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2024 Spring Practice to Fall Camp Thread - Who’s a JAG now?


sith_horn

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I've felt like Wisner has flashed every time he's in the game, whether it's on ST or late game carries. Love the toughness he's shown, and I get the feeling he would excel with more touches. We are so deep at RB, but I really hope we find a way to get him the ball. If the transferred to a smaller school, I bet he'd light it up.  It seems like the coaches love him, whether it's Choice or Sark bringing him up. 

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26 minutes ago, utexas8 said:

So what does that mean about the WR spots since Wingo is so good. Bond and golden get spots. Would it be wingo bond golden cook? Moore seems to be good too. I wonder if someone transfers.

Silas bolden isn’t even on campus yet either. It’s an embarrassment of riches.

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35 minutes ago, utexas8 said:

So what does that mean about the WR spots since Wingo is so good. Bond and golden get spots. Would it be wingo bond golden cook? Moore seems to be good too. I wonder if someone transfers.

New offense.....

5b74cfec-35d2-4c87-b7a0-38be902aa927_text.gif.fc740fc985106cbf0211840c82590205.gif

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52 minutes ago, utexas8 said:

So what does that mean about the WR spots since Wingo is so good. Bond and golden get spots. Would it be wingo bond golden cook? Moore seems to be good too. I wonder if someone transfers.

I wonder if we see more rotation than in the past with Sark. I.E., does he just like to ride the best horses and maintain continuity/player rythm, or was it simply a case of too much drop off in performance with less talented and/or inexperienced players. Going to be interesting to see how this season goes in this regard.

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Our second team will be Cook or Bolden, Wingo, and Moore. I think we'll absolutely see more of a rotation next year. 

Man, Casey Cain started games for us not too long ago. And not like he was horrific or anything, but man. We've come so far.

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Wednesday | I Liked What I Saw & Heard Today - CJ Vogel, On Texas Football

Spoiler

Texas is five practices into spring football now – two practices have concluded with full pads. The Longhorns will practice again on Friday, but there will be no media availability then due to the Texas Relays this weekend.

On top of another smooth practice, there was a part of me that felt comfort in the direction of the program that resulted in what I heard off the field from David Gbenda and Quinn Ewers. Before I get into that part of things, I will share a couple of notes that stood out from practice this morning.

***

I watched a lot of the tight end group today. It is rare to hear Jeff Banks in a complementary mood but there was praise from the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at times today. First, on the individual sled where Amari Niblack, Spencer Shannon and Jordan Washington each received a congratulatory remark from Banks for getting the drill correct on the first go-round.

As Amari Niblack continues his climb up the Texas depth chart, it is certainly noteworthy that the QB that is consistently throwing to him in routes on air is Quinn Ewers. Arch Manning is often lined up with Juan Davis and Jordan Washington during his rounds.

*** 

There has been some talk about wide receivers having to slow down for passes on deep balls on twitter. Listen, in situations that don't warrant high-speed precision like routes on air, it is difficult to hit a guy perfectly in stride 40-yards down the field on each given throw. The deep ball has looked much better this spring and I will leave it at that rather than nitpicking if a receiver catches it on his backshoulder or out in front.

One part of practice I really liked was Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning literally racing one another to get to the individual QB drill about 130 yards away from where they were on the field during special teams. It is little things like that that stands out to me. 

***
I think Colton Vasek has a real shot at contributing this year. While the path to the field is not necessarily a walk in the park, he has looked great in spring ball so far. He is lengthy, athletic and can bend. I think there is more athleticism here than Ethan Burke and the frame continues to build. Buy stock now.

***

But to part of today that I enjoyed hearing about:

It is noteworthy that David Gbenda was the first player from the defensive side of the ball to speak with the media this spring. The elder statesman in the room has the respect of the coaching staff and his teammates.

Gbenda mentioned Barryn Sorrell, Jahdae Barron, Michael Taaffe and himself as leaders on the defensive side of the ball early on. 

Derion Gulllette and Tyanthony Smith were singled out as two youngsters who were standing out to him. Of course, Smith was the lone linebacker in the 2024 class this past cycle.

The other part of Gbenda's time with time with the media that stood out to me was his remarks when I asked him about motivation he took from the Sugar Bowl. Gbenda told me straight up he was "pissed off" about the loss. Being what he called "12 inches" short of playing for a title, has stuck with him through the winter and into today. That sentiment is echoed throughout the rest of the program as well.

***

As for Quinn Ewers, I sensed calm and confident version of Ewers. Multiple times Ewers brought up how comfortable he was in Sarkisian's system as a third year player. 

