Steamboat Willie

Not saying anyone’s going anywhere, but it sure would be interesting to watch Bishop return punts next year!

As Texas odds rocket (+4000 → +590) isn’t the committee whispering sweet nothings — it’s degens, hope, and hedge money fighting in the streets. Tonight comes down to one stupid number: #12 = Chaos alive. Pulse detected. Drinks stay cold. #13 = It’s dead. Start drawing up 2026 mock drafts. No narratives. No feelings. If we’re 13, the committee already wrote the eulogy. If we’re 12… light the candle and pray for meteor strikes.

50-50?

#1 Interior OL: Every G/C with a heartbeat should be on the board. C + LG have been a weekly horror show. Do what we did at DL last year: 2 real starters, 1–2 developmental guys, move on. #2 RB: If Baugh hits the portal, that’s the whole meeting. Lacy too. We don’t need another “nice rotational back” after what we just watched—go get a bellcow or stand pat. #3 WR (only if it’s real): Not spending big NIL on “slightly better Mosley” types when OL is on fire. If we pay at WR, make it speed or a true WR1, not another Wingo cousin. Everything else: 1 ILB, 1 vet CB, maybe a blocking TE—cool, after the above is handled. Those are sides. The meal is OL + RB. Portal tampering already started, the rules are decorative, and chaos is the only constant. Buckle up.

CJ, positionally speaking, where do you think Texas will emphasize most in the portal this cycle — and which spots are now clear must-add versus luxury adds?

So Stoops out at Kentucky as well ?

No, no Ga and no Alabama in the regular season.

Nothing about this feels like a light portal cycle. The breadcrumbs say Texas is gearing up for a full correction year. The back-channeling alone suggests this is already moving before the portal even opens. RB still needs a true lead dog. OL needs immediate adults, not projects — at least two guards and a swing tackle. DB and safety are clearly on the shopping list too. Also, a big DL. That’s not patchwork. That’s structural repair. This roster isn’t getting “tuned up” in January. It’s getting remechanized. Now the only question that matters: does the staff finally cash the right checks on the right players?

This cycle is portal or bust. If we’re “punting” on a big HS close, then Sark better roll into the portal like a Jeff Bezos drunk at an art auction. We don’t need projects. We need grown men: RB, two OL, at least one DB, a safety who can tackle, and a LB who scares people. Arch’s window is right now, not after three developmental seasons and a prayer. The difference isn’t money — it’s hitting on the buys. Spend big, evaluate better, and stop pretending last year’s portal nap was some 4D chess move. CJ basically told us it’s about to be an overcorrection — good. Overcorrect hard. Bottom line: If we don’t come out of this portal cycle with multiple instant starters, then we’re officially wasting a once-in-a-generation QB. .

No one’s dunking on Trey, but he ain’t Bijan, and asking him to cosplay as Bijan behind an interior line that blocks like a bunch of athletically challenged 50 yr old men playing Twister is just cruel. Last year Sark had Blue keeping defenses honest and ripping explosives. This year it’s Trey versus the world, and the world is winning by committee. And yeah, imagining Bijan in ’23 or ’24? That’s the kind of pain that makes you stare out the window like you’re in a sad country song. Bottom line: Trey can be part of the answer next year, but he can’t be the whole answer. Somebody in that room has to take a leap, or we need to drag a fully grown man out of the portal, one who doesn’t need perfect blocking to get five yards and can make a DB question his life choices. Arch can’t be the run game and the escape artist and the savior.

Was super impressed with the fluidness of his footwork on a couple of the hudl plays.

Texas either: Buys a real SEC offensive line Buys a grown-man running back who can create yards without a séance Buys multiple DBs, including a starting-caliber safety who actually takes clean angles and plays the ball And attacks the portal like a blue-blood, not a bargain hunter… …or 2026 becomes “Arch Manning: A Documentary About Running for Your Life.” The championship window isn’t creeping open. It’s open right now — wide, bright, and waiting. Either we jump through it… or the SEC slams it shut.

has been a while!!!!

Texas has to thread the needle between high-school recruiting and the portal, and the margin for error is thin: We must fix the OL with multiple proven guards. We must add a real RB1 from the portal. We must grab starting-level help at CB, S, and LB. And we still have to keep taking smart, long-term OL projects in HS. The portal won’t be cheap, and the staff can’t pretend high school and NIL/portal pools are separate anymore — they’re pulling from the same bank account. Think of it this way: Ohio State won last year’s title in December. Texas lost this year’s run the same way. If Texas is serious about winning a national title in Arch’s final season, this offseason is where it happens. No excuses. No “we ran out of NIL.” No half-measures. This is the fix the roster or waste the window moment.

So there will be no development on offense of current players?