BYU Football: The depth chart should be perfect
By Adam Gibby
BYU Football will announce the starting quarterback in the next three days.
In today’s world where we want quick and easy answers, BYU Football has taken the exact opposite approach in naming starters and backups. Many fans, myself included, have been frustrated that after all of spring football, summer workouts and now two and half weeks of Fall Camp, that we still don’t have an official depth chart, particularly at the quarterback position.
As I watched highlights and interviews however, it became clear that although the approach is questionable, it has completed one task that most teams never complete and it could pay off huge dividends later.
Everyone had their chance.
As far as I can tell, every single player has had a chance to prove themselves to the coaching staff. There haven’t been any “heirs” to a particular position and some players have taken advantage of that. It isn’t often that a player like Hobbs Nyberg who was a projected scout team receiver is out making plays with the starters, or defenders like Ben Bywater are now projected to get quite a bit of playing time.
By not solidifying anything these first twelve or so practices of Fall Camp, every player has had their opportunity and many have taken advantage.
On top of having a depth chart now that likely will reflect the best players and not just the assumed best talent, the players can also now all trust each other. As a former running back myself, I can remember times where I would be frustrated with the offensive line for not blocking well enough. I thought that perhaps some of the backups could play better. By the coaches giving all of these players plenty of reps to move up to the starting position, I find it hard to believe that the running backs or quarterback will ever have those doubts about the O-Line.
Finally, the players themselves for the most part probably feel that they deserve to be wherever they land on the depth chart, or at least feel that they were given an opportunity to prove themselves.
Now am I 100% content with how Fall Camp has gone? No, not completely. I wish that the starting QB had been named by now so he could have started to get more starting reps this past week. That being said, overall this approach is a good one to take and out of hundreds other approaches that the coaches could have taken, this is one of the best and should result in the perfect depth chart.