Missouri depth chart: Tigers release two-deep for South Dakota State

It's officially game week. The depth chart is out. IT'S OFFICIALLY GAME WEEK. THE DEPTH CHART IS OUT.

#Mizzou's depth chart for Game No. 1 - South Dakota State. pic.twitter.com/VWCBy5MZXU

— Mizzou Football (@MizzouFootball) August 25, 2014

Offense

QB
Maty Mauk (6'0, 195, So.)
Eddie Printz (6'2, 215, RSFr.)
Corbin Berkstresser (6'3, 220, Jr.)

As many predicted, Printz has overtaken Berkstresser for the No. 2 role behind Mauk. That's actually a reasonably big deal this week, as, in theory, if Mizzou takes care of business, the backups will see some action.

(It's always fun, by the way, for the only drama here to be who's winning the backup role.)

RB
Russell Hansbrough (5'9, 190, Jr.) -OR-
Marcus Murphy (5'9, 190, Sr.)
Morgan Steward (6'0, 210, So. -- DOUBTFUL)
Ish Witter (5'10, 190, Fr.)
Tyler Hunt (5'11, 215, Jr.)

Ish Witter is on the depth chart, and Trevon Walters is not. They both looked good in scrimmages for the most part, but it appears Witter has found an edge, and again, if the backups do play, Witter should see some time with Steward probably out.

Pinkel giving a rundown of "freshmen who will be playing this year." It's the guys on the depth: Witter, Lee, Brown, Cheadle and Wilson.

— David Morrison (@DavidCMorrison) August 25, 2014

Tyler Hunt's appearance here also gives us an opportunity to congratulate him for being awarded a scholarship. Well done, No. 35.

WR-X
Bud Sasser (6'2, 220, Sr.)
J'Mon Moore (6'3, 190, RSFr.)

WR-H
Jimmie Hunt (6'0, 205, Sr.)
Gavin Otte (5'10, 200, Sr.)
Lawrence Lee (5'10, 180, Fr.)

WR-Z
Darius White (6'3, 205, Sr.)
Wesley Leftwich (6'1, 200, Jr.)
Nate Brown (6'3, 205, Fr.)

No major surprises here. Lee and Brown are both on the list, so we'll be watching to see if or when they see the field. Leftwich had what appeared to be a lovely fall camp, and he was able to retain his spot on the second string.

TE
Sean Culkin (6'6, 245, So.)
Clayton Echard (6'5, 260, Jr.)
Jason Reese (6'5, 240, RSFr.)

Again, no surprises here. We heard a lot about how athletic and exciting freshman Kendall Blanton was here, but he's always been seen as pretty raw and likely to see a redshirt.

LT
Mitch Morse (6'6, 305, Sr.)
Nate Crawford (6'5, 290, RSFr.)

LG
Anthony Gatti (6'6, 305, Sr.)
Jordan Williams (6'3, 295, So.)

C
Evan Boehm (6'3, 320, Jr.)
Brad McNulty (6'4, 305, Jr.)

RG
Mitch Hall (6'5, 310, Jr.)
Stephen Carberry (6'5, 300, Sr.)

RT
Connor McGovern (6'4, 300, Jr.)
Taylor Chappell (6'5, 300, Jr.)
Clay Rhodes (6'5, 290, RSFr.)

Nate Crawford's strong fall camp bumped him up to the second string, potentially to the detriment of another redshirt freshman, Clay Rhodes.

(The most exciting part to me: only three of 11 linemen are seniors, and three are redshirt freshmen or sophomores, with a pretty exciting freshman class redshirting as a whole. While next year's line will be pretty senior-laden, the continuity should remain pretty strong. You know, for those of us who will forever live in fear of a 2012 repeat.)

Defense

DE
Markus Golden (6'3, 260, Sr.)
Marcus Loud (6'4, 260, RSFr.)

DT
Matt Hoch (6'5, 295, Sr.) -OR-
Harold Brantley (6'3, 280, So.)
Rickey Hatley (6'4, 285, So.)

NG
Lucas Vincent (6'2, 300, Sr.)
Josh Augusta (6'4, 335, So.)

DE
Shane Ray (6'3, 245, Jr.)
Charles Harris (6'3, 255, RSFr.)

I have such a huge crush on this part of the depth chart. Never mind the fact that there are four exciting, experienced starters (despite losing two draft picks at end), and never mind the fun things we've heard about Loud and Harris at DE. No, I'm giddy about the positions in the middle. First, despite the fact that Josh Augusta had one hell of a fall camp and is now the size of an oak tree, Lucas Vincent also broke through and held him off. Meanwhile, at tackle, Harold Brantley has come back from the dead and is listed as an OR starter with Matt Hoch. Even if that had something to do with Hoch being slowed by injury (and it almost certainly did), that's exciting simply because it shows that Brantley's back on the right track.

It's also exciting because next year's DTs will have the same effect as this year's ends, where Mizzou loses both starters, and we're still all sorts of giddy about the position.

WLB
Kentrell Brothers (6'1, 240, Jr.)
Darvin Ruise (6'1, 235, Sr.)

MLB
Michael Scherer (6'3, 230, So.)
Eric Beisel (6'3, 225, RSFr.)

SLB
Donavin Newsom (6'2, 230, So.)
Clarence Green (6'0, 225, Jr.)

No surprises here, and that's a very good thing. There are all sorts of exciting freshmen, redshirt freshmen, and sophomores in this unit, but it's still young enough with everybody healthy. Let's keep Brothers and Newsom in bubble wrap between games, just in case.

CB
John Gibson (6'0, 190, So.)
Kenya Dennis (6'0, 195, Jr.)

CB
Aarion Penton (5'10, 185, So.)
David Johnson (5'11, 195, Jr.)
Logan Cheadle (5'10, 170, Fr.)

As we were starting to guess, Cheadle is indeed listed here, and one has to figure he'll play this year. Otherwise, again, no surprises.

SS
Braylon Webb (6'0, 200, Sr.)
Duron Singleton (6'1, 210, Sr.)
Anthony Sherrils (6'0, 190, RSFr.)

FS
Ian Simon (6'0, 195, Jr.)
Cortland Browning (6'1, 205, Jr.)
Thomas Wilson (5'10, 190, Fr.)

Hello, Mr. Wilson. Wilson seemed to be making more plays than anybody else in the safety unit this month, and while we still have to see if he's actually going to play, he may have left coaches no choice but to put him on the field.

It will be interesting to watch the battle for nickelback supremacy between Singleton and Dennis, by the way. It sounds like Singleton's going to get the first crack at the job.

Special Teams

K
Andrew Baggett (6'1, 215, Jr.)
Nick Coffman (5'11, 175, So.)

Baggett holds off both Coffman and Bad Andrew Baggett to retain the job.

P
Christian Brinser (6'2, 195, Sr.)
Andrew Baggett (6'1, 215, Jr.)

Brinser was pretty damn good last year, wasn't he?

KR
Ian Simon (6'0, 195, Jr.)
Marcus Murphy (5'9, 190, Sr.)

I'm a little bit surprised by this one. Nothing against Simon, but from what we saw last year, I assumed that if Murphy wasn't the solo choice for returning kicks (presumably because of his extra workload in the offense), then it would be either John Gibson or one of the freshmen (Witter, Lee, etc.). Simon getting the first crack is not what I expected. No complaints, mind you.

PR
Marcus Murphy (5'9, 190, Sr.)
Aarion Penton (5'10, 185, So.)

No surprises.