Bobby Burton

Practice No. 4 news and notes. Injury, OL moving around, and more... https://youtube.com/live/bRWIkMNvZrE View full news

Waiting for Gerry & CJ to get set up and then going.

From Gerry & CJ. - Manny Muhammad left practice early with what appeared to be a tweaked hamstring. - Neto Umeozulu worked at first team LG with Hayden Conner at second team C. Cole Hutson also worked in some with first team at LG. - Second team OL (left to right): Trevor Goosby, Malik Agbo, Hayden Conner, Connor Stroh, Jaydon Chatman More to come... View full news

Texas practices at DKR this morning. There will be a 30-minute viewing window for media. CJ and Gerry will both be there for OTF. We'll also be hosting a livestream immediately following practice so please stop by around 9:45 or so for more. * Heading into the second week of practice, there are a couple of things to watch. 1. Movement at wide receiver, edge, tight end and safety. Those are the primary places where portal entries have currently been running behind others. Only Isaiah Bond has cracked the starting lineup as of Saturday afternoon. That leaves us to see exactly what happens this week with Trey Moore, Andrew Mukuba, Matthew Golden, and Amari Nibalck. A year ago at the same time, during the second week of practice, is when newcomers started moving around on the depth chart. 2. Another depth chart move that could be forthcoming is Alex January. We'll see if he moves up and surpasses Sydir Mitchell. Same can be said for Brandon Baker at right tackle over Andre Cojoe. Both are possible, if not likely, moves. 3. The health of the team is key. Texas was lucky much of last off-season and into the early season of 2023 to remain relatively healthy. That will again be something to be on watch for. Freddie Dubose and Colton Vasek have been dealing with some lingering issues. Mitchell has also been under the weather to a degree. If Texas wants to have a big 2024, then health is going to be something to monitor every step of the way. View full news

Not yet. But maybe.

Coach Erwin and I talked about a number of aspects surrounding spring ball, like the young players already making noise, the weight reports of Sydir, DJ Campbell, etc., and the receiver room. View full news

He needs to be returning kicks no matter what IMO.

Gerry, you're the king.

What I've learned from Thursday's practice... - It's very early, but Billy Walton has looked very active, very smart and could be one of the guys from the class of 2023 ready to take the next step, according to sources. Not the name many of you probably expected to hear first, but he's closer to playing significantly than some may expect. - Jaray Bledsoe was described as perhaps the most athletic player in the entire program, despite being a defensive tackle. The team has yet to start hitting, but Bledsoe has quietly been taking the right steps behind the scenes for a while now. As someone told me, Bledsoe "has a level of maturity we're starting to see more of". This year could be a real coming out party for him. - Texas worked extensively on special teams yesterday, much more than their normal period or two in practice. Johntay Cook and Isaiah Bond continue to be 1-2 in the punt return game. Matt Golden and Jaydon Blue are primaries at kick return. Ryan Wingo and Aaron Butler are also taking reps there. - Gunners are a mix, both Manny Muhammad and Gavin Holmes are working at the position, as well as Tre Wisner. - Speaking of Muhammad, more than one person has singled out the sophomore from South Oak Cliff as a player particularly poised to take his game to the next level. Muhammad may not be the fastest or the biggest corner, but he is the one who spends the most time in the film room. And he has the ability to take what he sees on film and let it translate to his work on the field. - DJ Campbell lists at 332. But he may have lost more weight than that. Or at least the weight loss is affecting his quickness. Apparently, he is already looking quicker than a year ago in practice. - Many thought Cook, Golden, Bond, Silas Bolden and maybe Ryan Wingo would be the top five receivers on the team this year. While that may still be a decent bet, do not sleep on DeAndre Moore and Aaron Butler. The two Californians continued to make their presence known in practice No. 2. - Amari Niblack moved up in the TE rotation at times on Thursday. Niblack started off Tuesday as the no. 5 TE, behind Gunnar Helm, Juan Davis, Spencer Shannon and Will Randle. I was not told how far up he moved, just "up some" in that rotation. View full news

