The Mountain West Conference released their official media guide, and thus each team released their first official depth chart. While some teams got away with naming a starter at the moment (like at quarterback), many positions now have their incumbent starters. Let's start by looking at the offense:
Note: The Mountain West media guide can be found here.
Offense
The position with the biggest question mark for the Wolf Pack is at quarterback.
Currently, this is the depth chart at the position:
QB
15 Tyler Stewart Jr.
-or-
11 Hunter Fralick RS-Fr.
-or-
14 Dante Mayes So.
The first thing that caught my attention is that the quarterbacks are not listed alphabetically, numerically, or by class. So while no quarterback has been named the starter officially, it looks as if Tyler Stewart is the current frontrunner for the job. The current situation is very similar to 2011, when the Wolf Pack needed to replace four-year starter Colin Kaepernick. It was a three-man battle that came down between an upperclassman and a freshman. While the upperclassmen, Tyler Lantrip, won the job initially, he was replaced that season with freshman Cody Fajardo. Could the same thing happen with Tyler Stewart and Hunter Fralick?
UPDATE:
Nevada released their official media guide (As compared to the Mountain West media guide), and the post-spring depth chart inside seems to lists Tyler Stewart as the starter, with Hunter Fralick or Dante Mayes as the backup. This could just be a minor error, or Stewart is the de-facto starter until August scrimmages begin.
Nevada media guide lists Tyler Stewart as starting QB; MW media guide did not specify a starter. pic.twitter.com/Hev2xB5DMN
— Daniel Connolly (@DanielVConnolly) July 28, 2015
After quarterback, there are no real surprises on the offensive depth chart.
Offensive Line
Position | Starter | Backup | 3rd String |
T | 73 Austin Corbett - So. | 70 Humberto Lopez - Jr. | N/A |
G | 60 Adam Khouri - So. | 53 Derrick Stom - Jr. | N/A |
C | 63 Nathan Goltry - Sr. | 69 Thomas Newton - So. | N/A |
G | 72 Jeremy Macauley - Jr. | 68 Brent Rolling - Sr. | N/A |
T | 61 Joey Anglemire - So. | 79 Jacob Henry - Jr. | N/A |
TE | 47 Jarred Gipson - Jr. | 85 Matt Moen - So. | 88 Evan Faunce - So. |
WR-F | 12 Hasaan Henderson - Jr. | 89 Kameron Richardson - Jr. | N/A |
WR-X | 88 Jericho Richardson - Jr. | 83 Andrew Cells - RS-Fr. | N/A |
WR-Z | 87 Brayden Sanchez - Jr. | 80 Wyatt Demps - So. | N/A |
RB | 6 Don Jackson - Sr. | 20 James Butler - Jr. | 33 Blake Wright - RS-Fr. |
QB | 15 Tyler Stewart - Jr. | 11 Hunter Fralick - RS-Fr. | 10 Dante Mayes - So. |
Italics denotes that no starter has been named.
Sophomore tight ends Matt Moen and Evan Faunce will compete for the backup spot to Jarred Gipson, and Brayden Sanchez and Wyatt Demps will compete to play "Z" receiver.
Defense
The Wolf Pack defense gave up a lot of yards in 2014 but only gave up 27.2 points per game by relying on their pass rush to get to the quarterback and create pressure. In 2015, the Wolf Pack will need that pass rush to come up big in order to keep their young and inexperienced secondary from getting burned.
Here is a breakdown of the defensive depth chart and a brief overview of each portion of the defense.
DEFENSIVE LINE
*- Returning starter
DE: 8 Ian Seau Sr.*
90 Malik Reed RS-Fr*
94 Lenny Jones Sr.*
95 Patrick Choudja So*NT: 97 Salesa Faraimo Jr.*
91 Kalei Meyer RS-Fr.
92 Kevin McReynolds Sr.DT: 55 Rykeem Yates Sr.*
99 Korey Rush RS-Fr.
The strength of this team is the defensive line. Senior defensive ends Ian Seau and Lenny Jones combined for 13 sacks and three interceptions last year. Outside of these two players, this is a unit that can pressure the quarterback and either get sacks or disrupt passing lanes.
LINEBACKERS
25 Bryan Lane, Jr. Sr.
34 Travis Wilson So.
49 Jordan Dobrich Sr.
56 Alex Bertrando Jr.
9 Matthew Lyons Sr.
5 Faigofie Faaituala Sr.
Despite the graduation of Jonathan McNeal. this group is led by seniors. Jordan Dobrich is the linebacking corps returning tackler who recorded 71 tackles and three sacks last year. Combined with the defensive line, the Wolf Pack linebackers makes the front seven one of the better units in the conference.
SECONDARY
CB 31 Randy Uzoma Jr.
CB 35 Ahki Muhammad RS-Fr.
SS 22 Asauni Rufus RS-Fr.
SS 16 Jaden Sawyer So.
FS 26 Kendall Johnson So.
FS 29 L.J. Jackson Jr.
CB 28 Elijah Mitchell Jr.
CB 18 Elijah Moody RS-Fr.
The secondary is still a work in progress as they have to replace all four secondary spots. Kendall Jackson played corner last year but will switch to the safety position. The other secondary spots will be filled by either Randy Uzoma, Asauni Rufus or Elijah Moody, with the rest of the secondary being filled out before the start of the season.
Special Teams
Position | Starter | Backup |
PK | 40 Brent Zuso - Jr. | N/A |
P | 46 Alex Boy - Jr. | 87 Brayden Sanchez - Jr. |
H | 87 Brayden Sanchez - Jr. | N/A |
LS | 42 Wes Farnsworth - Fr. | N/A |
SS | 69 Thomas Newton - So. | N/A |
KR | 28 Elijah Mitchell - Jr. | 84 Jericho Richardson - Jr. |
PR | 28 Elijah Mitchell - Jr. | N/A |
No surprises here, but interesting to note that WR Brayden Sanchez is both the place holder and backup punter.