Observations from Day 1 of 2024 Spring Practice

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.

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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.