Many dependable players from the Wildcats football team last year have departed, leaving coach Mark Stoops and his coaches with spots to fill.

However, young players have stepped up during spring practice and preseason camp in the hopes of snagging a spot on Kentucky’s depth chart.

Here is a look at Kentucky’s possible two-deep depth chart just weeks from the 2015 season.

OFFENSE (Air Raid)

QB1: Patrick Towles
QB2: Drew Barker

No projection needed here. Stoops declared Towles the starting quarterback on Monday.

Towles was forced to elevate his play during practice because of the redshirt freshman Barker, which turned into a benefit. “As far as arm talent goes, I haven’t been around anybody with that arm strength,” offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said about Towles, according to ESPN.

RB1: Stanley “Boom” Williams
RB2: Jojo Kemp

It’s a hard call between Jojo Kemp and Mikel Horton for the second running back spot, especially since they each bring different strengths to the table. Kemp was very successful out of the “Wildcat” formation last season, and had the second-most carries if you remove the departed Braylon Heard from the equation. Horton had the third-most carries on the team last season as a pounding runner. Both of them have stepped up during practice as Williams missed time due to knee troubles. Kemp gets the slight nod here only because he’d better fit taking over for Williams if the injury persists or returns.

X WR1: Dorian Baker
X WR2: Blake Bone

Z WR1: Ryan Timmons
Z WR2: Garrett Johnson

B WR1: Jeff Badet
B WR2: Thaddeus Snodgrass

TE1: C.J. Conrad
TE2: Darryl Long

Ryan Timmons, the receptions leader last year, heads the receiving corps. Sophomores Baker, Johnson, and Bone have all received praise in turn from the coaches during preseason camp. Coaches also eagerly await Badet to fully recover health-wise. Snodgrass, Conrad, and Long are all freshman.

LT1: Jordan Swindle
LT2: Levon Livingston

LG1: Zach West
LG2: Nick Haynes

C1: Jon Toth
C2: Zach Myers

RG1: Ramsey Meyers
RG2: Cole Moiser

RT1: Kyle Meadows
RT2: George Asafo-Adjei

Good news and bad news on Kentucky’s offensive line front. The good is freshman Asafo-Adjei, who belongs to the rare breed of lineman that are ready to start making contributions as a freshman. There’s a good chance he will be seeing playing time this season. The bad is a lack of depth on the left side. Josh Krok and Nick Richardson both transferred away from the team during the offseason, and Livingston is a freshman.

DEFENSE (3-4)

DE1: Farrington Huguenin
DE2: Regie Meant

DT1: Melvin Lewis
DT2: Matt Elam

DE1: C.J. Johnson
DE2: Adrian Middleton

Kentucky is fully converting to a 3-4 defense, as Stoops spoke about during SEC Media Days. It’s a smart move which leverages the strengths of Wildcats’ defensive players. With Lewis or Elam picking up the double team in the middle, and Johnson and Huguenin blocking on either end, fast outside linebackers like Jason Hatcher can have clean shots to the backfield or the running back.

OLB1: Jason Hatcher
OLB2: Denzil Ware

ILB1: Josh Forrest
ILB2: Khalid Henderson

ILB1: Ryan Flannigan
ILB2: Kobie Walker

OLB1: Jabari Johnson
OLB2: Alvonte Bell

Hatcher has been suspended for the first two games of the season, which means coaches have been looking at both Johnson and Ware’s abilities on the first-team defense during preseason camp. There is no question that seniors Forrest and Flannigan will be the leaders of this group of linebackers.

CB1: Fred Tiller
CB2: J.D. Harmon

S1: Blake McCain
S2: Marcus McWilson

S1: A.J. Stamps
S2: Darius West

CB1: Cody Quinn
CB2: Kendall Randolph

A.J. Stamps is among the top 10 safeties in the SEC heading into the 2015 season, and he’s joined by a more than solid crew of fellow safeties who are proven pass disruptors and interceptors. Seniors Tiller and Quinn lead the charge at cornerback, one of the rare positions where all players on the depth chart are non-freshmen.

SPECIAL TEAMS

K: Austin MacGinnis
P: Landon Foster

KR: Stanley “Boom” Williams
PR: Garrett Johnson