Football Depth Chart 2023

[Reality Check]

Does anyone have an idea about a two-three deep depth chart this fall? We have lots of new players, especially transfers, so it's hard to say. From heavy glances at the athletic website, it seems we have more depth. We shall see if that equates to wins.

[Reality Check]

Based on scrimmages, the roster, and prior experience, this is my best guess on any kind of depth chart (it will likely be very wrong):

QB -- Van der Waal, Hawkins, Newman, Cotton,(Fayard RS)
RB -- Adams, Boone, Lacy, Burrell, Veasley, Hart, (Banks RS), (Brown RS)
TE -- Jones, Campbell, James, Ridgel
WR -- Patterson, Mitchell, Kitt-Denton, Jernigan, Thierry
WR -- K. King, Hines, Wasson, Eugene, Wallace
WR -- S. King, Walters, Johnson, Smith, Stewart
OL -- McMillan, Burrows, McClaine, (Larson RS)
OL -- Ballard, Cooper, Soileau, (La Fleur RS)
OL -- Ross, Mabry, Heard (Allen RS)
OL -- Richard, Staggs, Stroble, (Butler RS)
OL -- Vaughn, James, Birdwell (Hana RS)
P -- Roblow
K -- Money, Kern
DS -- Barnhill, Benson

DE -- Sneed, Sarkodie, Bodwin, Thomas, Hawkins
DT -- Sy, Gibson, Mitchell, Hall,(Ivy -- RS)
NT -- Green, Lott, Campbell, Beckley, (Davis -- RS)
DE -- Harmon, Ely, Williams, Reed, (Owens -- RS)
LB -- Galloway-Velasquez, Broad, Gooden
LB -- Ward, Banks, Sears, (Harris -- RS)
LB -- Pedraza, Morgan, Mack, Brown, (Norcross -- RS)
CB -- Strong, Richard, T. Hall, Dufour, (A. Hall -- RS), (Preston -- RS)
FS -- Davis, Caldwell, White, Rhone, Johnson, (Keppard RS)
SS -- Woulard, Robinson, Fegans, Rauls, Hardy, (Young RS)
CB -- Taylor, Brown, Joseph, Aaron, (Bonner -- RS), (Santa Marina -- RS)

I apologize if I left anyone off. I've never known less about the team and I am OK w that. This is just my best guess. Good luck to whomever starts and plays. On paper, we are as deep as I have ever seen us. We have some players! What does that mean? No clue. Time will tell.

[Reality Check]

Best guess at a 75 player depth chart vs ULL. It isn't correct, but it's a start until we see them play. Lots of talent here. Let's see what happens.

QB -- Van der Waal -- Hawkins -- Cotton
RB -- Adams -- Boone -- Lacy -- Burrell
TE -- Jones -- Campbell -- Ridgel -- Newman
WR -- Patterson -- Mitchell -- Kitt-Denton
WR -- K. King -- Hines -- Wasson -- Jernigan
WR -- S. King -- Walters -- Smith -- Stewart
OL -- Vaughn -- Burrows
OL -- Richard -- Mabry -- Stroble
OL -- Ross -- Staggs
OL -- Ballard -- Cooper
OL -- McMillan -- MClaine -- James
K -- Money -- Honshtein
P -- Roblow
DS -- Barnhill

DE -- Sneed -- Sarkodie -- Bodwin
DT -- Sy -- Gibson -- Mitchell
NT -- Campbell -- Green -- Lott
DE -- Williams -- Ely -- Harmon
LB -- Pedraza -- Morgan -- Mack -- Brown
LB -- Galloway-Velasquez -- Broad -- Gooden
LB -- Ward -- Banks -- Sears
CB -- Strong -- Brown -- Joseph
CB -- Taylor -- Richard -- T. Hall
FS -- Davis -- Caldwell -- Robinson
SS -- Woulard -- Rhone -- Rauls
Nickel -- Fegans -- White -- Hardy

[Reality Check]

My best guess at who will start at ULL:

QB -- Van der Waal
RB -- Adams
TE -- Jones
WR -- Patterson
WR -- K. King
WR -- S. King
RT -- Vaughn
RG -- Richard
C -- Ross
LG -- Ballard
LT -- McMillan
PR -- Boone
KR -- Hines, Lacy, Burrell
P -- Roblow
K -- Money
DE -- Sneed
DT -- Sy
NT -- Campbell
DE -- Williams
LB -- Galloway-Velasquez
LB -- Pedraza
LB -- Ward
CB -- Strong
FS -- Davis
SS -- Woulard
CB -- Brown
Nickel -- Caldwell

Probably way off, but we shall see. Good luck to the team.

