Depth Chart for Essendon

Key defenders Dustin Fletcher Tayte Pears Michael Hurley Nathan Lovett-Murray Cale Hooker	Small Defenders Henry Slattery David Myers Courtenay Dempsey Jarrod Atkinson Bachar Houli Tyson Slattery	Key Forwards Jay Neagle Scott Gumbleton Darcy Daniher Michael Still	Small Forwards Mark Williams Angus Monfries Kyle Reimers Alwyn Davey Leroy Jetta
Inside Midfielders Jobe Watson Brent Prismall Andrew Welsh Sam Lonergan David Zaharakis Heath Hocking	Outside Midfielders Brent Stanton Mark McVeigh Jason Winderlich Ricky Dyson	Rucks Patrick Ryder David Hille Jason Laycock Tom Bellchambers	Taggers Andrew Welsh Heath Hocking Angus Monfries Mark McVeigh Sam Lonergan

Other Depth Charts

Adelaide	Brisbane	Carlton	Collingwood
Essendon	Fremantle	Geelong	Hawthorn
Melbourne	North Melbourne	Port Adelaide	Richmond
Sydney	St Kilda	Western Bulldogs	West Coast

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

What is a depth chart?
The depth chart is a list of players sorted by position, and then sorted again by likelihood of playing in the next game for their AFL team, without reference to injury status. Thus the first player mentioned in each list is guaranteed of a game and is the best player that the club has in that position, whereas the last player is a fringe player at best, will rarely if ever get a game and is only on the club's list as a development player or veteran backup.

How are the rankings determined?
The rankings are purely subjective, determined by FanFooty in consultation with fans of each club, based on an assessment of the coaching staff's opinion of their own list, as evidenced by prior selection decisions. They are not based on fantasy pointscoring capabilities.

What are the positions?
The "key" in key forward and defender refers to the role that these players serve, roughly sticking to key positions on the ground such as centre half forward or full back. It does not refer specifically to tall players, though many of them are tall. Similarly, the small defenders and forwards may not necessarily be small, but they play in a more wide-ranging role up the ground pushing into midfield, suited to mostly smaller players. Inside midfielders typically get most of their possessions inside packs and at stoppages, whereas outside midfielders usually receive the clearance from the inside midfielders and run away from packs.

Why are there some names mentioned twice? What about utilities?
The first seven positions are exclusive of each other, i.e. players are mentioned on only one of those charts, and every player on the list is mentioned in one of those seven positions. The Tagger chart is different in that every player on that list is also mentioned in one of the other charts - tagging is a role, not a position as such. There are no utilities in this system, to make things simpler.

Why is this relevant?
The FanFooty AFL depth chart is intended for fantasy coaches in Dream Team, Super Coach and other fantasy football competitions to assist them in assessing draftees, rookies and fringe players in terms of who they have to beat out in their club's list to get a spot on the teamsheet.