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Texas Recruiting Notes 2024: Bags Don't Beat Bankrolls


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6 minutes ago, DigDug said:

Simmons looks a lot smaller than I expected.

Yep. A little shorter and MUCH thinner.

He does have that Dallas Turner, late hit/throw all over your bodyweight down on your victim, attitude that could see his being a weight room demon, but I don’t expect him to have Anthony Hill’s first year impact.

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11 hours ago, Bruh Man said:

Screen-Shot-2023-12-16-at-7-41-03-PM.png

 

11 hours ago, Bruh Man said:

gottdamn you assholes hold a grudge. 

 

8 hours ago, NoName said:

No, you are just a massive pussy who has terrible takes on everything football related.

I mean, after you outed yourself as an Aggie and suffered through the last few years of aTm football, finally reaching the nadir this week, I guess it makes sense you’d show back up now and try to continue your charade. Gotta lay that groundwork for the next opportunity to talk about the monster building in college station. Hopefully everyone will have forgotten you’re an Aggie by 2034, right?

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3 hours ago, DigDug said:

Simmons looks a lot smaller than I expected.

 

3 hours ago, Napoleon said:

Yep. A little shorter and MUCH thinner.

He does have that Dallas Turner, late hit/throw all over your bodyweight down on your victim, attitude that could see his being a weight room demon, but I don’t expect him to have Anthony Hill’s first year impact.

image.png.d5e8112c188443612a7eb056ec7ddf70.png

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Gerry has Muk, Filsaime, and Ty Smith in the yes column this morning.

Trey Moore, Alex Foster, McKinley, Evans, and Brandon Johnson in the maybe column.

He thinks Texas only has 1-2 spots for Foster, McKinley, and Evans. Also, Texas likes Johnson but might not have a spot for him if they land Muk and Filsaime as expected. 

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7 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Another interesting note from Gerry : Moore is deciding between Bama and Texas. fOSU isn’t involved. 

Bobby reporting the same. Bobby said he spoke with Moore’s marketing rep who said the decision was between Texas and Bama and he expected it to be made before Christmas. 

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3 minutes ago, TheMailBox357 said:

If Foster is waiting till February to sign, than no there's guarantee they'll be a spot for him. I'd assume UT will also be recruiting Evans & McKinley and trying to set up OVs for them during January.

UT could have asked to him to wait to see what happens with Evans and McKinley. 
 

edit: My God, what I have done? I replied to a Ketch post. 

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25 minutes ago, TheMailBox357 said:

If Foster is waiting till February to sign, than no there's guarantee they'll be a spot for him. I'd assume UT will also be recruiting Evans & McKinley and trying to set up OVs for them during January.

Nice. Gives them time to go after McKinley and Evans.

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15 minutes ago, Fumbles said:

Well, the offensive class of 2024 looks pretty settled and I've got nothing to do at work until the new year, so it's time to binge some prospect tape.  Here are my thoughts on the offensive prospects in the 2024 class along with their latest film, spoilered for people who hate long posts discussing recruiting in their recruiting threads:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Trey Owens - QB
The tape - https://www.hudl.com/video/3/13618556/6564d514c11a2707cc1c5302

Thoughts - That boy big.  If he stands any taller in the pocket, he's going to become a target for terrorist attacks.  This is a pretty short highlight reel for a kid who threw checks notes...sweet jesus, 43 touchdowns his senior season.  But Trey is already committed to his dream school so I guess he feels like he has nothing to prove to anyone by cutting together a 20 minute video of all of his touchdowns.  Anyway, even in this short highlight footage we can see some very nice attributes for a QB.    On the very first play in the reel, the opposing strong-side defensive end twists inside and beats the right guard, getting strong pressure right up the middle.  Trey hangs in the pocket, steps into his throw with the end barreling right at him up the middle, takes a pretty solid shot, and delivers a nearly perfect dime in the back corner of the endzone some 35 yards down the field.  His mechanics look very solid on the throw, great foot work and properly shifting his weight from back foot to front to get that hip torque into the throw, his wind-up starts right at the waist and looks sufficiently quick and compact, and his launch point is nice and high.  All that would be great to see on any throw, but to see his mechanics hold up so well in the face of pressure right up the middle is fantastic.   The rest of his highlights show similar moxy and strong mechanics under pressure.  Also, check out the scramble at 00:51, he's just stumbling around out there like a baby giraffe.  And look at #10 on the defense in that clip, that kid suddenly realized football was not a career choice for him.  

