Here is an intuitive report on the progress of the 2008 Horns in our preseason practice sessions to this point.
(10) Overall, the 2008 Horns are coming together as a team (certainly on defense, and possibly on offense) -- in no small part because of Muschamp (on defense) and Mack's apparent determination to follow-up on the success that the Horns' offense experienced in the 2007 Holiday Bowl by opening up the opportunity for our most talented players to participate, on a substantive basis, in the action [e.g., we appear to be including John Chiles (6-2, 215) and Malcolm Williams (6-3, 218) as meaningful members of our offense, and we appear to be taking seriously the notion of creating some unpredictability in our running game].
(9) Offensive line - this unit, by all accounts, is significantly improved. Quality depth is a big part of that improvement, but two sophomore players in particular -- Michael Huey (6-5, 315) and Kyle Hix (6-7, 320) -- may be better this season than anyone anticipated. And there is another pleasant surprise in the form of true freshman David Snow (6-4, 300) who appears to be a "player" right now (even being compared to Justin Blalock), and Snow reportedly can help the Horns at virtually any OL playing position, including center -- in other words, he's similar to Chris Hall (also 6-4, 300) in that respect. Right now, we could be looking at a starting lineup of Hix and Ulatoski at the tackles, Dockery and Huey at the guards, and Hall at center -- that group has the potential to be formidable by the time we get to Dallas (October 11).
(8) Receivers - just having Malcolm Williams "pan out" could change the whole picture for this unit, because it would give the 2008 Horns the big (and fast) WR we need -- split out in our basic offensive set -- as a downfield threat who has the football speed and physical strength to fight off a cornerback and beat him one-on-one on a deep pass. That, of course, would help to open things up underneath for Quan & Jordan, who really are good (and experienced) at their craft ... and both Shipley and Cosby could also slip downfield occasionally themselves. But we need Williams to take away some double-team pressure (and also loosen up the zone defense) for Quan & Jordan. Blaine Irby looks like the starter at TE, but that playing position (with promising redshirt-sophomore Josh Marshall hurt) does not appear to be a strength of this team -- particularly in terms of depth.
(7) RB - the bad news here is that Fozzy reportedly injured his knee (but no one knows, at this point, how serious it is). Vondrell can save us here, but obviously the quality depth is shallow ... and this situation just underscores the importance (imo) of getting John Chiles (6-2, 215, 4.4) involved in the 2008 Horns' offense in a combination Tebow (backup QB)/McFadden (backup RB)/Harvin (backup WR) role. The running-game "scheme" arguably is the critical issue here, and the news on that front -- so far -- is positive [see paragraph (10) above].
(6) QB - take it any way you wish, but the word out of camp is that "both" Colt and John are looking good at quarterback ... and that Chiles actually has improved his passing. Of course, you could make the rejoinder -- improved from what -- but Mack may have reasons, apart from John's own personal interest in playing QB, for keeping Chiles involved at that playing position. It is possible for John to help us as a QB, just as he did (and maybe more so, with even a minimal passing threat) in the 2007 Holiday Bowl. The reports on Sherrod are more vague, but he has dual-threat talent and you have to be glad that he's there to help us as needed. Meanwhile, Colt should return to form this year -- but to do that, we're going to need a "team" effort on offense ... with better team chemistry and leadership on that side of the line of scrimmage than last year.
(5) DE - we're loaded here, and -- ironically -- one of the players who could help us is Henry Melton. Eddie Jones is showing up, and Aaron Lewis apparently is fully recovered from surgery (Lewis can help both at DE and DT) ... plus you have Brian Orakpo and Sam Acho drawing raves ... and Sergio Kindle is in both the OLB and DE picture. We appear to be A+ at this important playing position -- which, as we all know, can be critical in helping to pressure opposing QBs into mistakes vs. our young secondary.
(4) DT - depth here is a mystery, but the two starters (Roy Miller and Lamarr Houston) are drawing raves. The 2008 Horns could use some help from the football gods here on the (avoiding) injury front. Houston could be a surprise star for Texas this Fall.
