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Texas recruiting notes 2019


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42 minutes ago, UT Lawnghorn said:

No doubt, but I don't care nearly as much about Shepherd (and I don't think you do either based on your past comments).  Getting Bragg is the huge need spot. We could find a replacement for Shepherd, although probably not quite as good as him. If we were to miss on Bragg, I have no clue who would fill that spot.  We need a real C desperately.  

How would you (or anyone else who wants to weigh in) rank Johnson, Shepherd, Green, and Wilkins as tackle prospects? I know that some (most?) people view Green as having more long term upside at guard.

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12 minutes ago, tokamak said:

How would you (or anyone else who wants to weigh in) rank Johnson, Shepherd, Green, and Wilkins as tackle prospects? I know that some (most?) people view Green as having more long term upside at guard.

Wilkins is the best one, easily, imo. Great length and athleticism, has natural strength, just needs to be coached up, but it's not like he's a huge project. I think he'd be potentially startable in year two, and projects the best to left tackle of the bunch (although I subscribe to the line of thought that LT vs RT can be overstated). 

Johnson is a high floor guy who can play earlier, Shepherd is a high upside guy who'll be a on a longer developmental curve, like Jones and Moore. It's a matter of preference, I suppose. 

I've heard mixed reviews about Green this spring. He has a good anchor, and his feet are ok for tackle but would be great for guard. I heard from several people that his body was starting to look sloppy this spring, but apparently he's grown an inch or two over the last few months, which should give him a better chance at sticking at tackle; he actually might be the 6'5 he's been listed at for the last couple of years when he was actually more like 6'3 with a long wingspan. Can probably contribute in year one if absolutely necessary. He's probably #2 after Wilkins, but I'd put him at the top of a second tier with Johnson and Shepherd rather than at the top tier with Wilkins. 

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44 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

All accounts have Sanders being neutral with his players. He wants them to go somewhere in which they'll be treated right by the staff and get an opportunity to play. Who knows, though?

Ive always had the impression that Deion never cared about anyone but himself

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24 minutes ago, tokamak said:

How would you (or anyone else who wants to weigh in) rank Johnson, Shepherd, Green, and Wilkins as tackle prospects? I know that some (most?) people view Green as having more long term upside at guard.

 

4 minutes ago, Fud said:

Wilkins is the best one, easily, imo. Great length and athleticism, has natural strength, just needs to be coached up, but it's not like he's a huge project. I think he'd be potentially startable in year two, and projects the best to left tackle of the bunch (although I subscribe to the line of thought that LT vs RT can be overstated). 

Johnson is a high floor guy who can play earlier, Shepherd is a high upside guy who'll be a on a longer developmental curve, like Jones and Moore. It's a matter of preference, I suppose. 

I've heard mixed reviews about Green this spring. He has a good anchor, and his feet are ok for tackle but would be great for guard. I heard from several people that his body was starting to look sloppy this spring, but apparently he's grown an inch or two over the last few months, which should give him a better chance at sticking at tackle; he actually might be the 6'5 he's been listed at for the last couple of years when he was actually more like 6'3 with a long wingspan. Can probably contribute in year one if absolutely necessary. He's probably #2 after Wilkins, but I'd put him at the top of a second tier with Johnson and Shepherd rather than at the top tier with Wilkins. 

I haven't looked into Green and Wilkins a ton just because they've never been super realistic targets.    Fud is probably more informed on this than I am, and my rating is similar. 

From UT's perspective (and aggy for that matter), I"d put Wilkins first for sure because he's the best bet to be a great LT.  Like Fud said, he has all the measurables and movement skills you want. He weighs about 270 with a frame that will easily let him get to a good playing weight.  

Next, I'd probably put Green, but like Fud said, his height and weight have been all over. If I knew he had the frame and body to play RT, he'd be for sure second and close to Wilkins.  The best thing about Green is he's the least likely to bust, IMO, because he'll very likely make a great G even if RT doesn't work.