So that's the good, what do we not see in these clips?  We don't see a lot of the routine passes.  How does he throw the 5 yard out?  Can he throw a catchable touch pass to his check-down RB?  How does he throw when standard mechanics aren't an option?  Can he sling it side-arm?  Those are the unknowns, though a 43-5 TD to INT ratio and a 70.9% completion percentage suggest he's more than capable there as well.   The one bad thing I noticed is that Trey appears to be a one-read QB who doesn't see the field much.  I only counted three plays where he came off his first read (00:12; 1:14; and 1:20), the rest he locked on to his guy the whole way.  Not unusual for a young QB and definitely a coachable issue.

As the QB recruit sandwiched between Arch Manning and KJ Lacey, it's easy to see Trey Owens as another temporary back-up who will eventually transfer once the writing on the wall becomes obvious.  Not so fast, my friend.  Trey Owens is much more advanced at this stage than Maalik Murphy and he's working with a very impressive toolset that fits nicely with Sark's scheme.  I think he's criminally underrated by the recruiting services and I love him as a take for this team.

Jerrick Gibson - RB
The Tape - https://www.hudl.com/video/3/14967551/6378818ac11a790504152a61

Thoughts - A note on reviewing RB film: The least impressive highlight film in the world is an RB running through yawning chasms that my deceased relatives could get through.  Jerrick plays for football powerhouse IMG and it shows because the line of scrimmage moves about 5 yards forward at the beginning of every play.  Still, I think there's a lot to like here.  Jerrick shows great physicality in finishing his runs, he has very good contact balance and slips arm tackles well, and he gets up to top speed quickly.  He seems to prefer contact to trying to make guys miss, but he has some nice decisive cuts in the backfield to avoid defenders at 1:49 and 1:53.  On the downside, he's slightly built and his top end speed just looks ok.  Sark likes to find his bell-cow RB to get the majority of touches in a season and I just don't see Jerrick Gibson as that guy given his size, he seems more like a rotational player to me.  And there's nothing wrong with that, a rotational RB with fresh legs and a bad attitude can win you games in the fourth quarter.  Whatever role he ends up serving, I'm glad to have him on the team.

Christian Clark - RB

Thoughts - Clark's senior tape is out, but it's not combined into one video so I'm going to talk about a couple different clips and link them as we go.  First off - https://www.hudl.com/video/3/14810372/655140154ba7a803e4cd0918.  Yeah yeah, he throws a nice pass in the first highlight, whatever.  Skip to 00:15 and look at that fucking catch.  That's a really bad throw, low and behind him, and Christian just turns around and snatches it up, AND THEN SPINS A TACKLER.  That's great spatial awareness, hand-eye coordination, concentration, and body control all in one clip.  That shit is wild.  The highlights from the Salpointe game are almost all catches out of the back field and split out wide, you can see that here:  https://www.hudl.com/video/3/14810372/653425c1041e0907385186ee.  This kid will be a weapon out of the backfield.  Next - https://www.hudl.com/video/3/14810372/652d7794c119c00890ce2b06.  He's doing a lot more traditional RB things here, I like his contact balance and how he always falls forward on these runs, finishing with authority.  Check out the clip at 00:47, that is some crazy contact balance to get out of that tackle in the backfield.  I also really like the clip at 1:11, Christian performs a very difficult jump cut that forces a defender to run into his own teammate right at the line, that's great footwork and body control.  Christian's top end speed is not impressive, I doubt he's going to be dropping a lot of 75 yarders on anyone at the next level.  Still, he shows fantastic capability out of the backfield, he runs with authority and he's got great feet.  He also looks like he has the frame to pack on some more muscle.  I think he's a great compliment to what Jerrick Gibson brings to the table.

