8/28/2011 OFFICIAL Depth Chart

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It's game week and we finally have a depth chart. There are quite a few surprises and changes of note, from position changes to a few unexpected starters. Let's dive in:

- Surprise! Some guy named Brandon Freeman is your starting wide out! Okay so no one really knows who this is. A transfer freshman from New Mexico State, Freeman hails from Cameron Yoe High School. Freeman stands at 5'10 and 155 lbs. That's seriously all I have on this guy. YouTube has a few videos of him, and he looks good, but it's odd that one of UTSA's deepest position has a virtual unknown starting. Brandon must have been damn impressive this fall camp.

- It's weird. For all the talk of a lack of depth, it was strangely calming for me to see the team lined up in an official two deep chart. It definitely gives the illusion of increased depth. Especially when some of the names of UTSA's bigger recruits are no where to be found on the depth chart.

- Speaking of big name recruits nowhere to be found... Josiah Monroe's name can only be found at the Holder position. Very, very surprising given how much of a task it was for UTSA to keep their hands on Monroe while SEC and Big XII schools were calling his name last year.

- Looks like we'll be seeing a lot of Brandon Armstrong this year. I was honestly anticipating Armstrong falling by the wayside this season with the additions of Josiah Monroe and Tevin Williams. Armstrong is penciled in as the starter at Slot WR, Kick Return, and Punt Return.

- Another fairly large surprise. Payton Rion (6-4, 265, Smithson Valley HS) is your starting Left Guard in Patrick Hoog's absence. I have lauded Rion's praises before on the podcast, so I'm excited he's getting a chance to shine. Rion has excellent foot work, intelligence, and work ethic. Another 30 pounds and he's an NFL prospect. Let's just hope he's prepared for Division I football at 18 years old.

- Man, UTSA has a great defensive line. There's practically zero drop off from the first and second string. The big surprise to me is to see Richard Burge (6-4, 260, Stratford HS) getting the nod over both Franky Anaya and Ashaad Mabry. Also, where is Dominique Henderson? Injured? The lack of Kristian Bryant on the two deep leads me to suspect that he's being redshirted, a move that I wholeheartedly endorse.

- Jeremy Hall is taking the backseat to Darrien Starling and Crosby Adams at cornerback. Hall is going to get plenty of burn since the CBs will be moving in and out, but this came as a small surpise to me since Hall was such a highly heralded recruit coming out of high school. I was once told that UTSA didn't "deserve" Jeremy Hall. Ha.

- True freshman Mauricio Sanchez (6'0, 180 lbs., Warren HS) is starting at Rover safety. Another player that I have spoken highly of on our podcasts, Sanchez is going to develop into a top grade player for Coach Neathery. Let's see what kind of an impression Mauricio can make before Lekenwic Haynes returns from his foot injury.

- Houston transfer Mike Sanchez has moved over to Center, backing up Nate Leonard. Good move here because before I hadn't the slightest clue who our second string Center was.

- More thoughts as they come, but be sure to check out our Mega Podcast on Tuesday. We're teaming up with Darrell from RowdyReport.com to give you an extravagant podcast worthy of commemorating UTSA's first ever football game.