Depth Chart 2016

http://www.cougarboard.com/board/message.html?id=16334984



Depth chart - assessing strength & weakness



I think the guys at loyal cougars have done a great job projecting the depth chart as it stands now:



http://www.loyalcougars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2016-08-19-Mid-Fall-Camp.pdf



Positions of Strength (deep with talent and/or experience) and weakness (positions look thin, question marks on the depth)



VERY STRONG



QB - Taysom and Tanner... both would start at 98% of schools. I like Hoge's talent/potential as well.



RB - Jamaal is poised for a monster senior year, and he's backed up by very promising talent in Squally and Riley Burt. Algie Brown at FB. The backfield is loaded.



SAFETY - Nacua and Hanneman will be outstanding, I'm expecting big things there. Lots of strong back-ups (Anderson, Hadley, Takenaka, Jacobson, Badger, etc.) Very deep position.



STRONG



WR - I'm feeling very good about Kurtz and MLP as the big targets, with the emergence in camp of the new speedsters (Trinnaman and Tanner). Experienced solid guys round out the depth (Pearson, Juergens) and more talented athletes battle behind them (Shumway, Simon). Lots of unproven talent though, so I won't grade as "very strong" yet but I expect great things from this group.



D-Line - I'm feeling bullish about the emergence of Langi and Tautu at DE. I think both will be great off the edge getting after the QB. I feel good about Laulile and Kaumatule at the other end. I think we are loaded with talent at DT. Tuiloma and Taele... backed up by a bunch of 3 and 4-star prospects with big bodies and strong potential (Tanielu, Mo'unga, Taliauli, etc.)



CORNER - I think Mike Davis will play on Sundays. Warner and Akile Davis battling for the other position. A bunch of 6'1"/6'2" athletes seeing most of the reps! Then talented back-ups, all legit D1 athletes (Lake, Armstrong, Wilcox, Shelton). Can't remember BYU ever having this many dudes at corner who were legit D1 corner athletes. Gone are the days of free safeties playing out of position at corner!



SOLID



O-Line - I like the projected starters (L to R: Lapuaho, Dawe, Koroma, Kanuch, Hoyt) and I'm feeling better about the reserves (Shoaf, Nwigwe, Eide, Norman, Jimenez, Longson, etc. are good prospects, unproven). I think the depth still presents considerable drop-offs from the starters. The question marks about Johnson and Wilcox make me feel less secure. If those dudes end up contributing then this position could potentially be "strong".



WEAK



LB - I feel good about the starters. Warner is poised to be a star. I believe strongly in the talent and potential of both Pau'u and Bernard. Heder will be a solid back-up to Pau'u. But the lack of experience backing up at OLB is a big concern: Unga, Tapusoa, Fonua, Huntsman, etc. all are very unproven question marks. Some talent, sure, but so much unknown... safeties switched to LB, etc.



TE - A committe of 6, nobody really emerging... huge question mark position.



Kicker - Yikes. I expect lots of going for it on 4th down this year unless we're inside the 20.

Taysom for kicker. He did kickoffs in high school. I saw him hitting 50 yard field goals in high school pre-game warm ups. If nobody pans out, send out all-everything Taysom?

SenorCougar wrote:
Taysom for kicker. He did kickoffs in high school. I saw him hitting 50 yard field goals in high school pre-game warm ups. If nobody pans out, send out all-everything Taysom?

This is as good as any plan I've heard thus far for our pathetic kicking situation.

I'm not convinced that our safeties are "very strong." Unless Hanneman is a MUCH better safety than he was a corner (I concede that it's POSSIBLE), we may have a very weak side of the field as far as help over the top. Hope the kid proves me wrong.

SpiffCoug wrote:

Taysom for kicker. He did kickoffs in high school. I saw him hitting 50 yard field goals in high school pre-game warm ups. If nobody pans out, send out all-everything Taysom?

This is as good as any plan I've heard thus far for our pathetic kicking situation.

Makes the defense have to really wonder if you are going for two, going for the first down, or really kicking it.

I thought of Paul Hornung today. AT Notre Dame He played halfback and safety and won the Heisman as a quarterback. He also was the place kicker. At Green Bay he only played halfback but he also kicked. He would be among the leaders each year in scoring because of touchdowns and kicking. The difference between T. Hill and Hornung is speed. The needle goes to T. hill there.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865661196/BYU-football-projected-2-deep-chart.html?pg=all



This is not official, just a guess.

scott715 wrote:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865661196/BYU-football-projected-2-deep-chart.html?pg=all



This is not official, just a guess.

It's a poor guess too, IMO. Several key players missing.

It seems to match the 2-deep that loyalcougars put out the other day with a few minor exceptions (like Hunter Marshall above Nate Sampson at #2 TE, etc.). Which key players are missing? The names that seem missing to me are injured and not been cleared like Kyle Johnson or Brad Wilcox or Handsome Tanielu. Or is there some other key player I'm missing.

Schmoe wrote:
I'm not convinced that our safeties are "very strong." Unless Hanneman is a MUCH better safety than he was a corner (I concede that it's POSSIBLE), we may have a very weak side of the field as far as help over the top. Hope the kid proves me wrong.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe safety is his natural position so he was playing out of position last season which may somewhat excuse some of his lackluster performances.

https://twitter.com/BlueBrethren/status/770324085549051905



A few surprises in there. And looks like Edwards AND Mikkelsen are going to be on the roster as kickers.

I'm kind of surprised at the corners - I haven't heard anything about Austin McChesney, and I had heard people talking a lot more about Akile Davis, Michael Shelton, and Dayan Lake than Troy Warner, and yet he is there starting with Davis at LC. He must have made a good impression!



I also hope Butch Pau'u is as good at MLB as you'd think he is by his name. MLB in a 4-3 is a lot more responsibility than ILB in a 3-4, and it shows a lot of confidence from the coaches to have him start there over someone like Langi.



Also, I'm going to pronounce his name Butch POW! regardless of the correct pronunciation, because that's just awesome.

Someone obviously was concerned that Dayan Lake isn't in the 2-deep. But I love his tweet:



https://twitter.com/Lake_Era5/status/770457815999582208

Now that school is in session and the 105-man limit has expired, it looks like there have been some updates to the official roster on BYUCougars.com. There are a few notable additions to the roster:

- OL Kyle Johnson Hopefully he will be back from injury sooner than later

- OL Zac Dawe RM freshman

- DL Tico Fuga RM freshman

- LB Rylee Gautavai RM freshman

- K Andrew Mikkelsen Back on the roster after playing 2 years ago



Notable absences at this point include:

LB Sione Takitaki - Rumors of him taking some time away appear to be founded at this point.

OL Brad Wilcox - Not sure why the senior is missing but he will be missed

DE Keanu Salepaga - Class of 2016 who never appeared for some reason

DE Moses Folauhola - former Ute who had suffered what was a career ending injury appeared briefly on the roster during fall camp but is not on it now.