Ryan Wingo - WR
The Tape - https://www.hudl.com/video/3/14621444/638ce28ff31cf20aa8e399a2

Thoughts - The descendants of Abraham Zapruder are filming high school football in Missouri.  Thoughts on Ryan Wingo himself?  Oh, right, yeah, he's awesome.  Great size and frame, long arms, clearly a very natural athlete with a smooth running style, no wasted motion.  In addition to being bigger than everyone on the field, he's also faster than everyone too.  Oh, and he can catch.  Check out the clip at 3:21, that's an underthrown ball that should have been a pick and Ryan just casually jumps over the CB and plucks the ball right off his helmet.  That's an extremely difficult and impressive play that Wingo pulls off so easily it's almost anti-climactic.  He's also a monster after the catch, there are multiple clips of him taking hits and maintaining balance, running through arm tackles, and juking dudes out of their socks.  There are also two clips of him returning punts for touchdowns (00:07, 3:38), so he's also a special teams weapon.  I mean, it's hard to craft analysis on a guy that's so obviously gifted.  Just watch the tape.  Unless he has a drop issue or loafing problem on plays outside of his highlight reel, Ryan Wingo has no weaknesses in his game.  He's the most gifted player Texas has recruited at the WR position since Roy Williams and if he can avoid injury, he's going to be a future first round NFL draft pick.  

Freddie Dubose - WR
The Tape - https://247sports.com/Video/freddie-dubose-clemens-2021-sophomore-season-highlights-10850861/

Thoughts - Those highlights show a lanky kid with blistering speed, great quicks, and nice change of direction ability.  Check out the block at 1:19, he even got that dawg in him.  That player reminds me of a young Xavier Worthy.  And that's the player Freddie Dubose was....in 2021.  He suffered a major knee injury in the opening game of 2022 and I can find no film and no stats on him since then.  Which brings me to the real point of discussion here:  In the portal age, why is Texas accepting a commitment from someone with a major knee injury?  To be clear, I have no idea what kind of player Freddie is today, maybe he secretly had the best senior season in Texas high school WR history and doesn't want anyone to know about it.  I'm just saying, there's a significant risk that he doesn't return to form and we knew that at least 9 months before we accepted his commitment in June of 2023.  I don't understand why we're shouldering that risk when we can always circle back in the portal if he turns out to be fully recovered.  I don't get the take here.

Parker Livingstone - WR

The Tape - https://www.hudl.com/video/3/15082327/64ebb34a4ba8730b28ba3877

Thoughts - First off, I know Parker also suffered a major knee injury, but that was suffered during his senior season after he committed to Texas.  That's a crucial distinction in my mind, I would think poorly of Coach Sark and the staff if they were to cut bait on a player during his senior season after he had committed and never gave him the chance to rehab and bounce back.  The calculus is different in my mind for a player that isn't committed and has plenty of time to bounce back and show Texas (or other teams) they've fully returned to form.  Since Livingstone is in the former category, I'm going to focus on the player he was before the injury.

Anyway, the latest film we have on him is all from the one game of his senior season he was able to play.  I see a beanpole of a kid with a good catch radius and decent speed.  Not great speed, he's not alone in frame at the end of each of his highlights, but he's consistently pulling away from the other players.  I'd put him in the mid 4.5's, which is about average for D1 WRs.  I'm much more concerned about his short area acceleration and quickness in and out of his cuts.  Watch the route he runs at 1:38, that should be a hard plant and cut 90 degrees to the left, and he just lazily rounds it off to the outside.  That's not creating separation against man coverage at the college level.  Watch the next play at 1:47, same thing.  He gets separation because he's just faster than that CB, but he won't be faster than that guy at Texas.  Is that poor route running (which is coachable) or does he just not have the agility to make cuts a top speed?  I don't know, but I think he's going to struggle mightily to get separation at the next level.   I also think there's at least 20 guys in the portal as good or better every year.  I don't see whatever Sark and Jackson are seeing that indicates Texas should shoulder the burden of developing him.  

Jordan Washington - TE

The Tape - https://www.hudl.com/video/3/16319144/656ab36eb53e8904183dac9f

Thoughts - Oh my, look at those hands.   Look at how he boxes out the defender and high-points the ball in the endzone at 00:14.  Check out the jump ball catch at 3:37, that's a beautiful adjustment to a poorly thrown ball and a great contested catch.   He's also a great route runner, look at that dig route against zone coverage at 1:17, and check out that comeback route to the sticks at 3:41.  Also, while there aren't a whole lot of clips of him blocking, there's a few and they're decent, check out 5:58.  That's Jordan taking on a defender right at the point of attack and creating a hole for the runner.  I have real trouble understanding how this kid isn't rated higher.  I love him and I think he's going to do great things at Texas.

