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Early 2026 Depth Chart

Calinative

Calinative

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My guess to an early depth chart would look like this on offense:
1769486486589.png

As far as role comparisons:
- CJ Daniels/Horton = Josh Moore, Cam Vaughn, Milan Parris
- Jacolby George = Cooper Barkate, Daylyn Upshaw .... Wingo may end up Z
- Sam Brown/ Marion = Vandrevius Jacobs, Tyran Evans

I do think next year it's probably Moore, Wingo, and Toney as the main starting 3.

Hopefully we use a lot more 4 WR personnel. Could see Moore/Vaughn Jacobs/Wingo outside with Toney and Barkate/Upshaw in the slot.
Should definitely be using more 2 RB personnel as well with On of Fletcher/Brown and one of Pringle/Lyle. Though I still don't really expect BOTH Lyle/Brown to be here post-spring...

I'll keep saying I view Okunlola as a better pure pass protector than McCoy, so I'd have him at OT. Cantwell imo is guaranteed a starter. Still think Cantwell and Samson/mcCoy could flip with Cantwell at LT. Rodriguez is almost certainly gunna start at Center. I think Buchanan+Meriweather are likely going to split reps similar to Okunlola/McCoy this past year. Meriweather just overall is likely to be the 6th Olineman and the guy that fills in as needed along the oline. I think if any injuries happen You'd want to leave Buchanan at RG.

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Who we start at Nickel is probably THE most up for debate regarding the defense for next year. I'd guess Dunnigan and Portis are maybe looked at as the long term options there. Thornton has played a lot of Nickel at BC I'm pretty sure. And of Course when we Scott was out Fitzgerald played the most snaps in the Nickel. The Nickel snaps for this season were Scott 489, Fitzgerald 119, Jakobe Thomas 98, and Poyser 96, Xavier Lucas 66. We also know last year Damari was the guy that was supposed to mostly be the Nickel. And it's also possible that the staff wants to get Antione on the field more. So that could absolutely be used as the justification to maybe have Lucas/Damari more in the Nickel role this year... Especially since we are EXTREMELY limited depth at Safety. And ultimately the question SHOULD BE how do we get the best 5 DBs on the field as often as possible.... Someone like @Memnon better able to answer that given what the staff did this year and how the current roster is set to look.

At LB, This is what I'm hoping it's looking like. However I do think its more likely that ultimately they'd want Wiley as the Mike backing up Toure. Bonner seems like the most natural Will LB on the roster along with JJ Edwards... Well and Pruitt, but I'm convinced they will never play Pruitt at LB... So I think its more likely to be
Mike: Toure / Wiley / Chase Smith / Busch or Campbell
But I'm hopefully that Wiley is just too good to keep off the field so they have him start at Will....

At DLine I think we are incredibly loaded at DT this year. I would 100% have Blount primarily playing EDGE. We absolutely NEED him to fill in the Bain role along with Lowe. Scroggins will be good rotational depth there as well. I think Wilson is a nice Mesidor replacement.

But obviously I think we are going to have Lightfoot on the field a LOT more next year than this past year. He's absolutely earned it. When that happens I think Blount likely Slides inside. I think no matter what we will rotate at like 2-4x the rate we rotated this past season. The DT room looks awesome though imo. I have incredibly high expectation out of it this year.
 

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I might want to put McCoy in the right side given his run blocking and not having such an experienced right side of the line. Put Cantrell next to a veteran
 
88 said:
I might want to put McCoy in the right side given his run blocking and not having such an experienced right side of the line. Put Cantrell next to a veteran
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I mean I'd definitely prefer that if Samson ends up guard.

Though McCoy/Samson played all year at LG and Buchanan played all year at RG. I can see them just leaving it like that and saying Buchanan and Cantwell will grow together and start here 3 years.... It'd be quite nice long-term.

I also think it's just as likely Cantwell just straight up plays LT. Then Samson or McCoy at RT, and the loser of that competition stays at LG. And then Buchanan sticks at RG, so basically 2 guys stay only 1 ends up moving from last season...
 
Calinative said:
I mean I'd definitely prefer that if Samson ends up guard.

