This past week, initial depth charts were released across the nation for week 1 of the college football season. The Red Raiders sent there’s out on Sunday and listed quite a few familiar names within the 3 deep. While a majority of it was pretty expected, there were a few spots that had interesting pieces listed.

Anyone familiar with the Red Raiders this season knows that both sides of the ball will be very OLD, across the board. In a broad spectrum, that’s a great thing to have. The starter in almost every position has played legitimate minutes either for Tech or another program at this level… Not many other schools are going to be able to say the same this fall. Listed below is the depth chart for week 1 in Laramie, with a few highlighted that stick out to me.

Offense

X Receiver:

11 Loic Founji, 6-4, 215, SR

4 Jordan Brown, 5-11, 185, Jr

Inside H Receiver:

10 Drae McCray, 5-9, 185, Jr

13 Brady Boyd, 6-1, 195, Jr

Inside Y Receiver: 

1 Myles Price, 5-10-290, Sr

14 Xavier White, 5-9, 205, Sr

20 Nehemiah Martinez, 5-9, 205, Jr

Wide Receiver Z:

9 Jerand Bradley, 6-5, 215, So. JB is receiving some high praise this preseason. If he lives up anywhere near to his current hype, the Red Raiders would have an All Big 12 underclassman at the wideout spot. That would be something that hasn’t happened in quite some time.

6 J.J. Sparkman, 6-4, 220, Jr

Tight End:

80 Mason Tharp, 6-9, 270, Jr

OR 88 Baylor Cupp, 6-6, 260, Sr

43 Henry Teeter, 6-4, 255, Sr

OR 15 Jayden York, 6-4, 245, Jr

Left Tackle:

71 Monroe Mills, 6-6, 315, Jr

66 Matt Keeler, 6-6, 305, Jr

Left Guard:

70 Cole Spencer, 6-4, 300, Sr.   Cole Spencer is backing the depth chart after having to sit out all of last year due to injury. While he has yet to play in the Tech uniform, everybody around the program knows how big it is to have him back. The o-line was an achilles heel last year, but hopefully with addition of him and Staats, this could be a bright spot in 2023.

75 Jacoby Jackson, 6-6, 335, So

Center:

53 Rusty Staats, 6-5, 325, Sr

65 Sheridan Wilson, 6-5, 295, Fr

Right Guard:

56 Dennis Wilburn, 6-3, 320, Sr

72 Landon Peterson, 6-6, 300, Sr

Right Tackle:

76 Caleb Rogers, 6-5, 305, Sr

79 Tyler Buchanan, 6-6, 310, So

Quarterback:

12 Tyler Shough, 6-5, 232, Sr

2 Behren Morton, 6-2, 217, So

Running Back:

28 Tahj Brooks, 5-10, 230, Sr.    New bell cow running back Tahj Brooks has returned for his senior season. While backup Cam’Ron Valdez is due to get some carries, this will be Brooks’ posistion. I would expect him to have an All Big 12 type season behind a new and improved offensive line.

0 Cam’Ron Valdez, 5-9, 205, So

22 Bryson Donnell, 5-10, 220, Fr

OR 24 Anquan Willis, 6-0, 220, Fr

Defense

Field end

6 Myles Cole, 6-6, 285, Sr.       Myles Cole will play opposite of Linton on the defensive edge, and I fully expect him to have a good year. He’s got nearly an identical frame to Tyree Wilson. Offensive lines will have their hands full with an athlete as naturally talented as Cole, we will just have to see if he can take that next step.

14 Joseph Adedire, 6-3, 270, So

11 Charles Esters, 6-3, 260, So

52 Harvey Dyson, 6-3, 260, Fr

Nose tackle

95 Jaylon Hutchings, 6-0, 305, Sr.

5 Quincy Ledet, 6-2, 305, Sr

91 Blake Burris, 6-5, 310, So

Defensive tackle

97 Tony Bradford, 6-1, 305, Sr

98 Dooda Banks, 6-5, 300, So

93 Trevon McAlpine, 6-3, 305, Fr

Boundary end

7 Steve Linton, 6-4, 235, Sr.         Syracuse transfer Steve Linton is getting a lot of attention nationally as someone to look out for in next year’s NFL draft. If we can get him and/or Myles Cole to just be a fraction of what Tyree Wilson, we should have one hell of a defensive line.

3 Bryce Ramirez, 6-2, 250, Sr

or 17 Isaac Smith, 6-6, 240, So

11 Charles Esters, 6-3, 260, So

45 Terrell Tilmon, 6-5, 230, So

Middle Linebacker

10 Jacob Rodriguez, 6-1, 230, Jr

32 Tyrique Matthews, 5-11, 235, Sr

40 Wesley Smith, 5-10, 220, So

Will Linebacker

8 Jesiah Pierre, 6-2, 240, Sr

13 Ben Roberts, 6-3, 230, Fr

Cornerback

0 Rayshad Williams, 6-3, 205, Sr

2 Jalon Peoples, 5-11, 185, Fr

or 21 Cameron Watts, 5-11, 200, Sr

Star

9 C.J. Baskerville, 6-3, 212, Jr     New transfer DB C.J. Baskerville has received some early praise coming out of fall camp. I fully expect him to take over the role that Marquis Waters last year in the Star position (hybrid linebacker/DB). He’ll be much needed all over the field, as there’s not much depth behind him in this spot.

27 Brenden Jordan, 6-0, 210, Fr

31 Joseph Plunk, 5-10, 180, Jr

Free safety

1 Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, 5-11, 195, Sr

25 Chapman Lewis, 6-1, 180, Fr

Boundary safety

18 Tyler Owens, 6-2, 205, Sr

31 Joseph Plunk, 5-10, 180, Jr

or 28 Jordan Sanford, 6-0, 195, Fr

Cornerback

12 Bralyn Lux, 5-11, 175, Sr

or 24 Malik Dunlap, 6-3, 220, Sr

22 Maurion Horn, 5-11, 180, Fr

Special Teams

Kicker

99 Gino Garcia, 6-2, 210, Jr

38 Reese Burkhardt, 6-1, 205, Jr

Holder

31 Austin McNamara, 6-4, 210, Sr

Punter

31 Austin McNamara, 6-4, 210, Sr.    One of the most consistent pieces of this program in the last handful of years has been Austin McNamara. This guy can consistently flip the field or pin point the ball in spots to corner the enemy. He will be sorely missed next season, but I fully expect him to go out and produce as well as he always does.

37 Brook Honore, 6-0, 185, Fr

Long snapper

30 Jackson Knotts, 5-11, 190, Jr

47 Jacob Mauch, 6-3, 220, Jr

Kickoff return

4 Jordan Brown, 5-11, 185, Jr

14 Xavier White, 6-0, 195, Sr

1 Myles Price, 5-10, 190, Sr

20 Nehemiah Martinez, 5-9, 205, Jr

Punt return

1 Myles Price, 5-10, 190, Sr

14 Xavier White, 6-0, 195, Sr