Brandon Baker - OT

The Tape - https://www.hudl.com/video/3/13698521/65720e09bd755e09ccd80337

Thoughts - I love Brandon Baker.  First off, he's got great size, great length, long arms, it's like he was grown in a lab to play offensive tackle.  Next, he's got really nice feet, he's always active, always sliding with the defender, he never seems to be off balance or out of control.  He's also nasty with his block finishes.  Just look at him pancake his man at 00:14 and give him the business on the ground.  Oh yeah, get you some Brandon.  And just look at the play at :0032.  I mean, what the hell.  He blocks his initial assignment to the inside, passes him off, then pirouettes to get a block on the outside rusher.  That's an extremely high level of awareness, nimbleness, and fundamentally sound OL play.  Check out the pass set at 1:17, look at him shuffle those feet and stay in front of the wide rusher.   Finally, just look at the play at 1:48, let's really break this one down because this is a beauty.  The defense presents a lot of confusing eye-candy here, the outside edge player (44) loops to the inside behind the interior rusher (41) while the linebacker (27) blitzes wide to the outside.  Brandon starts the play looking outside at 44, his initial assignment, he reads that 44 is looping to the inside and realizes his assignment has shifted to the interior player (41) and accepts the hand-off immediately from the guard and locks him down so that the guard can get the block on 44 to the inside, and he doesn't panic at all about 27 on the outside, he trusts the RB behind to pick up the blitzer.  It's the kind of thing that doesn't look super impressive on film, but that's an instinctual understanding of how to handle complicated assignments that takes years for most offensive lineman to learn.  Think about how Texas struggled with picking up wrinkles like that last year and early this year.  Brandon is a physically gifted and technically advanced player that should challenge for playing time immediately.  He's going to be a star.  

Daniel Cruz - C

The Tape - https://www.hudl.com/video/3/15061296/656765dd5cb43d0344a39bfe

Thoughts - If Brandon Baker is nasty with his run block finishes, Daniel Cruz is downright cruel.  He's not happy until you're on your back in the fetal position with tears in your eyes.  That's not a joke, look at the clip at 3:19, #90 goes full fetal there.  That dude can't sleep without checking under his bed for Daniel Cruz to this day.  Daniel just plays with perfect leverage every play, always under his opponents' pads, always rooting them out from underneath and driving them backwards.  It's just beautiful to watch.  Check out Daniel in pass coverage at 3:41, he gets bored standing there so he decides to pancake someone else's assignment.  He's also great at pulling and finding guys to block in space.  There is no greater proof of the complete incompetence of national recruiting services than Daniel Cruz's rank.  He is the most underrated player relative to his actual skill in this class and it's not even close.  

Nate Kibble - IOL
The Tape - https://www.hudl.com/video/3/15176808/657228a83df6000410c0367f

Thoughts - I'm not sure how opposing defensive lines are going to survive against us in the future.  Nate is yet another offensive lineman with a violent disposition.  Everything I said about Daniel Cruz's attitude applies to Kibble.  Of the offensive line prospects, Nate is the rawest from a technical perspective.  He plays high and tends to lunge instead of bringing his feet and playing from a good base.  Still, he moves well for a big man and he finds a lot of guys in space on his tape.  I think he'll sit in Coach Flood's incubator for a years and come out ready to dominate in 2026 or 27.

Overall Thoughts on the 2024 Offensive Class

Trey Owens is a far better QB than we have any right to expect in the class immediately after Arch Manning, the QB room will continue to be an embarrassment of riches for the foreseeable future.  The RBs in this class are complimentary pieces to each other with Gibson bringing a straight-ahead physical running style while Clark brings a little more shake and great versatility out of the backfield.  My only complaint is that neither is a homerun hitter at the next level.  The offensive line class is fantastic, my only complaint there is that we didn't get more.  Jordan Washington is a great prospect at TE, I think we could have used another extra blocking surface-type TE but those guys are ever-present in the portal.  We'll be fine at TE.  Wide receiver is the only position that you could argue is a disappointment in this class, but I don't think it'd be a good argument because Ryan Wingo. If your WR class consists of Ryan Wingo and two mannequins wearing Texas jerseys, it's still a good WR class.  I think Wingo is the most likely to start as a true freshmen, with Brandon Baker and Daniel Cruz pushing for playing time along the offensive line. 

