08-30-2022, 09:01 AM
My reactions (split into two posts due to character limits and I need to get back to work so don't want to edit for brevity):
* Depth charts are appreciated and give at least a little bit of a glimpse under the hood, or at least what the program wants the outside world to perceive, but shouldn't be overstated. Coaches won't feel bound by this and generally won't use this as the opportunity to unveil major changes. Also, we've seen in the past that these can often being lagging indicators, more of a snapshot of the previous week than a prediction of the next week.
* The first depth chart of the season fills a somewhat different niche as it's the first one, but the same impulses for secrecy and conservatism will apply. It's possible that if there are non-major injuries the program wouldn't necessarily use this depth chart to convey that, which is to say the depth chart could include a player or two the coaches feel deserves a spot on the depth chart but may not play or may be limited against Colgate. I have no reason to believe that's the case here and by all accounts we're going into the season very healthy, it's just that that's something we've occasionally seen in the past.
* Given that depth charts often lag a week and this is the first of the season, it's notable to see so many true freshman. A more conservative thing to do would be to let the true freshman "earn" it by keeping them off the first one, playing them against Colgate, and then having the USC depth chart reflect their ascendance. The choice to include Daniels, Reuben, Roush, Moi, and Bailey (especially crowning him a starter) indicates something interesting. It's a bit hard to know what that is. We're not playing games here? Last season was a miserable failure and returning players are on notice that jobs aren't safe and seniority won't dictate playing time? The depth chart is weak and this says more about the lack of QB and DL options and the lack of quality for Bowman and Raines than it does about the freshmen? In any case it was interesting to see so many true freshmen.
* As there clearly isn't any compunction against including true freshmen, the exclusion of Harris or any true freshmen DBs is somewhat disappointing. Barrow ahead of Harris is a bit of a down arrow on Harris, though what we see/don't see Saturday from these two will be the more interesting data point.
* Here are the non-true freshmen scholarship players out of sight and out of mind: Coco Lukrich (edit: now see the note on him not being on the official roster....interesting), Colby Bowman, Jayson Raines, James Pogorelc (out for the year it seems based on the tea leaves), Jack Leyrer, Austin Uke, Wilfredo Aybar (out a significant amount of time though severity less clear/publicly acknowledged than Pogorelc), Ese Dubre, Nicolas Toomer, Jaden Slocum, Brandon Jones, Alaka'i Gilman, Caleb Ellis, Omari Porter, Mitch Leigber.
* The OL and the injured players have obvious explanations and one shouldn't rule out future contribution. For others, this is a red flag. I'm particularly despondent about Dubre. We're going to have gaping holes at ILB a few months from now and the true freshmen class there looks horrible. Dubre not being far enough along to either save Sinclair from being listed twice (when that happens it seems like a straightforward/honest statement is being made) or to pass former walk-on Jorgensen is concerning. Dubre is only in his second year so I'm not giving up, but the apparent down arrows I've been perceiving on Dubre bum me out.
* Given the position switch, Uke is a wild card. Nonetheless, this is obviously a down arrow. Jaxson Moi hasn't been practicing DL at Stanford any longer than Uke has. At bare minimum, Moi's history with the position outweighs Uke's year advantage and significant strength. Again, Uke is a wild card so we shouldn't rule anything out, but anybody expecting a starter-level player should note this exclusion.
* Depth charts are appreciated and give at least a little bit of a glimpse under the hood, or at least what the program wants the outside world to perceive, but shouldn't be overstated. Coaches won't feel bound by this and generally won't use this as the opportunity to unveil major changes. Also, we've seen in the past that these can often being lagging indicators, more of a snapshot of the previous week than a prediction of the next week.
* The first depth chart of the season fills a somewhat different niche as it's the first one, but the same impulses for secrecy and conservatism will apply. It's possible that if there are non-major injuries the program wouldn't necessarily use this depth chart to convey that, which is to say the depth chart could include a player or two the coaches feel deserves a spot on the depth chart but may not play or may be limited against Colgate. I have no reason to believe that's the case here and by all accounts we're going into the season very healthy, it's just that that's something we've occasionally seen in the past.
* Given that depth charts often lag a week and this is the first of the season, it's notable to see so many true freshman. A more conservative thing to do would be to let the true freshman "earn" it by keeping them off the first one, playing them against Colgate, and then having the USC depth chart reflect their ascendance. The choice to include Daniels, Reuben, Roush, Moi, and Bailey (especially crowning him a starter) indicates something interesting. It's a bit hard to know what that is. We're not playing games here? Last season was a miserable failure and returning players are on notice that jobs aren't safe and seniority won't dictate playing time? The depth chart is weak and this says more about the lack of QB and DL options and the lack of quality for Bowman and Raines than it does about the freshmen? In any case it was interesting to see so many true freshmen.
* As there clearly isn't any compunction against including true freshmen, the exclusion of Harris or any true freshmen DBs is somewhat disappointing. Barrow ahead of Harris is a bit of a down arrow on Harris, though what we see/don't see Saturday from these two will be the more interesting data point.
* Here are the non-true freshmen scholarship players out of sight and out of mind: Coco Lukrich (edit: now see the note on him not being on the official roster....interesting), Colby Bowman, Jayson Raines, James Pogorelc (out for the year it seems based on the tea leaves), Jack Leyrer, Austin Uke, Wilfredo Aybar (out a significant amount of time though severity less clear/publicly acknowledged than Pogorelc), Ese Dubre, Nicolas Toomer, Jaden Slocum, Brandon Jones, Alaka'i Gilman, Caleb Ellis, Omari Porter, Mitch Leigber.
* The OL and the injured players have obvious explanations and one shouldn't rule out future contribution. For others, this is a red flag. I'm particularly despondent about Dubre. We're going to have gaping holes at ILB a few months from now and the true freshmen class there looks horrible. Dubre not being far enough along to either save Sinclair from being listed twice (when that happens it seems like a straightforward/honest statement is being made) or to pass former walk-on Jorgensen is concerning. Dubre is only in his second year so I'm not giving up, but the apparent down arrows I've been perceiving on Dubre bum me out.
* Given the position switch, Uke is a wild card. Nonetheless, this is obviously a down arrow. Jaxson Moi hasn't been practicing DL at Stanford any longer than Uke has. At bare minimum, Moi's history with the position outweighs Uke's year advantage and significant strength. Again, Uke is a wild card so we shouldn't rule anything out, but anybody expecting a starter-level player should note this exclusion.