Interior DTs (including NTs)

I'm a little perplexed at Hamilton's ratings. Anyone who has coached before and can watch even a modicum of film from 2023 can tell that Broughton played well in high-stakes moments in games. To put him behind guys who have played zero or minimal snaps seems insulting.

I urge people to go watch Broughton whenever he subbed in. There were moments against Bama when he'd take a double so that an end or LB could make the play. The only times we seemed to get a stop against UH from the 2nd quarter onward were when Broughton was in. Aaron Bryant got dominated on the Golden TD and Broughton came in to clean things up next series.
 
Athlon's has

1st team: Collins, Broughton
2nd team: Savea, Bledsoe

We'll rotate 2 teams of interior DT, with the 3rd teamers also getting decent playing time. Gotta keep the giants in the middle fresh.

Bledsoe will be the standout. He could end up one of our greats by the time he's done on the 40, mark it down.*




*Bledsoe was also a good basketball player in high school. He shares that attribute with Sweat.
 
Hook Em is speculating that we'll see Bledsoe a lot in a hybrid role / strongside DE type. When they say he's questionable holding his own against the run game inside, I would refer them to last year's film. He didn't look too weak against the run to me. And he's now 293lbs +. Last year he played at 280lbs.

"Junior Jaray Bledsoe could realistically be considered Texas's most athletic and explosive defensive lineman. Bledsoe is an absolute matchup nightmare in one-on-one blocking matchups when he gets the proper get-off from the line of scrimmage and uses his hands well.

Bledsoe played a more significant role for the defensive line for the Longhorns in live-game action during his sophomore campaign compared to the reps he got on defense as a true freshman. He nearly took 100 defensive snaps last season as his spot on the two-deep along the interior defensive line slightly elevated last fall.

The issue Bledsoe is running into regarding his spot on the interior defensive line rotation early in fall practice is finding the exact place where he fits along the line of scrimmage. Bledsoe is an absolute beast physically with how he looks in warm up drills and getting off the bus for practice and games."

hookemheadlines.com

3 possible position changes for Texas in fall camp

Amid the first week of fall practice for Texas football, depth chart movement and potential breakout players are two big storylines the fans and media are follo
hookemheadlines.com hookemheadlines.com
 
Bledsoe

1723080909278.png

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YouTube journalists are saying Norton is looking really solid in the middle at DT. He may even weigh in a bit over his listed weight, but he's not an immobile fat guy.
 
As an inspiration for Sydir MItchell, maybe Larry Dibbles could do a Zoom call with him, or talk with him in person, and explain what he has to look forward to if he can take off the bad weight and get in shape.

Wasn't it Dibbles who was recruited as a small-quick pass rushing DT/DE, but he showed up to his first Fall Camp like a big roly poly beach ball with enough blubber to feed every Eskimo in the Artic. The coaches were not happy at all when he showed up like that. At some point that first year, he got motivated and took off the bad weight and ended up All-Conference and in the NFL. (that was Dibbles, right?)

Sydir Mitchell could be a wealthy man from NFL paychecks someday, but he's got to get the weight under control.
 
"he showed up to his first Fall Camp like a big roly poly beach ball with enough blubber to feed every Eskimo in the Artic"
Hall of fame phrase right there, Chop. :bow:
 
caryhorn said:
"he showed up to his first Fall Camp like a big roly poly beach ball with enough blubber to feed every Eskimo in the Artic"
Hall of fame phrase right there, Chop. :bow:
Click to expand...
Thx.

He was quite the opposite from "As thin as a Tokyo runway model."

:beertoast:

Dibbles was proof that a player like that can get it together and become a big time star.
 
A good place for DTs to spend a lot of time at:
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NOT a good place for DTs to spend too much time at:
1723433269424.png




(Moderation rules the day---we don't want modern-day Spartans either; keep 'em happy, but easy does it for players who need to take off more than 10 lbs or so...)
 
Part of the metrics to determine whether our Nutritionists are performing at an acceptable level on their evals -- are guys like Sydir Mitchell taking some of the "bad" weight off.

UT is big-time. Even the nutritionists (and other off-the-field staff) have to get with the program. No "coasting" here!

