2024 Spring Football Preview | Offense

No questioning the talent. Almost scary optimism on the offense production. I need some pessimism to keep from a runaway, anyone got any?

I would like for everyone to take a moment and remember the opening game of the 2017 season. We were starting Tristan Nickelson at LT, Kyle Porter at RB, and our game plan seemingly was to get the ball to TE Garrett Gray as much as possible. Now, on paper at least, we have an offense that looks a lot like LSU 2019. 

42 minutes ago, dentonhorn said:

No questioning the talent. Almost scary optimism on the offense production. I need some pessimism to keep from a runaway, anyone got any?

We shall see how it all comes together.. You can could argue the receivers and RBs are a down grade from last year. Bigger question will be how long does it take for Quinn and the receivers to generate some chemistry. 

6 minutes ago, codaxx said:

You can could argue the receivers and RBs are a down grade from last year.

WR is TBD but on paper it looks to be comparable, if not better. Depth is certainly better. RB is most certainly not a downgrade, as we return everyone except an injured Brooks and we added two of the best high school RBs in the country. 

8 minutes ago, Red Five said:

WR is TBD but on paper it looks to be comparable, if not better. Depth is certainly better. RB is most certainly not a downgrade, as we return everyone except an injured Brooks and we added two of the best high school RBs in the country. 

Texas may get 2 WRs taken in the first round and Sanders maybe the 2nd/3rd TE off the board, that will be hard replicate. Bond as that potential, but hard to say anyone else on the roster is ready to be at that level this season, 

7 minutes ago, codaxx said:

Texas may get 2 WRs taken in the first round and Sanders maybe the 2nd/3rd TE off the board, that will be hard replicate. Bond as that potential, but hard to say anyone else on the roster is ready to be at that level this season, 

We may not have a top two as good as those two, but as a group of 4-6 I think that will be improved. But yeah, TBD.

8 minutes ago, Red Five said:

We may not have a top two as good as those two, but as a group of 4-6 I think that will be improved. But yeah, TBD.

I am just talking overall. Texas is likely to have 4 NFL picks out of the skill positions in this draft (X, Mitchell, Sanders, Brooks). I would blindly bet against Texas having 4 NFL draft picks at the skill positions for eternity. I'll lose a couple times, but overall Ill make money.  If Texas has 3 draft picks in the receiving corp (including TE), we arent seeing 5 and 6 on the field much. 

16 minutes ago, codaxx said:

I am just talking overall. Texas is likely to have 4 NFL picks out of the skill positions in this draft (X, Mitchell, Sanders, Brooks). I would blindly bet against Texas having 4 NFL draft picks at the skill positions for eternity. I'll lose a couple times, but overall Ill make money.  If Texas has 3 draft picks in the receiving corp (including TE), we arent seeing 5 and 6 on the field much. 

Well not everyone will be heading to the draft after next year. Wingo, Cook, Baxter, Gibson, Clark....

1 hour ago, Red Five said:

I would like for everyone to take a moment and remember the opening game of the 2017 season. We were starting Tristan Nickelson at LT, Kyle Porter at RB, and our game plan seemingly was to get the ball to TE Garrett Gray as much as possible. Now, on paper at least, we have an offense that looks a lot like LSU 2019. 

I’ll hope, wish and pray we have the type of season that 2019 LSU team had. 

I love the speculation during offseason (primarily due to shear boredom), but each year we look back at some really terrible pre-season bad takes.  Last year it was my concern at DT after Ojomo and Coburn departed for the NFL.  Ever year there is going to be an impact player that steps up that we're not anticipating, and I can't wait to see who that is.  My hope for this year is Collins and Lefau, with Gbenda being a leader on defense.  

3 hours ago, dentonhorn said:

No questioning the talent. Almost scary optimism on the offense production. I need some pessimism to keep from a runaway, anyone got any?

2 hours ago, codaxx said:

We shall see how it all comes together.. You can could argue the receivers and RBs are a down grade from last year. Bigger question will be how long does it take for Quinn and the receivers to generate some chemistry. 

This is where I'm at, too. Last season's starting WRs were two literal first round picks and Whittington, a reliable possession guy and ++blocker. Sure, we're deeper this year, but unless there's an injury, that doesn't matter much as it relates to Sark's preferred WR rotation. Bond is the only transfer that profiles to a first round type in a contract year, so it's a pretty big leap to say we're any better on paper than the results of the season. Not only do you have to make the assumption that someone is going to fill the glue guy role, but you'd also have to project someone to ascend like AD. The problems here feel obvious but a) Whittington was a WR rarity and no others have exhibited those leadership/willingness/teammate intangibles, so who do we really think is going to fill this role? B) AD breaking out was predictable and built on 2 years of SEC/CFP experience - Golden is a good get, but he doesn't come in with the same experience or accomplishments and in turn, is less likely to backfill Mitchell 1:1. Otherwise, Bolden isn't Worthy (and isn't here yet), Cook should be great but is inexperienced, the other second year guys are < Cook, and then you're left with Freshman. Worthy and Mitchell gained yards that Ewers will need to manufacture with his play this year to fill the gap (which I think he can do). 

