May/June/JULY Football

I'll take the bait and chime in ...
First a dumb question: can any of the incoming freshmen report during the summer? I know position coaches are hands off until the fall but it would be nice if some of the DT's of O line could get in the weight room with Pat Moorer.
 
I am most concerned about three position groups for next year (1) o-line; (2) LBs; and (3) d-line.

Which group do you think has the best chance of substantial improvement in the summer/fall?

I think LBs can improve with a healthy Wheeler and Tim Cole in his senior year. I have little confidence in the o-line improving but I hope Mattox proves me wrong and that tempo helps keep opposing D-lineman out of the backfield. I have no clue what to expect out of the d-line.
 
p_town_horn said:
First a dumb question: can any of the incoming freshmen report during the summer? I know position coaches are hands off until the fall but it would be nice if some of the DT's of O line could get in the weight room with Pat Moorer.
Click to expand...
Yes, as long as they're enrolled in Summer School they can come under the control of The Dread Pat Moorer.
 
p_town_horn said:
I am most concerned about three position groups for next year (1) o-line; (2) LBs; and (3) d-line.

Which group do you think has the best chance of substantial improvement in the summer/fall?

I think LBs can improve with a healthy Wheeler and Tim Cole in his senior year. I have little confidence in the o-line improving but I hope Mattox proves me wrong and that tempo helps keep opposing D-lineman out of the backfield. I have no clue what to expect out of the d-line.
Click to expand...
Agree that LBs will show the most improvement; but the OL won't be far behind. The one thing hindering them so far is depth – we need at least two steers to step up. That's why the coaches are panting for the newbies to get here.

It's the same with DLs times ten. We don't have a Brown or Ridgeway anymore, so the coaches want more big bodies.
 
Charlie Strong and Sterlin Gilbert both said following the spring game that there’s no set timeframe on announcing a starter. However, at the Big 12 meetings in Phoenix this week...

While Charlie Strong praises Shane Buechele, he emphasizes QB race continues, but also says he’d like to name a clear No. 1 ASAP in August.
– George Schroeder (@GeorgeSchroeder) May 4, 2016

Buechele could bring both [stability and consistency] to the table considering how well he adjusted to the new offense Gilbert installed this spring. The orientation period for the spring enrollee ended with a showing that provided a healthy dose of optimism and hope about what the Arlington Lamar product can potentially do for the Longhorns.

The battle for the right to start... will go on throughout the summer as the quarterbacks will organize throwing sessions and voluntary workouts. That’s usually when quarterback competitions are decided, and in a perfect world the team will reconvene for practice in August with everyone in the locker room knowing which signal caller is the best man for the job.

[Full 247 article]
 
It's not uncommon with an open QB competition for coaches to hold off naming a starter (they already know) to keep players optimally training with the #1 prize in mind.

No reason to take away hope from any of them while they workout on their own the next 2 1/2 months.

In a normal QB race some coaches may drag it out in August while aware QB's tend to get down after losing the starting spot and effort/confidence may lower.

These concerns should not apply to Tyrone Swoopes...a man who refuses to let adversity crush his spirit and desire. His dedication and willingness to help his team in any role was proven without question in 2015.

The team will greatly benefit from officially knowing who their September field general will be from Day One in August.

While Swoopes likely won't be that guy, he'll be ready to fill his assigned role. Aside from 18-wheeler, at some point he'll likely be called upon to fill in and lead the offense.
 
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Texas had one player drafted in 2016 – Hassan Ridgeway, 4th round, 116th overall.

It is no secret that, with no disrespect to the upperclassmen, the University of Texas’ best players in 2015 were mostly freshmen.

If current projections hold true, guys like John Burt, Conner Williams, Patrick Vahe, Chris Warren, Malik Jefferson, Holton Hill and Davante Davis could all have a career decision to make in January of 2018. That says nothing about the possible growth and maturation of Deshon Elliot, Anthony Wheeler and Charles Omenihu.

Each of those freshmen logged serious, substantial and successful minutes for the Longhorns in 2015.

Texas will be a lot better in 2016. This will actually be a year where the NFL Draft hits the Big 12 conference and Texas opponents pretty hard while UT will not be impacted as much by the attrition to the NFL or with graduation.

In short, the juniors and seniors that left other schools in the Big 12 were a lot better than the seniors that left Texas.

Harsh but true.

[Full IT article]
 


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Texas Longhorns sophomore linebacker Malik Jefferson is already drawing the attention of NFL scouts.

Despite missing the Baylor game of the season due to injury and experiencing a major reduction in production due to a mysterious stomach ailment that plagued him for weeks, Jefferson led the team in pressures and was second in tackles. The Freshman All-American also recorded seven tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery, which he returned for a touchdown against Rice.

