Long ago, way, way back on July 18, West Virginia unveiled its media guide. Sixty-one pages in, there was a depth chart, and you knew then that you should only take it so seriously.

Tuesday was the day when things officially got serious. Preseason camp began, and the Mountaineers christened the occasion with another depth chart, though, again, you can only take this one so seriously. You can take it a little further, but I’d keep a loose grip. The first one that really matters in the preseason, if such a thing can be said, will be Aug. 13.

You see, the Mountaineers released a revamped and improved media schedule on Tuesday — bingo players: these were positive changes, and this is not a gripe about access — that includes not only a sit-down with Shane Lyons, but a scrimmage next Saturday. I doubt we’ll be given lineups, but it’s our habit to scribble down who’s on the first-team offense and defense and who makes up the subsequent lineups.

But for Tuesday, the first day, here’s the two-deep to carry us through to the next time we chart lineups — and these are scanned files, meaning the pages came to me crooked.

Minor changes here. Marcus Simms and Ricky Rogers swap third-team spots at outside spots. That’s it, and though changes really don’t mean anything if we’re in the infancy of camp, the lack of changes reinforces this prevailing thought that WVU has done a lot of work that other teams typically do — other WVU teams typically have done — in the early stages of camp.

Will there be shuffling on offense? Likely, yes, but it’s also likely that any activity will be results-based and not need-induced.

More minor but nevertheless newsworthy changes on defense. Marvin Gross remains the starter at spur, and what a story that could be. But Kyzir White, who’s recovered from a tweaked leg that limited him throughout the summer, is the backup now. Deamonte Lindsay, who might also be a really good story considering the fact he was medically shelved with a non-injury at this point last season, was bumped.

At cornerback, Resident Sage Nana Kyeremeh remains ahead of Antonio Crawford at one spot and Rasul Douglas is now ahead of junior college transfer Elijah Battle. He displaces redshirt freshman Jordan Adams. This is a starting point, of course, but it has to say something, however flimsy, however strong, about Battle that he factors in like this. The coaches really like their juco additions, Battle and Mike Daniels.

(Note: Losing Jaleel Fields probably doesn’t seem significant, because he’s only barely ever played, but it’s probably bigger than we imagine. WVU doesn’t have anyone with any experience behind Darrien Howard. Shriner was brought here to play this position, but perhaps not this soon, especially if Fields is a year older and stronger and presumably wiser. Jeffery Pooler is a large young man, but he’s a true freshman. Christian Brown can and will play there in a pinch, but you want him maxing out his energy and effectiveness at defensive end. If he slides inside, if only to play one or two series of the four or five series a backup would give to Howard, then someone has to play Brown’s snaps at defensive end for those one or two series, as well as whatever break he might need to compensate. The good news? WVU has bodies its comfortable with auditioning now in that role at defensive end, be it backups Jon Lewis and Adam Shuler or a lesser-known player like Xavier Pegues or a newcomer like Reese Donahue. What juco defensive end Brandon Lawless shows early or often will matter a bunch, too.)

Mike Molina will be there for three games, at least, and Kinney v. Young (at punter … but also at holder?) might be a lot of fun. They’re both big kids with big legs, but you see Kinney’s name three times. He’s seemingly valuable, no? At worst, WVU can use three players for the four big jobs on special teams — kicker, kickoffs, punter and holder. Put that next to the convenience at long snapper. Meadows is sharp and sound, but Brunstetter is a transfer from N.C. State. The Mountaineers have depth among specialists. The power of 85!

The options at returner are far more expansive than what’s shown, but what’s shown may be what’s used. The Gibson/Jennings duo is what the Mountaineers like on kickoffs with one straight-line speedster (Gibson) and one bigger body to set the tone early (Jennings). But, given his spot as the punt retutner, plus what his teammates say, Jennings can scoot and has a good amount of skill, as well. We saw the possibilities beyond Jennings at punt return Tuesday — Simms, William Crest, Jovon Durante and Steve Smothers — and now we’ll keep an eye on the possible duos for kickoff returners.