Ewers also spoke about his decision to return to school. Citing he did not want to rush the decision or his time in college after skipping his senior season to enroll at Ohio State, then not playing as a true freshman and eventually transferring over to Texas. This is the first time I got the sense Ewers was completely at peace with his surroundings.

Ewers mentioned he had an idea midway through the 2023 season that he would return to Texas for another season. A week following the Sugar Bowl, Ewers had bought in completely to returning and eventually made the decision about 10 days after.

As for leaders on the offensive side of the ball, Ewers named Jake Majors in the middle of the offensive line and Johntay Cook as the most experienced returning wide receiver on roster – certainly worth mentioning.

 

 

 

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State of the Program | Leaders on Display, Quinn Ewers Praises Receivers -  On Texas Football

Bobby Burton, Gerry Hamilton and CJ Vogel sit down this week's edition of The State of the Program sponsored by Adam Loewy and the Loewy Law Firm. 

 

 

 

 

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Notes from the fifth Texas spring practice - BON

 

Spoiler

AUSTIN, Texas — For the fifth time this spring, the Texas Longhorns practiced on Wednesday at Frank Denius Fields with Green Bay Packers offensive line coach Luke Butkus in attendance.

A few notes from the portion of practice open to the media:

  • Physically, redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Jaray Bledsoe looks physically ready to contribute. Senior Buck end Barryn Sorrell is the only defensive lineman who looks stronger in the upper body and through the lower body it’s believable that he can do a standing back flip.
  • Early enrollee defensive tackle Alex January is one of the leanest interior linemen on the team and seemingly arrived at Texas in excellent condition.
  • Junior UTSA transfer edge Trey Moore is listed at 6’3, but he’s closer in height to junior Justice Finkley, who is listed at 6’2. Officially, Moore is seven pounds heavier than he was with the Roadrunners and that looks accurate — he’s extremely well put together in the upper body. The concern remains whether bigger offensive linemen can control Moore easier when they get their hands on him because of his lack of height and length.
spacer.png   Trey Moore
  • Early enrollee edge Colin Simmons looks like he’s about an inch taller than Moore, about the same height and weight as redshirt freshman edge Billy Walton.
spacer.png   Colin Simmons
  • Redshirt freshman Tausili Akana is listed at only 215 pounds, but was working with the edge group on Wednesday.
  • There was some question about whether redshirt freshman Derion Gullette would end up at edge when he was recruited by the Longhorns, but he was going through drills with the inside linebackers.
  • In a tackling drill, some of the linebackers brought more obvious pop than the others, including super senior David Gbenda and sophomore Anthony Hill Jr.
  • The same went for the safety group, which included senior Clemson transfer Andrew Mukuba in confirmation of where the coaches see him playing despite experience at cornerback and nickel — sophomore Derek Williams, sophomore Jelani McDonald, and freshman Jordon Johnson-Rubell all looked good rolling out of their hips and driving their feet on contact against a tackling bag sent down a rail to mimic open-field tackles. McDonald was the fourth-string nickel last season, but is now playing safety.
  • If there is a fourth nickel back, it will come from the group working with the cornerbacks on Wednesday with the possibility that junior Jaylon Guilbeau could start there with super senior Jahdae Barron playing outside at times.
  • Sophomore cornerback Malik Muhammad was dressed for practice, but working up on the side after leaving Monday’s practice with an injury that head coach Steve Sarkisian did not think was serious.
  • At the end of the portion of practice open to the media, junior Houston transfer wide receiver Matthew Golden and early enrollee wide receiver Ryan Wingo both made nice catches tracking the ball over their shoulder.

 

 

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So what does that mean about the WR spots since Wingo is so good. Bond and golden get spots. Would it be wingo bond golden cook? Moore seems to be good too. I wonder if someone transfers.
We're going to lose one or more receivers, it would take a helluva recruitment job to keep that room intact for '24 season. Running back room is going to be hard to keep as well.
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2 hours ago, pearlandhorn said:

Silas bolden isn’t even on campus yet either. It’s an embarrassment of riches.

I think Silas will be used as a better version of Keilan in 2 back sets. Sark is going to throw the house at teams every game with all the skill talent and overall speed we will have. We’re going to be so much faster than last year. 

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On 3/25/2024 at 1:23 PM, MuellerHorn said:

247: Spring Practice No. 4 Notebook: Sarkisian looking for 'thermostats' not 'thermometers' and much more

“Before myself or (special teams) Coach (Jeff) Banks could even say anything to him, it was like a flock of wolves that said, ‘That's not what we do. That's not how you do it.’ We’ve got a multitude of guys speaking up, and that’s a positive.”

