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Aces_Full

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  1. 31 minutes ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

    I think Floyd is gone if he gets an opinion that he can play.  Can’t really blame him.

    Dangerous game to play with that diagnosis.  Could have a huge impact on the rest of your life.  Wish him the best.  

    • Like 1
  2. 2 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

    TFB Spring Practice Roster Comments

    With spring football practicing opening on March 11th we continue to take a look at each position group for the Longhorns. This week we will direct our attention to the Wide Receivers and Tight Ends on the offensive side of the ball, while we will conclude our look at the defense by focusing on the Defensive Backs.

    Offense

    *Wide Receivers/Tight Ends*

     Starters:

    X: Collin Johnson (6’6 225) Senior

    Z: Devin Duvernay (5’11 210) Senior

    Slot: Josh Moore (6’1 175) Sophomore

    TE: Cade Brewer (6’3 250) Junior

    Projected Backups:

    X: Brennan Eagles (6’3 225) Sophomore

    Z: John Burt (6’3 195) Senior

    Slot: Jordan Whittington (6’1 205) Freshman OR Jordan Pouncey (6’1 205) Sophomore

    TE: Reese Leitao (6’3 250) Sophomore

    Reserves:

    X: Malcolm Epps (6’5 230) RS Freshman

    Z: Al’Vonte Woodard (6’1 205) RS Freshman

    Slot: Jordan Pouncey (6’1 205) Sophomore OR Jordan Whittington (6’1 205) Freshman

    TE: Jared Wiley (6’6 240) Freshman OR Rob Cummins (6’5 260) Sophomore

    What We Know: Collin Johnson and Devin Duvernay return and are expected to be the Senior leaders of the Wide Receiver room. Johnson (68-985-7) contemplated an early entry into the 2019 NFL Draft, before ultimately deciding to return to Texas for his final season with All-American aspirations. Duvernay (41-546-4) is one of the premier deep threats in the Big XII with his straight-line speed and reliable hands. Sophomore Slot WR Josh Moore (7-53-1) was on the field early and often before missing the final eight games of the season with a shoulder injury. He is expected to be a full-go for spring practices. Junior TE Cade Brewer, who was impressive as a True Freshman in 2017, is the leader in the clubhouse heading into spring practices to be the starter for 2019.

    What We Hope: Sophomore Wide Receiver Brennan Eagles is an impressive specimen at his size and speed. The hope is that he is able to take the next step and can be relied upon as the X if Johnson is to miss any type of extended time. Texas will be in search of a go-to guy in 2020 and the hopes are that Eagles can be that guy. He needs to flash more in 2019. Senior John Burt was redshirted and will be counted on to bring his track speed (Big XII Champion in the 60M Hurdles) and stretch the field along with Duvernay at the Z. Burt seemingly lost some confidence after his freshman season where he was a starter, but by all accounts, he has continued to persevere and has an opportunity to be a big contributor in 2019 if he can consistently hang on to the football. True Freshman Jordan Whittington is going to be on the field if he is healthy, whether that comes at the expense of a WR or RB remains to be seen.

    Texas primarily used one Tight End sets last season. If Cade Brewer is closer to being 100 percent two years removed from his ACL surgery, he would represent a much more athletic target in the passing game than departed Senior captain Andrew Beck did. His primary competition will be Redshirt Sophomore Reese Leitao, whom many Texas fans are interested to see.

    What to Watch For: Who will be the fourth Wide Receiver on the field when Texas decides to go to “10” personnel? The slot position is one to keep an eye on, as there may be a battle that takes place between Jordan Whittington and Josh Moore. Texas fans have yet to get a good look at guys like Al’vonte Woodard, Malcolm Epps, and Jordan Pouncey. Epps is especially interesting since Texas appears to want to keep the big-bodied pass catcher at X instead of TE. Pouncey was a featured player in last year’s Orange-White Game, but I don’t remember seeing him at all on Offense during the season last Fall. With the talent that is arriving in the summer in the form of the 2019 class, it would behoove these young men to have strong spring practices and secure their places on the totem pole. True Freshman TE Jared Wiley is an early enrollee but is not expected to be a big contributor in 2019, after spending his Senior season playing Quarterback at Temple High School.

