Moderators CJ Vogel Posted August 22 Moderators Share Posted August 22 Texas added grad transfer RB Velton Gardner out of the transfer portal late Wednesday evening. The former Dallas Skyline prospect has spent five years at the D1 level prior to joining the Texas roster and has over 220 career rushing attempts. While that is not a workload that compares to that of work horses or bell cows, it is enough experience to believe he could carve out a role at some point for the Texas running game. How large of a role you ask? Well, that's a bit of what this article is about. I do think Gardner will see the field in 2024, Texas would not have taken if they had no plan to use him. But it will certainly take some time to see him on the field. Real quick, a look at his career usage. Gardner spent 2019-21 at Kansas, then 2022 and 2023 at SMU before entering the portal as a grad transfer. In 2023, Gardner saw just 67 snaps with the Mustangs where he had just 32 rushing attempts. However, he did force seven missed tackles in those limited touches and found the end zone once. Over half of Gardner's rush attempts a year ago were in between the guards, so despite the smaller stature, he does have the ability to run inside the tackles and be effective. In 2022, almost 44% of Gardner's rush attempts were in between the guards as well. So it is not a limitation. *** My expectation for Gardner this fall includes some mop up duty late in games. Of course, getting him up to speed with the playbook is of the utmost importance at the moment, but when it comes to those final 10:00 minutes or so against teams like Colorado State and ULM, Texas would be best served if Jerrick Gibson was not the back seeing unnecessary touches. Even if needing the experience, Gibson is going to play a vital part of the Longhorn rushing game in 2024 and keeping him healthy and out of risk of unnecessary touches would be where my brain goes. Insert Gardner. Those final minutes when a game is out of hand is exactly the situation he was brought in for in my eyes. Of course, Texas will also deploy some Colin Page, who has been getting some run with the 2's this fall camp. The duo should be deployed to preserve Wisner, Gibson and Blue. Entering SEC play, and once the playbook has been absorbed, then I could see a larger role becoming part of the plan for Gardner. Ultimately, the depth and experience added are the most important part of this addition and Texas did a fine job of roster management to ensure there would be a spot available for him. 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators CJ Vogel Posted August 22 Author Moderators Share Posted August 22 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorn007 Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 looks stocky with some speed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Strangemood Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 Any word on what kind of shape he's in? I presume great or they wouldn't have taken him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators CJ Vogel Posted August 22 Author Moderators Share Posted August 22 28 minutes ago, Doc Strangemood said: Any word on what kind of shape he's in? I presume great or they wouldn't have taken him. He will be fine. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas fan in Georgia Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 He’s certainly gonna have the best Oline that he’s had blocking for him. Maybe that’ll spring him for some big plays when needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators CJ Vogel Posted August 22 Author Moderators Share Posted August 22 5 minutes ago, Texas fan in Georgia said: He’s certainly gonna have the best Oline that he’s had blocking for him. Maybe that’ll spring him for some big plays when needed. That's a good point too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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