3 Texas football players that locked up
starting jobs in second scrimmage
Byron Murphy, NT
[T]he nose tackle that stood above the rest throughout fall camp thus far is sophomore Byron Murphy. The former blue-chip recruit and second-year breakout candidate Murphy took the first-team reps for the Longhorns in the scrimmage this weekend.
And Murphy continued to apparently look like one of the best players on this entire first-team defense. He’s clogging up the lanes, and occasionally overpowering the first-team offensive line when rushing the passer up the middle and defending the run.
There wasn’t much that Murphy did in this second scrimmage that was necessarily much better than what he showed throughout fall camp. And that is the reason why he really deserved to win the starting job over Coburn and Sweat at nose tackle.
Casey Cain, WR
Probably the most impressive wide receiver that has stepped up in a big way in the last week or so is the former under-the-radar three-star recruit and redshirt freshman Casey Cain. This potential starting outside receiver made the most of his opportunity to get reps with the first team at the z spot.
Cain has definitely earned the first-team reps he’s getting. He’s winning some battles on those tough contested 50/50 balls on the outside, which his large 6-foot-3 and 195-pound frame allow him to do.
Ovie Oghoufo, LB/EDGE
The improvements we’ve heard about regarding Oghoufo’s game in fall camp of late include better approaches when defending the run and even more explosiveness off the edge when getting after the quarterback. Oghoufo was already pretty quick off the edge, but adding even more explosiveness isn’t something anyone will argue with.
Missed tackles were a huge issue for Oghoufo last season. But if he can clean that part of his game up, he could be a huge contributor along this front seven this season.
[More at Hook'Em]