    Defense

    In the Texas defense, the “Field” Corner refers to the Corner that will take the side of the field that is furthest from whichever hash mark that the ball is placed on. The “Field” Corner is your Cornerback that can cover the most ground. The “Boundary” Corner will always go to the shortest side of the field, where the safety generally can assist more in coverage, if necessary. The “JOKER” in the Texas defense is a Safety/Linebacker hybrid in a 3-3-5 look that Texas aligns in often in the offensively-charged  Big XII.

    *Defensive Backs*

    Starters:

    Field CB: Jalen Green (6’0 185) Sophomore

    Boundary CB: Anthony Cook (6’0 195) Sophomore

    Nickel: Josh Thompson (6’0 200) Junior OR D’Shawn Jamison (5’10 180) Sophomore

    Free Safety: Caden Sterns (6’0 205) Sophomore

    Strong Safety: Chris Brown (5’11 210) Junior OR DeMarvion Overshown (6’3 210) Sophomore

    JOKER: BJ Foster (6’2 210) Sophomore

    Projected Backups:

    Field CB: Kobe Boyce (6’0 175) Sophomore

    Boundary CB: Donovan Duvernay (5’9 175) Junior

    Nickel: D’Shawn Jamison (5’10 180) Sophomore OR Josh Thompson (6’0 200) Junior

    Free Safety: Montrell Estell (6’1 200) Sophomore

    Strong Safety: BJ Foster (6’2 205) Sophomore OR Chris Brown (5’11 210) Junior

    JOKER: DeMarvion Overshown (6’3 210) Sophomore

    What We Know: Texas loses both starting Cornerbacks in Kris Boyd and Davante Davis. The duo was solid and brought a ton of experience to the Defensive Backfield for Texas last season. They will return what should be one of the best duos of Safeties in College Football in reigning Big XII Defensive Freshman of the Year Caden Sterns and Senior leader Brandon Jones, who had the option of declaring early for the NFL Draft.  Sophomore B.J. Foster will continue to man the JOKER role, where he proved to be a versatile playmaker. They will be counted on early in the season to provide support for talented Sophomore Corners Anthony Cook and Jalen Green. Junior Josh Thompson, who was up-and-down in 2018, is expected to begin the first spring practices as the starter in the Nickel.

    What We Hope: Texas is banking on Cook and Green being as advertised as consensus top-75 national recruits. Cook looked very promising as a Freshman playing in all 14 games, including a start versus Oklahoma State. Green was primarily a Special Teams player and saw limited action on defense. Sophomore D’Shawn Jamison returning to the defensive side of the ball provides Texas with some much-needed depth and competition at the Nickel spot. Jamison was initially recruited to man the Nickel for Texas as a part of a historic 2018 DB recruiting class before spending his Freshman season on offense out of necessity. Texas has question marks at Cornerback and I’m only counting four that are on scholarship heading into Spring 2019. Redshirt Sophomore Kobe Boyce was inconsistent in limited action in 2018 and Redshirt Junior Donovan Duvernay has yet to see much action. Both players will have every opportunity to secure backup roles or possibly more, if one of Green or Cook aren’t ready, or if any injuries were to occur.

    What to Watch For: Senior Free Safety Brandon Jones will not participate in spring practices due to having ankle surgery to clean up a high ankle sprain that he played with the handful of games in 2018. What that does is create an opportunity for young players like DeMarvion Overshown, Montrell Estell, and Chris Brown to earn the trust of the Defensive coaches. I am projecting for Brown to begin practices with the first group, but expect for Overshown, Estell, and Brown to all see plenty of run at that Safety spot throughout practices and for a pecking order to form quickly after the pads come on.

    Offensive Line Moves

    The commitment of Georgia Tech graduate transfer Parker Braun over the weekend really got me thinking. At the beginning of this decade, graduate transfers still weren’t that common of a deal yet. All that I can recall hearing about is Russell Wilson going from NC State to Wisconsin and Greg Paulus going from Duke to Syracuse, to play Football as a grad transfer Quarterback after playing four years of Basketball for the Blue Devils.

