Starting defensive lineman Folorunso Fatukasi, tight end Tommy Myers and quarterback Bryant Shirreffs, reserve offensive lineman Kyle Schafenacker and Will Rishell, who is competing to become UConn's starting kicker, are among 952 players honored by the National Football Foundation for having already earned their degrees before their final college football season.

Fatukasi, who has started 23 career games and enters his senior season with 125 tackles and 10 sacks, was named to the preseason watch lists for the Outland Trophy, Nagurski Trophy and Wuerffel Trophy.

Myers has 27 career receptions and has been used mostly as a blocker especially during the 2016 season.

Shirreffs ranks in the top 10 in UConn history in career passing attempts, completions and yards as well as being 83 yards shy of becoming the fifth Husky with at least 5,000 yards of total offense.

Schafenacker appeared in nine games during the 2016 season while Rishell is a former walk-on who is competing with Michael Tarbutt to be the No. 1 kicker following the graduation of Bobby Puyol.

While there's plenty of work yet to be done before UConn opens up the 2014 season against Brigham Young, it is looking like the coaching staff has a pretty good idea who are the building blocks on the offensive line.

At the first practice I attended, the No. 1 line consisted of (from left to right) tackle Richard Levy, guard Kyle Schafenacker, center Alex Mateas, guard Bryan Paull and tackle Dalton Gifford. After nearly a week and a half off due to spring break and more importantly, that much down time for the staff to break down the performance of that line, four of the five players were in the first O-line group sent out at yesterday's practice.

Levy and Gfford remained the left and right tackles and Mateas (who is impressing head coach Bob Diaco with his leadership) was the starting center. Paull moved from right guard to left guard while Tyler Samra moved in at the right guard spot. Again, this is very much subject to change with 10 more spring practices to go before the Apr. 12 spring game.

Gus Cruz, who started five games in each of the last two years at right guard, is still relegated to riding the stationary bike at practice. If he is able to return to the field after seeing his 2013 season cut short due to cardiac issues, it could provide a huge lift to a young offensive line.

Also in the "for what it is worth department" Casey Cochran was the first QB I saw in the offensive reps although the QBs seem to be getting a similar amount of reps and the brief time I was able to watch, I saw plenty of formations with both a fullback and tight end which was a rarity a season ago whether it was Paul Pasqualoni coaching the team or T.J. Weist assuming control of the team. It is going to be interesting to see how this plays out. UConn has an overflow of talented receivers so if the Huskies opt to use a tailback, fullback and tight end, that means only two receivers can be out on the field. The trio of Geremy Davis, Shakim Phillips and Deshon Foxx figure to be among the best playmakers on the 2014 UConn team so that would mean that either the fullback or tight end position would get fewer snaps if Diaco and offensive coordinator Mike Cummings opts to use more three-receiver sets. Davis has looked rock solid in blocking drills so that could also figure into things down the road when the Huskies determine how to best use their receivers, tight ends and fullbacks as  big receivers like Davis (6-3, 216 pounds) and Phillips (6-3, 206) could help in the running game as well as given the No. 1 quarterback big targets on the outside.

Center Alex Mateas is the most experienced of UConn's returning linemen

There were plenty of question marks with the UConn offensive line even before the news broke that Xavier Hemingway, who was expected to compete for a starting offensive tackle spot, was not enrolled at UConn for the spring semester and no longer with the team.

With Hemingway gone, the status of Gus Cruz up in the air and four starters having graduated, there's no question that offensive line coach Mike Foley and head coach Bob Diaco will have their hands full in putting together the offensive line for the 2014 season.

Center Alex Mateas is probably the lone sure thing right now although Dalton Gifford showed tremendous growth as he started the final four games of the season at right tackle in place of Friend.

