Houston Football: Two-deep 2017 depth chart projection

Major Applewhite enters his first season as a head coach, leading Houston Football after Tom Herman left. What will the two-deep look like for the Cougars?

Through the first month of the 2016 season, Houston looked ready to break through the ceiling placed on Group of Five teams. Rather than just being the favorite for the automatic bid to a New Year’s Six bowl game, the Cougars seemed on the verge of breaking into the College Football Playoff.

Then Navy beat the Cougars to begin October. Houston would also lose to SMU and Memphis (but beat Louisville and Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson) before the end of the regular season. Instead of a chance at the national title, the Cougars were relegated to the Las Vegas Bowl.

Now Tom Herman is the head coach of the Texas Longhorns, having left Houston before its bowl game. Major Applewhite was the interim coach in Vegas, and he now takes over as Cougars full-time coach. The neophyte head coach will have to shore up some major losses at key positions as Houston tries once again to make noise in the American Athletic Conference and on a national level.

The defense is in better shape than the offense, at least in terms of returning talent. Houston, though, has also recruited well in recent years. Who will earn significant playing time for the Cougars this season? What will Houston’s two-deep look like at every position in 2017?