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If the Texas defense is as position flexible as advertised they will be in great shape. Corners flexing to safety or nickel, safety flexing to LB spots, LB flexing to DE, DE spinning inside to DL or outside Backer. Combine that with the talent to pressure the QB from multiple spots on any given play. The biggest question for me is will PK allow his playmakers more opportunities to get after the QB. IMO Texas needs to be more aggressive with blitz packages especially the first 1/4 of the season so the secondary with all the new guys can get settled. Loosing Baron and Makuba will be a huge hole to fill. They have the talent but how long will it take for them to gel? Cant wait for the season to start. Hook Em!!

If we learned anything from Tyreese Haliburton...

He's a difference maker in the sense that Florida doesn't have much real talent on the roster and anyone with a drip of talent is going to look like a fully turned on faucet. He a Milroe are very similar as I'm on record saying. They are great running around and playing backyard football, but ask them to get the ball out and on schedule and they are meh.

Part of that is how the college game records rushing yardage. Sacks go against rushing totals. Whereas in the NFL, sacks are separated from rushing yardage. You see way more college QBs finishing with even net negative rushing yard totals.

Ant is on that Micah Parsons trajectory. Super versatile, but getting in the backfield and to the QB pays the bills at the next level. Think the scout is right here.

Wooster was a helluva player.

A term that is overused in most cases but not this one. Steve was my childhood hero. Rest easy Woo.

Steve was also on the cover of sports illustrated.

Be extremely careful with calf strains

Great stuff here Jeff Howe!

Yeah, was supposed to ship in May I believe. I think the website even still says May and yet here we are in August tomorrow and still nothing....

From Gators online Lagway didn’t practice Wednesday.

I have emailed support a bunch they keep saying shipping soon and then giving excuses when they don't meet the deadlines.

Love this show!!

I have not received my order. Was excited about it at first, expectations are low at this point.

Just doing my job, Buck Moreland! Thanks for the kind words!

I ordered it last year when it first came out. Completely legit from what I have heard. I can't wait to get the box!

2025 Paycom Jim Thorpe Award Preseason Watch List: Xavion Alford, Safety, Arizona State, Sr. Ty Benefield, Safety, Boise State, Jr. KJ Bolden, Safety, Georgia, So. Bud Clark, Safety, TCU, Sr. Jeremiah Cooper, Safety, Iowa State, Sr. Caleb Downs, Safety, Ohio State, Jr. Daylen Everette, Cornerback, Georgia, Sr. David Fisher, Cornerback, North Texas, Sr. Chance Gamble, Cornerback, Georgia Southern, Sr. Brylan Green, Safety, Liberty, Sr. Tyler Hallum, Cornerback, Kennesaw State, Sr. Al’zillion Hamilton, Cornerback, Fresno State, Sr. Davison Igbinosun, Cornerback, Ohio State, Sr. Casey Larkin, Safety, Army, Sr. A’Marion McCoy, Cornerback, Boise State, Sr. Jermod McCoy, Cornerback, Tennessee, Jr. Leonard Moore, Cornerback, Notre Dame, So. Terry Moore, Safety, Duke, Sr. Malik Muhammad, Cornerback, Texas, Jr. Isaiah Nwokobia, Safety, SMU, Sr. Tank Pearson, Cornerback, Ohio, Gr. Sr. Koi Perich, Safety, Minnesota, So. D’Angelo Ponds, Cornerback, Indiana, Jr. Chandler Rivers, Cornerback, Duke, Sr. De’Shawn Rucker, Cornerback, South Florida, Sr. Xavier Scott, Cornerback, Illinois, Sr. Tyree Skipper, Safety, Louisiana, Sr. Avery Smith, Cornerback, Toledo, Sr. Michael Taaffe, Safety, Texas, Sr. Avieon Terrell, Cornerback, Clemson, Jr. Dillon Thieneman, Safety, Oregon, Jr. Jacob Thomas, Safety, James Madison, Sr. DJ Walker, Safety, Ohio, So. JeRico Washington Jr., Cornerback, Kennesaw State, So. Jontez Williams, Cornerback, Iowa State, Jr. By Conference AAC (3), ACC (4), Big 12 (4), Big Ten (6), CUSA (3), Independent (1), MAC (3), MW (3), SEC (5), Sun Belt (3)

I think when you begin to think about comparing the 2023 vs. 2025 Defense, it gives you some great perspective of how far Texas has come from both a talent acquisition and development perspective. Without question, the 2023 Interior Defensive Line had top-end talent (Tvondre and Byron) that was definitely higher, but from a depth perspective, I think Texas has the potential to be just as productive from a run-stopping ability. In 2023, we were begging for a pass rush off the edge all year. Texas has not only addressed this issue, but gone to a level that could likely be the best in the country this year. The coaches have a tough but fortunate task ahead. How are we going to play all these absolute studs (Simmons, Moore, Spence, Vasek, Burke, etc.)? The other key difference from 2023 vs. 2025, Pass Coverage! Wow, how far we have come from 2023. I think both the edge and DB position, Texas has again not only addressed this issue, but gone far past expectations. Looking back at that Washington game, just imagine if we had the pass rush and coverage talent we have now. I think we could have potentially cut Penix’s production in half. That might seem like a hot take, but if you really think about pass coverage and edge pressure – I really don’t think it's even a question. I’m fired up – Hook’em

Excellent write-up, @Jeff Howe! Thanks for doing all the analysis.