At RB, we're in a more promising spot than we were a year ago, but the actual outcome was that our 3rd year RB2 became a superstar out of nowhere. We had very little idea about what we had in Brooks, but that's not a reason to think it'll happen again, especially in consecutive seasons. I'm setting my own expectations as follows:

• Baxter - 1k yds, Sark always has a thousand yard rusher and anything more from Baxter is gravy
• Blue - 750 yds, and I bet half of them come from chunk plays. For me, he's best utilized situationally - not as a rotational RB2
• Wisner/Gibson/Clark - 750 yds, In practical application, I think two of three become RB2 by committee. 

It's all up to Ewers' next step, imo. If he can shoulder the burden of running the offense more effectively, we won't need the same level of skill talent to match achievement. But if he can't, it's a dropoff. 

Texas women beat Kansas St to move in the finals against Iowa St which upset Zero U 

CJ, what do we have in this running back Savion Red where he is now 240+ lbs?  Does he still have the twitchiness he had before the gain in weight?

1 hour ago, Rickysonehitter said:

This is where I'm at, too. Last season's starting WRs were two literal first round picks and Whittington, a reliable possession guy and ++blocker. Sure, we're deeper this year, but unless there's an injury, that doesn't matter much as it relates to Sark's preferred WR rotation. Bond is the only transfer that profiles to a first round type in a contract year, so it's a pretty big leap to say we're any better on paper than the results of the season. Not only do you have to make the assumption that someone is going to fill the glue guy role, but you'd also have to project someone to ascend like AD. The problems here feel obvious but a) Whittington was a WR rarity and no others have exhibited those leadership/willingness/teammate intangibles, so who do we really think is going to fill this role? B) AD breaking out was predictable and built on 2 years of SEC/CFP experience - Golden is a good get, but he doesn't come in with the same experience or accomplishments and in turn, is less likely to backfill Mitchell 1:1. Otherwise, Bolden isn't Worthy (and isn't here yet), Cook should be great but is inexperienced, the other second year guys are < Cook, and then you're left with Freshman. Worthy and Mitchell gained yards that Ewers will need to manufacture with his play this year to fill the gap (which I think he can do). 

At RB, we're in a more promising spot than we were a year ago, but the actual outcome was that our 3rd year RB2 became a superstar out of nowhere. We had very little idea about what we had in Brooks, but that's not a reason to think it'll happen again, especially in consecutive seasons. I'm setting my own expectations as follows:

• Baxter - 1k yds, Sark always has a thousand yard rusher and anything more from Baxter is gravy
• Blue - 750 yds, and I bet half of them come from chunk plays. For me, he's best utilized situationally - not as a rotational RB2
• Wisner/Gibson/Clark - 750 yds, In practical application, I think two of three become RB2 by committee. 

It's all up to Ewers' next step, imo. If he can shoulder the burden of running the offense more effectively, we won't need the same level of skill talent to match achievement. But if he can't, it's a dropoff. 

If we want to get positive, that is likely going to come from the OL and QB position. Quinn had a massive jump from year 1 to year 2. I am going assume he will take another step forward. The OL might take a big step this year. Hopefully, we won’t see those early season busts in pass pro like last year. I am hoping to see a big leap in run blocking. That should have a huge impact on the red zone issues from last year. Improvement from Baxter would go a long way there also. Texas didn’t really have a RB that was good in short yardage in 23. 

1 hour ago, Sirhornsalot said:

CJ, what do we have in this running back Savion Red where he is now 240+ lbs?  Does he still have the twitchiness he had before the gain in weight?

 

More interested in seeing if he runs down hill, instead of cutting everything to backside.. that was the reason the Redcat was scrapped 

CJ, did you see the NAACP issue a statement in regards to the removal of DEI programs and the benefits that are attached to them for black students in the state of Florida, due to Ron DeSantis and his policies? They're encouraging student athletes across the state to reconsider their enrollments, as they will no longer have access to such education or programs through their university.  Emmitt Smith is already on record, admonishing his Alma mater, Florida, in regards to their support of such practices and removing DEI programs. The spring portal season is coming soon...do you think we will see any major fallout from the pressure that will be applied by the NAACP for black students to leave Florida schools, and are we in position to benefit?

Is Will Randle still on the team? I assume his knee has been rehabilitated.

Juan Davis at 230 lbs. seems good.  I noticed he blocked pretty well last year in the few plays he had.

Texas ran 12 sets last season without giving away offensive strategy.  So I was surprised that CJV suggested 12 sets might provide too much a tipped hand in 2024. 

On reflection I could take this to mean that if the new group of WRs were not willing blockers the 12 set would become primary and 11 sets could provide a tipped hand.

Or did you have some other distinction from 2023 in mind?

I am actually quite curious to see the difference in our run game with Cam Williams in the lineup. He was leaving some smoking craters on the field last season in some of his run snaps. I would love to see him and DJ Campbell just road grading on the right side.