Though McCoy/Samson played all year at LG and Buchanan played all year at RG. I can see them just leaving it like that and saying Buchanan and Cantwell will grow together and start here 3 years.... It'd be quite nice long-term.

I also think it's just as likely Cantwell just straight up plays LT. Then Samson or McCoy at RT, and the loser of that competition stays at LG. And then Buchanan sticks at RG, so basically 2 guys stay only 1 ends up moving from last season...
Click to expand...

Where can I find the infamous camp tape of Cantwell struggling in pass pro?
 
Calinative said:
My guess to an early depth chart would look like this on offense:
View attachment 355303
As far as role comparisons:
- CJ Daniels/Horton = Josh Moore, Cam Vaughn, Milan Parris
- Jacolby George = Cooper Barkate, Daylyn Upshaw .... Wingo may end up Z
- Sam Brown/ Marion = Vandrevius Jacobs, Tyran Evans

I do think next year it's probably Moore, Wingo, and Toney as the main starting 3.

Hopefully we use a lot more 4 WR personnel. Could see Moore/Vaughn Jacobs/Wingo outside with Toney and Barkate/Upshaw in the slot.
Should definitely be using more 2 RB personnel as well with On of Fletcher/Brown and one of Pringle/Lyle. Though I still don't really expect BOTH Lyle/Brown to be here post-spring...

I'll keep saying I view Okunlola as a better pure pass protector than McCoy, so I'd have him at OT. Cantwell imo is guaranteed a starter. Still think Cantwell and Samson/mcCoy could flip with Cantwell at LT. Rodriguez is almost certainly gunna start at Center. I think Buchanan+Meriweather are likely going to split reps similar to Okunlola/McCoy this past year. Meriweather just overall is likely to be the 6th Olineman and the guy that fills in as needed along the oline. I think if any injuries happen You'd want to leave Buchanan at RG.

View attachment 355300

Who we start at Nickel is probably THE most up for debate regarding the defense for next year. I'd guess Dunnigan and Portis are maybe looked at as the long term options there. Thornton has played a lot of Nickel at BC I'm pretty sure. And of Course when we Scott was out Fitzgerald played the most snaps in the Nickel. The Nickel snaps for this season were Scott 489, Fitzgerald 119, Jakobe Thomas 98, and Poyser 96, Xavier Lucas 66. We also know last year Damari was the guy that was supposed to mostly be the Nickel. And it's also possible that the staff wants to get Antione on the field more. So that could absolutely be used as the justification to maybe have Lucas/Damari more in the Nickel role this year... Especially since we are EXTREMELY limited depth at Safety. And ultimately the question SHOULD BE how do we get the best 5 DBs on the field as often as possible.... Someone like @Memnon better able to answer that given what the staff did this year and how the current roster is set to look.

At LB, This is what I'm hoping it's looking like. However I do think its more likely that ultimately they'd want Wiley as the Mike backing up Toure. Bonner seems like the most natural Will LB on the roster along with JJ Edwards... Well and Pruitt, but I'm convinced they will never play Pruitt at LB... So I think its more likely to be
Mike: Toure / Wiley / Chase Smith / Busch or Campbell
But I'm hopefully that Wiley is just too good to keep off the field so they have him start at Will....

At DLine I think we are incredibly loaded at DT this year. I would 100% have Blount primarily playing EDGE. We absolutely NEED him to fill in the Bain role along with Lowe. Scroggins will be good rotational depth there as well. I think Wilson is a nice Mesidor replacement.

But obviously I think we are going to have Lightfoot on the field a LOT more next year than this past year. He's absolutely earned it. When that happens I think Blount likely Slides inside. I think no matter what we will rotate at like 2-4x the rate we rotated this past season. The DT room looks awesome though imo. I have incredibly high expectation out of it this year.
Click to expand...

I think jacobs is jacolby and vaughn is sam brown in this comparison. Toney is X obviously, coop is like a mixture of X and horton imo. Dawson doesn’t really use outside wrs as slots unless its a tight formation but coop is a killer there and has great chemistry with mensah

Id be surprised if merriweather doesn’t start but i also love buchanan and i agree that samson is the best pass blocker and probably wins the LT job.

