How I Feel About Each Room Post-Spring

[MJW2327]

6 hours ago, CJ Vogel said:

Let me know where y'all fall on each room.

ST (special teams)?

[Alex Butler]

2 hours ago, Quinncent McManning, Jr. said:

Encouraged is like saying we took a 2 star +++ recruit 

“Encouraged is not a strategy.” I’m hopeful we’ll be encouraged week 1- NC just how much we improve and grow as a team lol. 

[CJ Vogel]

35 minutes ago, MJW2327 said:

ST (special teams)?

Don’t really know a lot. 

Banks said the kicker can’t kick further than a year ago, but is he as accurate? Won’t know until the lights are bright. 

[Red Five]

49 minutes ago, SueVide said:

CB – Dubious

S – Dubious

Lol, "dubious". I guess we need things to talk about, but our secondary is absolutely loaded. The issue is putting the right people on the field in the right spots. 

[Hornio]

QB – Hopeful

RB – Great

WR – Elite

TE – Great

OL – Good

DL – Great

EDGE – Elite

LB – Great

CB – Elite

S – Good

[Here for the Wins]

18 hours ago, CJ Vogel said:

 

Does Texas have an all-conference level cornerback?

Does honorable mention count?

[Hesity]

I’m a little hesitant on listing the QB room as “Fantastic.”

Arch was way too inconsistent last year…though how much of that was because of the O-Line struggles? Probably a lot.

Just looking at the 2nd half of the season, we had three games of solid offensive production over 4 quarters (Vandy, Arky, Michigan) and four games with serious sputters (Kentucky, MSST, Georgia, A&M). Just watch the first half of the A&M game - especially the last possession before halftime. 

Add to that he’s missed out of workouts for much of spring + new target in Cam + #2 and #3 receiver being out for spring as well…I’m a little worried that our offense might not be firing on all cylinders right out of the gate.

I can see a world where Arch dominates CFB next year, but for me, I think it will take us longer to get to that point than what you’d assume by looking at the roster on paper. 

[watty7796]

CB and Safety are intertwined in a lot of ways.  IF D Will / Filsame / Jonah 2 of 3 come back as good or better health wise then you have more flexibility at CB or at least the rotation there.  As it sits, there will be a CB or Nickel moved to cover a safety spot.  Tons of talent and tons of injury.

[Califashorn75]

How good is our field goal kicker?

[Sofa King Lucky]

On 4/22/2026 at 5:17 PM, CJ Vogel said:

Don’t really know a lot. 

Banks said the kicker can’t kick further than a year ago, but is he as accurate? Won’t know until the lights are bright. 

The spring showcase suggests he can't kick further, and isn't very accurate.

[Quinncent McManning, Jr.]

Here's how I'm considering this:

QB - Great.  Star QB1, feel good about QB2.. Only knock is lack of experience at backup with QB2.  

RB - Good.  Love that Cooper has made strides.  Still concerned that over a long SEC season we will lose 1 or 2 backs at times for injury, and then what will happen.  Also not sure about ball security issues for the transfers yet.

WR - Great.  A 2 deep of true talent.  Just nothing really concerning.

TE - Good.  A little surprised we haven't heard more from Mansunas.  Not sure if we'll have a reliable pass catching threat yet.

OL - Good.  1st line OTs are among best in nation.  Backups should be fine.  OG still in question, with Baker transitioning, hoping for someone to emerge at fall call at LG but at least we have better options than last year.  C is okay, but no experience at backup is a little concerning.

DL - Great.  Great depth even if we don't have a clear first round talent (maybe).

DE - Great.  Great depth as well.  Only question is who can rush the passer the best if Simmons is not on the field.

LB - Good.  Biles = stud, Smith = great.  Will wait to see on Atkinson, Cryer, and the rest.

CB - Good.  Would have liked to hear more from Philips in the spring, but should be a good rotation.  If injuries set in, who is CB4? 

S - Questionable.  Not having Jonah hurts.  Is Jelani, Raptor, and Filsaime enough?  Will we need Black here?

ST - Questionable.  Not sure we have a reliable kicker or punter yet... could be downright concerning if there is not improvement in the fall.  

[lemonandaturd]

I bet Muschamp won't put up with dubious.  

[Here for the Wins]

1 hour ago, Quinncent McManning, Jr. said:

 

LB - Good.  Biles = stud, Smith = great.  Will wait to see on Atkinson, Cryer, and the rest.

 

How does stud and great equal good?

[Quinncent McManning, Jr.]

43 minutes ago, Here for the Wins said:

How does stud and great equal good?

We won’t run just 2 linebackers on the field all the time. besides cryer who else has experience?  If biles or smith are injured there is a huge drop off. 

[Here for the Wins]

23 minutes ago, Quinncent McManning, Jr. said:

We won’t run just 2 linebackers on the field all the time. besides cryer who else has experience?  If biles or smith are injured there is a huge drop off. 