    I can’t recall having any teammates that were transfers from another program while I was in Austin during 2010 and 2011. The spring of 2012, we brought in big Defensive Tackle Brandon Moore and Offensive Tackle Donald Hawkins from the JUCO ranks. Both guys were recruited from JUCOs, although Brandon had spent a season at Alabama under DL Coach Bo Davis, who was on staff at Texas when he was brought in. Prior to the disaster that was 2010 season, I got the impression that the staff at the time didn’t feel like it was worth the hassle of trying to keep a JUCO transfer eligible (who presumably struggled to qualify out of HS) at a place like Texas or be open to taking a transfer that may not have worked out at a previous stop.

    Fast forward to 2018, Texas is coming off of a Texas Bowl win in Tom Herman’s first year as Head Coach. All-Conference LT Connor Williams declares early, leaving a huge hole on the left side of the line. Sam Ehlinger has just led the team in rushing over the course of the entire season with just 381 rushing yards in 13 (THIRTEEN!!!) games. Coach Tom Herman was proactive in finding quick, stop-gap solutions for his program when the options within were not ready. Rice transfer Calvin Anderson and Cal transfer Tre Watson were far from superstars in 2018 for Texas. That isn’t what Texas needed them to be. What they brought on the field was very solid play, but what they brought to the locker room, film room, and weight room, as grown men was exponentially more valuable.

    Parker Braun entered his official visit to Texas this past weekend fully intent on taking his other scheduled visits to Ohio State and Florida. What he saw on campus and after spending time with OL Coach Herb Hand and Tom Herman was enough to convince him that he had seen all that he needed to see. Braun, a 2-time All-ACC performer represents possibly the best player on a unit that could be one of Texas’ strongest groups in 2019. It is pretty easy to conclude that the success stories of Anderson and Watson as grad transfers at Texas played a role in Braun feeling confident enough to pull the trigger so quickly.

    In Tom Herman’s first recruiting class at Texas in 2017, which was a partial class, he brought in three JUCO players: East Mississippi Community College Kicker Josh Rowland, Northeast Oklahoma A&M Defensive Lineman Jamari Chisholm, and Dodge City Community College Linebacker Gary Johnson. In 2018, Offensive Lineman Mikey Grandy was signed out of the College of San Mateo. And finally, in 2019, Texas signed Butler Community College Defensive End Jacoby Jones and Fullerton Community College LB Caleb Johnson. Both are expected to contribute in 2019. The aforementioned players represent a mixed bag, for sure. But what they also represent is a complete difference in mindset from previous staffs. This current Texas staff seems to fully understand that they inherited a team that was void of dependable upperclassmen talent in 2017. I believe that they know that they still need their recruits to become upperclassmen before Texas is back to where it needs to be. I am encouraged with how proactive they have been in addressing other needs until that happens. The days of a Texas Football staff not exhausting any and all options to make their team the best that it can possibly be appear to be over.

    Posters like this is why I enjoy Surly.  Great analysis and write-up.  

  3. I wouldn't know what to do in New Orleans with kids in tow.  Can think of plenty to do without them.  Gulf Shores could possibly work, but we went to 30A area around Destin last year.  Gonna be hard to top those beaches and water.  Was looking more in land I guess.  

    • Like 1
  4. Well, would like to maybe stay in a family friendly resort for a couple nights, then something more rustic and in or near the mountains/lake for a couple nights (like a cabin).  Kinda get the best of both worlds.  Saw there is a water park in town of Hot Springs, so maybe 2 days in town and 2/3 days out of town in in the woods/lake area.  

    I guess looking for more of the recommendations for the wilderness part, and things to do outside the city limits.  

  5. Need vacation ideas for the middle of June.  Family of 4, kids are 8 & 10.  Leaving from Beaumont, TX area for approx 5 days.  We have done Central Texas area many times over & the Frio.  Looking to try a new destination, preferably one we can drive to.  

    Any ideas for a family vacation?  Kinda interested in leaving the state & visiting new places.  

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