:bevo::bevo::bevo::bevo:
 
cnb said:
Sorry but Mitchell is not coming along. Not sure where you got that he has the best upside. He is a massive disapointment to this point.
See previous posts on this.
Click to expand...
I got that from the Inside Texas guys. They said he had improved significantly from spring but still had a long way to go. His big problem is conditioning. It will take some time to develop that. He was not a 5 Star DT for nothing. It just takes time. Sweatt took several years to develop. But when he got there, he became a very good one and was a 3 Star recruit.
 
baoklhorn said:
I got that from the Inside Texas guys. They said he had improved significantly from spring but still had a long way to go. His big problem is conditioning. It will take some time to develop that. He was not a 5 Star DT for nothing. It just takes time. Sweatt took several years to develop. But when he got there, he became a very good one and was a 3 Star recruit.
Click to expand...

Then there are varying opinions on him " coming along". Agree that his biggest issue is conditioning. That has been discusses on numerious posts here. He has been on "portal" watch a couple of times during the off season.
For the record Mitchell wasn't 5*. He was a low 4* by most services.

Hopefully he will stay with it till the light bulb goes off.
 
More and more good reports coming in about Collins. He could be the star in the middle this year. Though don’t count out Lole, or Bledsoe.

2 deep looks good.
 
Even the 3 deep looks good.

We don’t have the 2 All Americans, but we do have 3-4 good DTs, backed up by a couple of above average DTs. All in all, a solid A- unit.

Now the DEs look like an A+ this year.
 
Bryant was getting some work with the 2nd team. He’s a strong fireplug run-stuffer type who can hold the line against the double team.
 
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Horns11 said:
I urge people to go watch Broughton whenever he subbed in.
Click to expand...
Broughton flashed greatness, as has Collins. Both have sky high ceilings.

Consistent good performance thus far, however, goes to Bledsoe. And he was playing at only 280 lbs last year. He's 293 lbs + right now, and they're saying he's the "best pound for pound athlete" on the team...! :yikes:
 
Melvin Hills is up to 305 lbs and not particularly fat. He’s now making some people’s 3 deep at DT. Good to have the depth.

Meanwhile, I seem to be the only one who thinks Bledsoe is good. I base my opinion on his play in actual games last year.
 
So who, on our schedule, has the big bad bully Offensive Line that will really test our interior DTs in the run game?

Georgia?
Kentucky?
Michigan?
 

Texas Longhorns Depth Chart

Find every projected starter on the Texas Longhorns Depth Chart including offense, defense, and special teams.
collegefootballnetwork.com collegefootballnetwork.com

They have:

1st Team
Collins
Norton

2nd Team
Savea
Broughton

3rd Team
Bryant
Lole

4th Team
Bledsoe
Sydir Mitchell

5th Team
Melvin Hills

This depth chart is built to stuff the run up the middle. And that's probably what PK is going for. For penetration and messing stuff up in the backfield, we'll want to see plenty of Bledsoe and Lole (Collins is also highly capable of doing this, and Broughton has shown flashes). I don't know enough about Norton yet--he's supposed to be a stud. All four interior DLs in the 2 deep will each play approximately the same amount of time. This is a position that we rotate A LOT. The 3rd team will probably play 15-20% of the snaps, with the 4th team getting mop-up time, along with the 3rd.
 
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Now I would love it if Norton puts it all together, tears it up this year, and wins all-conference accolades. Maybe Zona was using him wrong.

Based on that film, I think he may end up a role player in relief.

We have known proven players with experience here - Collins, Broughton, Bledsoe

Lole was a complete stud--better real-game on field performance than any of our guys have done thus far, but he did get hurt. Is he fully back yet?

I like S. Mitchell, but he still has to shed some pounds to get a decent amount of playing time.
 
Collins and Broughton started. Collins made some noise in the backfield the first series.
 
It's pretty clear, we're pretty good in the interior DL, and very good on the edges.

Next year's interior DL will need some more quality depth. But we're set for this year.
 
Broughton had another good game, as did Collins.

January did pretty well in limited action (true Freshman and Longhorn legacy)
 
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