Here's the official depth chart for the beginning of the season. There are a few surprises and we'll note on a few things that seem to be new.
The first thing is that JoJo Robinson is not listed among the wide receivers. In fact, fellow redshirt freshman Luke Rossi is listed as the backup to Drew Morgan at the third receiver spot. Rossi is a 5'11" walk-on who didn't seem to get a lot of attention during camp (not that all of it was open to the media, but still). Robinson of course has been in and out of the doghouse since signing with Arkansas. I'm sure Bret Bielema will be asked about his status at his press conference this afternoon.
UPDATE: Bielema announced today that JoJo was suspended for the first half of the UTEP game due whatever happened earlier in the year. He's been great in fall camp and could play in the second half, according to Bielema, so we'll see how it goes.
Also of note, they have Josh Williams starting at middle linebacker instead of the strongside, where they now have Khalia Hackett. That's a switch from where the two have been most of camp. Bielema said today that Hackett was much more comfortable outside and Williams was a good fit in the middle, so that's how they'll start the season.
At long last, Cole Hedlund is listed as the starting placekicker. Adam McFain will handle kickoffs.
True freshmen listed:
- Zach Rogers at backup center (although they've said they'll try to redshirt him and move Frank Ragnow to center if something happens to Mitch Smothers)
- Rawleigh Williams III at running back
- Austin Cantrell at backup fullback
- Hjalte Froholdt at backup defensive tackle
- Dre Greenlaw at backup weakside linebacker
There will likely be more that play. They've said Ryan Pulley will play at cornerback although he's not listed on the depth chart. Bielema said Cantrell is in a holding pattern on whether or not he'll redshirt. Also, linebacker Kendrick Jackson said he might be more interested in playing fullback than redshirting, so they'll see how that goes in practice this week before making a decision on that.