Its gonna be an open competition/audition for multiple spots, probably get the tackle spots sorted out. Samson/mccoy/merriweather for LT. Cantwell/Merriweather for RT. Then at left guard you will get one of mccoy or samson, at rg it will probably be buchanan/merriweather. Everyone will be cross trained. These battles are probably the main focus of mine for spring and fall.

I think thorton is most likely the nickel, he played safety at bc but looked like a similar role as what a nickel is for us from what I’ve seen.

Everything else i 100% agree. Blount should be at edge for Bain, him and lowe open competition. Especially for run defense imo maybe later downs blount can kick inside. Im not convinced blount will win the competition over lowe just based off highschool tape at edge but blount didn’t play a senior year so its not enough to say either way

All of this can change if lightfoot puts weight on and becomes a 3 down player, then he probably plays edge opposite of wilson.
 
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Ngl I’m pretty sure the plan is for Thornton to slot into the nickel…he’s a carbon copy of Keionte. backend will be rotation between Fitz, Poyser, and Day/Pruitt/someone they bring in (Koi Perech would’ve fit perfect. Just need a bigger body there to fit in the run game. Ik everyone loves BFitz (myself included) but reality is he’s too small to play every down. He’s listed at 170 but he looks like he’s 160, so he needs to bulk up this offseason

Also, don’t sleep on Spafford. That receiver room is loaded tho battling for 2 spots. Wouldn’t be surprised to see a transfer or two after spring.

Lastly, if we wanna be elite in the RPO/Play Action game again, we need a tight end in the baddest way so either Lofton takes the next step or we pay good money for one cuz that position is atrocious, prob worst I’ve seen it in 30 years no sugarcoating.
 
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E1k said:
I think jacobs is jacolby and vaughn is sam brown in this comparison. Toney is X obviously, coop is like a mixture of X and horton imo. Dawson doesn’t really use outside wrs as slots unless its a tight formation but coop is a killer there and has great chemistry with mensah

Id be surprised if merriweather doesn’t start but i also love buchanan and i agree that samson is the best pass blocker and probably wins the LT job.

Its gonna be an open competition/audition for both multiple spots, probably get the tackle spots sorted out. Samson/mccoy/merriweather for LT. Cantwell/Merriweather for RT. Then at left guard you will get one of mccoy or samson, at rg it will probably be buchanan/merriweather. Everyone will be cross trained. These battles are probably the main focus of mine for spring and fall.

I think thorton is most likely the nickel, he played safety at bc but looked like a similar role as what a nickel is for us from what I’ve seen.

Everything else i 100% agree. Blount should be at edge for Bain, him and lowe open competition. Especially for run defense imo maybe later downs blount can kick inside. Im not convinced blount will win the competition over lowe just based off highschool tape at edge but blount didn’t play a senior year so its not enough to say either way

All of this can change if lightfoot puts weight on and becomes a 3 down player, then he probably plays edge opposite of wilson.
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Idk, maybe if you're purely talking build. But in their skill set/ how they'll be used, Jacobs is absolutely "the deep threat". That's how Sam Brown was used. And like Marion was used a lot in this manner as well. Like just think about pure 1 on 1 go balls. We didn't really see George running those types all that much. We saw Brown/Marion doing it plenty (not neccessarily to all that much success). That's Jacobs primary use imo. I don't think Barkate is like Horton at all, That's absolutely 100% Moore.

Regarding Meriweather, idk why you'd be surprised if he doesn't start. Dude played 34 snaps at LG, 17 at RG, and 5 at RT last year (56 total snaps). Buchanan played 55 snaps at RG for us... On a team with a much better OLine. SJ and Ryan Rodrigues each played 55 snaps at LG&Center last year too. I think it's a 100% open competition for sure. And yeah OT needs to be the #1 solve. You figure out that first along with Rodriguez vs SJ at Center (almost certainly Rodriguez wins imo), and then let the rest of the chips fall where they will.
 
Lastly, I think Stancil beats out Carter at DT. But also yikes do we ever need some LBs. Staff prob gonna wait til Spring window to fill that if I had to bet. Toure ain’t exactly the healthiest guy in the world so if he goes down, that room is almost as bad as the TEs. Maybe I get proven wrong, but definitely scares me.

