We are *FAR AS Ffffffffff* away from having the OL (and DL) we need. It started in 2006 & 2007 when we actually had some decent recruits, but a lot of transfers and injuries... then 2008 on was... terrible, as you will see. Why, because we've recruited and/or developed terribly. If Sark is going to win, he's going to have to do what that tweet says... for the next 5 years.
Pour yourself a water and get on down with the "analysis" of our OL signees for the last 15 years, and notice what it takes to build a good OL.
2006 - THREE. two good takes and one bad take... but all left the program within a year.
J'Marcus Webb - started as a freshman, then transferred to Navarro JC. Can't recall - grades or weed? NFL Player
Buck Burnett - kicked off the team for being an overt racist. Sells windows
Roy Watts - transferred to UH after his freshman year as a redshirt. NFL Player.
2007 - FOUR: good takes. one transfer. one bust. two NFL picks.
Tray Allen - 5 star. No 11 high school prospect in the nation. Always injured and considered one of the biggest busts of all time for it.
Michael Huey - 4 year OG. Captain. NFL Draft.
Aundre McGaskey - played a few games in 2008. Transferred.
Kyle Hix - 4 year player. NFL Draft.
2008 - TWO: piccardwtfisthisshit.jpg - two good kids who graduated. this was the beginning of the end. how is this your OL recruiting class?!?!
Mark Buchanan - barely saw the field.
Luke Poehlmann - 275 pound OT? Sure. OK. He played. JAG
2009 - FOUR: One player. 3 career backups.
Mason Walters - 3 year starter. Very good.
Thomas Ashcraft - backup. grad xfer to SMU. meh.
Paden Kelley - (RIP) good kid who graduated. backup/rotational. JAG
Garrett Porter - good kid who graduated. backup/rotational. JAG
2010 - TWO: We got an OG and a C and that's it?!?!? At least they were good at playing football.
Trey Hopkins - #1 ranked OG in the nation. Was a very good player. UFA. Still in the league.
Dominic Espinosa - Very good player. 3 year starter... blew his ankle out as a Sr... first game in Strong's first season.
So... Let's take a look.... in the 5 seasons starting 2006, we took 15 OL and got:
5 starters on the OL.
5 Xfers
5 guys that were "guys"
This is why Mack Brown started struggling... only good OL we had were Walters, Hopkins, Espi.. and Hopkins and Espi in 2010... they were young guys. That (and "POWER RUN GAME!!!!) is how you go 5-7 after going to the BCS championship the prior year...
2011 - FIVE: 1 Good OG. 2 Average at best. 1 injury bust. 1 injury ending career. No depth from 2008, 2009... the tsunami is pulling back...
Sedrick Flowers - High 4 star... 5 years in program / 2 year starter. Above average to good player.
Garrett Greenlea - injured after one game or something or other... done.
Josh Cochran - was a starter at OT for 2 season... shoulder injuries ended his career as a Junior.
Marcus Hutchins - 5 year player that started his Jr season, but not his Sr season... contributor, but JAG.
Taylor Doyle - 5 year player / 2 year starter at C. Average. Acceptable until Espinosa was ready to take over.
2012 - FOUR: CHARLIE WICKLINE IN DA HOUSE!!!! 3 dudes played a handful of games and got Wicklined when he got here... One solid Juco transfer starter. At this point, we didn't know we were really in trouble down the road... but that's how it goes.
Kennedy Estelle - Started 8 games as a Soph. Smoked weed every day. Suspended as a Junior. Strong/Wickline Xfer.
Curtis Riser - redshirted. one year as backup. xfer
Camrhon Hughes - Tore his ACL in HS. Played 6 games as a RS-SO, then xfer.
Donald Hawkins - juco transfer. started 2 seasons. All Big 12. NFL then CFL.
2013 - FIVE: 4 out of 5 players xfer'd. Thanks, Perk. But now we are in a world of hurt. Depth is non-existent...
Darius James - played 6 games. Xfer.
Kent Perkins - 4 year player. 3 year starter. 2nd team all Big 12. NFL then CFL
Jake Raulerson - in the words of Luka, "YOU'RE TOO SMALL!!!" xfer.
Rami Hammad - never played a snap. Xfer to BU and became a stalker.
Desmond Harrison - big Juco xfer... barely played in his one season. xfer. NFL
2014 - THREE: Let's only take 3 OL that will probably never play...
Terrell Cuney - Played in 12 games in 3 seasons. JAG. Good kid Shoplifter who graduated...
Alex Anderson - barely saw the field. JAG. Good kid who graduated.
Elijah Rodriguez - 5 year... contributor. injured. one year starter. All Big 12 HM. Average.
