CJ Vogel

Texas just wrapped up its 2024 Pro Day at the Bubble in Austin which included an eye-popping number of scouts and attendees. It was reported by ESPN's Matt Miller over 90+ scouts were there in-person to check on the 13 participants for the Longhorns today. There were three NFL head coaches as well: Cincinnati Bengals HC Zac Taylor Indianapolis Colts HC Shane Steichen Miami Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel Plenty of former Longhorns were in attendance as well, plus royalty – Earl Campbell. Quandre Diggs, Alex Okafor, Fozzy Whittaker, Derrick Johnson and plenty of others. *** RB Keilan Robinson No 40-yard dash today for Keilan Robinson. I was a bit surprised, thinking he might use the home track to get into the 4.3's but hey, a 4.42 is in no way, shape or form a bad number for him. How about 20 reps on the bench today, the high number for any of the Longhorns to participate. Robinson was smooth in his receiving out of the backfield today as well. He caught all but one pass intended for him during the routes on air drills. Strong showing. WR Xavier Worthy Probably the best individual day of any of the participants today. Worthy showed tremendous hands and route-running ability, something he did not participate in while in Indianapolis after running a record-breaking 4.21 40-yard dash. Everything from Worthy today was crisp – routes, hands and after the catch. Worthy told reporters after the Pro Day he felt that NFL scouts had questions about that and he felt like he put on a good showing in front of those guys today. Worthy met with Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel and even Colts legend Reggie Wayne who was in attendance as well. WR Adonai Mitchell Mitchell only participated in the position drills today at the Pro Day. He did have two drops, something he also was hampered by in Indianapolis, however he had a tremendous diving catch in the end zone on a bomb by Quinn Ewers and received several positive remarks on his route running from scouts in attendance. At this point, Mitchell is firmly in the first round of the NFL Draft next month. WR Jordan Whittington Whittington did not do any agility drills and was limited in his routes during the position drills. There is a faux-Pro Day coming up April 14 in Austin that Whittington says he hopes to be 100% for where he will undergo all basic Combine testing prior to the NFL Draft. In the routes Whittington was able to participate in, he was 100% in hauling in passes his direction. TE Ja'Tavion Sanders I will be completely honest, it was not a great initial showing from JT Sanders. I am not sure if he was injured coming in or what, but until he got into his routes I was scratching my head a bit. Only eight reps on the bench press. A 29-inch vertical jump and only 9–6 on the broad jump. Those numbers might see a bit of a drop in his draft stock in all honesty. OL Christian Jones Had a good strong showing in the 3-cone drill, my unofficial hand time says it beat the 8.09 mark he came into the Pro Day with from his Combine performance. By the end of the day, Jones was the final Longhorn on the field with the media and scouts going through his final drills. He is solidified in the 4-5 round range. DL Byron Murphy I overheard one NFL scout say Murphy needed to ease off the throttle when going through a drill designed to display get-off and burst. That scout was half-joking, but nonetheless he was impressed. There were plenty oohs and ahhs when Murphy ran his circle drill and bag drills in front of the scouts today. If you want to know what a first round interior defensive lineman looks like, it is Byron Murphy. Murphy reportedly went 7.5 in the 3-cone drill. That mark would have been the second best of all DL at the combine. One NFL scout told me he feels bad for whoever is on the opposite side of Murphy when he gets a full head of steam. DL T'Vondre Sweat Sweat's weight was one of the hotter topics coming into today. I was told he weighed in at 367 pounds, a consistent mark he has been at since the Senior Bowl in Mobile. For Sweat, being able to do drills up and close with the NFL scouts was a big thing today. Yes, the times from the Combine weren't bad, but it is something different watching him move laterally and around cones when you are 15 feet away. All-in-all, it was a strong showing from Sweat today. I liked what I saw. LB Jaylan Ford I thought today was a big day for Jaylan Ford coming in. A tweak at the Combine meant he needed to put on good testing numbers for scouts to justify the tape. The 10–6 broad jump was a 5-inch increase from the Combine. Ford also completed 18 reps on the bench press as well. It was a good showing, but the change of direction drills really helped his case in my opinion. I clocked an unofficial 40-yard dash for Ford at 4.68. LB Jett Bush The first opportunity at impressing NFL Scouts came today for Jett Bush. Interestingly enough, he participated at both linebacker drills and also caught a ball out of the backfield during the throwing session. Who knows what that means going forward, but it was certainly noteworthy. Bush had a great vertical of 33-inches and combined that with a 10–2 broad jump. My unofficial hand-timed 40 put Bush in the high 4.7's. DB Ryan Watts NFL teams are split on where Watts projects at the next level. Watts told me he is getting evaluations at both cornerback and safety with NFL teams being split down the middle on where they have him on their board. An interesting note here is Watts had been dealing with a hamstring since the Kansas game he told me. Now at 100%, he is really able to show off the athlete he is. Of course, he his 4.53 in the 40, and a 40.5-inch vertical while in Indianapolis. Today, he added an 11–1 broad jump to his card as well. View full news

