Hugh Freeze will begin his second college football season as the head coach of Auburn against Alabama A&M on Saturday. There is no indication as to who will start on defense for the Tigers after they released the least decisive depth chart of all-time.
Quite literally, anyone could play at any position at any time.
It is not uncommon for FBS programs to have question marks at more than one position coming out of fall camp. Especially when they are opening the year with a bad FCS team in a game they should win by no less than five touchdowns. Auburn is a 48-point favorite this weekend.
Week 1 often serves as something of a preseason tune-up scrimmage, even though wins and losses count against the record. In an ideal world, an SEC coach can take his starters out of the game by halftime against an FCS program. Everybody gets a chance to play, all the way down to the walk-ons.
To get out in front of some of the confusion, college football teams will often list more than one player as a starter on the depth chart. The infamous “OR” has become a running joke over the past few years.
For example, here is the first look at App State:
Freeze and the Tigers took it to the extreme for their 2024 season-opener.
Every player who might be considered a starter is listed on the depth chart in bold and every single player on the defense is listed in bold! All 37 players. No less than two guys at each position.
I have seen a lot of depth charts in my day. Many of them have more than one player listed as a potential starter at more than one position. Never before have I seen one where the entire defense is unknown. Auburn has the least decisive depth chart in college football!