What We Learned from Week 1 College Football Depth Charts

With the college football season set to begin this week, the depth charts for most teams have been released. This gives us a chance to brag to all of our buddies that our team has more depth than their lousy team does.

But as we glance over the two-deeps of each team, we can also learn a few things.

Maybe a younger player had such a tremendous camp that he has moved over a veteran player that was the starter last season. Possibly a player isn't on the depth chart because of an injury that we did not know about until now. Or there could be a player that we didn't expect to play right away, but he is listed as a starter for the Week 1 matchup.

Throughout spring drills and fall camp, we speculated on who would be the starters for each college football team, but now the depth charts are official with the season ready to kick off.

Here are some of the things we have learned from the most recent depth charts.

Kelly Johnson Is a Starter for Alabama

Offseason drills are great because it gives everybody a shot to move up the depth chart and earn more playing time than they usually would receive. For walk-on senior Kelly Johnson, he went from receiving limited playing time on special teams to becoming the starting H-back/Tight end for the Crimson Tide. He was competing with sophomore Harrison Jones and redshirt freshman Brent Calloway. 

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He's a kid who works really hard and he's a great guy. Center Barrett Jones said. He gives it up for his teammates. I think we all are very happy for him because we've seen the way he's worked over the last few years. (Via Andrew Gribble of al.com)

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Johnson was listed as a linebacker last year, but made the switch to the offensive side of the ball during spring drills.

USC Adds Twitter Handles

Have you ever tried to follow your favorite college football players on Twitter, but had a hard time discovering their official page?

Well, if you have ever wondered what some of the USC Trojan players are listed under on the popular website, all you have to do is search their bio on the USC homepage. 

USC has now listed their players Twitter handles on their bio, so it is easy access to follow the 2012 Trojans. Click here to see star wide receiver Robert Woods’s page for an example.

While many coaches prefer for their players to stay off of sites such as Twitter, it seems that USC is taking exactly the opposite approach.

Fitz Toussaint Looks Like He Is Going to Play vs. Alabama

Fitzgerald Toussaint was arrested during the offseason and charged with DUI. He was also suspended from the team but was later allowed to participate in fall camp with the rest of his teammates.

While head coach Brady Hoke refused to comment on whether or not the running back would play in the season opener against Alabama, he is listed as the starter on the most recent depth chart.

This would assume Toussaint will play in the big matchup, but Hoke says that Toussaint is not done paying the price for his troubles, according to Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press.

“Every day how they come in every day, how they perform every day, how they are true teammates every day,” Hoke said. “They’re not done paying consequences on our level yet.”

Toussaint rushed for over 1,000 yards last season and scored 10 touchdowns. It would be huge for the Wolverines to get their starting running back on the field.

Alfred Blue Has Made a Serious Impact in Camp

There is no question as to who has the deepest backfield in the country; it is the LSU Tigers. They return four running backs who rushed for at least 300 yards a season ago.

But what is surprising about the depth chart is that Alfred Blue is listed as the starter heading into Week 1.

It took Blue a while to get going last season, finishing the year with 539 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on only 78 carries. He finished behind both Michael Ford and Spencer Ware in rushing yards, while Ware had more touchdowns. But taking advantage of a strong fall camp, Blue was able to separate himself from the pack.

Now of course all of these backs are going to get their fair share of touches, but it is nice to see somebody work his way up and get rewarded for it.

Florida Does Not Have a Starting QB

The most popular topic during the offseason is always the quarterback position, as every fan wants to know who the starter is going to be. For the Florida Gators, everybody is going to have to wait patiently, because there is no starter listed on the depth chart.

Sophomores Jeff Driskel and Jacoby Brissett will see playing time in the season opener against Bowling Green, as head coach Will Muschamp needs more time before making a decision. The problem is that the Gators take a trip to Kyle Field to play Texas A&M in two weeks, so this coaching staff better have things figured out by then.

What is interesting about the whole thing is that Muschamp has not ruled out a possible two-quarterback system all season long. Both quarterbacks played very little last season, finishing the year with a combined two touchdowns and six interceptions.

Ohio State Is Extremely Young

We are used to Urban Meyer winning conference and national championships everywhere he goes, and if this Ohio State team was not banned from postseason play, it makes you wonder if he would be able to do the same with all of this youth.

The Buckeyes have a combined 29 underclassmen on their newly released depth chart, with 14 of them being freshmen. Freshman Nick Vannett is listed as the starting tight end, and the linebacker position is paper-thin when it comes to experience.

There are few questions with the starters and the talent of the first unit, but a lot of these younger guys are going to have to grow up quickly for this Meyer era to really take off.

So Is Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State may be better off with experience than Ohio State, as it has a total of 31 upperclassmen on its depth chart, but the Cowboys also have five true freshmen who will see immediate playing time this season.

The one true freshman that everyone knows is quarterback Wes Lunt, who will be this year's starter and Brandon Weeden's replacement. But there are other newcomers such as cornerback Kevin Peterson, as well as wide receivers C.J. Curry, Austin Hays and Blake Webb, who will see action this season.