(3) LB - the irony here is that Rashad Bobino really is a good football player, but so is Jared Norton -- and Muschamp says they're "even" at this point and both will see significant playing time at MLB. Outside, at the moment we've got Roddrick Muckelroy and Keenan Robinson as "players" (i.e., RRS-level talents) and Sergio Kindle (a potential star if healthy and focused) in the hybrid role of OLB/DE. Overall, this unit could be much improved.
(2) CB - reportedly, five players are in the running here for substantive playing time: Ryan Palmer and Deon Beasley are the probable starters, and Chykie Brown and (surprise) Aaron Williams are the probable backups ... plus, Curtis Brown is in the mix. There is some outstanding athletic ability (and football speed) in that group ... and, of course, Palmer & Beasley have some experience ... but it's Chykie Brown and Aaron Williams who have similar athleticism and also possess the physical size. Whatever, it helps to have Duane Akina back in a coaching situation where he can focus his energy solely on the secondary, and it's a better than 50/50 proposition, imo, that the 2008 Horns are going to be more than alright at cornerback.
(1) Safety - as Hamlet would say: here's the rub. As things stand right now, the 2008 Horns' situation at safety appears to be the weakest link in our armor. That's not necessarily bad news, because the player talent appears to be there to rectify the situation ... but who among us can pretend that it makes no difference whether your starting safeties have any experience? Until we see Earl Thomas and (this is just a guess) Christian Scott deal with adversity this Fall, there is no way to know in advance how they are going to react ... but lord knows they have talent, and they've got both Muschamp and Akina (not to mention Mack) focusing on their learning curve. The surprise player here is freshman Blake Gideon (from Leander), who could supplant Scott in the starting lineup, and -- in any event -- appears likely to see action in our nickel package. Ben Wells also can help us at safety. Ishie Oduegwu is more experienced, but apparently has dealt with some nagging injury problems.
Summary: We could use some help on the (avoiding) injury front from the football gods, and we need the starting safeties to grow up overnight -- but, if healthy, the 2008 Horns could be the surprise team (in a positive way) in the Big-12 Conference -- stronger on both sides of the line of scrimmage than most of the national sports media appears to be anticipating. Maybe that's why Phil Steele, in his 2008 College Football Preview, refers to the Horns as "a dangerous Texas team" that "easily could win the Big-12 South this year".
We'll find out soon enough.
Hook 'em.
(10) Overall, the 2008 Horns are coming together as a team (certainly on defense, and possibly on offense) -- in no small part because of Muschamp (on defense) and Mack's apparent determination to follow-up on the success that the Horns' offense experienced in the 2007 Holiday Bowl by opening up the opportunity for our most talented players to participate, on a substantive basis, in the action [e.g., we appear to be including John Chiles (6-2, 215) and Malcolm Williams (6-3, 218) as meaningful members of our offense, and we appear to be taking seriously the notion of creating some unpredictability in our running game].
(9) Offensive line - this unit, by all accounts, is significantly improved. Quality depth is a big part of that improvement, but two sophomore players in particular -- Michael Huey (6-5, 315) and Kyle Hix (6-7, 320) -- may be better this season than anyone anticipated. And there is another pleasant surprise in the form of true freshman David Snow (6-4, 300) who appears to be a "player" right now (even being compared to Justin Blalock), and Snow reportedly can help the Horns at virtually any OL playing position, including center -- in other words, he's similar to Chris Hall (also 6-4, 300) in that respect. Right now, we could be looking at a starting lineup of Hix and Ulatoski at the tackles, Dockery and Huey at the guards, and Hall at center -- that group has the potential to be formidable by the time we get to Dallas (October 11).
(8) Receivers - just having Malcolm Williams "pan out" could change the whole picture for this unit, because it would give the 2008 Horns the big (and fast) WR we need -- split out in our basic offensive set -- as a downfield threat who has the football speed and physical strength to fight off a cornerback and beat him one-on-one on a deep pass. That, of course, would help to open things up underneath for Quan & Jordan, who really are good (and experienced) at their craft ... and both Shipley and Cosby could also slip downfield occasionally themselves. But we need Williams to take away some double-team pressure (and also loosen up the zone defense) for Quan & Jordan. Blaine Irby looks like the starter at TE, but that playing position (with promising redshirt-sophomore Josh Marshall hurt) does not appear to be a strength of this team -- particularly in terms of depth.