Given that Bedford plans on using Jefferson off the edge more often and presumably more often as a blitzer, a full season of a healthy Jefferson used more effectively on defense would seem to point towards a legitimate increase in production.

Add in the fact that the sophomore should show a greater aptitude for playing a middle linebacker position that was foreign to him last season and it's easy to understand why scouts are raving out him.

[Full BON article]
 
May is faaaar tooooo loooong. I need me some football news.

To keep the discussion going ... Buechele is the presumptive starter in my mind, we seem set at RB with Foreman and Warren (and some change of pace backs), the WRs look to have a break out year with Buechele throwing to them and several legitimate threats (Burt, Johnson, Foreman, Newsome, McNeal), big question mark is the line.

I think the starting 5 will be solid (not great but solid). A solid starting 5 with the other talent on offense should be enough to beat weak defenses (UTEP, Iowa State, Kansas, K-State). The question for me is whether we can beat teams with a good and/or deep d-line. My hope is that the new tempo + the punishing RB combo of Foreman and Warren (and sometimes 18-wheeler) is enough to keep a good d-line tired and prevent them from exposing our lack of depth on the line. I think the relative success of the season (8+ wins vs 6 wins) will depend on the ability to get two more serviceable o-linemen in the rotation and tempo + Warren keeping us in front of the chains.

Thoughts?
 
Gilbert-Mattox Quick Study – The Box Count

​

In the Gilbert-Mattox offense, the box count serves as a guide to execution. Given that much of the offense is built around run-pass option (RPO) concepts, the box count serves the purpose of helping the quarterback make the ‘read’ decision whether to hand off or throw the ball, pre-snap.

If the quarterback is given an RPO call, his primary responsibility is to identify the ‘conflict defender’ to the side of coverage he is reading. The conflict defender is typically a linebacker, safety, or corner. Depending on the route concept, screen or quick pass, the quarterback may immediately pull the ball and throw outside or read an extra defender over the top and to a side.

If it’s an inside run, receivers on both sides execute a screen or quick pass route concept. If the run is to the perimeter, the receiver(s) to the run-side execute blocks, while the receiver(s) to the back side execute a screen or quick pass concept.., SIMPLE!

What’s important to note is that, when faced with apparent man coverage, most RPO’s simply become screen or quick pass concepts to the outside, without a run-pass read, as the box is assumed to be ‘loaded’ if there is man coverage outside. That is mostly it.

With 5 in the box, that oftentimes means a 2-high safety alignment and in this case there would be 3 defenders devoted to the ‘twins’ receivers on each side. I suspect, if Texas gets plenty of looks like this next season, it won’t have very much difficulty moving the football. However, in order to warrant alignments such as the one below, Texas must execute at a better rate throwing to the outside.

[Graphics and analysis included in the article]

Gilbert-Mattox can deploy similar concepts as the examples above from a multitude of personnel and formations.

Oftentimes, the defense is left with few great choices defending this offense because it’s primary intent is to run the ball. This often forces defenses to place 6 defenders in the box, which can lead to difficult stresses to overcome in coverage. One major way to combat this is to play more man coverage, but that becomes difficult over the course of a game against an uptempo offense.

[Full TFB article]
 
Looks like incoming DE Erick Fowler will have to take a summer course before stepping onto the 40. He's trying to avoid it by finishing his last semester strong and getting a higher score on the SAT he re-took.

Hope he makes good because he's one the staff is hoping to have an immediate impact. If he misses Moorer-time, it could delay his development and decelerate his deployment. We need this cruise missile in our arsenal ASAP!

See the TFB post.

DT Marcel Southall is also reported to be having possible difficulties, though nothing is certain at this point.
 
Which Longhorns helped themselves the most during spring ball
splatter-question-mark.png

According to Horns247, the answers are:
  1. QB Shane Buechele, Freshman
  2. RB Chris Warren III, Sophomore
  3. WR Armanti Foreman, Junior
  4. WR Jake Oliver, Junior
  5. OL Zach Shackelford, Freshman
  6. DE Charles Omenihu, Sophomore
  7. DE Breckyn Hager, Sophomore
  8. LB Anthony Wheeler, Sophomore
  9. NB P.J. Locke III, Sophomore
  10. S DeShon Elliott, Sophomore
 
I also would have thought Shack would be higher on the list since he is looking like a true freshman starter. Of course, many of us suspected as much when he signed so I guess there wasn't a lot of surprise.

When does summer school start and do we have any summer enrollees?
 
BevoJoe said:
Wow....only 2 upperclassmen on the list.
Click to expand...
Exactamundo.

Absent from team leadership last season were the upperclassmen, save Bluiett and maybe one or two more. In somewhat of a "defense" for 2015's woes I asked, "How many seniors do you think will be drafted this year?" Of course, it ended up as zero.

Sad but true, 2015's leadership came from the 2015 recruits.

