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We've officially started the first game week for the Arizona Wildcats, so the team's official depth chart is out as well.
Here's a look at how it shakes out:
Not in this picture is the special teams depth chart, which has DaVonte' Neal and Nate Phillips at punt and kick return. It also has two different long snappers. Jose Romero will snap for punts, while Nick Reinhardt will do field goals. Rich Rodriguez said this was because of Reinhardt's size (6-1, 237 pounds) compared to Romero (6-0, 206 pounds).
Here are some things I find interesting:
Left corner: Sammy Morrison gets the starting nod over Cam Denson, which is not a huge surprise based on the last couple weeks of practice, but a true freshman starting the season opener seems like a pretty big deal.
Running back: Nick Wilson and Jared Baker are listed as co-starters. I would imagine Wilson still gets 2-3x the workload Baker gets, but it shouldn't surprise you when Baker is out there getting carries early in a game. Also, Orlando Bradford getting named the third option is good for him, but RichRod did say that it's more like a co-third spot with Zach Green.
Left guard: Zach Hemmila earned the starting spot over T.D. Gross, and Gross got shifted over to right guard to back up Jacob Alsadek instead.
Nose guard: Sani Fuimaono won the job outright over Parker Zellers. Sani has done a nice job of getting back into shape after spending 2012 and 2013 on an LDS mission.
Tackle: Luca Bruno gets the nod over Anthony Fotu and Jeff Worthy. Bruno's another one of those third-year guys that seems to be impressing this year.
Linebackers: With Cody Ippolito out for the season with a torn ACL, there are some new names in the two-deep, in particular RJ Morgan and Haden Gregory. I think this puts a lot more pressure on Scooby Wright III and Derrick Turituri to stay on the field more than maybe they anticipated, and could cause some big issues in the long run.
WLB: I was surprised to see DeAndre' Miller win the job over Jake Matthews after missing last year with a shoulder injury. But I would think that those two will get a pretty equal number of snaps.
Right corner: It is not a surprise at all that DaVonte' Neal will start there. It does seem a little surprising that Kwesi Mashack is the second option, over guys like Devin Holiday and Devon Brewer.
Any thoughts you have on the two deep? What is the biggest surprise that you see? Let us know!