(7) RB - the bad news here is that Fozzy reportedly injured his knee (but no one knows, at this point, how serious it is). Vondrell can save us here, but obviously the quality depth is shallow ... and this situation just underscores the importance (imo) of getting John Chiles (6-2, 215, 4.4) involved in the 2008 Horns' offense in a combination Tebow (backup QB)/McFadden (backup RB)/Harvin (backup WR) role. The running-game "scheme" arguably is the critical issue here, and the news on that front -- so far -- is positive [see paragraph (10) above].
(6) QB - take it any way you wish, but the word out of camp is that "both" Colt and John are looking good at quarterback ... and that Chiles actually has improved his passing. Of course, you could make the rejoinder -- improved from what -- but Mack may have reasons, apart from John's own personal interest in playing QB, for keeping Chiles involved at that playing position. It is possible for John to help us as a QB, just as he did (and maybe more so, with even a minimal passing threat) in the 2007 Holiday Bowl. The reports on Sherrod are more vague, but he has dual-threat talent and you have to be glad that he's there to help us as needed. Meanwhile, Colt should return to form this year -- but to do that, we're going to need a "team" effort on offense ... with better team chemistry and leadership on that side of the line of scrimmage than last year.
(5) DE - we're loaded here, and -- ironically -- one of the players who could help us is Henry Melton. Eddie Jones is showing up, and Aaron Lewis apparently is fully recovered from surgery (Lewis can help both at DE and DT) ... plus you have Brian Orakpo and Sam Acho drawing raves ... and Sergio Kindle is in both the OLB and DE picture. We appear to be A+ at this important playing position -- which, as we all know, can be critical in helping to pressure opposing QBs into mistakes vs. our young secondary.
(4) DT - depth here is a mystery, but the two starters (Roy Miller and Lamarr Houston) are drawing raves. The 2008 Horns could use some help from the football gods here on the (avoiding) injury front. Houston could be a surprise star for Texas this Fall.
(3) LB - the irony here is that Rashad Bobino really is a good football player, but so is Jared Norton -- and Muschamp says they're "even" at this point and both will see significant playing time at MLB. Outside, at the moment we've got Roddrick Muckelroy and Keenan Robinson as "players" (i.e., RRS-level talents) and Sergio Kindle (a potential star if healthy and focused) in the hybrid role of OLB/DE. Overall, this unit could be much improved.
(2) CB - reportedly, five players are in the running here for substantive playing time: Ryan Palmer and Deon Beasley are the probable starters, and Chykie Brown and (surprise) Aaron Williams are the probable backups ... plus, Curtis Brown is in the mix. There is some outstanding athletic ability (and football speed) in that group ... and, of course, Palmer & Beasley have some experience ... but it's Chykie Brown and Aaron Williams who have similar athleticism and also possess the physical size. Whatever, it helps to have Duane Akina back in a coaching situation where he can focus his energy solely on the secondary, and it's a better than 50/50 proposition, imo, that the 2008 Horns are going to be more than alright at cornerback.
(1) Safety - as Hamlet would say: here's the rub. As things stand right now, the 2008 Horns' situation at safety appears to be the weakest link in our armor. That's not necessarily bad news, because the player talent appears to be there to rectify the situation ... but who among us can pretend that it makes no difference whether your starting safeties have any experience? Until we see Earl Thomas and (this is just a guess) Christian Scott deal with adversity this Fall, there is no way to know in advance how they are going to react ... but lord knows they have talent, and they've got both Muschamp and Akina (not to mention Mack) focusing on their learning curve. The surprise player here is freshman Blake Gideon (from Leander), who could supplant Scott in the starting lineup, and -- in any event -- appears likely to see action in our nickel package. Ben Wells also can help us at safety. Ishie Oduegwu is more experienced, but apparently has dealt with some nagging injury problems.
Summary: We could use some help on the (avoiding) injury front from the football gods, and we need the starting safeties to grow up overnight -- but, if healthy, the 2008 Horns could be the surprise team (in a positive way) in the Big-12 Conference -- stronger on both sides of the line of scrimmage than most of the national sports media appears to be anticipating. Maybe that's why Phil Steele, in his 2008 College Football Preview, refers to the Horns as "a dangerous Texas team" that "easily could win the Big-12 South this year".
We'll find out soon enough.
Hook 'em.
