College Football 2012: Weekly Depth Chart Watch

Last week we kicked off our weekly look at interesting depth chart issues around the nation. Your Best 11 highlighted Georgia's cornerback move, Florida and Wisconsin's quarterbacks and the Oklahoma tight ends.

This week, the Danny O'Brien news coming down the shoot looks like Wisconsin's problem. But there are plenty of other teams with interesting developments.

Florida - Running Back

No real battle here, just a lot of happy Gators fans. Mike Gillislee finally sits firmly in the lead for running back.

Gillislee is a guy that boasts a hefty career per carry average, but has not seen the field on a regular basis. Well, in Gainesville things have changed. He is finally getting it done in pass protection.

New offensive coordinator Brent Pease is seeing good things out of the rising senior. Perhaps the 5'11", 198-pound back can give the Gators the reliable rushing asset that the offense needs to be remain balanced.

The waterbugs Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey are gone. With Mack Brown looking solid, the rushing attack will look a lot different for Will Muschamp in year two.

Penn State - Quarterback

We knew going into spring that Matt McGloin and Rob Bolden would be battling for the lead in this race. But, what looked like a two person race has now seen a new challenger emerge—Paul Jones.

Jones came in early as a highly touted quarterback in 2010. After a solid performance in the 2010 spring game, he disappeared from folks' radar. He was beaten out by Bolden in the fall and academically ineligible for the 2011 campaign.

Well, he's back and ready to go. The redshirt sophomore is talented. McGloin and Bolden have been less than stellar. With Bill O'Brien losing the Danny O'Brien derby, he will have to get one of these three ready to start the fall as the lead dog.

This should be fun to watch. McGloin and Bolden have an edge in experience but Jones is right talented and ready to play football again.

Alabama - Inside Linebacker

Losing Courtney Upshaw was a big blow to the Tide from a playmaking standpoint. Losing Dont'a Hightower is an equally tough loss from a team defense standpoint.

Hightower played the middle linebacker for the Tide's 3-4 scheme and he carried much of the responsibility for adjustments in Nick Saban and Kirby Smart's defense.

This year, the two inside linebacker spots have five guys compete for the right to call themselves starters.

Nico Johnson and CJ Mosley have the most experience, but Tana Patrick and Trey DePriest are quality ball players who are going to push for time. Add early enrollee freshman Dillon Lee to the mix and you've got five guys battling at the interior of the 'Bama defense.

Johnson and Mosley will likely win the battle. But when you have a wealth of talent, as Alabama does, it becomes difficult to keep guys off the field.

Unlike some of the other teams around the nation, Nick Saban's problem is not a lack of talented players—he just has to pick between the best combination to trot out on to the field.

Stanford - Quarterback

The tall task of replacing Andrew Luck is narrowing to just two candidates: Josh Nunes and Brett Nottingham. Both quarterbacks have elevated themselves above the fray to make what was once a five-man race into a two-man duel.

Nottingham was expected to be the leader coming into the spring but the highly touted Nunes has pushed 2010's fourth-ranked quarterback.

As spring is starting to wind down in Palo Alto, David Shaw is waiting for a quarterback to become the guy so that he can start constructing the fall around that one player.

Right now they are neck and neck.

Nottingham does have a game experience edge on Nunes; he's completed five times as many passes. However, that's merely because Nunes had one completion in 2010 to Notthingham's five in 2011.