Oklahoma State landed a total of 24 players from the 2012 class, and head coach Mike Gundy is extremely excited about his young group of players (via The Oklahoman).

“We really like this class,” Gundy said. “I think this is the best class we’ve had in eight years, from top to bottom, for a variety of reasons.”

Many of those players will have a shot to prove themselves right away.

That Florida State Offensive Line Is Interesting

There were only eight teams in the country that had a worse offensive line than Florida State last season, as the Seminoles allowed 40 sacks. The unit has been watched closely all offseason, and there have been some interesting changes to try to improve for the 2012 season.

For one, Bobby Hart was expected to become the starting right tackle in replace of Zebrie Sanders but is listed as the backup right guard behind Tre' Jackson. Starting left tackle Cameron Erving is a former defensive player and has never played the offensive side of the ball, which has to frighten some Seminole fans.

What makes things even stranger is the fact that Erving has the most important position of all, protecting quarterback E.J. Manuel's blind side.

Then there is junior college transfer Daniel Glauser, who is listed as the backup left tackle and right tackle.

Maybe some of these changes will result in better protection this season.

Penn State Really Likes Deion Barnes

With many Penn State players leaving due to transfer, it is no surprise that younger players are moving up on the depth chart. But not too many people saw redshirt freshman Deion Barnes expected to become a starting defensive end over Pete Massaro.

That hasn't been the case yet, but the depth chart has them listed evenly, which is still a shocker to most.

Barnes is a redshirt freshman who was a 3-star recruit from the 2011 class. Massaro missed all of the 2011 season with a knee injury but did finish third on the team with eight tackles for loss in 2010.

The Nittany Lions need all of the experience they can get at this point, so hopefully this is due to a few minor setbacks with Massaro's knee injury and not a case of lack of production in camp.

Geneo Grissom Is Really the Sooners' Secret Weapon

The Oklahoma Sooners have many questions with their offensive line but would like to believe they have added another weapon to the offense.

Geneo Grissom was a backup defensive end last season, finishing the year with five tackles. Now, he will be one of the starting tight ends for this Oklahoma offense, hoping to provide another spark for this club.

According to reports, the coaching staff is thrilled with his progress and says he is doing fine at his new position. Head coach Bob Stoops told Brandon Chatmon of ESPN:

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Playing defensive end, you have got to be fairly tough, so he is used to running into other defensive ends. He has just really taken to it, and it has really looked good. Every day it has gotten better and better. He is about 255 pounds, 6 foot 4. He is what you look for. He is catching the ball well, so it has been a real positive.

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Other tight ends such as Brannon Green and Taylor McNamara are sure to see playing time as well, but this transition could be the X-factor for this offense moving forward.

USC Still Doesn't Have a Backup QB

If it was up to USC, it wouldn't need a backup quarterback, as Matt Barkley is arguably the best QB in all of college football. But if something does happen where the Trojans need a backup, it would be nice to have confidence in that certain player.

Redshirt freshmen Cody Kessler and Max Wittek have been battling it out throughout the offseason, trying desperately to earn that No. 2 spot, but according to the depth chart, no decision has been made.

Earlier this month, head coach Lane Kiffin said he was confident in both players (via Pedro Moura of ESPN Los Angeles):

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I think both guys are doing well. Max has gotten bigger and stronger in the offseason and Cody has really improved on a big area of concern, which was lengthening his stride and getting away from the line of scrimmage.

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This could be a case of "we will cross that bridge if we ever get to it."

Are Georgia Players Suspended or Not?

Many are questioning the Georgia defense because some of its best players will be suspended for the first couple of games. At least that is what we thought, as both safety Bacarri Rambo and linebacker Alec Ogletree were expected to miss anywhere from two to four games for a violation of team rules. 

However, no such suspension has ever been announced by the school, and according to Marc Weiszer of dogbytesonline.com, both players are listed as starters at their respective positions.

Another interesting note is that true freshman John Theus is listed as the starting right tackle. Georgia allowed 33 sacks last season, which was 11th in the SEC, and Theus was considered one of the top tackles to come out of the 2012 class.

Carson York Is Not Ready to Go Just Yet

Carson York is a Lombardi Award and Outland Trophy candidate for the 2012 season and the best offensive lineman the Oregon Ducks have. He is a three-year starter, but he suffered a serious knee injury in last year's Rose Bowl that required surgery.

York has said all offseason that he was on track to be back in the starting lineup, but he is nowhere to found on the depth chart. This either means that York is not yet 100 percent to compete or the coaching staff plans to ease him back into the starting rotation.

Good news is that York has said he plans on playing in the season opener against Arkansas State regardless of what the depth chart says.

Ethan Armstrong Is a Beast

What did you do during these last few months of the offseason? I bet it was nothing compared to what linebacker Ethan Armstrong had to go through.

Armstrong had four surgeries in the span of 12 months, including two major surgeries during the offseason after partially dislocating both of his hips. Not only did he recover from both surgeries, but he went onto the field and competed with Conor O'Neill for a starting linebacker position.

Despite being a walk-on player, having two major operations and missing all of spring practice, Armstrong is the starting outside linebacker for the 2012 Wisconsin Badgers.