Kirk Cousins is MSU's Name Only Starter, and Other Observations on Michigan State Depth Chart

by Pete Rossman on Sep 1, 2009 11:30 AM CDT in Michigan State Spartans Football

Coach Mark Dantonio named Kirk Cousins the starter for the Montana State game Saturday. However, Keith Nichol is still listed as a co-starter, and will also play in the first half. That's probably one of the least interesting parts of today's release of the depth chart (depth chart can be found here in PDF). Let's break down all the positions:

RB: Caulton Ray is the starter; Edwin Baker and Larry Caper are both listed in the #2 spot. All three of them will probably see a decent amount of snaps on Saturday.
WR: Blair White is the starter on one side, Mark Dell and B.J. Cunningham are co-starters on the other side. Keshawn Martin is backing up Blair White - no real surprises here with the exception of redshirt freshman Myles White at third string.

OT: Rocco Cironi might be more injured than we've been led to believe, as Bowling Green transfer D.J. Young is listed as a co-starter at left tackle along with Cironi. At right tackle, fifth-year senior Brendon Moss has the start ahead of another fifth-year senior, Mike Schmeding. Don't be surprised if someone else starts at right tackle in a couple games.

OG: Joel Foreman holds down his spot at left guard ahead of Ethan Ruhland. Jared McGaha has won the spot at right guard, beating out J'Michael Deane.

C: No surprises, as Joel Nitchman's starting. One time D-Lineman John Stipek is listed as the backup.

TE: The only surprise here is that Dion Sims is listed as the third tight end, behind Charlie Gantt and Brian Linthecum.

FB: Recuited as a linebacker in the JLS era, Andrew Hawken is the starting fullback ahead of Josh Rouse and Andrew Pendy.

DE: Nothing drastic has happened since camp started, as Trevor Anderson and Colin Neely are starting, with David Rolf and Tyler Hoover as the back-ups. Not much to see here.

DT: Oren Wilson has kept one of the starting spots, and Kevin Pickelman has won the second starting spot from Jerel Worthy. Antonio Jeremiah's at third string still, and isn't likely to see the field unless he can get under 320 pounds.

MLB: Greg Jones, duh. Adam Decker's behind Jones, also duh.

OLB: Eric Gordon's keeping the starting spot he had last year, and Brandon Denson's starting on the other side. It looks like all the hype around freshman Chris Norman wasn't just hot air, he's got a spot in the two deep. Jon Misch battled injuries last year, and now healthy, he's got the other OLB two-deep spot.

CB: Jeremy Ware and Ross Weaver are co-starters at one spot, and that's the only news here.

S: Danny Fortener and Marcus Hyde are starters, as announced last week.

K/P: Swenson. Bates. Done. Of note: Swenson will be performing kickoffs.

PR: Keshawn Martin will return punts in this game, with Dell backing him up.

KR: A.J. Jimmerson will be one kick returner, and either Martin or Glenn Winston will be the other starter. I'm guessing Martin will eventually win the job, since Winston probably still needs some time to get into playing shape.

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Myles White Surprise?

Is Myles White really that much of a surprise at 3rd string WR? His stock rose dramatically at the spring game (2 catches for 86 yards and a TD).

by CPT Hoolie on Sep 1, 2009 2:36 PM CDT reply actions

It's a surprise in the sense

that there were a couple higher rated recruits (Fred Smith, for example) ahead of him last year. But you’re right, it’s not as much of a surprise if you’ve been hearing the whispers out of camp in the past weeks.

Co-Manager: The Only Colors

by Pete Rossman on Sep 1, 2009 4:42 PM CDT up reply actions