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Fun With Tables: Skill Position Depth Chart

I thought I would sit down and put together projected depth charts together for each position, as of the start of training camp. A lot of this is theory, which will be either proved or disproved by the next few weeks. The chart goes through third-string; beyond that, or any error that you may perceive, is fodder for the comments section.

HB RB WR1 WR2 WR4 TE
McAllister Bush Colston Henderson Meachem Johnson
Pittman Meachem Meachem Patten Miller
Stecker Patten Patten Copper Campbell

Few points of interest:

  • The RB position isn't running back, it's Reggie Bush. You will also notice that there is no third-receiver position--this is because RB implies both HB2 and WR3. Hence, nobody else could handle that particular position. The way I see it, Antonio Pittman doesn't catch passes well enough, Aaron Stecker isn't athletic enough and Robert Meachem isn't a running back. What this means, in my view, is that in the event of an injury to Reggie, the offense will dramatically change.
  • Dovetailing with that last point, Deuce is listed as the primary runner, with Pittman and Stecker as his competition. A lot of pundits are predicting a huge year for Reggie Bush, in terms of carries, meaning that he should be competing with Deuce for HB1. Am I the only person who thinks that Reggie and Deuce play different positions? Moving Reggie into Deuce's spot will radically change the offense. If Reggie is getting 20 carries per game from the HB1 spot, he's not really going to be a decoy on the edges of the offense. I may be wrong, but I think that putting Reggie in the backfield a lot more, ostensibly anchoring him to one place, will stagnate the offense. As long as Deuce is there, the team is better served by putting both players on the field at the same time. If Deuce is hurt, I'm guessing (and this is a guess) that Pittman will become the primary (and I use that term loosely) ball-carrier.
  • Meachem is the primary backup at both receiver positions and the principal fourth-receiver. Essentially, what I am saying here is that the coaches will want to give him first-crack at several positions: as a tertiary receiver when everybody is healthy and as a primary backup in the case of injury. This will involve him learning three positions at once, which is quite a challenge. I'm sure the coaches will simplify it as camp continues, thus simplifying the process for us. But for now, since this exercise is largely theoretical, he goes in several--too many--spots.
  • Put in-line, the receivers chart would look like this: Colston-Henderson-Meachem-Patten-Copper

So there you have it. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section.