Wildcats' Depth Chart
ABILENE – ACU head coach
Ken Collums released the Wildcats' depth chart for the start of the 2013 season Friday morning, and it contains no real surprises, although five true freshmen worked their way into the Wildcats' rotation in fall camp.
One of those five freshman is placekicker
Nik Grau, who appears to have won the competition to be the team's kickoff specialist and field goal and PAT kicker. Grau has impressed coaches and teammates alike with his strong leg, and that has given him the edge over
Ben Hynds.
"We go out at the end of practice almost every day and the other guys get around him and rant and rave as loud as they can, but he's pretty calm about it," Collums said of Grau, who kicked a 62-yard field goal in practice earlier this week. "We knew he was talented and had a big leg, but he's a very good athlete."
The other freshmen in the rotation are
Quentin Bryant as the backup right cornerback and
Quinton Baker as the backup left cornerback.
Caleb Withrow and
Tyler Chapa, respectively, hold down the starting spots at those two positions.
Offensively, De'Andrew Brown is neck-and-neck with transfer
Jeremiah Williams for the backup running spot behind
Charcandrick West, and offensive lineman
Riley Mayfield from defending Class 4A Division II state champion Cedar Park is the backup right tackle behind senior
Will Latu.
"We thought we had a couple of freshmen who had a chance to play right away, and that's been proven to be correct," Collums said. "Another defensive back,
D.J. Arnold, isn't in our two-deep right now, but he's played well in fall camp and he'll play as well.
"
Quentin Bryant is a tall, lanky cornerback (6-0) and that's what you want at that position," Collums said. "We didn't have a lot of depth in our secondary, and those three guys came in and performed well and earned a spot."
Returning sophomore
Keith Barnett – who played in seven games last year – missed most of fall camp because of an infection in his leg. In fact, he didn't go through his first practice until Wednesday. Collums said Barnett should be OK for the season-opener against Concordia College on Aug. 31 at Shotwell Stadium.
Another new face in the secondary is
Will Harlos, a redshirt freshman who sat out last year and spent his redshirt year at Colorado. Harlos was a highly recruited safety coming out of Somerset High School in 2011. Right now he's slated to back up
Lynn Grady at free safety, while
Angel Lopez and
Justin Stewart are at the free safety spot.
Up front,
Kolby Rowe has nailed down the other end spot opposite of returning starter
Nick Richardson.
Nick Finney at defensive tackle and
Ashton Thomas at nose guard round out the Wildcats' front four.
Blake Rudd (strongside),
Jesse Harper (middle) and
Justin Stephens (weakside) are the starting linebackers for the Wildcats entering the season.
The biggest loss on defense is at linebacker where sophomore Travis Tarver – who played significant time at outside linebacker last year after moving over from running back – has been declared academically ineligible for the fall semester.
The Wildcats also lost a player to grades on the offensive side of the ball as junior college transfer receiver
Cedric Gilbert is also academically ineligible for the fall semester.
"Fortunately, both of those spots are where we have some depth," Collums said. "You never want to lose anybody, and those two guys had a chance to really help us. But we'll go to the next guy and expect him to play well and we'll keep moving ahead."
Offensively, Williams transferred to ACU from Eastern Kentucky and has one year of eligibility remaining. He's being pushed for the backup role by Brown, who is recovering from some injuries suffered last year at Lewisville High School.
"De'Andre looks really good," Collums said. "He's gotten a ton of reps in practice, and those will only help him down the line. He's coming off some injuries last year, but right now he looks really good."
There are no real surprises on the offense where
John David Baker will open the season as the starting quarterback with plenty of weapons around him. West is the starter at running back, but expect to see Williams, Brown and
Darrell Cantu-Harkless in the backfield as well.
Baker has performed exceptionally well in fall camp, Collums said.
"I've been very pleased with John David," Collums said. "He's taken a very business-like approach to everything, and that's what you want to see. He's approached every practice like it's a game, and he's soaking it all in. He moves around pretty well, and he's been very accurate. The thing I like the most, though, is that his decision-making has been really good. You don't have to have the strongest arm, but you better know what you're doing with the football on every play. I've been impressed with John David from the standpoint that he knows where to go with the football. And he's made some nice throws to the outside, which has been a staple of our offense."
It appears redshirt freshman
Parker McKenzie has won the backup job behind Baker, ahead of
Malcolm Ruben.
The wideouts are
Darian Hogg and
Taylor Gabriel with Cantu-Harkless,
Cade Stone, DeMarcus Thompson and
Monte Green-Avery listed as the backups. However, fans who have followed the Wildcats over the last eight years know the depth chart can be thrown out when it comes to the receiver position.
Noah Cheshier will be the starting fullback when the Wildcats use one with
Cy Wilson backing him up, while
Jonathan Parker will be the tight end, although backup
Jamie Walker has had a solid fall camp.
The offensive line is full of veterans with left tackle
Blake Spears returning for his third season as a starter. He'll be joined by another three-year starter in right guard
Josh Perez..
Colton Carnes will be the starter at left guard with
Tyler McIntosh at center and Latu at right tackle. The backups (left to right) are
Christian Rodriguez behind Spers,
Logan Hoppenrath behind Carnes,
Garrett Langthorp behind McIntosh,
Ben Kittley behind Perez and Mayfield behing Latu.
Collums said he doesn't want to use anymore of his freshmen offensive linemen this season if he doesn't have to, which means
Austin Hisler,
Chance Rieken,
Hayden Wall and
Sam Fodale are likely to be red-shirted in 2013 barring a slew of injuries.
