Temple Football Practice Notebook + Depth Chart Update (4/7)

Tagged under: News, Pennsylvania Colleges, Temple

Mike Livingston | April 7, 2026

NORTH PHILADELPHIA – Temple kicked off its final week of spring practices Tuesday afternoon at Edberg-Olson Hall with some new sets and new drills as it prepares for Saturday’s annual Cherry & White scrimmage.

The Owls followed up Saturday’s scrimmage with some new sets and a couple of new drills as the offense and defense both worked in two separate units for the majority of the practice, working on specific controlled plays.

For most of the spring, the two units have focused primarily on a practice lineup that has featured individual position drills, non-contact work, and minimal-contact scrimmaging.

While those drills were still seen in a lower capacity, the Owls only scrimmaged for about 20 total plays throughout practice.

Temple’s defense notably worked on defending a set of triple-option runs, typically seen in service academy offenses like those used by American Athletic Conference opponents Army and Navy.

The Owls lost to both Army and Navy last year in two of their closest matchups of the season, 32-31 to Navy on homecoming and 14-13 to Army later in the season in West Point.

Head coach K.C. Keeler has been on the record noting those two contests as being the difference in how last season ultimately shook out, with the team being just two points away from a 7-5 season and undeniable bowl eligibility.

“Yeah, you know, Coach Keeler has made a point about that,” said defensive line coach Cedric Calhoun following Tuesday’s practice. “You know, we lost both of those games by a few points, and, man, it’s a play here. It’s a play there. It’s a lineman. It’s bad eyes there. So, you know, it’s angles, right? Tackling. So, I mean, you’re so close, and that’s the part that we’re trying to focus on right now, which is the small details. So, hopefully, in 2026, we can turn those losses into wins.”

The Owls seem to have also found a groove depth chart-wise, with a solid troop of guys routinely slotting in between first- and third-team rotations over the past few weeks.

See below a rough outline of a possible depth chart for Saturday’s spring game:

Offense

Quarterback

1. Jaxon Smolik
2. Ajani Sheppard
3. Camren Boykin
4. Brady Palmer
5. Brody Norman
6. Patrick Keller

Running Back

1. Sam Brown
2. Hunter Smith
3. De’Carlos Young
4. Keveun Mason
5. RJ Blount
6. Ameir Morrow
7. Johnny Martin
8. Jordan Miller

Wide Receiver (X)

1. Jayce Freeman
2. Ramier Hardy
3. Coen Logan
4. Kenedy Uzoma
5. Keagan Chambers

Wide Receiver (Z)

1. Colin Chase
2. Demonte Green
3. Darius Pope
4. Tylik Mitchell
5. Zander Baptiste

Wide Receiver (Slot)

1. JoJo Bermudez
2. Reis Stocksdale
3. Hunter Watson
4. JoJo Huntley
5. Gavan Loriston

Tight End

1. Peter Clarke
2. Ryder Kusch
3. Daniel Evert
4. Joey Schlaffer
5. David Wise

Offensive Line

Left Tackle

1. Giakoby Hill
2. Kevin Terry
3. CJ Van Buren
4. Billy Brown

Left Guard

1. Eric King
2. Mausa Palu

Center

1. Grayson Mains
2. John Stone

Right Guard

1. Jackson Pruitt
2. Davray Venu
3. Logan King

Right Tackle

1. Luke Watson
2. Zach Aamland
3. Ransom McDermott
4. Aiden Zilker
5. John Watkins

Defense

Defensive End (Strongside)

1. Davier Bishop
2. Quante Gillians
3. Uyi Igiehon

Defensive Tackle

1. Joseph Auzenne
2. Kevin Hornbeak
3. Russell Sykes IV
4. Kaleb Artis

Defensive End (Weakside)

1. Cameron Jones
2. Brandon Enarusai
3. Yamael Wiggins

Outside Linebacker (SAM)

1. Jaylon Joseph
2. David Kpeglo
3. Brian Adderley

Inside Linebacker (MIKE)

1. Curly Ordonez
2. Tyree Alualu
3. Willy Love

Inside Linebacker (WILL)

1. Eric Stuart
2. Wesley Brown
3. Aiden Britton
4. Jayvant Brown
5. Jordan Montgomery
6. Lamar Fairfax
7. Deshon Dodson
8. Jude Okelele
9. Antwuan Rogers
10. Semi Odedele

Outside Linebacker (WILL/EDGE)

1. Jamair Diaz
2. Adriano McLean

Secondary

Cornerback (CB1)

1. Denzel Chavis
2. Adrian Laing
3. Devontae Ward-Grant

Safety (FS)

1. Avery Powell
2. Jaeden Gould
3. Pooh Lawton
4. Jett White
5. Jamarcs Pierre
6. Jack Paessler
7. James Paessler

Safety (SS)

1. Saboor Karriem
2. Josiah Jackson
3. Orel Gray
4. Kolin Dinkins
5. Nyil Powell
6. Daron Harris
7. Alex Hanks
8. Ihsim Smith-Marsette

Cornerback (CB2)

1. Earl Kulp
2. Nakeel Lawrence
3. Asa Locks
4. Bryson Goodwin
5. Demacio Cooper

Special Teams

Kicker

1. Carl Hardin
2. Darren Wu

Punter

1. Dante Atton

Long Snapper

1. Sam Wolfenden