Team Notes from Winter Workouts (February 16)

We currently sit 32 days away from the beginning of spring football at The University of Texas. As our Gerry Hamilton has continued to say, this spring session will be one of the most anticipated spring football periods in decades.

As another week of practice concludes, I wanted to share some notes on a couple of early enrollees on the offensive side of the ball as the group gets one week deeper into their college careers.

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The Texas offseason conditioning course changes throughout the week to provide different looks for each workout, but for the most part, there is a consistent approach in the following set-up: Mat Drills, Stations and gassers or 110's to round things up at the conclusion of the day.

Torre Becton's staff has thrown in a number of agility drills set to improve change of direction speed, as well as focusing on acceleration out of breaks. This has remained a constant this offseason for anyone wondering.

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Starting on offense, we have continued to pound the drum for WR Ryan Wingo over the past few weeks, but man, I continue to hear very encouraging tidbits on the former five-star. He has all of the tools to get on the field right away.

A surprise to me has been WR Freddie Dubose. I expected there to be a slow curve in development, though Dubose bought into the weight room immediately and is now sitting north of 185 pounds. Another steady riser.

Speaking of newcomers that adopted the college weight room lifestyle – Jerrick Gibson is another name that deserves mentioning. No surprise obviously, but Gibson might be the most physically filled out back in the room at the moment.

For QB Trey Owens, he is going the opposite in terms of weight to guys like Colin Simmons and Freddie Dubose. Owens weighed in at 238 pounds San Antonio for the All American Bowl at the beginning of January. When the spring roster is announced and released, it would not surprise me to see Owens sub-230.

This might not come off as a big surprise, but Daniel Cruz has been a rabid animal in these workouts. He attacks each workout session very aggressively and has been mentioned as someone who brings the most out of his group when in team settings. Encouraging.

The hope is to add another 10+ pounds to Brandon Baker's frame by the beginning of the season. Baker came to campus sitting right around 290 pounds, and word is the staff would prefer him north of 305 before kickoff this fall.