It's one of the reasons so many believe 2017 will be our strongest year... regardless of who the coach is.
 
Breaking Down The Running Backs​

Smash-Brothers.png


D’Onta Foreman

Foreman’s specialty is his ability to get going downfield and behind his pads in a hurry and then having enough acceleration to run through attempted tackles by DBs or even to pull away for longer runs. He’s the perfect veer and shoot tailback as the system regularly puts its backs in position to cut up the field and run through arm tackles from spread out defenses.

Foreman was at his best running behind lead blockers between the tackles on these gap schemes and on lead zone plays so that he could run hard with square shoulders through the hole and punish defenders at the end of his runs. He can bounce runs outside at times but he wants to get going downhill as quickly as possible.

Since those are two of the main runs in Gilbert’s offense, Foreman should expect to see a lot of action in 2016.

Chris Warren

This league has a fair number of defenses that don’t have the will, size, or team leverage to meet and stop this ball-carrying freak in the hole when he has momentum.

His best play in 2015 was outside zone with a lead blocker off tackle as that concept allowed him to build up momentum, and then either downshift and take the edge with a body lean and a stiff arm, or to plant and cut upfield through the creases created by over pursuit from defenses desperate to avoid him winning the edge.

The only issue for 2016 is that running outside zone with TEs and lead blocker inserts is more LSU than “veer and shoot.” Warren is effective enough on inside zone and power but he’s not built as well as Foreman for the purpose of getting low and trucking through inside gaps. If you hit him low before he gets up to speed, he can be brought down without great difficulty.

Kirk Johnson 01a.jpg


Kirk Johnson

Johnson is the oft-forgotten 2015 recruit who is quietly one of the better athletes on the entire team, simply waiting for his chance to show his wares.

Johnson has the ability to start and stop on a dime in a way that very few football players at any position can match. At 5-foot-11, 205, he isn’t quite built to take the punishment of a full season with 200 carries but that’s not happening while sharing the backfield with these QBs and fellow RBs anyways.

Because of his tremendous agility and acceleration and willingness to run hard through tackles, there’s really no running scheme where Johnson shouldn’t be able to thrive. Getting him into space where he can dominate 1-on-1 matchups should be a priority for the staff.

[Full IT article]

KJ was one of my favorite crootz last year. I hope he's all healed and hyped to show his wares next season.

Although he seemed a bit anxious at times in his limited amount of carries (eight totes for 44 yards = 5.5 ypc), the young man has the potalent to be a nasty change of pace weapon.
 
I sincerely hope that a consistent and more effective offensive scheme along with significant d-line improvement over the offseason will provided a better than expected 2016.

I hate to set myself up for disappointment but I believe that Gilbert can get our offense in shape to consistently put points on the board. For me the biggest question is the ability of the d-line (and to a lesser extent LBs) to get stops.

Moderate improvement in those areas should lead to a successful (8+ win) 2016. If that happens 2017 should just be the beginning of the good years with the haul we had in 15 AND 16.
 
Breaking Down The Defensive Backs

DBs01.jpg

It’s been some time since the secondary on the Forty Acres was this deep and this good in terms of top-end talent both present at the same time.

Room for improvement: One of the common themes in Texas’ seven losses were too many big plays given up. More specifically, every game the Longhorns lost in 2015 there was a notable breakdown present by a Texas safety at a key point in the game (Notre Dame, Cal and West Virginia were where the most notable miscues took place). The bottom line is the safety position has to be better for the Longhorns to improve as a defense.

The alpha dog: Davante Davis and Holton Hill not only fit the physical characteristics of what Charlie Strong, Vance Bedford, and Chris Vaughn are looking for, they’ve got some swagger about them. Neither is overly boastful or outwardly expressive on the field, but they each carry themselves the way shutdown corners should.

The performances each of them had in their Longhorn debuts has vaulted them into the positions of being the headliners in the secondary. With those two on the field Texas has one of the top cornerback duos in the country with two players who weren’t playing like true freshmen at the end of their rookie seasons.

The X-factor: Where will Kris Boyd wind up? Boyd might have been the best natural cover corner in Texas’ defensive back haul in 2015 and he’s a naturally aggressive, instinctive player.

[Full 247 article]

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In all likelihood, P.J. Locke will trot out to the nickel station with the other 10 starters on September 4. He'll join corners Davis and Hill. At safety will be... ?

DeShon Elliott has the athleticism and skills to take over one of the safety spots – most likely, Jason Hall's. But, he'll have to go all-in during Summer Workouts and Fall Camp to win that pot.

Sashaying in next month will be future All-Universe safety, Brandon Jones. At least we hope he proves to be that valuable. I don't expect him to be one of the Ones come September, but he could be by late October. He oozes with potalent, so if he's football smart enough, we could end the season with Jones and Elliott as the starters.

Think what that will mean for 2017.
 
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