Johnathan Gray....

Can't this kid carry the ball 20X a game??

j/k ... Wow what an amazing talent. I can't imagine what this team will be like in 2 years.
 
Hope Mack has someone sitting on Gray. Rumors are already surfacing that the only reason he chose Texas over TCU was the conference affiliations at the time. Times have now changed.
 
Gray's coach is on record as saying that their goal is to give Gray about 15 touches a game. When they reach that point, they look at the scoreboard and see if he's still needed. He's trying to walk the fine line between keeping Gray in football shape and needlessly risking an injury. He wants JG to be fresh and ready to handle the expected heavier postseason load. In 3 district games, the Aledo offense has scored 62, 83 and 50. Clearly, he's not needed for long. In those 3 games, he has 52 combined touches (17/game), 905 combined yards (302/gm) and 17combined tds. If he were to touch the ball 25 times a game for a potentially 16 game season, that's 400 touches for the year. In my opinion, that's too many for a young RB. It's really too many for anybody. The Aledo coach seems to be doing a very smart thing for this future Longhorn.
 
I don't see Gray getting 25 carries/game at Texas either. In the style of offense we run, you might see 5 different guys combine for 25 carries. I think Gray will be used a lot like Swope at A&M when he's not lined up in the backfield... lots of motion and swing-type plays while Brown lines up in the backfield. Or at least I can only dream about it.
 
Last weekend before attending the OU game, I ventured over to Aledo to watch the Bearcats (or it is the Bobcats?) play Byron Nelson High. The purpose was to get a glimpse of young Mr. Gray. Aledo has a beautiful stadium and it was a perfect night. The first thing I noticed was that the fans seemed to be exclusively there to see their respective teams. I am chastizing all Longhorn faithful in Dallas who decided to drink and party the night before the game instead of going to watch Jonathan run. Oh well, that's another matter. When Aledo first got the ball they didn't give the ball to Gray on the first play. The second play they handed it to him and away he went! Nelson wasn't too bad of a team, but it didn't matter. Gray zipped through the line and then when he reached the secondary I don't think I've ever seen that kind of acceleration. As the game progressed he broke several more big plays. He's a genuine threat to take it to the house every time he touches the ball. Watching him run, I couldn't help but think that he'll break some big plays against the Sooners in coming years. Paired with Malcolm Brown, Gray is the perfect counterpart. Malcolm is Mr. Inside, Jonathan will be Mr. Outside. Although Gray can run between the tackles as well. My enthusiasm for watching Gray was only heightened watching the Red River Shootout. I'm here to tell you that Jonathan Gray would not have won that game for Texas. But he would have made our offense better and we would have had more points on the board if he had been in the lineup. Just wait until next year. Until then Longhorn fans, get off your butts and go watch Aledo play in the remaining regular season or playoff games. This scintillating young running back is breaking records set by the Sugar Land Express, the greatest high school football player of all-time - Ken Hall. Jonathan Gray, in his own way, is a Texas high school talent seen about once every ten years, if that.
 
There's an excellent article on Gray posted on the SI website: Link. Sounds like the kid has (and gets) "it." Man, I can't wait 'till he gets to the 40 Acres.
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