Johnson would be next for me. He didn't do any camps (which are especially helpful for seeing how quick a Tackle can move his feet), so there's just his hudl to look at. His sophomore film is much more informative than his junior because his junior only includes like 1 real pass pro play. There's more in his sophomore film.  Johnson looks like he'd be slow and plodding, but I was continuously impressed/surprised by his foot speed in pass pro and run plays where he gets to the second level. He has deceptively good feet combined with very good strength and size. He rarely loses in the run game. He had great technique for a sophomore and showed the same good technique as a junior. The one area he needs to improve is bursting out of his stance and rolling his hips. Right now, he stands up too straight and loses all his explosion out of his stance in the run game, even though he's still able to win battles at the HS level doing that. He looks to have the mobility and flexibility to learn this skill, as opposed to some other guys who just don't have the hip flexibility to do it.  Overall, I think Johnson isn't too far off from Green, but doesn't project to be quite as potentially dominant as Green. 

I'd put Shepherd in a tier solidly below the other three. He has a great frame and good feet, but his technique is terrible and he'd basically be starting from the ground up. His drop is bad and he stands straight up in run blocking every time. He could develop into a good tackle, but his development is far from a given, so he has the highest bust rate, IMO. 

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Per Hamm, here are the Texas targets visiting A&M this weekend (before the inevitable ride issues and ACT conflicts):

Shepherd

Gbenda

Stripling (not sure if we're really trying with him anymore, but I'll put him here anyway)

Jeffrey Carter

Demani Richardson

Leal

Dylan Wright

Hornsby (2020)

Zach Evans (2020)

Edited by Machinator
added Dylan Wright
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Wilkins is the best combination of frame, upside potential, current technique, and competitiveness. Elite talent and NFL frame. He's a level above Green and Johnson for me. 

Green has fantastic hands. His punch is so good and his ability to keep a counter move away from his body is really impressive. Elite as an OG. His weight/softness bothers me for sure, but the thing that bothers me more is how often he's out over his skis. His arms being so good and his ability to keep people off of him help hide that fact that he's often out of balance and will struggle with an experienced pass rusher. it's by far the thing that makes me feel like he is a guard. With a RS year and some S&C he could be a 3-4 year starter. He has very little bustability and in some schemes he'd be elite as a RT as well, but at Texas he's an OG, IMHO. 

Johnson. I feel alone in the world but I think he's actually got some LT potential though he'll probably be a RT long term. I love his lateral movement and ability to get and maintain leverage. (if you keep him from popping UP instead of out, which is 90% of these OL recruits) I will say if he gets to you, you are fucking blocked. He punishes and finishes. He might be some technique and a couple of years in the system away from playing. I think all OL should RS and after a RS year Johnson will be hard to keep off the 2 deep at RT. 

 

22 minutes ago, UT Lawnghorn said:

I'd put Shepherd in a tier solidly below the other three. He has a great frame and good feet, but his technique is terrible and he'd basically be starting from the ground up. His drop is bad and he stands straight up in run blocking every time. He could develop into a good tackle, but his development is far from a given, so he has the highest bust rate, IMO. 

 

Agreed, but I will say that I was stunned to see the bit of footage that I saw from the Opening in Houston because it's clear that he may not have worked on much else but he has worked hard on getting his butt down and staying in balance while moving laterally and backwards. He looked like a different guy and while he has a long way to go with technique that one change pushes his floor way up. It shows he's willing to work and make changes and if you've ever tried to change your natural backpedal, that's no easy feat. He's not ready to roll the way the other 3 here are at all, but he does have huge potential and it appears he might have the work ethic to reach it. 

 

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20 minutes ago, golfclap said:

Johnson. I feel alone in the world but I think he's actually got some LT potential though he'll probably be a RT long term. I love his lateral movement and ability to get and maintain leverage. (if you keep him from popping UP instead of out, which is 90% of these OL recruits) I will say if he gets to you, you are fucking blocked. He punishes and finishes. He might be some technique and a couple of years in the system away from playing. I think all OL should RS and after a RS year Johnson will be hard to keep off the 2 deep at RT. 

 

 

Agreed, but I will say that I was stunned to see the bit of footage that I saw from the Opening in Houston because it's clear that he may not have worked on much else but he has worked hard on getting his butt down and staying in balance while moving laterally and backwards. He looked like a different guy and while he has a long way to go with technique that one change pushes his floor way up. It shows he's willing to work and make changes and if you've ever tried to change your natural backpedal, that's no easy feat. He's not ready to roll the way the other 3 here are at all, but he does have huge potential and it appears he might have the work ethic to reach it. 