Guards Tyler Samra (who started against Cincinnati) and Kyle Schafenacker, who redshirted as a true freshman, came to UConn as highly-touted recruits from national powerhouse programs. If they are as good as advertised, the interior of the offensive line should be in good shape. Tackles Richard Levy and Paul Nwokeji, guard Zach Rugg and center Bryan Paull were all in the rotation a season ago. If Cruz gets a clean bill of health and that's a big if due to his season being shut down due to cardiac issues, he could always be bumped outside to tackle. Kyle Bockeloh could be another name to look at in the interior of the line while Tommy Hopkins is a tackle prospect who redshirted as a true freshman. Another option I would have to think the coaches should at least consider is moving defensive lineman Andreas Knappe to the other side of the ball. He certainly fits the size requirements as he was listed at 6-foot-9, 296 pounds as a redshirt freshman.

Diaco has made the offensive line a major priority in recruiting with a commitment from St. Joseph All-Stater Steve Hashemi and offensive tackle recruits Derek Allen and Trey Ratliff visiting last week. Still, expecting a true freshman to come in and start at offensive tackle might be asking a little bit too much.

I addressed the offensive line position with Foley when we met with the UConn assistant coaches earlier this month and here's what he had to say.

"With Kevin getting hurt Dalton got to play a lot," Foley said. "Dalton towards the end of the year played a lot and did a nice job, Alex Mateas I thought really developed as the year went on and really improved over the year before so you have those two guys and there are some good young players. I think the spring will be important for them and next fall in camp but that is college football, that is the way it is and the next guy has to step up and we have to get them ready to do the things we are going to ask them to do.

"There is definitely talent there and it is a matter of getting some experience. One of the things we tried to do and I went back with the offensive line and that was to make sure that during the individual work that they got a lot of work also, not just the starters but everybody right down to the last guy was getting work so I could evaluate them as players to see what they had and try to develop them. What we did in the two-deep is we rotated because we knew we were going to redshirt some guys so a guy like Kyle Schafenacker had been up and I watched him for a couple of weeks, then we put him down and brought about freshman up to look at them. It had nothing to do with Kyle as a player, I liked him, he was a good player and he is going to be a good player but it more so that I could get a look at somebody else up so I could get a look at somebody else. I think there is some talent there and it has to be developed. With O-linemen, very rarely are any of them ready as true freshmen sometimes even as a redshirt freshman it takes a couple of years in the weight room to develop and that is what we are doing."

When UConn released its depth chart for the season-opening game against Towson yesterday and former Hand High star Matt Walsh was listed as the starting fullback, I decided to take a look back and see who was the last true freshman to be listed as a starter heading into the season.

As it turns out, the answer is a pretty familiar name as current redshirt senior Jesse Joseph was listed as the No. 1 defensive end (ahead of fellow true freshman Trevardo Williams) back in 2009.

Walsh moved by redshirt freshman Jazzmar Clax to claim the No. 1 fullback job. With the uncertainty surrounding the health of starting tight end Sean McQuillan and the Huskies likely to use three wide receivers more often than not, there could be a chance for a significant number of snaps for Walsh, the 2012 New Haven Register State Football Most Valuable Player on Thursday night.

I spoke with Walsh during UConn's media day about his quest to carve out immediate playing time as a freshman.

"Physically I feel like I am capable of keeping up with everybody here at this level, it is just learning and it takes time," Walsh said. "I feel like I am coming along well and I am working hard trying to get on the field anyway I can

"I am not saying I can start and I don’t know where I will be but I am going to do all I can to make sure I can get on the field any way I can. Jazzmar Clax is a great fullback, a great athlete."

The only other true freshman in the two-deep on either offense or defense is guard Kyle Schafenacker although receiver Brian Lemelle is listed as the No. 1 punt returner. Last year the only true freshman on the two-deep for offense or defense was Kyle Bockeloh, who was listed as the backup center. Three years ago Jefferson Ashiru, Mike Osiecki (who has retired due to multiple concussions) and Marquise Vann all made the two-deep as reserve linebackers.

One statistic of note regarding the depth chart is that there are more upperclassmen in the two-deep heading into the season opener than there were at this point last season. There are 17 juniors or seniors listed as starters and another eight as second stringers on the 2013 depth chart. Back in 2012 there were 13 starters and 10 reserves who were on the two deep for offense and defense.