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Texas will be losing major offensive contributors to the NFL Draft, but it won’t be impossible to replace their production.
Texas will feature new faces regarding the wide receiver room in 2024, with all their top receiving targets leaving for the 2024 NFL Draft. Continue reading “Looking ahead at Texas’ 2024 receiving room”
Texas should return an outstanding linebacker tandem after Gbenda announced plans to play opposite Anthony Hill another season.
The Texas linebacker room went from incomplete to dangerous on Tuesday night. Veteran linebacker David Gbenda announced his return for another season in Austin at linebacker.
Though unheralded, Gbenda has been a reliable player in his time at Texas. Albeit, it came in limited playing time until 2023. Over the past season, the upperclassman became not only a starter but a playmaker for defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski’s defense.
The skilled player amassed 50 tackles, 1.5 sacks and two pass breakups in his first season as a starter. One of the smartest, most assignment sound linebackers in college football played an integral role in Texas’ nationally top five run defense.
The Longhorns now have a strong linebacker unit led by Gbenda at the position. Rising sophomore Anthony Hill Jr. put up 67 tackles and five sacks in his freshman campaign. There’s still room for the team to add a portal linebacker, but the unit looks solid as constructed. We could see Morice Blackwell take a production leap similar to that of Gbenda in 2024.
We felt particularly good about Texas’ edge position next year. Certainly, the secondary could be vastly improved with Terrance Brooks and Malik Muhammad growing into their potential at corner. They will have impressive defensive back options who have seen playing time in Andrew Mukuba, Michael Taaffe, Derek Williams Jr., Gavin Holmes, Jaylon Guilbeau and Austin Jordan.
In concert with the above thoughts and Alfred Collins and Vernon Broughton returning on the defensive interior, Gbenda helps fortify the Texas starting defense. If the Longhorns can add a defensive tackle through the portal, you’re looking at a top five team in 2024.
Jobs Not Finished! #LLJH #LLJE pic.twitter.com/wvB2au96af
— DAVO🏟 (@d_aavviidd) January 10, 2024
Texas has depth at every position.
When Steve Sarkisian first took the head coaching job at Texas the roster lacked depth at just about every position. Continue reading “Steve Sarkisian raves about Texas’ depth ahead of 2023”
“I don’t know if Texas would trade its … quarterbacks, receivers and offensive line with (any team). Maybe Ohio State or Georgia.”
Bobby Burton has high hopes for the Texas roster. It is deep. The Longhorns’ depth separates it from Big 12 opponents.
Burton said the following about the depth of talent present on the 2023 roster.
“I don’t know if Texas would trade its combination of quarterbacks, receivers and offensive line with any school in the country. Maybe Ohio State or Georgia. That’d be it. Those three positions are stocked differently than any other on the roster in my opinion.”
We feel confident in wide receiver, offensive line and tight end. After a poor season, our confidence in starting quarterback Quinn Ewers continues the more we see and learn this offseason.
The receiver room is elite. The offensive line in pass blocking is perhaps as good as any in the country. At tight end, Ja’Tavion Sanders is as good as or better than anyone not named Brock Bowers. But it’s the depth at receiver, offensive line and quarterback that makes Texas so formidable.
Phil Steele’s position rankings have everything to do with development and proven on-field play.
We have a winner for the most tired phrase of the offseason: Texas is always the most talented. Following Phil Steele’s position rankings reveal, its the only line to which naysayers can turn.
Texas always has the talent. It’s the cover of truth surrounding a false premise. When discussing what the team returns from last year, talent isn’t really even the point.
The most notable takeaway some have from the read was that despite being the No. 1 ranked team at every position by Phil Steele, Texas always has the talent. I can’t recall Texas being ranked first at every position group before, although it could have happened. The point is, the proven talent across the board is not normal for Texas. It usually is squandered, as borne out by past coaching regimes. The Longhorns have matchup problems, not just talent.
The reality is, the Longhorns are being ranked by the players that have already played well on the field, not just the ones with five-star recruiting ratings. And the team has far more proven players than any other Big 12 squad.
One could argue the team’s best player is former three-star linebacker Jaylan Ford. That’s not recruiting ranking talent. That’s simply a well developed player. He’s one of many on the roster.
Fan Nation’s Killer Frogs shared some other fan favorites of Texas outsiders’ favorite lines. Among the other curious talking points was that Texas big money donors will somehow have a hand in the Longhorns’ on-field product this season. It’s unclear how that will supposedly occur. That talking point is almost always vague and without any tangible substance.
Texas is set to make a statement. It’s not because it is a five-star recruiting machine, but because assistant coaches Kyle Flood, Terry Joseph, Jeff Choate and Jeff Banks have made it a player development machine. There’s a difference between talent and developed talent. It should be evident in the on-field product this season.
Inside Texas reported on Thursday that tight end Jahleel Billingsley is no longer with the program.
Justin Wells of Inside Texas reported on Thursday that tight end Jahleel Billingsley is no longer with the program. Continue reading “Report: Texas TE Jahleel Billingsley no longer with the program”
College Football News recently ranked the top 10 players on Texas’ roster ahead of the 2022 season. A couple names may surprise you.
Second-year head coach Steve Sarkisian certainly strengthened Texas’ roster this offseason. Continue reading “Texas’ top 10 players entering the 2022 season per College Football News”
There are some fantastic jersey number selections in here. How do we feel about Justice Finkley sporting No. 1?
Spring football is quickly approaching. Several transfers and early enrollees have been acclimating themselves to college life in Austin over the last few weeks. Continue reading “Texas releases 2022 spring football roster, jersey numbers of newcomers”
Ryan Watts is expected to compete for a starting role immediately.
The Longhorns seemed to have struck gold in the transfer portal once again after landing defensive back Ryan Watts on Wednesday.
The former Ohio State Buckeye and Texas native decided to look for a new home after being a contributor, not a full-time starter in Columbus. It is a move that also brought him closer to home.
Watts has the potential to come in and snatch a staring spot from the get-go, as he has the size, speed, and athleticism that every defensive coordinator and defensive back coach dreams of. He measures in at about 6-foot-3, and reportedly has 4.5 speed. Watts has also put on enough muscle to give receivers difficulty at the line of scrimmage in press coverage.
Texas’ defensive back group was going to look different regardless of how well they did last year, or in their case, how poorly they did. Texas lost three of the starters in that group, and will need new players to come in and make an impact whether they be recruits or players who were backups last season.
Here is how I think Texas’ secondary could look for Week 1 next season. Keep in mind that this is for the season opener, not necessarily what Texas will choose to go with the majority of the season. True freshman Terrance Brooks could work his way into a starting role very quickly.
According to 247Sports Team Talent Composite, there’s no excuse for Texas’ underwhelming 2-2 record.
After suffering back-to-back conference losses in questionable fashion, there are plenty of concerns surrounding the Texas football program as they begin their second bye week on the schedule. Continue reading “Texas ranked as one of the most talented rosters in the country”
