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When it comes to having team captains, less is more.

That's BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall's theory — this year, at least — as the coach announced Monday that the Cougars will have just two full-time captains in 2015: quarterback Taysom Hill and defensive end Bronson Kaufusi. A third captain will represent the special teams and will be chosen and rotate on a weekly basis.

"I really would have preferred two on any given year," Mendenhall said Monday when I asked him why only two this year. "The reason that we chose four would be that two captains, or two players on either side of the ball had similar votes, or almost identical votes. In this particular year, it was such a wide margin that it didn't make any sense [to have four].

We will have a special teams captain that will rotate per week. So the special teams player of each week will be the special teams captain the next week, going with the idea of earning it as you go. But that's the explanation."

For his part, Kaufusi said he was humbled to have been picked by an overwhelming number of his teammates.

"It just makes me want to be the best I can be, to help out everyone around me. So we can all elevate our game and be the best that we can be on Saturdays," Kaufusi said.

The senior just shrugged when I asked him if he's surprised that Mendenhall is going with just two captains this season.

"I mean, Bronco is the boss. So whatever he says goes," Kaufusi said. "But no matter what, the last three years ' team captains, I've learned from them, and seen what they have done, how they were able to help guys around them be better. I think that's the most important thing is to lead by example. Instead of tell people, you need to show people."

Receiver Mitch Mathews would have been my pick to be one of the captains, but he didn't seem to upset over the picks.

"We have done it [had just two captains] in the past," Mathews said. "He mentioned we've done it before, so I think our captains are unbelievable. Taysom and Bronson are really good players and those guys will lead this team to what we need to do."

Mendenhall acknowledged Monday that Mitchell Juergens and Nate Carter are getting scholarships.

Here's his description of how they found out:

"I also had a really cool experience awarding two scholarships, Mitch Juergens was awarded a scholarship, which is one of the coolest things I get to do as a head coach. I love when players come and earn their way and then get a scholarship, rather than come with a scholarship. I think that is more of the way life works.

And then Nate Carter [also was put on scholarship].

So Nate will have a scholarship for his last semester at BYU. And that is how I will remember him. You know, he battled like crazy for his entire career, and I was able to reward him, which our team cheered and went crazy and mobbed him in the team room. It was chaos. It took them about two minutes to get back in order, and then I announced Mitch and the same thing happened. Any chance of a meeting after that was gone. So the team really appreciated their efforts, also."

Mendenhall said there are no new injury concerns — looks like everyone except Colby Jorgensen (neck) and Steven Richards (knee) are healthy enough to play against Nebraska. Jorgensen was spotted walking around the student athlete building — a remarkable sign on the first day of school considering he had seven-hour surgery less than three weeks ago.

The Cougars released their projected depth chart on Monday, and there were a few surprises:

1) Jordan Preator, a cornerback last year, is listed as the backup free safety (behind Kai Nacua).

2) An inside linebacker who switched to the outside midway through camp, Jherremya Leuta-Douyere, is now listed as the starter at will linebacker.

3) Freshman receiver Moroni Lualu-Pututau is a second-team receiver, listed with senior Kurt Henderson. Freshman Dayan Lake also made the two-deep, a boundary corner (behind Michael Davis).

4) Tanner Balderree, a defensive lineman last year, is now the starting tight end, ahead of Bryan Sampson

5) Walk-on Scott Huntsman, also a freshman, is listed as the backup at sam linebacker (to Fred Warner).

On Preator being moved to safety, Mendenhall said:

"I would say at this point he will play both [corner and safety]. So what it does is it gives us some athleticism, and it gives us some flexibility. And if we chose to blitz, it gives us better matchups. So we are hoping to get the best four athletes, as well as players, on the field at the same time. Not to say that he might not play corner also."

Offensive lineman Ryker Mathews also appeared in the interview room Monday and talked at length about his trust in the offensive line that Garett Tujague has put together.

"I think a lot of people look at us, and we are the big, white, Mormon kids," Mathews said. "People like to put us in the dirt. But I think we are a lot better than a lot of teams think and a lot of analysts think. It is going to be our chance to showcase that."