sense. Evans and Guion played well in rotational relief last season, and it would seem unrealistic that Ballard would leap them.
For the special teams, the top two kick returners are Harvin and Booker, and the top punt returners are Camarillo and Jaymar Johnson.
It will be interesting to see how this shuffles after the Tennessee game.
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