POCATELLO – On a team stocked with talented juniors and seniors, some of Idaho State's freshmen may still make an immediate impact.

One-fourth of ISU's 100-player fall camp roster is first-year freshmen. As practice rolls into week No. 2, the depth chart begins to take shape and injuries vault younger players into reps, it's becoming more clear which freshmen may get significant snaps this season.

Freshman Campbell Sheidow is the front-runner to replace Sean Cheney at punter and appears to be second in line at kicker, behind Parker Johnson. First-year offensive linemen John Perko and Jon Herrin have taken ample reps with the second-team offense as unavailabilities have limited Garrett Smith and Carson Sutherland. Freshman wide receiver DeMonte Horton has been a standout playmaker for the offense, and first-tear linebacker Terrance Jones is built beyond his years at 6-foot-2, 225 pounds.

Though head coach Rob Phenicie wouldn't single out any freshmen who had caught his eye through Monday's practice, defensive coordinator Roger Cooper was quick to tout Horton and Jones as possible impact players.

“Terrance Jones is already benching 415 (pounds),” Cooper said Monday at the ICCU Practice Field. “On offense, DeMonte is catching everything that he can touch.”

Jones and Horton both enter crowded – and deep – position groups. Horton, a 2018 graduate of Nampa's Skyview High, is competing with all-Big Sky Conference wideouts Mitch Gueller and Michael Dean, who are supplemented by veterans like Trey Bell, Isaiah Walter, Tanner Conner and Matt Peterson – plus the oft-injured Scooby Reynolds. Jones is one of nearly 20 members of Cooper's linebacker group and has to contend for reps with the likes of Joe Martin, Paea Moala, Kody Graves, Christian Holland and Oshea Trujillo – who have combined for career totals of 388 tackles and 91 games played.

With the NCAA's rule change allowing Division I football players to appear in four games without losing a year of eligibility, Phenicie said plenty of freshmen will see the field this fall.

“We'll get four games out of a lot of guys,” Phenicie said. “If a guy is absolutely, positively not ready, we're not going to do it. But some guys, we'll want to take a look at. Or if someone gets dinged up toward the end of the season, you don't burn a year on a kid if you have two or three games left. You can put someone in there.”

Phenicie said evaluating this year's freshman class is easier than in past years as a result of his coaching staff's emphasis on springtime recruiting.

“We started recruiting them back in May,” Phenicie said. “This wasn't a class that was put together right after the season. We started the previous May with spring recruiting, and a lot of these guys were on our radar and have been through the evaluation process and the recruiting process. … We've got a pretty good, solid freshman class that I feel are going to contribute well.”

Phenicie said the rest of this week's practices, which culminate with fall scrimmage No. 1 on Saturday, will help him and his assistant coaches establish who's more likely to earn game-time reps, therefore narrowing the focus to those players in practice.

But with widespread talent and an ever-increasing need for depth, don't expect many of ISU's freshmen to sit for long.

“Since I've been here, this is the best class we've had,” Cooper said. “So now, it'll just be, where do they fit in?”

APPROXIMATE 2-DEEP DEPTH CHART

Below is a rough 2-deep depth chart comprised by the Journal, based on ISU's personnel during 11-on-11 drills so far in fall camp.

Note: some players not listed are limited in practice because of injuries and do not participate in 11-on-11 drills. Preseason depth charts are not provided by ISU.

FIRST TEAM

QB: Tanner Gueller

RB: James Madison OR Ty Flanagan

WR: Mitch Gueller

WR: Tanner Conner

SLOT: Michael Dean

TE: Austin Campbell

LT: Jack Tufono

LG: Jacob Molenaar

C: Dallen Collins

RG: Preston Holfeltz

RT: Dakota Wilson

DE: Rasheed Williams

DE: TJ Togiai

DT: Treven Aloi

OLB: Paea Moala

OLB: Jace Richter

ILB: Christian Holland

ILB: Kody Graves

CB: Koby Lowe

CB: Anthony Ricks

S: Christian McFarland

S: Adkin Aguirre

SECOND TEAM

QB: Gunnar Amos

RB: Kieran Yancy

WR: Matt Peterson

WR: Jrue Perkins OR DeMonte Horton

SLOT: Trey Bell

TE: Jake Johnson

LT: Brian Fineanganofo

LG: Carson Sutherland

C: Jake Wilkerson

RG: John Perko OR Jon Herrin

RT: Caleb Eldred

DE: Kainoa Fuiava OR Dane Kordopatis

DE: Daniel Heck

DT: Raemo Trevino

LB: Aren Manu

LB: Luke Holloway

LB: Kennon Smith

LB: Nik Wadsworth OR Jackson McCleery OR Terrance Jones

CB: Justin Dorsey

CB: Caleb Brown

S: Jayson Miller

S: Brock Davis

The following players have been mostly unavailable, but would likely be among the first- or second-team participants: Joe Martin (OLB), Oshea Trujillo (OLB), Scooby Reynolds (WR), Nehemiah McFarlin (RB), Garrett Smith (RG).

Defensive coordinator Roger Cooper said Monday the team's depth is stronger than it has been in years past, adding he has varying defensive personnel packages for the variety of high-scoring offenses the team will face on this year's Big Sky schedule.

“Seems like we're running out of reps. It's a good problem to have. We look different. It's exciting,” Cooper said. “You have enough depth to kind of experiment. … The offenses in the Big Sky, you get everything, so you kind of need everything on defense. I think we have a front for each offense we're going to see.”