There’s always Spence.   Play recognition, speed of the game, etc, he’s got it.  This concept that we can’t run out guys with no experience is a bit off kilter.  We ran Simmons and Hill out there once with no experience.  We have promising freshman.  Nevermind if you get 10 other guys on the field doing their job, that inexperienced guys job is much easier.

Indiana 2025 has people convinced that experience is a must.  But it’s not every player. Yet Charles Becker had 23 snaps the prior year.  And only about 120 last year until week 10.

Weve got 100+ years of college football with guys gaining experience and coming of age all within the same program but now we’re afraid to allow them to grow within our program.

[Quinncent McManning, Jr.]

29 minutes ago, Here for the Wins said:

There’s always Spence.   Play recognition, speed of the game, etc, he’s got it.  This concept that we can’t run out guys with no experience is a bit off kilter.  We ran Simmons and Hill out there once with no experience.  We have promising freshman.  Nevermind if you get 10 other guys on the field doing their job, that inexperienced guys job is much easier.

Indiana 2025 has people convinced that experience is a must.  But it’s not every player. Yet Charles Becker had 23 snaps the prior year.  And only about 120 last year until week 10.

Weve got 100+ years of college football with guys gaining experience and coming of age all within the same program but now we’re afraid to allow them to grow within our program.

All good points.  I'm just thinking big picture for the season.. what could go wrong.  Maybe we lose a guy to injury and we're forced into starting an Atkinson or Cummings before they are really ready.   Spence is a good thought.. I just don't know exactly how Boom will deploy him.. hopefully much more of a pash rusher than he was last year.  Overall, my personal opinion is that we're in "good" shape with a few great pieces in the room.  I'm not saying the sky is falling in the room at all, and I"m not afraid to have the freshmen play early roles.  

[Casey67]

On 4/22/2026 at 4:21 PM, Red Five said:

Kind of funny that the room we're most concerned about has a guy who might go in the first round in the 2027 draft. And a ton of surrounding talent. It's all relative I guess. 

That means 20% of line is set. I'm not sure where this "ton" of talent is.

There is potential but none of the other guys around him have exactly lit the world on fire. 

Goosby is the only proven commodity.  Of course there is concern.

Edited 9 hours ago by Casey67

[Here for the Wins]

3 hours ago, Casey67 said:

That means 20% of line is set. I'm not sure where this "ton" of talent is.

There is potential but none of the other guys around him have exactly lit the world on fire. 

Goosby is the only proven commodity.  Of course there is concern.

I butt my head against the wall with you kids for several things but perhaps the biggest is a comparison of a player or a position group to a standard that really doesn’t , or certainly rarely, exists.

Yes, Goosby is considered top flight.  But Baker and Robertson have been there before.  Then you have Siani with considerable experience and achievement.  That is about as good as you’ll get.  Nevermind we have two guys with starting experience for LG.  Miami was the standard last year, but they lost 3 games, were fortunate to make the playoff and had a relatively weak schedule.

As for Texas last year, the real problem was that the veterans had too many misses while the inexperienced guys were trying to grow up.  The exception was the Brooks experience.  Then the skills guys missed opportunities that were available.

I do understand people’s hesitation to be comfortable, but we have balance and depth across the board that is unsurpassed, certainly to a material degree.

 

[Red Five]

4 hours ago, Casey67 said:

That means 20% of line is set. I'm not sure where this "ton" of talent is.

There is potential but none of the other guys around him have exactly lit the world on fire. 

Goosby is the only proven commodity.  Of course there is concern.

I was talking about safeties. 

[georgethepunter]

On 4/22/2026 at 7:17 PM, CJ Vogel said:

Don’t really know a lot. 

Banks said the kicker can’t kick further than a year ago, but is he as accurate? Won’t know until the lights are bright. 

Can or Can’t? I thought the thing about the new kicker was he had NFL range. Doesn’t seem like Shipley had the range but he was accurate. 

[drag worm]

Are we a more physical team? Why?

Are we more disciplined on the OL? Why? 

Is this OL built to execute Sark’s wide zone running scheme better than last year’s line? Why?

Can this OL move the pile inside the five the way the last two lines had trouble doing? Why?

These are the areas that take us from good to great. 

[TheRoJoShow]

Jelani keeps the safety room hopeful. Potential to be solid if one person can join him. I think that’ll be Xavier. If Jonah shows up or D-Will is healthy, it’s a good room. 

[CJ Vogel]

16 minutes ago, georgethepunter said:

Can or Can’t? I thought the thing about the new kicker was he had NFL range. Doesn’t seem like Shipley had the range but he was accurate. 

Can*

[Longhorn]

OL is still a major concern
Penalties have been a problem for Sark overall and Flood especially (OL represents a big chunk of penalties over the past 5 years)
Flood has not been able to improve on this in 5 years (so its not a 1 time thing or a youth/inexperience thing by itself)

OL remains a major concern until proven otherwise. Flood has not proven himself yet.