Football player update, including new transfer

Along with the materials for MAC media day, we had the release of the new two-deep and then a graduate transfer coming in.

We'll start with the two-deep, comparing it to the spring.

On the o-line, there's one change...the starters now are Hunter, Taborn, McAuliffe, Bright and Labus, with Bright being the new starter, replacing Jack Kramer who is now back up C.  Note that Taborn played T as a true Fr last year due to injury but has been moved into G.  The backups are pretty much the same just shuffled around a little.  Often, a line doesn't have a true two-deep...there's usually a guy who is next up and you'd move people around.

Also interesting is that Grant Loy is now listed as the backup QB.  Loy came here as a walk-on and you'd have expected Elijah Cunningham or even Seth Doege to be the backup.  They probably want to redshirt Doege, but Loy did beat Cunningham out for an important spot.  Most teams end up using their backup QB.  Also, we still have camp to go as well.

There's also interesting developments at WR, where the starters are Guyton, Redding and Miller, with Pough, Phatavoung and Jared Wyatt backing them up.  What's interesting is that Marquis Zimmerman, who had 22 catches last year, is not on the two-deep.  I have literally no news on this...he could be injured.  He'd even be a candidate to redshirt. See below... Also, Matt Wilcox who enrolled early is not on the two-deep at WR but is listed as returning kicks.

Wilson and Cleveland are at RB and Folkerstma and Skattebo are at TE/FB.

On the d-line, the biggest issue is that Tyrik Jones was on the depth chart for Spring and has now left the program.  Brian Sanders, a JR from Cass Tech who appeared in 11 games will start the fall opposite David Konowalski, with R-FR Diron Hutchins and Jr. Jonah Harper as backups.  Hutchins is making his first game appearance.  Jonah Harper played first at Notre Dame College and then was here last year and red-shirted.

On the inside, Schweiterman and Smith with Lautenen and Junior backing up remains stable.

At LB--a position with high profile losses--BG returns Nate Locke in the middle with Aaron Banks and Brandon Harris on the outside, just as they had in the spring.  The backups now are R-FR Amari Posey, Jerry Judd and Nilijah Ballew, with Posey replacing KY transfer Dorian Hendrix on the chart.
In the d-backfield, Jeffries and Jackson remain starting CBs, with Milton and Stephens remaining backups.  At S, JUCO Garth has moved into starting Rover (no surprise) with Bozeman at the other safety.  Tavarous Wade and Ben Hale (returning from injury) are backups, with Jerry McBride not on the current depth chart.

On special teams, you have Matt Wilcox and Josh Cleveland on KRs and Wilcox on PRs.  Suder and Davidson are solid at K.

Finally, BG did add another graduate transfer, and this could be an impact player.  His name is John Kurtz.  He did not redshirt at UC, so he has two years to play his one season at BG.  Jinks says he has an opportunity to make an impact right away.  He doesn't appear to have played a lot at UC, but Jinks says he could play right away, or provide depth and allow a younger player to be red-shirted.  Or saved for next year.  Obviously something to keep an eye on.

Thanks to the commenter who pointed me here...

#BGSU football: Roster note ... #Falcons WR Marquis Zimmerman has left the team for personal reasons.

— John Wagner (@jwagnerblade) July 26, 2017