I don't think there is a single spot on the roster that Sark hasn't substantially upgraded and this class just continues to build on that.  I love that we're recruiting through the whistle on out of state bluechip recruits like Baker and Wingo while also doing the homework to find less heralded gems like Jordan Washington and Nate Kibble.  We're recruiting at a championship level and it's really fun to follow.

 

 

I want a two-deep on the OL that everyone not in burnt orange hates and hates to play against. Big, strong, quick, mean, motivated, and just ready to hit your ass until you fall down and then they throw their body weight on top of you. Seems like maybe Texas is getting there. 

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28 minutes ago, Fumbles said:

Well, the offensive class of 2024 looks pretty settled and I've got nothing to do at work until the new year, so it's time to binge some prospect tape.  Here are my thoughts on the offensive prospects in the 2024 class along with their latest film, spoilered for people who hate long posts discussing recruiting in their recruiting threads:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Trey Owens - QB
The tape - https://www.hudl.com/video/3/13618556/6564d514c11a2707cc1c5302

Thoughts - That boy big.  If he stands any taller in the pocket, he's going to become a target for terrorist attacks.  This is a pretty short highlight reel for a kid who threw checks notes...sweet jesus, 43 touchdowns his senior season.  But Trey is already committed to his dream school so I guess he feels like he has nothing to prove to anyone by cutting together a 20 minute video of all of his touchdowns.  Anyway, even in this short highlight footage we can see some very nice attributes for a QB.    On the very first play in the reel, the opposing strong-side defensive end twists inside and beats the right guard, getting strong pressure right up the middle.  Trey hangs in the pocket, steps into his throw with the end barreling right at him up the middle, takes a pretty solid shot, and delivers a nearly perfect dime in the back corner of the endzone some 35 yards down the field.  His mechanics look very solid on the throw, great foot work and properly shifting his weight from back foot to front to get that hip torque into the throw, his wind-up starts right at the waist and looks sufficiently quick and compact, and his launch point is nice and high.  All that would be great to see on any throw, but to see his mechanics hold up so well in the face of pressure right up the middle is fantastic.   The rest of his highlights show similar moxy and strong mechanics under pressure.  Also, check out the scramble at 00:51, he's just stumbling around out there like a baby giraffe.  And look at #10 on the defense in that clip, that kid suddenly realized football was not a career choice for him.  

So that's the good, what do we not see in these clips?  We don't see a lot of the routine passes.  How does he throw the 5 yard out?  Can he throw a catchable touch pass to his check-down RB?  How does he throw when standard mechanics aren't an option?  Can he sling it side-arm?  Those are the unknowns, though a 43-5 TD to INT ratio and a 70.9% completion percentage suggest he's more than capable there as well.   The one bad thing I noticed is that Trey appears to be a one-read QB who doesn't see the field much.  I only counted three plays where he came off his first read (00:12; 1:14; and 1:20), the rest he locked on to his guy the whole way.  Not unusual for a young QB and definitely a coachable issue.

As the QB recruit sandwiched between Arch Manning and KJ Lacey, it's easy to see Trey Owens as another temporary back-up who will eventually transfer once the writing on the wall becomes obvious.  Not so fast, my friend.  Trey Owens is much more advanced at this stage than Maalik Murphy and he's working with a very impressive toolset that fits nicely with Sark's scheme.  I think he's criminally underrated by the recruiting services and I love him as a take for this team.

Jerrick Gibson - RB
The Tape - https://www.hudl.com/video/3/14967551/6378818ac11a790504152a61

Thoughts - A note on reviewing RB film: The least impressive highlight film in the world is an RB running through yawning chasms that my deceased relatives could get through.  Jerrick plays for football powerhouse IMG and it shows because the line of scrimmage moves about 5 yards forward at the beginning of every play.  Still, I think there's a lot to like here.  Jerrick shows great physicality in finishing his runs, he has very good contact balance and slips arm tackles well, and he gets up to top speed quickly.  He seems to prefer contact to trying to make guys miss, but he has some nice decisive cuts in the backfield to avoid defenders at 1:49 and 1:53.  On the downside, he's slightly built and his top end speed just looks ok.  Sark likes to find his bell-cow RB to get the majority of touches in a season and I just don't see Jerrick Gibson as that guy given his size, he seems more like a rotational player to me.  And there's nothing wrong with that, a rotational RB with fresh legs and a bad attitude can win you games in the fourth quarter.  Whatever role he ends up serving, I'm glad to have him on the team.

