Time for the weekly stroll through Maryland’s depth chart changes and what they mean …
QUARTERBACK
SEE RELATED:
In what was known within a half-hour of Saturday’s 41-16 loss at Florida State, quarterbacks C.J. Brown and Danny O’Brien are listed as co-starters. Expect three more days of non-answers on the subject, then plenty of scrutiny from the fifth floor of Byrd Stadium to try to glean through warmups which of the two sophomores will play.
LEFT GUARD
Injured junior Justin Gilbert is now listed as the backup over true freshman Nate Clarke. Gilbert has not played since last September, suffering ACL tears in a 2010 game at West Virginia and then again during spring practice.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
A.J. Francis and Maurice Hampton are co-starters. Hampton started three games in a row before Francis took over and played much of the first three quarters at Florida State. Francis also started the first two games of the season and was a regular starter during the first two years of his career.
Meanwhile, Andre Monroe (who returned from an apparent ankle injury) has taken Darius Kilgo‘s place as Joe Vellano‘s backup.
WILL LINEBACKER
Darin Drakeford is listed ahead of Alex Twine, which reflects the fact Drakeford started Saturday after missing four of the previous five games. Look for both guys to play Saturday against Boston College.
STAR LINEBACKER
With Kenny Tate out for the season, Desmond Kearse takes over as Mario Rowson‘s backup for depth chart purposes.
—- Patrick Stevens
