When senior linebacker Ed Davis was lost to a season-ending injury one of the first questions was who would replace him.

That question is still unanswered. Sophomores Jon Reschke and Chris Frey are listed as co-starters on the depth chart at Davis' vacant SAM spot.

"First of all, they'll split time. They'll both play," Dantonio said. "We'll see who gets the nod based on practices this week. But both guys have done a great job with it."

Running back situation

The updated depth chart lists redshirt freshman Madre London as the sole starter the position. Sophomore Gerald Holmes is second, true freshman L.J. Scott is third and junior Delton Williams is fourth.

Dantonio did not rule out redshirting Williams or Scott because of the crowded back field.

"We're not going to put a guy in the game and burn a redshirt with anybody," Dantonio said. "So you really don't know how things are going. But at this point in time, we'll just use them as they come. If we need to use them, we're going to use them."

However, Dantonio believes a few backs will split carries and that there won't necessarily be one true back.

"I think it's a luxury when you have a number of guys playing," Dantonio said. "It was a luxury when we had Le'Veon (Bell) playing, Edwin Baker playing, (Larry) Caper playing.

"I'm sort of seeing it being the two or three prong type thing. We'll see how injuries occur during the year or don't occur hopefully. But I see using our guys. Want to keep them fresh. We want them playing hard. They've all demonstrated they can run the football."

Freshmen presence

There are four true freshmen on the depth chart. Scott is the third running back, Andrew Dowell is listed as the backup for the STAR linebacker, Josh Butler is listed fourth at one of the corner positions and David Dowell is third on the depth chart at the other corner spot.

"I think we've got talent here," Dantonio said. "We've got good players. We recruited good players. When they have an opportunity to show those talents, they've done a great job.

Kick Return

There was no surprise junior wide receiver R.J. Shelton is listed as one of the starting kick returners. However, opposite Shelton as the other returner is junior linebacker Riley Bullough.

Dantonio doesn't see it as much of a surprise, considering that Bullough was once a starting running back.

"He's shown the ability," Dantonio said. "If you go back, he was our starting tailback in 2013 against Western. He's got running ability, can catch the ball very fluidly. He is a guy that can get something on a defending player coming down to spring R.J. Shelton. R.J. is hopefully going to be the guy that is going to catch it. We'll see if Riley catches it. We have big expectations there. He's shown he can do those things. Versatility."