Christian Clark - RB

Thoughts - Clark's senior tape is out, but it's not combined into one video so I'm going to talk about a couple different clips and link them as we go.  First off - https://www.hudl.com/video/3/14810372/655140154ba7a803e4cd0918.  Yeah yeah, he throws a nice pass in the first highlight, whatever.  Skip to 00:15 and look at that fucking catch.  That's a really bad throw, low and behind him, and Christian just turns around and snatches it up, AND THEN SPINS A TACKLER.  That's great spatial awareness, hand-eye coordination, concentration, and body control all in one clip.  That shit is wild.  The highlights from the Salpointe game are almost all catches out of the back field and split out wide, you can see that here:  https://www.hudl.com/video/3/14810372/653425c1041e0907385186ee.  This kid will be a weapon out of the backfield.  Next - https://www.hudl.com/video/3/14810372/652d7794c119c00890ce2b06.  He's doing a lot more traditional RB things here, I like his contact balance and how he always falls forward on these runs, finishing with authority.  Check out the clip at 00:47, that is some crazy contact balance to get out of that tackle in the backfield.  I also really like the clip at 1:11, Christian performs a very difficult jump cut that forces a defender to run into his own teammate right at the line, that's great footwork and body control.  Christian's top end speed is not impressive, I doubt he's going to be dropping a lot of 75 yarders on anyone at the next level.  Still, he shows fantastic capability out of the backfield, he runs with authority and he's got great feet.  He also looks like he has the frame to pack on some more muscle.  I think he's a great compliment to what Jerrick Gibson brings to the table.

Ryan Wingo - WR
The Tape - https://www.hudl.com/video/3/14621444/638ce28ff31cf20aa8e399a2

Thoughts - The descendants of Abraham Zapruder are filming high school football in Missouri.  Thoughts on Ryan Wingo himself?  Oh, right, yeah, he's awesome.  Great size and frame, long arms, clearly a very natural athlete with a smooth running style, no wasted motion.  In addition to being bigger than everyone on the field, he's also faster than everyone too.  Oh, and he can catch.  Check out the clip at 3:21, that's an underthrown ball that should have been a pick and Ryan just casually jumps over the CB and plucks the ball right off his helmet.  That's an extremely difficult and impressive play that Wingo pulls off so easily it's almost anti-climactic.  He's also a monster after the catch, there are multiple clips of him taking hits and maintaining balance, running through arm tackles, and juking dudes out of their socks.  There are also two clips of him returning punts for touchdowns (00:07, 3:38), so he's also a special teams weapon.  I mean, it's hard to craft analysis on a guy that's so obviously gifted.  Just watch the tape.  Unless he has a drop issue or loafing problem on plays outside of his highlight reel, Ryan Wingo has no weaknesses in his game.  He's the most gifted player Texas has recruited at the WR position since Roy Williams and if he can avoid injury, he's going to be a future first round NFL draft pick.  

Freddie Dubose - WR
The Tape - https://247sports.com/Video/freddie-dubose-clemens-2021-sophomore-season-highlights-10850861/

Thoughts - Those highlights show a lanky kid with blistering speed, great quicks, and nice change of direction ability.  Check out the block at 1:19, he even got that dawg in him.  That player reminds me of a young Xavier Worthy.  And that's the player Freddie Dubose was....in 2021.  He suffered a major knee injury in the opening game of 2022 and I can find no film and no stats on him since then.  Which brings me to the real point of discussion here:  In the portal age, why is Texas accepting a commitment from someone with a major knee injury?  To be clear, I have no idea what kind of player Freddie is today, maybe he secretly had the best senior season in Texas high school WR history and doesn't want anyone to know about it.  I'm just saying, there's a significant risk that he doesn't return to form and we knew that at least 9 months before we accepted his commitment in June of 2023.  I don't understand why we're shouldering that risk when we can always circle back in the portal if he turns out to be fully recovered.  I don't get the take here.