AUSTIN, Texas — The biscuit that was the Texas running game last season was buttered with the outside zone. Considering how Georgia and Ohio State stymied a Longhorn ground attack lacking diversity in the team’s three losses, the offense might’ve been better served by Steve Sarkisian not pulling so many stretch plays from the well. Regardless, the body of work put together by the offensive line and running backs over a 16-game season revealed that wider was better for Texas in 2024. According to Pro Football Focus, 243 — more than 45 percent — of the offense’s non-sack rushing attempts were from the C gap (between the tackle and the tight end) to the sideline. It was that portion of the line of scrimmage where the Longhorns racked up more than 51 percent of their non-sack rushing yardage (1,415 yards and 5.82 yards per attempt), 64 percent of their rushing touchdowns (16), more than half of their total yards after contact (924 yards and 3.81 yards after contact per attempt) and more than 48 percent of their rushing attempts that gained at least 10 yards (33). The 75 missed tackles Texas ball carriers forced on wide runs accounted for more than 67 percent of the missed tackles forced by the Longhorns on their non-sack rushing attempts. Furthermore, Quintrevion Wisner is the returning leading rusher in the SEC (1,064 yards, 4.7 yards per attempt and five rushing touchdowns) and was most effective on wide runs as a sophomore. The data collected by PFF shows Wisner gained 448 yards, scored all of his rushing touchdowns, recorded 10 of his 27 gains that went for 10 or more yards and forced 27 missed tackles on C-gap-to-sideline rushing attempts, even though those runs accounted for only 45 percent of his total carries (226). So, which concept will be the focal point of the Texas running game in 2025? According to offensive line coach Kyle Flood, who met with reporters on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s first training camp practice, the Longhorns haven’t settled on one. This will be the ninth consecutive season Flood has worked alongside Sarkisian, which dates back to their time together in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons. Flood said the go-to scheme is subject to change from year to year, pointing out that, in 2024, the outside zone "was very productive for us over the course of the season.” “I don’t know what that’s going to look like this year yet,” Flood said. “I think we’ll have a much better vision of that as we go through training camp and we allow these linemen and tight ends to work together.” Based on how the Texas running game has evolved since Sarkisian’s first season on the Forty Acres, Flood isn’t being coy when discussing what the running game will hang its hat on in the current regime’s fifth season. The Longhorns relied heavily on inside zone runs in 2021 (according to PFF, Bijan Robinson had 138 rushing attempts on zone-based plays and just 57 carries on gap-based runs), preferring zone concepts 66 percent of the time. The percentage of zone runs dropped to 57 in 2022, with Roschon Johnson splitting his carries almost equally between zone (47 attempts) and gap-based runs (44). In 2023, with the addition of CJ Baxter, who had more attempted gap runs (69) than zone runs, the 2023 running game, and Jonathon Brooks closing the margin between his zone (101) and gap (86) runs, Texas won the Big 12 and reached the College Football Playoff behind a running game operating on a 54/46 percentage split between zone and gap runs. Last season, even with outside zone being the dominant concept, the Longhorns had a 52/48 percentage split favoring zone runs, their most balanced running game under Sarkisian. What must the coaches consider when establishing which concepts could best help Texas reach the national championship game for the first time since the Longhorns played for the BCS title in 2009? It starts with Flood replacing four starters along the offensive line. And the strongest parts of the line are just as important as determining the schemes in which the retooled group might be most proficient. Last season, the A gap between Jake Majors and Hayden Conner (89 attempts) and the C gap between Kelvin Banks Jr. (87 attempts) and the tight end were the most popular gaps for running plays according to PFF. Those three players are gone. Still, Trevor Goosby was the left tackle for Wisner’s 186-yard performance in the regular-season finale against Texas A&M, and Neto Umeozulu could offer a better, more consistent push in the running game as he takes over for Conner at left guard. Baxter was back on the practice field Wednesday, less than a year after a preseason knee injury wiped out his sophomore season. With Christian Clark showing no signs of slowing down while going through his remarkable recovery from an Achilles injury, and Jerrick Gibson trying to prove he’s worthy of carries after an up-and-down debut, the running back room is a lot more crowded than it was when Baxter was leading the way last summer. “Ultimately, as coaches, we’ll figure out what schemes are going to allow us to utilize that personnel in the best way,” Flood said. “It may be outside the zone again, but I don’t go into it saying, ‘This is what we’re going to be exclusively,’ or, ‘This is what we’re going to do more than anything else.’ I think I want to see that in training camp to really be sure what we feel like is the best thing for this football team, and assume that just because outside zone might’ve been best last year, that it’s going to be best for us again.” View full news story

Did anyone ever receive their order?

October is likely imo. It takes time. Christian Clark is the welcome news. He is ahead of schedule and ready to roll. We’ll need him out of the gate.