We will have clips and highlights tonight on the Longhorn Livestream.

I’m very confused with JT’s day so far.

40-yard dash (unofficial): Jett Bush: 4.70 Jaylan Ford: 4.68

Broad Jump: Jett Bush: 10–2 Ryan Watts: 11–1 Jaylan Ford: 10–6 Ja’Tavion Sanders: 9–6 Xavier Worthy: 10–10 Ryan Sanborn: 8–8

Who knew punters needed to vertical jump? Lol

Vertical Jump: Jett Bush: 33” JaTavion Sanders: 30” Ryan Sanborn: 27”

Bench Press numbers: - JT Sanders: 8 - Ryan Watts: 10 - Jaylan Ford: 18 - Keilan Robinson: 20

Over 90 NFL scouts, coaches and executives in attendance today for the Texas Pro Day at the Bubble. Quinn Ewers will be throwing this afternoon. 13 Longhorns will be participating. View full news

Yes he was there as well.

Facts!

Dia Bell's Hudl: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/14101835/650adf0ba676c50b28dec938

Texas has extended an offer to 2026 American Heritage (FL) quarterback Dia Bell after an unofficial visit to campus Tuesday morning. Bell was on campus and attended the first practice of spring ball for the Longhorns this morning. It is certainly worth mentioning that Dia is the son of former NBA All-Defensive honoree Raja Bell who spent 12 seasons in the Association. With 25 offers under his belt now, Bell is touted as one of the most sought after recruits at the quarterback position in the 2026 class. View full news

Texas took to the field Tuesday morning for the first practice of the spring window. While the media window concluded with the team mostly undergoing special team and individual drills, Steve Sarkisian peeled back the curtain just a bit in his press conference following practice. The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Committee proposed three new rules for the upcoming 2024 season – with helmet communication being the No. 1 talking point of the bunch. During the post-practice press conference, Sarkisian mentioned how that rule change impacted the first spring practice window with a look ahead to how it might trickle down to the field in the fall. "A little different for Quinn and I this year is my ability to talk to him through the mic," Sarkisian said. "We were practicing that today. Having two years of experience and working together and now having that dialogue through the headset is going to be beneficial for us." The change to helmet communication has yet to be approved, however Sarkisian says he is preparing for the fall as if it will be green-lit. The rules committee will meet April 18 for possible approval. Sarkisian added Texas has been working with the NCAA and the SEC to get hands on helmet communication in the spring. For Sarkisian, experience with calling in plays through the headset at the NFL level allows for this transition to occur a bit smoother. While there is a learning curve for Ewers to overcome with the headset, Sarkisian says it is a two-way road when it comes to getting him up to speed. "I think it is just hearing (the call) as opposed to the signals. I still think he is going to look towards the sideline, yet hearing the call and communicating that with the pertinent information needed. I think the challenge for me is how much information is quality, good information and when does it cross the threshold of too much where it is a little paralysis by analysis." Sarkisian was the playcaller for the Atlanta Falcons in the 2017-18 where he was responsible for the play call communication getting to Matt Ryan and the offense. Of course there will be months of prep leading up to the fall with Ewers and Sarkisian through the helmet, but according to the Texas Head Coach, the two got off to a strong start. "I thought it felt really comfortable for him today in his first time out doing it," Sarkisian said. For folks who lean one way or the other when it comes to tempo with the helmet communication, Sarkisan says he believes it will enable offensive coordinators to do both. "I think you can do both, quite frankly," Sarkisian said. "It is a lot easier to say five words than signal five words, but yet you can give more information and have real dialogue to speed up and slow down. Hopefully I can give him some more information that allows him to play faster within plays as well." View full news

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'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.

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. View full news