Let's look now at the guys that will be catching the ball. No doubt, recruiting and practice reports have us excited about what we can see out of our tight ends and wide receivers, but they'll need to prove it on the field.

The tight end/H-back position is the one that will see more time on the field in lieu of the fullback. In fact, as of last year, it essentially replaced the fullback. Derrick Catlett showed flashes last year. Brought in as a pass-catching tight end, it's arguable that he made his hay last year as a blocker out of the backfield. He's pretty good at catching the ball, but it's safe to say that Collin Franklin is the better receiving threat. Franklin gives ISU the ability to try out the occasional two tight-end set, and he will be a guy to follow this year. It's a little disappointing thus far that he hasn't really showed up in practice reports, but tight ends coach Scott Fountain has gone so far to say that if he was as experienced as Catlett is, he'd be the better player. Patrick Neal shouldn't see much playing time.

Receiver was one of the hardest positions to analyze on the team. I honestly think that Marquis Hamilton is the best receiver on the team, and I listed him at #1 because I think he's our biggest threat. RJ Sumrall will be a solid number two, and should have a nice senior campaign. He kind of reminds me of Jack Whitver. Provided Sedrick Johnson is all he's hyped up to be, I find it hard to believe he won't be on the field a lot. I would imagine a guy like Sumrall would line up in the slot with Sedrick on the outside. Burner Jason Carlson should see some snaps as well, to be used much in the same role that the Iowa Hawkeyes use with their screens that they happen to use every other play. Darius Darks has been one of the biggest surprises of fall practice. WR coach Jay Rodgers says he will play, and, while I don't think he's better than the 4 guys in front of him, he'll probably be part of a rotation. It's hard to slot Wallace Franklin til he comes back from suspension, but I imagine he'd be little more than a rotation guy. Euseph Messiah and Houston Jones will be looked at to rotate in and out to give the other guys breaks. Messiah showed decent flashes last year, but his size hurts him. It's tough to tell what to make of Jones at this point, as the former quarterback still seems to be adjusting to receiver.

So here's my initial week one BlogPoll ballot. For the unknowing:

About the BlogPoll

BlogPoll Philosophy

So, in a poll that's meant to be descriptive, based on team strength, and based totally on results that have yet to happen, here's my whack at the proverbial piñata.

Today, looking at the offensive line we see a bit of experience, a bit of youth, and a bit of potential. Most Cyclone fans fell in love with the improvement we saw from the line last year in terms of protecting the quarterback. 

There was some thought in the spring that Hulbert might be pushing Dedrick. Well, Dedrick's back in the #1 spot, and he looks to have put on a bit of weight as well. Possibly one of the most successful of Chizik's JUCO recruits, Dedrick seemed a bit overmatched at some times while also sometimes the most dependable guy on the line. He should provide senior leadership, with the starting spot falling to Hulbert next year.

This is one of the more interesting position battles along the line. It had long been said that Osemele was one of the more impressive offensive lineman last year, despite being a redshirt. However, Stephens is a two-time letterman with the hard luck to share the same position. Both guys will play this year, but I expect Kelechi to claim the top spot.

Walk-on Mike Knapp has seized an opportunity to claim one of the weaker spots on the line at center. Despite being undersized, Knapp has the mobility that the coaches are looking for from the center. However, Alex Alvarez has shown potential and has shared some snaps at the #1 position. This will probably be determined with on-field performance.

Right guard features a battle between two returning starters in Lamaak (RT) and Johnson (C). Lamaak figures to be a better bet, being freshman All-Big 12 and all, but Johnson should be a quality backup after being somewhat overmatched at center last year.

Right tackle has been a position full of surprises. Most had planned on Lamaak holding down the fort here for the forseeable future. With the move to guard, Baysinger was tabbed to start. Now, JUCO newcomer Hayworth Hicks, he of the heartbreaking story Hicks', is slated to start before ever taking a snap. Baysinger was regarded along with Osemele to be one of the up and coming redshirts, but he'll have to find his place amongst a young line.

The offensive line has a lot of young talent that will be christened under fire, but McFarland worked some serious magic last year. Here's to him doing it again.

With fall practice heating up, the two deeps are starting to take shape. Heading into August first, here was the preliminary depth chart.

No "-OR-"s show up on the depth chart, so one has to assume that every guy listed first at any position currently has that spot, even with Coach Chizik stating that Arnaud and Bates are basically tied at QB.

Here's my early depth chart prognostications.

Obviously, the battle here is for the first spot. I'm still of the opinion that the coaches are going to use the South Dakota State game as an evaluation period to try and decide on one quarterback. If they can't, I honestly see a Leak/Tebow situation between Arnaud, the better passer, and Bates, the better athlete/scrambler. I'm still can't decide if it's good or bad that Arnaud hasn't broken away yet. He was way more impressive in game action than the limited snaps that Bates got, but as recently as the spring game, Bates seemed a bit more impressive. I still think Austen has the edge, but I don't see Bates not getting snaps as well.

The other two quarterbacks, Tiller and Bueker, are not likely to see game action. Tiller has talent, and the coaches continually talk about him having a chance at the job, but it's impossible for him to get the playbook down that quickly. He's looking at taking the helm as a junior. Bueker is one of those walk-on quarterbacks from the state of Iowa that will be a lifelong backup, provided he doesn't pull a Sage. He's not likely to play at all this year either unless we win big, or the three guys in front of him get hurt....

Runningback may very well be Iowa State's deepest position with the return of JJ Bass to the team. The pre-fall depth charts list Jason Scales as the number one, but I find it hard to believe he'll stay above Robinson and Bass, especially with Chizik talking about Robinson's work this summer. I fully expect to see all of the top 3 guys get a number of touches, if not all four. Rickey Thompson won't see any meaningful time, while Jeremiah Schwartz will likely see a redshirt this year, joining the unlisted Bo Williams. All of the top four guys have starter potential, but Robinson and Bass have thus far proven to be the most complete of the group.

The fullback is kind of an odd cat in Robert McFarland's offense. They don't run the ball, they don't catch the ball, and they rarely play, even when the Clones use a blocker in the backfield. The majority of the snaps in that situation went to H-Back/Tight End Derrick Catlett. Ekwelundu played sparingly in goal-line sets, and he'll be joined by Taylor Mansfield, who may well push for the starting spot simply due to his superior size. God knows we aren't looking at these guys to run the ball...

Next up, I'll continue looking at the offense. 

Quite a big deal.

He returns quite a bit of depth to a runningback corps that will give us a bevy of options if nothing else. One of three seniors in the backfield, it wouldn't be a big surprise to see Bass starting at some point this year if Robinson cannot parlay some of his hot play from last year. 

Bass fought through injury last year, and may have been our most complete "runner" last year in terms of power, speed (and nasty stiffarms). Robinson had a bit more elusiveness on his side and was a better target catching the ball.

I still don't completely trust Jason Scales to shoulder any sort of load, which is sad. The honest truth is that he might likely be the 5th most talented runningback on our roster. I think Bass has the most raw talent, with redshirt Bo Williams right there. Robinson has shown he can break out, while Jason Harris sits way back on the depth chart despite having flat-out speed, as well as being one of those "practice studs".

I had a feeling that we'd see about 70% Alexander Robinson if Bass did not return, but this really should result in more of a runningback by committee unless someone just breaks out. Chizik said he fulfilled all his requirements (getting his ass to class), so it's nothing but good news.