The beginning of the season depth chart was released. You can get it here.

Here are my thoughts:

• It’s amazing how much weaker the O-Line looks without MSG on the depth chart. Luckily the good news is that he’ll likely get some playing time on Saturday and will likely start vs. Colorado assuming he doesn’t get re-injured. Nevertheless, seeing Edwards back in the starting spot is worrisome, particularly at tackle. It’s no wonder that MSG is targeted for right tackle when he’s healthy.
• It’s been a slow progression, but it’s pretty official now that Sweeney has leapfrogged Mansion. If I had to guess, next year’s QB competition will be between Sweeney and Hinder unless Mansion does something substantial to improve his stock.
• Now that Michael Calvin, someone who for whatever reason I probably have more faith in than I should, has replaced Coleman Edmond (not shown on linked depth chart but reported by Okanes), I think that’s a pretty solid set of WR’s.
• Write this one down: you’re not going to see a lot of fullback play this year. Kapp, while he may have very good technique and be as good as his body allows, just doesn’t have the frame to be a good fullback. Every time I saw him in practice he looked small and over-powered. He did surprisingly well considering that, but you can’t overcome physics for too long. Stevens might end up doing a good job down the road but he’s still growing into the roll. He could be a noted strength in 2011.
• At tight end, I’ve always liked Miller and Ladner has shown lots of potential. I expect those two to continue growing as the season progresses and could be a key position in keeping defenses honest.
• I haven’t got to see the running backs practice this spring/fall, but I was pretty surprised by Sofele beating out DeBoskie-Johnson. Maybe they’re thinking that Vereen gives them the power they need, so Sofele is a better change of pace, but I’d sure like to see the power DeBoskie offers. Going further, I’ve always been very impressed with DeBoskie when I’ve seen him. While Sofele offers something sweet particularly in things like the fly-sweep, he hasn’t shown to me to be an every-down type of back. It may be when we lose Vereen that DeBoskie takes over that role, even though Sofele will have been the backup in the meantime and will still get plenty of playing time.
• I’m pretty excited about our D-Line. These 3 guys, Jordan, Payne and Owusu have the fundamentals, the size and the potential. If Jordan get’s consistent, and Payne and Owusu make the jump, this could be the Pac-10’s best defensive line.
• Linebacker is the defensive equivalent of the O-line. I look at that group and am very underwhelmed. I guess Kendricks and Holt have potential, but something in me says they won’t make the leap. Browner will be serviceable in the same way that Edwards can be, but don’t expect anything special out of him… ever.
• The much maligned secondary doesn’t look as bad to me as I feared. Hagan can still do well. I’ve always been a Josh Hill fan. In fact, those 4 safeties, Conte, Campbell, Hill and Cattouse, that’s a talented group in a position to make an impact. I think between Marc Anthony and Nnabuife there will be some mistakes that’ll cause some groans, but they’ll be serviceable, probably even more so than Edwards and Browner.

Overall, this feels like a solid group. There’s no area that’s worse that serviceable and good scheming can limit that exposure. Even when the opponent’s scheming exposes those areas, they’ll still be serviceable, so we won’t be seeing massive collapses anywhere from my view.

In the end, Riley will likely be the key. If he can make the senior leap, this could be a special season. If not, it could be another “disappointing” bowl season.