Clones Confidential
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Iowa State Football: Spring Depth Chart Breakdown, Part 1

By Brian Spaen

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Nov 23, 2012; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach Paul Rhoads (left) reacts after a play against the West Virginia Mountaineers during the first half at Jack Trice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

Don’t have time to read the entire 10-page PDF report of the Iowa State Cyclones’ spring football depth chart? No worries, we’ve got you covered with a quick rundown and analysis.

Quarterback

  1. Sam Richardson (12, R-So)
  2. Grant Rohach (3, R-Fr)

No surprises here. Richardson is the strongest candidate to get the starting job and unless things look really bleak early on, we shouldn’t expect a quarterback rotation like the past couple seasons.

Running Back

  1. James White (8, R-Sr)
  2. Jeff Woody (32, R-Sr)
  3. DeVondrick Nealy (21, R-So)
  4. Rob Standard (10, R-So)
  5. Aaron Wimberly (2, Jr)

Remember that Shontrelle Johnson is still recovering from his knee injury. When he returns, it will mark three seniors that will be rotating to help the offense. Unless the injury bug bites them hard like last season, expect a running-first attack to help ease Richardson into his first full season. That’s the type of offense Paul Rhoads wants to implement.

It will be interesting to see if JUCO transfer Aaron Wimberly is able to break out and get some playing time this season.

Offensive Line Starters

  • LT: Jacob Gannon (Brock Dagel)
  • LG: Shaban Dika (Bob Graham)
  • C: Tom Farniok (Ben Loth)
  • RG: Ethan Tuftee (Daniel Burton)
  • RT: Kyle Lichtenberg (Jamison Lalk)

The long-running joke has been that if quarterbacks learn anything at Iowa State, it’s rolling out to pass immediately after the snap. This part of the team generally has been weak, and unfortunately the depth won’t be there this season. But there’s plenty of players returning and the current names starting are all juniors and seniors.

It should be better from a year ago with Rhoads moving Gannon and Lichtenberg to the tackle positions where “their body types are more suited for.”

The coach also praised Tuftee, nominating him as “one of the best offensive linemen in the Big 12 Conference.”

Coming up: Wide receivers, tight ends, and the defense.

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