 

I'm with you on Johnson. His foot speed really is pretty good and he'll have good reach and a good base. I wish there was some camp footage of him, because it would be the easiest way to tell if he has the feet to hold up at LT. Or even better, I'd kill for some practice footage of him going up against Ossai last year.

Good point on Shepherd. It really comes down to work ethic and coachability with him. He's got the raw tools.  He still got beat bad many times at the Opening, but that was an aspect of his game he improved on.

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I think Shepherd has more physical upside to untap from transitioning from his high school S&C, coaching, and even nutrition to a good college program that other OL prospects we're in on, which intrigues me. I feel much better about Shepherd, Jones, and Moore types with Hand doing the developing than other OL coaches we've had. 

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1 minute ago, tokamak said:

So is Shepherd basically a rich man's Reese Moore? Is that fair?

Depends on how highly you value Reese Moore, and also Christian Jones. They all have future high draft pick ceilings, but have a long way to get there. 

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1 hour ago, Machinator said:

Per Hamm, here are the Texas targets visiting A&M this weekend (before the inevitable ride issues and ACT conflicts):

Shepherd

Gbenda

Stripling (not sure if we're really trying with him anymore, but I'll put him here anyway)

Jeffrey Carter

Demani Richardson

Leal

Dylan Wright

Hornsby (2020)

Zach Evans (2020)

May lose Gbenda to A&M this weekend. E.J. reported last week that A&M was surging for him.

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1 hour ago, Machinator said:

IT is saying the same thing. They seem to think we've backed off a bit. Who knows.

I'd say Texas has backed off of Gbenda. I hope they're evaluating like crazy in state. If Bru McCoy, Rian Davis, and Spencer Lytle are the top of Orlando's big board, that's going to be a tough row to hoe. 

As Fud has repeatedly pointed out, I think Tongue will move to LB after spending a year at WR. Christian Harris would be a darned good LB, but he's a long shot at best. 

Higgins would be probably be a 5 star type recruit at LB, but he won't consider another position. 

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I have no idea what we're doing at LB beyond Floyd and Davis, with the knowledge that we're recruit Bru and Tongue as ATH who would probably start out at WR in practice before moving somewhere else.

I say this not in a sense of foreboding, but from plain ignorance.

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1 minute ago, Machinator said:

I have no idea what we're doing at LB beyond Floyd and Davis, with the knowledge that we're recruit Bru and Tongue as ATH who would probably start out at WR in practice before moving somewhere else.

I say this not in a sense of foreboding, but from plain ignorance.

Bru wanting to play WR is hilarious to me. Other than Mike Evans, what NFL WRs look like this?

https://247sports.com/Player/88120/ProfilePhotos/Image-Title-8151567?View=Full

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Machinator said:

IT is saying the same thing. They seem to think we've backed off a bit. Who knows.

IT didn't use the exact term "backing off", they said we weren't pushing as hard. Which is less significant because in general, we haven't been pushing our targets to commit as much as A&M has to theirs. Which makes it seem like it's more of a general trend with the staff's approach and not reflecting on Gbenda in particular.

Earlier in the year there was thought Gbenda could be an imminent commitment, before the announcement then came that he would be slowing him recruitment down.

Edited by satyanash
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48 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Bru wanting to play WR is hilarious to me. Other than Mike Evans, what NFL WRs look like this?

https://247sports.com/Player/88120/ProfilePhotos/Image-Title-8151567?View=Full

He looks like an Olympic-Level Decathlete.

...maybe a bit better at the Sprints, Spring Hurdles, Long Jump, Shot, Discus, Javelin, & Pole Vault, and not as good at the Marathon & High Jump.

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1 minute ago, Machinator said:

Re Demani Richardson: TFB is saying that someone in his corner who really doesn't want him to flip from A&M, which is why his plans to visit keep falling through.

I wonder if that person would perhaps lose a certain something if Demani doesn’t commit to A&M

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7 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Re Demani Richardson: TFB is saying that someone in his corner who really doesn't want him to flip from A&M, which is why his plans to visit keep falling through.

Did one of his relatives all of a sudden get a new Trans Am?

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