Parker Livingstone - WR

The Tape - https://www.hudl.com/video/3/15082327/64ebb34a4ba8730b28ba3877

Thoughts - First off, I know Parker also suffered a major knee injury, but that was suffered during his senior season after he committed to Texas.  That's a crucial distinction in my mind, I would think poorly of Coach Sark and the staff if they were to cut bait on a player during his senior season after he had committed and never gave him the chance to rehab and bounce back.  The calculus is different in my mind for a player that isn't committed and has plenty of time to bounce back and show Texas (or other teams) they've fully returned to form.  Since Livingstone is in the former category, I'm going to focus on the player he was before the injury.

Anyway, the latest film we have on him is all from the one game of his senior season he was able to play.  I see a beanpole of a kid with a good catch radius and decent speed.  Not great speed, he's not alone in frame at the end of each of his highlights, but he's consistently pulling away from the other players.  I'd put him in the mid 4.5's, which is about average for D1 WRs.  I'm much more concerned about his short area acceleration and quickness in and out of his cuts.  Watch the route he runs at 1:38, that should be a hard plant and cut 90 degrees to the left, and he just lazily rounds it off to the outside.  That's not creating separation against man coverage at the college level.  Watch the next play at 1:47, same thing.  He gets separation because he's just faster than that CB, but he won't be faster than that guy at Texas.  Is that poor route running (which is coachable) or does he just not have the agility to make cuts a top speed?  I don't know, but I think he's going to struggle mightily to get separation at the next level.   I also think there's at least 20 guys in the portal as good or better every year.  I don't see whatever Sark and Jackson are seeing that indicates Texas should shoulder the burden of developing him.  

Jordan Washington - TE

The Tape - https://www.hudl.com/video/3/16319144/656ab36eb53e8904183dac9f

Thoughts - Oh my, look at those hands.   Look at how he boxes out the defender and high-points the ball in the endzone at 00:14.  Check out the jump ball catch at 3:37, that's a beautiful adjustment to a poorly thrown ball and a great contested catch.   He's also a great route runner, look at that dig route against zone coverage at 1:17, and check out that comeback route to the sticks at 3:41.  Also, while there aren't a whole lot of clips of him blocking, there's a few and they're decent, check out 5:58.  That's Jordan taking on a defender right at the point of attack and creating a hole for the runner.  I have real trouble understanding how this kid isn't rated higher.  I love him and I think he's going to do great things at Texas.

Brandon Baker - OT

The Tape - https://www.hudl.com/video/3/13698521/65720e09bd755e09ccd80337

Thoughts - I love Brandon Baker.  First off, he's got great size, great length, long arms, it's like he was grown in a lab to play offensive tackle.  Next, he's got really nice feet, he's always active, always sliding with the defender, he never seems to be off balance or out of control.  He's also nasty with his block finishes.  Just look at him pancake his man at 00:14 and give him the business on the ground.  Oh yeah, get you some Brandon.  And just look at the play at :0032.  I mean, what the hell.  He blocks his initial assignment to the inside, passes him off, then pirouettes to get a block on the outside rusher.  That's an extremely high level of awareness, nimbleness, and fundamentally sound OL play.  Check out the pass set at 1:17, look at him shuffle those feet and stay in front of the wide rusher.   Finally, just look at the play at 1:48, let's really break this one down because this is a beauty.  The defense presents a lot of confusing eye-candy here, the outside edge player (44) loops to the inside behind the interior rusher (41) while the linebacker (27) blitzes wide to the outside.  Brandon starts the play looking outside at 44, his initial assignment, he reads that 44 is looping to the inside and realizes his assignment has shifted to the interior player (41) and accepts the hand-off immediately from the guard and locks him down so that the guard can get the block on 44 to the inside, and he doesn't panic at all about 27 on the outside, he trusts the RB behind to pick up the blitzer.  It's the kind of thing that doesn't look super impressive on film, but that's an instinctual understanding of how to handle complicated assignments that takes years for most offensive lineman to learn.  Think about how Texas struggled with picking up wrinkles like that last year and early this year.  Brandon is a physically gifted and technically advanced player that should challenge for playing time immediately.  He's going to be a star.  

Daniel Cruz - C

The Tape - https://www.hudl.com/video/3/15061296/656765dd5cb43d0344a39bfe

Thoughts - If Brandon Baker is nasty with his run block finishes, Daniel Cruz is downright cruel.  He's not happy until you're on your back in the fetal position with tears in your eyes.  That's not a joke, look at the clip at 3:19, #90 goes full fetal there.  That dude can't sleep without checking under his bed for Daniel Cruz to this day.  Daniel just plays with perfect leverage every play, always under his opponents' pads, always rooting them out from underneath and driving them backwards.  It's just beautiful to watch.  Check out Daniel in pass coverage at 3:41, he gets bored standing there so he decides to pancake someone else's assignment.  He's also great at pulling and finding guys to block in space.  There is no greater proof of the complete incompetence of national recruiting services than Daniel Cruz's rank.  He is the most underrated player relative to his actual skill in this class and it's not even close.  

