OTF Premium Recapping the Tuesday Player Availability (3:27 p.m.)

[CJ Vogel]

Wanted to put in one place a laundry list of takeaways from today's media availability with Arch Manning, Anthony Hill Jr., and Michael Taaffe.

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Arch – 2 Years at Texas?

An answer from the Texas quarterback is making the rounds in NFL Twitter and Draft circles.

Earlier in August, Archie Manning told Texas Monthly that Arch would be in school as the starting quarterback for two years, without question. 

Here is a blurb from the article:

Quote

Stories abound about how NFL teams could position themselves to get him, though there is no reason to believe he would leave Texas next year, with or without a championship ring. His grandfather says he hasn’t discussed it with Arch, but he knows his grandson: “Arch isn’t going to do that. He’ll be at Texas.”

Arch responded to a question about his grandfather's comments today with the local media:

“Yeah I don’t know where he got that from. He texted me and apologized about that. I’m really just taking it day by day right now.”

Still, the belief is that Manning is at Texas for two years.

...

My favorite part of the availability today was hearing that Archie ends every phone call with Arch by telling him the same thing:  "Get down, or get out of bounds."

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Xavier Filsaime Emergence

Anthony Hill Jr. was asked which youngsters were really beginning to make their presence felt in fall camp – he answered with Graceson Littleton and Xavier Filsaime. We have heard Littleton's name often, but Filsaime has really started to catch on over the last week or so.

As a result, I asked Michael Taaffe what he has seen from his fellow defensive back.

"He has been doing really, really well," Taaffe said of Filsaime. "Well I mean, he is a 10.5-10.6 guy in the 100m to start coming out of high school. So that helps, one. But, two, he has grown his game mentally so much from freshman to sophomore year. When you put the athletic ability with the mental side, it clicks and he is scary."

Filsaime has been noted as a great communicator in practice so far in fall camp.

 

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Favorite Quote of the Day

Comes from Anthony Hill Jr., who said he loves playing on the road because seeing home fans filter out of the stadium when Texas is in position to close out games is one of his favorite things to see. 

Hill has never lost a road game as a Longhorn.

 

Additional Nuggets

– Anthony Hill Jr. says that the Texas defense is getting tested often with the legs of Manning in team situations.

– Michael Taaffe mentioned that there are plenty of days where the defense wins and days where Arch and the offense ends up getting the better of the defense. There is a fine balance and both sides are improving as a result.

– Arch Manning said WR Ryan Wingo had an incredible reception in practice this morning and that the last two weeks of practice have been some of his best as a Longhorn on the practice field.

Manning also singled out Parker Livingstone and Daylan McCutcheon as two young guys that have really grown this offseason.

– Communication in the secondary remains a focal point, but has grown into a strength. Michael Taaffe barely had a voice strong enough to speak with the media in his time with us this morning. Taaffe credits continuity in the coaching staff with Pete Kwiatkowski being the DC for all five years for why everything has moved smoothly with the additions of Mark Orphey and Duane Akina.

– Taaffe mentioned Kaliq Lockett had a really solid scrimmage on Saturday.

– Anthony Hill Jr. says the Longhorns still use the way the last two seasons have ended as motivation this offseason.

“We think about it. How could you not think about losing those games back to back? But then again, we want to focus day by day and not think about the National Championship. We’ve got to go win week one before we go think about winning week 16.”

[CJ Vogel]

Runner-up for quote of the day comes from Arch Manning.

[CJ Vogel]

The video of Arch responding to Archie's comments about one or two years at Texas.

[CJ Vogel]

Year 3 for Ant Hill