Quinn Ewers looked like a potential 1-1 pick today. ** The Texas practice bubble was littered with NFL scouts this afternoon. And I overheard two of them from different teams talking about Quinn at the end of the throwing session. One scout said of Ewers, "he threw one bad pass the whole workout." And the scout said that in an admiring and surprising tone - he's probably seen some stinker performances in his day. The other scout's response was just two words: "Natural thrower." Quinn looked THAT good, that smooth, that in command and that confident. For me, and as someone who has seen Quinn throw numerous times, it was Quinn's confidence that seemed even more improved. He was out there throwing to five different future NFL players. And the QB was not overmatched, AT ALL. After the workout, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniels and others talked to Quinn. I'm not sitting here saying that Quinn is going go No. 1 overall next year. Far from it. But I am saying that he has that chance if he keeps improving his body, his footwork and stays as confident as he was today throwing the football. It was an excellent performance, no question about it. ** Who improved their stock considerably today? Christian Jones, Keilan Robinson, Ryan Watts, T'Vondre Sweat. I felt like K-Rob and Watts probably improved theirs the most. K-Rob showcased his elite acceleration multiple times in passing drills. Watts had a warrior-like workout. Not only did he go 11-1 in the standing broad jump, he also was relentless and tireless in DB drills. He will absolutely get bonus points from some teams for how hard he competed today IMO. With Jones and Sweat, any team that questioned their quickness - true football quickness - had those questions answered today. Yes, both players have warts (Sweat is likely not a three-down DT in the NFL and Jones is probably not an elite pass protector in the league either) but both showed quickness and power IMO. JT Sanders and Jaylan Ford had mixed results IMO. JT is simply not a great tester. That's just not his m.o. But man, once he starts running routes and effortlessly snatching the ball, the narrative changes quickly. I can see some teams who will ding him for his lack of explosiveness and some teams not worry about it as much because he never has to slow down to catch the ball like some tight ends have to. Ford looked the part overall, especially in true LB drills. But he didn't blow anyone away with his testing. Again, I think he's a better player than tester. What will that mean? The great thing about the draft, you only need one team to fall in love with you. ** Biggest surprise of the day? Keilan Robinson putting up 20 reps on the bench press. ** Other thoughts: - That was by far the most attended pro day in at least 15 years. Just crazy the amount of NFL personnel hanging out inside the bubble. - I think Xavier Worthy may have made himself a little more money today. Very clean day running routes and he caught the ball cleanly. - At least 40+ current Longhorns showed up to support the team. The current Texas roster absolutely passes the eyeball test. View full news

He threw like a 1-1 pick today. Just saying.

We'll be there tomorrow. Cook was not overshadowed by anyone. Very good first practice. One drop I saw but other than that he looked very sharp, high attention to detail with routes.

Wingo is the best receiver prospect Texas has signed since Roy Williams IMO. And Xavier Worthy was damn good as a Longhorn.

They are totally different players and player types. Wingo is faster. He is the fastest receiver on the team. Well, it's him or Bond. Cook is more refined in his routes and cuts them off more quickly, making him a tough guard AND he doesn't lack for speed either (he's just not as fast as Bond or Wingo). I could see most of the WRs moving around quite a bit, but always keeping Wingo outside in year one. He's got a lot to learn but I'm told he's on the right track.

Well, Sydir. Some close to him say he has been a little under the weather the last couple of weeks, but that just wasn't a good look for him when conditioning has been an asterisk for him. It happens. Outside of that, I wouldn't say any freshman was an obvious no. Dubose did not go full on. Livingstone looked like he belonged. Didn't see enough of LB Smith or the other DBs.

They're not far down. I went position by position.

Here are the freshmen that truly caught my eye yesterday. Couple of things before I get to the list: First, I did not pick a certain number of players here. I didn't say only the top 5 or top 10. That's not an honest assessment of who caught my eye. These are truly the ones that got my attention. Second, if a player didn't make this list, it's not an indictment on them. Far from it. I just didn't see enough of them athletically that really caught my eye on day one. For example, Christian Clark and Jerrick Gibson both looked good physically, but I didn't see them do anything other than "look good" to really single either of them out. The List WR Ryan Wingo - early leader for most impressive true freshman IMO. Fluid, plus-sized athlete with excellent separation speed downfield (similar to AD Mitchell) and natural hands. WR Aaron Butler - quick, lots of short space burst and decent long speed, too. Natural pass catcher, even when hands are low and away from the body. An interesting mix between say Xavier Worthy and Johntay Cook IMO. TE Jordan Washington - this is how you want to draw up long-term TE prospects. Lanky, good athleticism, good ball skills, ability to add smart weight. Seemed focused mentally and coachable. OL Brandon Baker - clear-cut elite prospect. Not sure if he's super-sized to be a first-round pick but he's an NFL OL at either tackle spot IMO or even guard if he wanted. Excellent feet and body control. Naturally thick frame in both upper and lower body. OL Daniel Cruz - he "looks" different than every other OL on campus, which is saying something. He looks like he swallowed an oak barrel. Surprisingly quick for that type of body build. DL Alex January - attentive and focused in practice; good muscle mass, nice body weight for plus-sized player early in his career; abnormally quick with his hands for someone this early in their career. DE Colin Simmons - he's chiseled from different clay than most. One drill he showed quickness no one else on the edge has. Time will tell if he can play with the requisite toughness to get on the field early. DE Zina Umeozulu - his arms are looooooooooong. Also athletic. I know some have questioned his toughness out of the gate. But if he can overcome that, he has an elite tool set with length, quickness and speed. S Xavier Filsaime - I knew he had the speed and frame but he showed some advanced route/ball awareness on one play in particular. View full news

If you haven't already, please enter now that you know Texas plays Colorado State. Thanks again to the folks at the 40 Acres Collection for their generous gift to the winner!