Nate Kibble - IOL
The Tape - https://www.hudl.com/video/3/15176808/657228a83df6000410c0367f

Thoughts - I'm not sure how opposing defensive lines are going to survive against us in the future.  Nate is yet another offensive lineman with a violent disposition.  Everything I said about Daniel Cruz's attitude applies to Kibble.  Of the offensive line prospects, Nate is the rawest from a technical perspective.  He plays high and tends to lunge instead of bringing his feet and playing from a good base.  Still, he moves well for a big man and he finds a lot of guys in space on his tape.  I think he'll sit in Coach Flood's incubator for a years and come out ready to dominate in 2026 or 27.

Overall Thoughts on the 2024 Offensive Class

Trey Owens is a far better QB than we have any right to expect in the class immediately after Arch Manning, the QB room will continue to be an embarrassment of riches for the foreseeable future.  The RBs in this class are complimentary pieces to each other with Gibson bringing a straight-ahead physical running style while Clark brings a little more shake and great versatility out of the backfield.  My only complaint is that neither is a homerun hitter at the next level.  The offensive line class is fantastic, my only complaint there is that we didn't get more.  Jordan Washington is a great prospect at TE, I think we could have used another extra blocking surface-type TE but those guys are ever-present in the portal.  We'll be fine at TE.  Wide receiver is the only position that you could argue is a disappointment in this class, but I don't think it'd be a good argument because Ryan Wingo. If your WR class consists of Ryan Wingo and two mannequins wearing Texas jerseys, it's still a good WR class.  I think Wingo is the most likely to start as a true freshmen, with Brandon Baker and Daniel Cruz pushing for playing time along the offensive line. 

I don't think there is a single spot on the roster that Sark hasn't substantially upgraded and this class just continues to build on that.  I love that we're recruiting through the whistle on out of state bluechip recruits like Baker and Wingo while also doing the homework to find less heralded gems like Jordan Washington and Nate Kibble.  We're recruiting at a championship level and it's really fun to follow.

 

 

Gibson is not small by any stretch, and his game reminds me most of Emmitt Smith. I think he is going to chew people up on inside zone.

Livingstone is a 4.4 guy, and while he does need work on those routes he is going to Moss some people on deep balls and double moves. He isn't the guy you will ask to run whip routes.

Daniel Cruz is the best linemen we have signed in the last two classes, and that is saying something with Brandon Baker on the way.

i hope we get a burner at RB and WR in 2025, that is the one thing we are lacking with the current roster, but Golden should help things.

Edited by Vertigo
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21 minutes ago, Vertigo said:

Gibson is not small by any stretch, and his game reminds me most of Emmitt Smith. I think he is going to chew people up on inside zone.

Livingstone is a 4.4 guy, and while he does need work on those routes he is going to Moss some people on deep balls and double moves. He isn't the guy you will ask to run whip routes.

Daniel Cruz is the best linemen we have signed in the last two classes, and that is saying something with Brandon Baker on the way.

i hope we get a burner at RB and WR in 2025, that is the one thing we are lacking with the current roster, but Golden should help things.

Do you even Jaydon Blue bro?

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I think the Señor Cruz is going to be one of my favorite players from this class. 
Yes, Mr Cruz is from the older, grittier part of Richland hills so he will do just fine at UT. My grandparents lived there for a while when my grandfather worked for Bell/Textron. Their house was quite large but I'd guess the average age of homes in that part of RH are 55+.
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Just now, ousux said:
1 hour ago, Napoleon said:
I think the Señor Cruz is going to be one of my favorite players from this class. 

Yes, Mr Cruz is from the older, grittier part of Richland hills so he will do just fine at UT. My grandparents lived there for a while when my grandfather worked for Bell/Textron. Their house was quite large but I'd guess the average age of homes in that part of RH are 55+.

Someone on one of the OTF streams referred to Cruz as a meaner nastier Studdard.

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