Post depth chart thoughts

Not trying to brag, but of the 24 positions (11 offense, 11 defense , punter and kicker) I predicted in a blog post last weekend I got 23 correct. If only I could have scored that well on some of my tests in school. I may go buy a lottery ticket with that kind of luck going.

Only sophomore Josh Biezuns beating out senior Matt Barella at the Buck position (a combination outside linebacker and defensive end) cost me a perfect prediction. Both, however, will see a lot of playing time.

But it is interesting that a former fullback in Biezuns is now starting on defense, and a former defensive back — senior T.J. Atwater — is now in in the main rotation at receiver.

Coach Dave Christenen said Atwater was one of the biggest surprises of fall camp.

“For a guy who moved to receiver two weeks ago he’s done a tremendous job,” he said. “He’s going to be able to contribute and be in the rotation. he can catch the ball and make a guy miss. We’re certainly pleased we were able to find that out.”

UW’s offensive line will be new on the right side with true freshman guard Nick Carlson, who was listed at 235 pounds in the spring but is now listed at 290, and sophomore tackle John Hutchins, who has played in just two games in his career — all as a reserve.

Of the 10 offensive linemen listed on the depth chart, there are three seniors, two juniors, three sophomores and two freshmen.

Even though sophomore Austin McCoy will handle both the punting and kicking duties, Christensen said he is still “iffy” about McCoy’s field-goal kicking. However, Christensen added McCoy will keep the job as long as he makes kicks.

UW has only four running backs on scholarship, and all four were listed on the depth chart in the following order: junior Darius Terry, true freshman Alvester Alexander, redshirt freshman James Caraway and sophomore James Davis.

Christensen doesn’t expect to play all four in a game. Ideally, only the top two would see significant playing time.

And finally, you can’t help but feel for Karsten Sween.

The senior quarterback lost out on being the starter for the second straight fall camp. The No. 1 guy entering fall camp, Sween fell to No. 3 when camp ended.

“It’s real hard,” Sween said.

But Sween continues to smile and say the right things. What’s even more impressive is the more people I talk to the more genuine Sween appears to be. See my column in Thursday’s paper about that.

See Tuesday’s paper about more on the depth chart and how newly named starting quarterback Robert Benjamin is about to be part of UW football history.

As stated in my previous post, there will be live blogging during Saturday’s Weber State game, and throughout the other 11 games. It was fun doing it for a scrimmage so I can only imagine what a game will be like. Comments and questions are always welcome.