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  • Observations from Day 1 of 2024 Spring Practice


    CJ Vogel

    The Texas Longhorns were on the football field this morning!

    Gerry and Bobby are going live on YouTube as I write this (9:45 a.m.) but I have some notes I wanted to get over to the site.

    I spent a lot of time watching the front seven of the defense with a number of new faces and additions to the field. But here is the full run down of tidbits from day one.

    *** 

    OFFENSE

    Quinn Ewers broke the team out and led the last bit of the opening stretching period.

    First Team Offense:

    • QB – Quinn Ewers
    • RB – CJ Baxter
    • WR – Johntay Cook
    • WR – Isaiah Bond
    • Slot WR – DeAndre Moore
    • TE – Gunnar Helm
    • LT – Kelvin Banks
    • LG – Hayden Conner
    • C – Jake Majors
    • RG – DJ Campbell
    • RT – Cam Williams

    No true surprises here. DeAndre Moore was also the first Longhorn on the field this morning and looked completely bought in on the field today. 

    RB Jaydon Blue saw time with the first team as well. Just mixed in with Baxter at times.

    Second Team Offense:

    • QB – Arch Manning
    • RB – Jaydon Blue / Savion Red
    • WR – Matthew Golden
    • WR – Ryan Niblett
    • WR – Ryan Wingo
    • TE – Amari Niblack
    • LT – Trevor Goosby 
    • LG – Neto Umeozulu
    • C – Connor Robertson
    • RG – Cole Hutson
    • RT – Andre Cojoe

    Five-star freshman Brandon Baker began on the third unit, as did Daniel Cruz. This is bound to change as the freshmen across the field were littered in the backhalf of drill lines all morning. Reminder that it is their first practice in college, this will take time.

    RB Savion Red did not looked 240 pounds to me. Credit to him I suppose for carrying it well.

    Freshman TE Jordan Washington looked tremendous at his 240-pound designation. He was smooth, he was physical in pad blocking drills. He looked like he has a very bright future for Jeff Banks.

    There is something about DeAndre Moore that will be difficult to keep off the field. He is tremendously smooth in and out of cuts in his routes. Going back to freshman WR Ryan Wingo, he looks the absolute part. Incredibly bright future.

    The Quarterbacks looked good. Ewers, Manning and Owens were all accurate throwing the ball from what I was able to see. Ewers had a very good passing day when going deep. He connected with Isaiah Bond and Ryan Niblett on sluggo routes.

    I saw some passes hit the ground today, but none were the result of errant throws. A number of younger wide receivers were seen doing pushups after routes if that gives you any inclination as to why that was the case. (Drops)

    Malik Agbo was your third team left guard.

     

    DEFENSE

    First Team:

    • EDGE – Barryn Sorrell
    • DT – Alfred Collins
    • NT – Vernon Broughton
    • EDGE – Ethan Burke
    • LB – Anthony Hill Jr.
    • LB – David Gbenda
    • nCB – Jahdae Barron
    • CB – Malik Muhammad
    • CB – Terrance Brooks
    • S – Michael Taaffe
    • S – Derek Williams

    The second team unit was a bit of a hodge podge, but I did see Trey Moore with that unit to begin. 

    Sydir Mitchell did not have the best start to practice. He was asked to take a lap at the beginning of practice from what I noticed. Kenny Baker is asking a lot of him, he was showing some great intensity at the beginning of practice. Taioalii Savea and Alex January were two others I watched a good bit.

    Only seven true interior defensive linemen today: Collins, Broughton, Savea, Bryant, Bledsoe, January, and Mitchell.

    As for the EDGE spot, a few things: First, Trey Moore won't shock anyone with his physical size. He is a good looking prospect, but he won't 'Wow' anyone when he steps into a room. 

    To the two most impressive looking prospects on the EDGE, that goes to Colton Vasek who was back in pads for the first time in a while. I was very encouraged from what I saw from Vasek today. Early Enrollee Zina Umeozulu certainly is an impressive looking prospect as well. He has a perfect build for the edge position.

    As for Colin Simmons, his body looks tremendous. In the drills that the EDGE worked in moves off the snap, Simmons was smooth and quick, as you would expect.

    Man, no one on this roster is more physically impressive with the athleticism to back it up than Anthony Hill Jr. He looks like he could play on Sundays immediately.

    You can really tell Terrance Brooks added weight to his frame. He looks like an NFL DB.

    I was really impressed with the movement of both Xavier Filsaime and Jelani McDonald at the safety position. Andrew Mukuba looks incredibly smooth in coverage skills.

     

    Punt Return:

    A whole slew of guys returning punts in practice today:

    Johntay Cook and Isaiah Bond were the first out for the drills today. Following by Aaron Butler, Matthew Golden, Ryan Wingo and Parker Livingstone.

     

    Misc.

    The SEC had a camera crew that arrived prior to any of the local media and stuck around after. You can expect some cool footage from that later on.

    The reigning Outland Award winner, T'Vondre Sweat, was also late to arrive for the practice. He watched on the sidelines.