@immamac I'm not a good thread title idea man but I would think that "Flock of Wolves" has to be involved somehow.

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3 hours ago, sith_horn said:

State of the Program | Leaders on Display, Quinn Ewers Praises Receivers -  On Texas Football

Bobby Burton, Gerry Hamilton and CJ Vogel sit down this week's edition of The State of the Program sponsored by Adam Loewy and the Loewy Law Firm. 

 

 

 

 

I heard 12 seconds, 12 inches, 12 feet, and 12 yards away from a national championship.

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On 3/25/2024 at 10:19 PM, tokamak said:

Think he means this guy. His film is real good. He can really move. There is one funny play where he gets blown 5 yards off the LOS but he still makes the tackle (1:20). Not sure I would have put that one in there.

https://247sports.com/Player/matai-tagoai-46136825/

 

On 3/26/2024 at 6:15 AM, Duane Moore said:

Gerry was talking about him over the weekend.  Says he’s real underrated and looks like one of the best HS prospects at LB in the country. 

I like this guy’s tie collection.

 

7 hours ago, sith_horn said:

State of the Program | Leaders on Display, Quinn Ewers Praises Receivers -  On Texas Football

Bobby Burton, Gerry Hamilton and CJ Vogel sit down this week's edition of The State of the Program sponsored by Adam Loewy and the Loewy Law Firm. 

 

Bobby was giving off a major Don Zimmer vibe in this video. 

image.jpeg.ded4637439df9328be3d72c20c4bab26.jpeg

 

Total doppelgänger!

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10 hours ago, ousux said:
13 hours ago, utexas8 said:
So what does that mean about the WR spots since Wingo is so good. Bond and golden get spots. Would it be wingo bond golden cook? Moore seems to be good too. I wonder if someone transfers.

We're going to lose one or more receivers, it would take a helluva recruitment job to keep that room intact for '24 season. Running back room is going to be hard to keep as well.

This logic made more sense before the NIL era. I’m not saying a guy or two won’t walk in the WR room or the TB room, but all of the guys we all would really want to stick would be walking away from life-changing money and real playing time. 

Now, if Savion Red walks or whoever is at the back of the WR line that I forgot was on the roster (is Cain still here? Niblett maybe?), sure. Frankly, Red leaving won’t surprise or bother me and, looking at the data, I don’t think that would bother the coaches either. 

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1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

This logic made more sense before the NIL era. I’m not saying a guy or two won’t walk in the WR room or the TB room, but all of the guys we all would really want to stick would be walking away from life-changing money and real playing time. 

Now, if Savion Red walks or whoever is at the back of the WR line that I forgot was on the roster (is Cain still here? Niblett maybe?), sure. Frankly, Red leaving won’t surprise or bother me and, looking at the data, I don’t think that would bother the coaches either. 

I'm sure you have more info on this than I do, but I'm going to be very pleasantly surprised if we don't lose at least 1 and possibly 2 WR that we really want to keep and that will cause major consternation among fans. Not going to name names since I'm just speculating, but it's not that hard to figure out who I'm talking about (it ain't Ryan Niblett).

Guys might be saying they're happy on March 28 and truly mean it, but our roster and depth chart presents a big juicy opportunity for anyone in the country looking for a guy to plug in and play big snaps this fall. "See what you can get in the mix at Texas, or come be our #2 guy right here and now" is a strong pitch.

I dunno. I'm a pessimist at heart, so maybe I'm just overthinking it.

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10 hours ago, 6th Street said:

Will be interesting to see the rotation at DE between Burke, Sorrell, Moore, Finkley, Simmons, Vasek, Tapp, Akana, and Walton. 


Finkley flashed last year and I thought that he might be ready this year but you've got to think that Simmons, Sorrell, Moore and Burke are going to be there and we're hearing great things about Walton, too.  We're running out of snaps. Finkley would start on almost any team.

It's an embarrassment of riches, though I'm not embarrassed.

 

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Hopefully, PT is the only issue related to possible transfers. NIL $$$ should be our wheelhouse, and we should not be losing that battle. Bottom line, if Sark says "let's keep this guy", the wallets open up. 

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4 minutes ago, Hornius Emeritus said:


Finkley flashed last year and I thought that he might be ready this year but you've got to think that Simmons, Sorrell, Moore and Burke are going to be there and we're hearing great things about Walton, too.  We're running out of snaps. Finkley would start on almost any team.

It's an embarrassment of riches, though I'm not embarrassed.

 

Finkley is a good player and he got better late in the season, but he has a real ceiling on his physical attributes due to his length. He is a good player to come in and spell a starter, but I bet Vasek and/or Tapp passes him with a strong spring. He also plays school though, so who knows if he would leave. The other guy I am a little concerned about is Billy Walton. The staff loves the guy, but with Simmons and Moore coming in, I wonder how many snaps he actually gets.

