Probably a lot of people have thoughts from the 2nd day of practice. Here are mine:

Offense:

Quarterback: Colt looks really good and particularly comfortable with the Quan and Ship, which you would expect. John Chiles the quarterback wasn't especially impressive. He got picked off twice and a lot of his throws looked like they lacked strength. Maybe his adjustments to his footwork are taking time to show dividends and are throwing him off? I remember him having better arm strength. Sherrod Harris is a better looking passer but not by leaps and bounds.

Running back: It's really hard to tell at this point because of the lack of real tackling. McGee looks pretty good and has very quick acceleration. Fozzy looks explosive as well. Ogbonnaya coughed up the ball after an awesome hit by Beasley. He shouldn't run the ball much this year. Cody Johnson really impressed me.

We showed a lot of wrinkles in the running game. We ran some triple option with the McCoy/Chiles package and when Chiles took the field as QB another receiver would motion to the backfield to present a pitch man for the same play. Cody Johnson looked like a quick and powerful runner. I was pretty confident in the running game already but the wrinkles we've added give me a lot of hope. Triple option plays, involving multiple running threats, the younger lineman are blowing guys off the line and Fozzy and McGee are both looking great.

Receivers: Certainly there's a lot of talent here but it hasn't been developed to the poin where it can beat our Secondary. Quan looks as good as ever and Ship looks fantastic. Brandon Collins showed some nice open field running on short passes and Ship took one deep off a short slant. Malcolm Williams looks pretty solid as well. I would expect one of those 2 to emerge as the 3rd receiver but it's not particularly clear.

Defense: I learned a lot about our schemes today and the depth chart looks like it's shaping up to be the following: Orakpo, Houston, Miller, Melton.

Sam Acho is a great looking back-up. He drew ire from the Quan for his insistence on coming in on every play and trying to bust it up. He stripped Chiles on a run after the whistle and made some hits. He flies all over the field tirelessly.

Kindle is a first team linebacker now along with Bobino and Muck. I didn't see anything from Bobino that would change my opinion of him (not great). Hopefully Norton develops in understanding to the point where Muschamp starts him.

We ran a lot of nickel with Earl Thomas as the guy covering the slot on the first team. When we ran nickel we took Sergio off the field and had Palmer and Beasley as corners with Scott and Wells as safeties and Thomas on the slot as the Rover/WS whatever you want to call it. Thomas is clearly going to be on the field this year. Wells and Scott I had less of a read on. Blake Gideon is fairly impressive and gets involved in plays well.

Curtis Brown had a pick on a toss-up by Chiles to Buckner. If he can supplant Palmer we'll be extremely good in the secondary. As it is, I worry little about the safeties because our corners look really good and our pressure comes fast.

We ran mostly cover-1 with man coverage and then a safety back deep. We threw some interesting blitzes in and used some blitzing where Orakpo or another end would move around and attack gaps. Aaron Lewis was a 2nd team DT. In the nickel defense for the 2nd team Palmer covered the slot.

At this point I would project Ben Wells and Earl Thomas as the safeties in the 4-3 and Thomas-Wells and ? in the 4-2-5. Without much deep passing it was hard to evaluate Scott and Wells who stayed deep mostly. Keep an eye out for Blake Gideon. Ishie Oduegwu seems behind for now.

Bumped from the diaries.

We heard (or saw) in the spring game that the Defense will be using a lot of nickel defense this year to the point where you could describe it as our "base" defense. Now, I expect our schemes to be different from the last few years in that we will deviate from our base defense and won't try to out-execute everyone no matter how badly  mismatched our players are (see Derry/Killebrew in the slot against Tech).

That raises a few questions for me. Namely, who will be the personnel in the nickel package? Defensive depth charts with 3 starting linebackers simply may not apply to the majority of personnel groupings we see on the field this season. I'm hopeful that this will mean more Muckleroy/Kindle and less Bobino. The main question is what that 5 defensive back will look like in the 4-2-5. Will we use a 3rd cornerback or be more like Aggy's defense and use a SS/Rover type who can come up against the run?

In Spring Earl Thomas played the 5th man/Rover and is said to be more than adequate at laying out runners and keeping up in coverage. However, our own PB's depth (http://www.burntorangenation.com/2008/7/18/574127/depth-chartin-defense) features Earl Thomas as a starting Free Safety with Christian Scott as SS and 3 linebackers. With that in mind, I present a depth chart with the 4-2-5 as the base defense:

Power End: Henry Melton seems to be choice here with all the action he's seen in spring, the pre-season hype and the experience. Back-up: Aaron Lewis, Sam Acho

Nose Tackle: Roy Miller has apparently dropped down to 285 lbs. but he'll still be a nose in this scheme. Back-up: Ben Alexander.

Tackle: Lamarr Houston. I'm pretty excited about Houston here. Back-up: Alexander, Lewis, Humphrey?

Quick End: Brian Orakpo. Back-up: Eddie Jones. I'm sure will see Eddie at the other end spot some as well since the coaches will certainly want to get him some snaps.

Linebacker: Roddrick Muckleroy, the best run-stopper on the team and a playmaker. Back-up: Jared Norton, Keenan Robinson

Linebacker: Sergio Kindle, Muschamp's mentioned plans for Kindle including using him as an edge-rusher with his hands in the dirt and we all know his potential is the highest of the linebacker-corp. Throw in his physical strength as one of 2 linebackers to get attention from blockers and I think he starts over Bobino in the nickel. Back-up Rashad Bobino

Rover: Earl Thomas; In instances where we play a 4-3 defense I expect to see Thomas play one of the 2 safety spots since he's one of the better players back there right now but in nickel sets he can have the biggest impact here.

Cornerback: Deion Beasley: I'm hopeful Beasley will quickly become the shutdown corner of the team and do his best Nathan Vasher impression. Back-up Chykie Brown

Cornerback: Ryan Palmer: if he holds off the Browns that may be more of an indicator of their lack of readiness than Palmer's growth. I think he's more or less at his ceiling, which isn't terrible. Back-up Curtis Brown

Free Safety: Ben Wells; everything I've read says he's the real deal in coverage. I expect him to start opposite Thomas in the 4-3 and otherwise be in one of the 2 safety spots. back-up Aaron Williams

Strong Safety: This is really tricky. Plenty, including PB, are projecting Christian Scott as a starter. It's hard to imagine routinely running out 3 players back there who haven't played a college game yet, but Muschamp seems up to it. On the other hand Ishie Oduegwu is the only guy with experience here. I'll say Christian Scott with Ishie as back-up but it's less than clear. You could switch Wells or Scott/Oduegwu at either safety spot. Muschamp calls them "left and right" safety instead of Strong and Free so I'm not sure what each will call for more of. I anticipate Wells handling more coverage than the other.

So, such are my expectations for the defense Texas puts on the field in most circumstances next season. Thoughts? Counters?