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    thanks for the "news"...it's an exciting time of the year...a lot is on the line for each of the athletes...noticed that Niblett was in on 2nd team...apparently the coaches think a little higher of him than some mods!  lol

    Keep it comin' guys...yer burning it up

     

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    43 minutes ago, ryantnelson02 said:

    Mitchell isn't ready. We need more bodies badly at DT. Sark knows that is the only thing that can hold this team back this year.

    IMO with all the coaching turnover at major programs this winter I believe we'll see this second portal window be a lot more active than it has been in years past. 

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    13 minutes ago, Hashtag said:

    IMO with all the coaching turnover at major programs this winter I believe we'll see this second portal window be a lot more active than it has been in years past. 

    I can't remember if it was Bobby or Gerry, but someone mentioned that whether Sark takes two or just one DL from spring portal will tell us a lot about how that room is doing. Hopefully Bryant or Mitchell can step it up because we really need a true NT. 

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    1 minute ago, Park Gothic said:

    I can't remember if it was Bobby or Gerry, but someone mentioned that whether Sark takes two or just one DL from spring portal will tell us a lot about how that room is doing. Hopefully Bryant or Mitchell can step it up because we really need a true NT. 

    You've seen VB's ankles too, huh. Very......snappable.

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    1 minute ago, Rickysonehitter said:

    You've seen VB's ankles too, huh. Very......snappable.

    He's fine if we're using him as depth for <20 plays / game. If he's the starter in August...

    giphy.gif 

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    4 minutes ago, Park Gothic said:

    I can't remember if it was Bobby or Gerry, but someone mentioned that whether Sark takes two or just one DL from spring portal will tell us a lot about how that room is doing. Hopefully Bryant or Mitchell can step it up because we really need a true NT. 

    Very interested to see how the staff prepares the defense in the spring. Do you go along with the same style of DL play, knowing it is probably not a fit for what you have on the current roster, hoping you hit big in the portal this summer. Do you install more movement along the front, knowing the portal may make you backtrack? 

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    6 minutes ago, Rickysonehitter said:

    You've seen VB's ankles too, huh. Very......snappable.

    Just one thing. Texas did not use the NT and DT in traditional fashion last year. Sweat was the big 2 gapping player. Murphy was doing a lot more shooting gaps. Opposite of what you would expect based on the positional names. 

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    I've received word that Sydir has been battling an illness over the last week or two. He is fighting to get back to where he wants to be on the field which is the reasoning for the news at the top of the article. 

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    I would bet there are many teams in the cfb world that would eagerly swap their starting 11 on offense, with our second team offense.  The depth of talent is incredible on this team. 

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    1 hour ago, ryantnelson02 said:

    Mitchell isn't ready. 

    You may be correct, but geez, it was the first 30 minutes of the first practice with a new DL coach.

     

     

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    2 hours ago, CJ Vogel said:

    Only seven true interior defensive linemen today: Collins, Broughton, Savea, Bryant, Bledsoe, January, and Mitchell.

    There were at least eight "true" tackles out there.  Not listing Swanson makes it seem like he isn't part of the tackle room.  He is, regardless of his weight.  

    Eight is plenty.  People are just dying to make DT a crutch for this team.  That way, they can say "I told you so" if there is a run of injuries there.  People get weird about tackle.  I get it.  I do to, but try not to let it take over rationality.

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    15 minutes ago, T Bonilla said:

    CJ, who in your limited observation of this first practice do you think needs to put in some work?

    Hard to say because the team was only in helmets.

    Sarkisian mentioned post-practice in his presser he would like for Savion Red (240 pounds), Kendrick Blackshire (261) and Sydir Mitchell (372) to shed some weight during the spring. But also mentioned that should still be organic just from being outside in Austin in the summer.

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    27 minutes ago, Doc Strangemood said:

    There were at least eight "true" tackles out there.  Not listing Swanson makes it seem like he isn't part of the tackle room.  He is, regardless of his weight.  

    Eight is plenty.  People are just dying to make DT a crutch for this team.  That way, they can say "I told you so" if there is a run of injuries there.  People get weird about tackle.  I get it.  I do to, but try not to let it take over rationality.

    I think the concern is mostly someone who can line up over the ball and take on double teams. Not having a proven player there could impact a game or two.

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    We need the two DTs from Michigan.  We can make due at MIKE with the folks we have now, but we can't have the entire middle of our defense as a weakness.

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    6 hours ago, t.newman said:

    I would bet there are many teams in the cfb world that would eagerly swap their starting 11 on offense, with our second team offense.  The depth of talent is incredible on this team. 

    That's my thought as well... looks like a really salty 1st and 2nd team offenses. Imagine then next year? Goodness....

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    On 3/19/2024 at 12:04 PM, CJ Vogel said:

    Hard to say because the team was only in helmets.

    Sarkisian mentioned post-practice in his presser he would like for Savion Red (240 pounds), Kendrick Blackshire (261) and Sydir Mitchell (372) to shed some weight during the spring. But also mentioned that should still be organic just from being outside in Austin in the summer.

    I gotta be honest, I didn't see a lot of places for weight to come off of Blackshire. That guy is an absolute unit. 

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