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Simmons and Moore are the best pure pass rushers

Finkley gets pushed around a little too easily.

Akana was highly recruited but at 215 lbs needs another real year of S&C.

Walton and Tapp are total unknowns. 

Burke is solid, Sorrell looks maxed out and is not a pass rushing threat

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22 minutes ago, Tex Long said:

Hopefully, PT is the only issue related to possible transfers. NIL $$$ should be our wheelhouse, and we should not be losing that battle. Bottom line, if Sark says "let's keep this guy", the wallets open up. 

Texas NIL for football is at the top of the heap. That said, being strategic with capital allocation will always be in focus. If another program comes along and goes absolutely insane with an offer to a player, Texas will remain disciplined. That's about the only way something careens sideways somewhere on the roster. 

Corporate NIL continues to grow in opportunities as well, and that will only continue to benefit a few programs, with Texas being a big one. That benefit ultimately makes luring entrenched stars away from a place like Texas basically impossible.

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8 minutes ago, 6th Street said:

Simmons and Moore are the best pure pass rushers

Finkley gets pushed around a little too easily.

Akana was highly recruited but at 215 lbs needs another real year of S&C.

Walton and Tapp are total unknowns. 

Burke is solid, Sorrell looks maxed out and is not a pass rushing threat

Burke is beyond solid. He's really good and his best football is ahead of him. He's only played football for about 5 years now...

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27 minutes ago, 6th Street said:

Simmons and Moore are the best pure pass rushers

Finkley gets pushed around a little too easily.

Akana was highly recruited but at 215 lbs needs another real year of S&C.

Walton and Tapp are total unknowns. 

Burke is solid, Sorrell looks maxed out and is not a pass rushing threat

Tapp has been developing nicely, and keeps growing. It would not surprise me if they move him over to Jack behind Sorrell. Akana seems to me to have been a bad take. 215 lbs and the guy is almost 21. I doubt he ever really sees the field. 

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52 minutes ago, Hornius Emeritus said:


Finkley flashed last year and I thought that he might be ready this year but you've got to think that Simmons, Sorrell, Moore and Burke are going to be there and we're hearing great things about Walton, too.  We're running out of snaps. Finkley would start on almost any team.


 

You are drastically overrating Finkley. He’s undersized and doesn’t have great explosiveness. He’s a solid backup, but he’s not starting at any program that has hopes of sniffing the playoff. He could probably start at low end P5 schools or G5 schools. 

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Insider team notes: Thursday - On Texas Football

 

Spoiler

The Longhorns are not practicing today, but will return to the field Friday for practice. 

So on this off day for the team, thought it would be a great time to deliver a few notes OnTexasFootball has picked up in recent days. 

* Trey Moore has been talked about the top/best pass rusher on the team in some circles already. That's because he has both finesse and power moves with twitch. What hasn't been talked about as much is his ability to be effective in the run game. One area he has impressed early on is his ability to set the edge. 

* Freshman Wardell Mack has made positive impressions at cornerback due to his advanced understanding of press coverage from a technical standpoint. He does some things naturally in press coverage that will help him maximize long term. 

* Left guard Neto Umeozulu was said to have had his best run of practices at Texas leading up to the Sugar Bowl. That began the last week of the regular season too. The spring thus far, it's been more of the same. Consistency in the film room and on the field. 

* Colin Simmons is showing the ability to be disruptive in spurts without being assignment sound. All of that is expected through a few spring practices as an early enrollee. His ability to create some chaos in the backfield is evident. 

* Ryan Wingo has been talked about plenty already. The continued theme OTF is hearing is a real skill set with ball skills. 

* Andrew Mukuba was mentioned on Monday by Steve Sarkisian. OTF was told he is a "savvy" player that has picked up the Texas playbook very smoothly. Texas is very happy with Mukuba in coverage, and the willingness to be physical. 

* Brandon Baker and Daniel Cruz may not be mentioned as much the first couple of weeks of spring practice due to the experienced depth and left guard battle, but Texas is very pleased with the two early enrollee OL's. Both are good in the OL room, and are proving to be keepers on the field out of the gate. 

* Freshmen safeties Xavier Filsaime and Jordon Johnson-Rubell have shown physicality early on. Filsaime has been talked about more in that manner early on, but JJ-R has also answered the that call. Both are said to be purposeful players that have flashed at both safety and in special teams thus far. 

