Mike Gundy Addresses Depth Chart and Position Battles
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State football released the depth chart on Thursday morning for the season opener against Missouri State on Sept 4. A few hours later, Mike Gundy addressed the media during the first weekly media luncheon of the season.
It lasted longer than I anticipated it would, just over 30 minutes, based on the fact we’ve talked to coach Gundy every week since the start of Fall Camp.
He addressed a number of topics during the availability, but one thing we’re going to be touching on is the depth chart.
Other than just a few positions, the depth chart was basically what we expected it would be. Every offensive line position, except left tackle, is squared away, the running back position is definitely by committee and there’s a few receiver spots that were interesting.
Even though we’ve heard good things about him, one position that surprised me when I saw the depth chart was freshman receiver Blaine Green getting the starting nod. There haven’t been many freshmen receivers who have started for OSU over the years, the most recent coming to mind would be Dez Bryant in 2007.
“[Blaine Green’s] very physical; he’s 215 pounds and he picked the system up early and stayed healthy and that allows him to get a chance [to play],” said coach Gundy. “Sometimes we have young players that may pick the system up, then athletically put themselves in a position to compete, but if they get dinged up, or get a little soft tissue injury, they’re out for three or four days and it sets them back considerably because of their youth. So far he’s stayed away from all those situations.”
You’ll also see freshmen Jaden Bray and John Paul Richardson some as they’re in the No. 2 spot at their respective position.
The main position battle we’ve talked about throughout the spring, summer and into fall camp is at left tackle. Redshirt sophomore out of Carlsbad, NM, Taylor Miterko, has earned the No. 1 spot throughout fall camp and will most likely be the guy who officially gets the start against Missouri State.
Caleb Etienne is the other left tackle and he’s a big one: 6-7, 350 pounds and is talented. However, he showed up right before the start of Fall Camp and hasn’t had as much time in the system as Miterko.
“We’re working both guys; we feel good about them,” said coach Gundy. “At some point, somebody will take that role. In the first game, I would guess they’re both going to play and then we see how they play. We all know that some young men play differently in games than others, so I think both of them deserve a chance to go out there and compete.”
Whoever wins the role over the next couple of weeks, the second tackle will be used as a “swing tackle.”
“Whoever finishes second in that battle, will be that swing tackle because we need to try and have two centers and a possible third if there’s an emergency,” said coach Gundy. “We have a swing tackle and a swing guard and that’s where that [guy] will play.”
The other spot that’s of interest on the depth chart is at running back. Mike Gundy’s said throughout August there are four backs who will see some playing time this year: LD Brown, Dezmon Jackson, Jaylen Warren and Dominic Richardson. On the depth chart, there’s an “OR” between all their names.
“We’re very fortunate we’ve got a number of guys we trust that can carry the ball and be effective for us at the running back spot,” said coach Gundy. “I’ve never had the luxury of having this many backs, so if we have 40 rushes a game, the perfect scenario would be 10 [carries] across the board. Will it happen that way? I doubt it; someone gets hot, they’ll stay. But we do have the luxury of not letting one player get completed fatigued, and or getting beat up throughout the season.”