[stinger]

So many new faces; players and coaches. It will really be interesting and exciting to see how they perform. I am excited we have size on the O line.

[Texas Demon]

The list of predicted starters is probably about the same as what I would guess. From what little I can tell at this point, we "should" have a pretty solid O if people can stay relatively healthy for a change. We have a lot of weapons.

I'm concerned about the D though. We gave up way too many yards and points last year, with seven opponents scoring 33 or more. I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything, since it's a new season and a lot of players are different. But there's pretty much no D-1 experience at corner other than Strong, and there's very little at DE either. Fingers crossed that those positions hold up. If they turn out OK, the D could be significantly improved.

There's so much unknown, I wouldn't bet money on anything. We could go anywhere from 3-8 to 8-3 and it wouldn't surprise me. I'm really hoping for the best-case scenario, and we crash the playoff party.

[Nanner Puddin]

Well, boys, this here is is always an exciting time of year. That ol' worm will turn eventually. We have been down awhile, but I am pulling for these coaches and players to rise above the past 10-15 years. Good luck, young men. They'll be people cheering for y'all from a lot of places.

[Cajundemon11]

Hoping for the best this year. A winning season is much needed and I hope this staff makes good decisions and these players remain healthy and the Demons make a run for the southland crown.

[Reality Check]

Looks like the defense is farther along than the offense. I was actually impressed by how they fought hard and held one of the better Sun Belt teams to fewer yards than I expected. The offense seemed a step or two off. We didn't play bad, though. I was expecting us to lose by more. We just didn't take advantage of opportunities. First game jitters and mistakes? Bottom line is ULL is better than us. They were predicted to beat us by 35. They beat us by 25 and it could have been less if we were farther along on offense. Let's see how much we improve to week two and then week three. Given the Cajuns often play bigger schools very tough, this really isn't a bad showing. Our true litmus test will be starting Week Three, but if we want to see what we are made of against "bigger" competition, next week will show us where we stand. La Tech is favored by about 25 or so points.

[seat16demon]

Defense looks good. Offense has a few weapons, but desperately needs to find better play a QB. I am trying to be diplomatic and patient, but it was.....well, better than catastrophic, yet worse than bad. If we can't run the ball, it will be a bad night in Ruston. Throwing is definitely our issue. If by the second quarter we look like the other night, the coaches should give the back-up QB from Grambling a serious look. Here's to hoping for better than last week. Go Demons!

[Reality Check]

Agreed. Hawkins is talented. If the starter is struggling, give Hawkins a shot. If Hawkins struggles, and the starter has figured it out after a game or two, put him back in. If not, give Cotton a shot. If he struggles, too, turn it over to Fayard and let him grow into the job. It's not personal. Best man up or next man up.

[Texas Demon]

The O definitely didn't look as good as expected, but there's a good chance that the Cajuns had something to do with that. Vander Waal was playing his first game on a new team, on the road, against an FBS team that's expected to go to another bowl this year. So I'm not ready to kick him to the curb just yet. But I agree that he really needs to look a lot better this week, or we will have to look at other guys. I think we should be cautious about reading too much into this one game where his opponent had some major advantages and would make most FCS QB's look bad. But we don't have a lot of time here. If Vander Wall is the guy, he needs to prove it pretty quick.

Another point- the whole loss can hardly be pinned on Vander Waal alone. QB's are similar to coaches in that they tend to get more credit than they deserve when the team wins, and more blame than they deserve when the team loses. It's an understood part of the job. But I bet the coaches could give us a list of other players who need to step up their game this week.

[Reality Check]

I am pulling for Van der Waal to succeed. Highly touted our of HS, recruited by Wyoming, gets hurt, falls behind, and transfers to Idaho State. He does well, gets hurt, and falls behind again. If anyone deserves a good year, it is him. I hope he soars with success. That said, if he doesn't by an appropriate time, then we should look to the others. Let's keep him healthy and see what he can do in the SLC. I sure would like to see Hawkins in the game somehow. He's good, too.