 

 

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Of all those 

12 hours ago, 6th Street said:

Will be interesting to see the rotation at DE between Burke, Sorrell, Moore, Finkley, Simmons, Vasek, Tapp, Akana, and Walton. 

It’s a lot of good to very good guys, but I think the only strong NFL prospect is Simmons, imo. Size, strength, speed, agility needed to stick in the nfl. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

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11 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

Of all those 

It’s a lot of good to very good guys, but I think the only strong NFL prospect is Simmons, imo. Size, strength, speed, agility needed to stick in the nfl. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

You are a harsh critic, man. There are 3-4 NFL guys at a minimum in that group. Burke will get drafted if he stays healthy and continues his development. Several of Tapp, Vasek, Sorrell and Akana are candidates. Whichever one(s) of them develop and get plenty of tape will at least get a cup of coffee, if not much more. They're all really young still besides Sorrell and Moore. If Moore puts up big numbers at Texas, he's a late round pick or UFA that will at least make a practice squad. 

I could see both white boys getting their shit together and winding up being valued at the next level. They have the frames and feet for it. 

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We are definitely better off at the position than we’ve been in a long time. I don’t mean to sound like I’m complaining about the position. I’m pretty happy with where they are at DE. And yes I’m sure a few of those guys will get drafted or a look in the nfl. 

I just don’t think any but potentially Simmons are likely to be an Ossai, or a multi-year player. Of course I’ve been unenthusiastic about Burke since the beginning and I’ve been proven spectacularly wrong there. Let’s hope he keeps getting better and I’m wrong about all of them. 

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Dbeasy said:

We are definitely better off at the position than we’ve been in a long time. I don’t mean to sound like I’m complaining about the position. I’m pretty happy with where they are at DE. And yes I’m sure a few of those guys will get drafted or a look in the nfl. 

I just don’t think any but potentially Simmons are likely to be an Ossai, or a multi-year player. Of course I’ve been unenthusiastic about Burke since the beginning and I’ve been proven spectacularly wrong there. Let’s hope he keeps getting better and I’m wrong about all of them. 

Ossai was essentially a LB in college, you can't compare him to Burke in terms of college production of tackles IMO. Ossai was used more like we are using Ant Hill....that would probably be the better player to draw Ossai comparisons to. 

 

Burke, as a sophomore, had  5.5 sacks last year which is a half a sack more than Ossai had his sophomore year. 

I think Burke will have more sacks this season than he did last year. If Burke gets 6 or more sacks he will tie or pass Ossai in career sack production. Ossai finished his Texas career with only 11.5 sacks. 

Edited by BurntOrange&White
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58 minutes ago, Red Five said:

Our bust rate has become very small. We essentially have about 85 guys we don’t want to lose. I can remember back when that number was more like 25.

And about 20 of those 25 were guys who hadn’t played a snap of college ball yet. 

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1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

You are a harsh critic, man. There are 3-4 NFL guys at a minimum in that group. Burke will get drafted if he stays healthy and continues his development. Several of Tapp, Vasek, Sorrell and Akana are candidates. Whichever one(s) of them develop and get plenty of tape will at least get a cup of coffee, if not much more. They're all really young still besides Sorrell and Moore. If Moore puts up big numbers at Texas, he's a late round pick or UFA that will at least make a practice squad. 

I could see both white boys getting their shit together and winding up being valued at the next level. They have the frames and feet for it. 

What do you think the chances are that we have Moore for 2 years?

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  • immamac changed the title to 2024 Spring Practice to Fall Camp Thread - Who’s a JAG now?
3 hours ago, 6th Street said:

Simmons and Moore are the best pure pass rushers

Finkley gets pushed around a little too easily.

Akana was highly recruited but at 215 lbs needs another real year of S&C.

Walton and Tapp are total unknowns. 

Burke is solid, Sorrell looks maxed out and is not a pass rushing threat

lulz

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Quote


I think Colton Vasek has a real shot at contributing this year. While the path to the field is not necessarily a walk in the park, he has looked great in spring ball so far. He is lengthy, athletic and can bend. I think there is more athleticism here than Ethan Burke and the frame continues to build. Buy stock now.

If only a stubbed toe didn't land him on the sidelines for 7 months

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6 hours ago, 6th Street said:

Simmons and Moore are the best pure pass rushers

Finkley gets pushed around a little too easily.

Akana was highly recruited but at 215 lbs needs another real year of S&C.

Walton and Tapp are total unknowns. 

Burke is solid, Sorrell looks maxed out and is not a pass rushing threat


Not that I needed another data point but suggesting Sorrell, who has improved every year he has been at Texas is maxed out is yet another data point in a long list that proves you do not know what the fuck your are talking about. 

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