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Depth Charge - A Look Into The Vanderbilt Depth Chart and Changes Since 2014

*This was supposed to go out on Thursday, but VUFanInTX was asked to pull 24 hrs in the office and then watch 2 redzone INTs so instead of talking about positional battles for this week, I will focus on the offseason conditioning questions* In what we hope will be weekly feature, AOG will focus on the weekly depth chart for positional battles, possible injuries Stay Tuned!

Let's focus on the good moments from Thursday...
Let's focus on the good moments from Thursday...
Joshua Lindsey-USA TODAY Sports

A Review of Depth Chart vs. Preseason

How much difference was there between Game 12 last year and Game 1 this year in the team?  Interestingly enough, not as much as you would think in terms of weight.  Here are the largest weight changes:

Position

Name

Year

2015 Ht

2015 Weight

2014 Ht

2014 Wt

Wt Difference

% Change

FB Ladarius Banks R-Jr. 6-2, 255 6-3 297 -42 -14.14%
OT Bailey Granier R-Fr. 6-6, 315 6-6 345 -30 -8.70%
TE Sean Dowling R-So. 6-5, 270 6-5, 288 -18 -6.25%
DE Riley Tindol R-Fr. 6-5, 262 6-5 275 -13 -4.73%
DE Torey Agee R-Jr. 6-4, 282 6-3, 295 -13 -4.41%
QB Johnny McCrary R-So. 6-4, 220 6-4, 230 -10 -4.35%
RB Josh Crawford Fr. 5-10 200 5-10 208 -8 -3.85%
CB Torren McGaster R-Jr. 6-1, 200 6-0, 192 8 4.17%
DE Dare Odeyingbo Fr. 6-2, 252 6-2 242 10 4.13%
WR Trent Sherfield So. 6-0, 200 6-0, 190 10 5.26%
DE Jonathan Wynn R-So. 6-5, 255 6-5, 244 11 4.51%
CB LaDarius Wiley R-Fr. 6-1, 205 6-1 192 13 6.77%
CB Tre Herndon So. 6-0, 185 6-1, 172 13 7.56%
SS Emmanuel Smith So. 6-2, 218 6-2, 205 13 6.34%
QB Wade Freebeck So. 6-5, 226 6-5 212 14 6.60%
WR Caleb Scott So. 6-1, 195 6-1, 180 15 8.33%
OLB Josh Smith Fr. 6-3, 236 6-3 219 17 7.76%
OT Blake Fromang R-Jr. 6-7, 305 6-7 288 17 5.90%
ILB Khari Blasingame R-Fr. 6-1, 228 6-1 205 23 11.22%
TE DeAndre Woods R-So. 6-3, 238 6-3 215 23 10.70%

Players of Note:

- DeAndre ATE THE HOUSE. I suspected that he would be bigger but that is a big weight gain for a former WR.  Thursday showed us he could play but there is a noticeable change in his speed.  I think he sill is trying to get accustomed to his weight so hopefully we will see more of a flex use for him as the season progresses.

- Big weight gain in the secondary:  Seeing Herndon, Wiley and Smith with +10 extra pounds should help them on run support.  We saw flashes of that throughout Thursday and should see more of that in coming weeks.

- Caleb Scott and Trent Sherfield should be able to last longer with the added weight.  The bigger frame for Caleb was apparent on Thursday with the catch in traffic.  I think we will see Caleb lock down the Z receiver position and become a great possession receiver for us.

- Freshman weight gain! - Seeing Dare, Khari and Josh put on weight so quickly could be a great sign of the effectiveness of Dobson's S&C program.  It is hard to imagine them breaking the depth chart without the extra bulk prepping them for SEC offenses.

The QBs - It was quickly confirmed that JMac's weight lost gave him more speed, more agility and helped his ability to escape.   The added weight for Freebeck, with that frame should allow him to handle hits without fear of having him laid up.

Summary :

Overall, Dobson's offseason strength and conditioning efforts have paid dividends.  What we saw on Thursday (along with some unfortunate cramps) was that the team was able to handle (in terms of conditioning) the uptempo on both sides of the ball. While I did see some fall off of tackles and finishing plays in the fourth quarter, the cliff fall from last season appears to have been addressed. The jury is still out on whether the team conditioning will be able to handle the full season.