Texas Longhorns football: First depth chart released

Prior to Mack Brown's Monday press conference, the Texas Longhorns unveiled the first depth chart of the fall on Monday morning as they prepare for the season opener against New Mexico State on Saturday.

The base personnel grouping looks like it will be 11 personnel as expected, but with Daje Johnson working as the hybrid player and no Kendall Sanders on the field, who didn't make the initial depth chart, which features Marcus Johnson as the back up to Mike Davis and John Harris as the surprising co-starter with Jaxon Shipley, a good sign that Harris may be ready to contribute for the first time.

Another surprise is the placement of Greg Daniels as the co-starter with junior college transfer Geoff Swaim after a fall camp that featured little to no buzz on the progress of the former defensive player who made the move to tight end last season.

Along the offensive line, the shocker is that Curtis Riser isn't the back up at right guard, but is listed as a co-starter there with Kent Perkins, who hasn't been reported as playing any on the inside -- perhaps the coaches simply wanted to include Perkins on the depth chart, even though there isn't room to list him at tackle. The odd thing about that is that Perkins has his name listed first in the co-starter relationship.

Defensively, the absence of Ashton Dorsey at defensive tackle is extremely glaring -- the word is that Hassan Ridgeway probably isn't ready and Alex Norman seems like a year or so away, so this is a clear message from the coaching staff that Dorsey isn't where he needs to be entering his final season on campus, a significant disappointment given how productive he was at times last year. At this point, it may just be a bonus if he can contribute at the same level he did in 2012.

At linebacker, the only real change is that Jordan Hicks is now listed on the weakside and Peter Jinkens is on the strongside, the positions that always made the most sense for them to play. No other real news at the position, which hasn't had a lot of intrigue surrounding it this fall in terms of competitions with Dalton Santos clearly falling behind Steve Edmond in the middle.

In the secondary, Duke Thomas is the somewhat surprising starter over Sheroid Evans, though both should be seeing playing time. Listing Quandre Diggs at nickel, a position that didn't previously exist on the depth chart, is an acknowledgement of just how often Texas actually has to use that personnel grouping and that there is a cornerback competition that was essentially being left off of the depth chart in previous seasons as a result.

Anthony Fera is the starter at place kicker and punter, leaving Will Russ once again on the outside looking in at punter. Meanwhile, those calling for Mykkele Thompson to have the ball in his hands should be satisfied with his role as a starting kick returner along with Duke Thomas, while Diggs is the expected starter over Daje Johnson on punt returns, meaning that Shipley is no longer in consideration for that role.

Other thoughts, concerns, or questions?

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