2015 - SIX: OK! Somebody recognized and at least tried to start building some depth, but when you have to start 2 FR-HS, that means you're not good... and the rest of the dudes were non-factors. 2 starters.
Patrick Vahe - 4 year starter. All Big 12 HM (3x). Freshman AA. Very good, but not great.
Connor Williams - All Big 12 2T (injured), All American, All Big 12 HM, Freshman AA. 2nd round pick (coming off injury). NFL Starter (still).
Brandon Hodges - Juco transfer in... started 9 games.... grad transfer out (after academic struggles)
Buck Major - never played. medical retirment.
Garrett Thomas - Played in one game. Quit.
Tristan Nickelson - JUCO xfer. Depth. Played 3 years. Average to JAG.
2016 - SIX... Let's try again... six recruits and one is just now starting make any impact in 2021!!! 2 starters, 1 depth, 2 xfers, 1 medical
Patrick Hudson - played 2 games. injured. medical retirement.
Jean Delance - played 2 games. xfer to UF where he is a 3 year starter as a Sr. and their 'most athletic blocker'. (dammit.)
JP Urquidez - 3 year JAG. Xfer to Texas State.
Denzel Okafor - 6 seasons in program. Starter last season and this season... until he blew out his knee (dammit). Above average... maybe.
Tope Imade - 6 seasons in program. Depth. starter only because Okafor is down. Average.
Zach Shackelford - 4 year / 40 game starter... Pre-Season AA, All Big 12 1T, All Big 12 2T, All Big 12 HM & Freshman AA. Very good player.
So... in the 2nd six seasons of recruiting since 2006, we've had eight full-time starters. The rest were xfers or JAGs... that's six years of wandering the desert at OL. What do you notice? I'll tell you what I notice: on average, it takes us SIX OL to get TWO decent starters. Most guys will become JAG/depth/xfer. If you only get a couple of JAGs out of each class, and nothing else, you CAN NOT WIN FOOTBALL GAMES in the future. We're in the future now. Let's return to the program.
2017 - TWO: Two craps. But wait... Ah-Ha!... something worked. We DEVELOPED two (3 star!) guys into starters! Maybe there is hope!
Samuel Cosmi - 4 years in program. Freshman AA, Big 12 Offensive FOY HM, All Big 12 2T, Big 12 OL of the year HM, All Big 12 1T, Current NFL
Derek Kerstetter - 5 years in program. 5 year Covid starter. All Big 12 HM (Sr). Current starter. Very Good player.
2018 - FIVE: players again... Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. We did get two starters out of this group... but did we really get two starters out of this group? Angilau can stay.
Junior Angilau - 4 years in program. 3 seasons as a starter. Current Starter. Has 3 more years of eligibility.
Reese Moore - never saw the field. xfer to Abilene for this season
Rafiti Ghirmai - 4 years in program. depth/ST. JAG. Currently 3rd on depth chart at C.
Mikey Grandy - JUCO - medically retired in 2018.
Christian Jones - pisses me off. 4 years in program. 2 year starter(!?!?) Current starting LT. PROVE ME WRONG MFER!!!!
2019 - FOUR: players (3 HS + 1 JUCO) - 2 transfers, 1 injury, 1 illness... no contributions. ZERO.
Tyler Johnson - started Alamo Bowl... but not on the depth chart. "Mystery illness". Please develop, former elite OL prospect.
Isaiah Hookfin - has played 1 game. Shoulder surgery... Please recover and develop.
Javonne Shepherd - xfer to JUCO
Willie Tyler - juco xfer in... Syracus xfer out.
2020 - FOUR players. One starter and some depth... TBD
Jake Majors - Current starting C. Above average so far. Should develop well.
Jaylen Garth - project. not on depth chart. TBD.
Logan Parr - Currently backup C. TBD.
Andrej Karic - Currently backup LT. Needs to get bigger stronger faster. TBD.
2021 - TWO players. transitional. nothing to see here.
Hayden Conner - Current backup RG. Has good size and (apparent) temperament for development.
Max Merril - I will be pleasantly surprised or really sad if he ever plays.
And there you have it. The last five years produced another five starters so far... We're still way behind.
This is why we don't win. You can't recruit / develop / produce FIVE STARTERS EVERY FIVE YEARS and win. At a minimum, we need two guys every year to develop into GOOD starters over time, and the depth guys to be guys who are on their way to becoming starters. We cannot have placeholders, because injuries, transfers, lack of judgment, whatever will zap a guy or two every year.
I don't know who has the NIL deal for the OL, but if we want to win, we might want to put a machine in place to get some guys into the portal (coming and going) and get the best OL in the NATION - not just Texas - from teams that are balanced on offense.
Thank you for attending my SnacksTalk.
That is fucking depressing.