P.s. why are the Luna bros not on the depth chart smh
 
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Calinative said:
Idk, maybe if you're purely talking build. But in their skill set, Jacobs is absolutely "the deep threat". That's how Sam Brown was used. And like Marion was used a lot in this manner as well. Like just think about pure 1 on 1 go balls. We didn't really see George running those types all that much. We saw Brown/Marion doing it plenty (not neccessarily to all that much success). That's Jacobs primary use imo. I don't think Barkate is like Horton at all, That's absolutely 100% Moore.

Regarding Meriweather, idk why you'd be surprised if he doesn't start. Dude played 34 snaps at LG, 17 at RG, and 5 at RT last year (56 total snaps). Buchanan played 55 snaps at RG for us... On a team with a much better OLine. SJ and Ryan Rodrigues each played 55 snaps at LG&Center last year too. I think it's a 100% open competition for sure. And yeah OT needs to be the #1 solve. You figure out that first along with Rodriguez vs SJ at Center (almost certainly Rodriguez wins imo), and then let the rest of the chips fall where they will.
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Jacolby was the deep threat in the offense but he just wasn’t good at it lmao, cam and tvd gave him alot of chances they just didn’t work often. He got more shots the brown did. Sam brown was used similar to how vaughn was used at wvu, i can see him playing in both outside spots tho just like sam did here when jacolby was on bs

Horton role in 2024 was alot of backside digs, isolated guy for slants on 3rd downs. Even some slot in 12p situations, he was our 2nd best intermediate guy after X. That’s really the essence of Dawson’s offense

Thats what coop fills in perfectly, cooper is our best route runner and most reliable guy besides toney so thats why id put him there. And he has a similar style of route running tempo as horton imo

As far as merriweather you maybe right, im just thinking they might go with more experience at rg. I love buchanan but a sophmore and true freshman on the right side is worrisome.
 
Calinative said:
I mean I'd definitely prefer that if Samson ends up guard.

Though McCoy/Samson played all year at LG and Buchanan played all year at RG. I can see them just leaving it like that and saying Buchanan and Cantwell will grow together and start here 3 years.... It'd be quite nice long-term.

I also think it's just as likely Cantwell just straight up plays LT. Then Samson or McCoy at RT, and the loser of that competition stays at LG. And then Buchanan sticks at RG, so basically 2 guys stay only 1 ends up moving from last season...
Click to expand...
Cantwell isn’t playing LT. And you don’t want 2 inexperienced guys starting on one side together so it would make sense if Samson or McCoy play RG and Buchanan if he starts then put him at LG. That gives the young guys a vet beside them to help

And chase is likely at will. He was the backup there. Bonner is probably going to start at will and Wiley will be at mlb
 
Calinative said:
I mean I'd definitely prefer that if Samson ends up guard.

Though McCoy/Samson played all year at LG and Buchanan played all year at RG. I can see them just leaving it like that and saying Buchanan and Cantwell will grow together and start here 3 years.... It'd be quite nice long-term.

I also think it's just as likely Cantwell just straight up plays LT. Then Samson or McCoy at RT, and the loser of that competition stays at LG. And then Buchanan sticks at RG, so basically 2 guys stay only 1 ends up moving from last season...
Click to expand...
Why would you put cantwell at LT when you know he struggles at pass blocking?
 
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LuCane said:
I wonder which players are the most likely or biggest risks to exit post-Spring as Grad transfers. I know some guys who still have eligibility beyond next year will likely already graduate in May.
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I don't think there's much. The only kids I think who are at risk are the 2023 kids, and there's not much left on the roster from that signing class.

Samson (never know but doubt it after he's finally going to be a full-time starter)
Fletcher (no)
Damari Brown (maybe? But if he wanted to leave, he'd have done so last week)

That's really it. Everyone else is gone, crazy as it is.
 
They're likely not gonna move Poyser to Nickel when he started at Safety last year and excelled.

The plan is to have Thornton replace Scott.

If they move Poyser it'll likely be to FS since he's a similar archetype to Thomas.
That slides Fitzgerald to Poyser's spot, placing him in the middle of the field on most plays.
 
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