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20 hours ago, Bodacious Bevo said:

On rewatch with the broadcast angle, I see that Ebiogbe (#92 coming off the right side; Turner is guarding JWhitt) is a bigger problem than I thought. I stand by liking the play design and call though. Not sure about the OL assignments but I think someone made a mistake to allow 2 guys unblocked. And maybe that mistake was just Bijan slipping. It's Justin Ebiogbe coming off the right side. I had kind of missed that, so an immobile card may have been done for regardless. Healthy QBs have a shot against a DL re-accelerating after pausing for the play fake, but maybe Card was done for. 

On Bijan's pass pro: 7:44, 9:04, 9:56, 13:47, 23:41, 28:30, 31:17, 45:08, 49:56 (the play in question) at this link https://youtu.be/cgofO6tB3AU

 

Those are all of Bijan's pass pro reps that I saw. He was flawless. His improvement over last year is amazing. 7:44 (against Anderson), 13:47 (against Anderson), 23:41, and 45:08 are especially impressive. 

Also, I now definitely think the tripping incident was on Card. Ewers has the same fake at 9:04. It should be right foot back, left foot forward, fake. Sets you in throwing position. Card moves his right foot first but doesn't get it back. Not blaming him because he was injured and I thought he played pretty well overall. 

This can't be true. IT told me Card's footwork is the stuff of legend.

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IT-Coach Venables

I’m calling banner games for the OL in pass protection despite a few breakdowns. When one considers the front four Bama brought most thought they would break school records against our fresh meat youngsters. Well, that dog didn’t hunt. We might have lost the LOS to penetration at times due to backside edge chasing us down. The ability to keep the ball (QB) was lost when both our QB’s were injured. We could have slowed down pursuit long enough for Bijan to plant cut with just the threat of a keep.

Christian Jones (70) played as exciting as I have witnessed from him. He even came to Sanders (0) defense after a late hit penalty. Kelvin Banks (78) had a solid game. He was a tinch hesitant when he couldn’t decide who to block but he always found the correct guy. With experience he will be firing out confidently—pass blocking superb. Jake Majors (65) fought the good fight but was out-bigged a few times. Snaps and line calls were positive. Hayden Conner (76) seems to be the steadying force for Banks—he can be seen communicating on most every play. Solid performance.

Cole Hutson (54) is my pick for fun to watch award this week. Hutson can be seen pulling on a variety of assignments and he wins (my opinion) most of those battles against Bama’s edge’s on those pulls. Must mention Andrej Karic (69-92) taking two jobs every week. This week it was mostly TE and he couldn’t change the LOS but he did block his man. Gunnar Helm (85) is a good player that probably will develop into a excellent player before he’s called it a career. I really like this O-Line and more is coming.

https://www.on3.com/teams/texas-longhorns/news/coach-v-texas-longhorns-football-is-fun-again/

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Dunlap's deep dive on the OL for the Bama game

Spoiler

Deep Dig OL Grading Scale (each snap by each player is graded as its own independent event)

Deep-Dig-2021-OL-GRADING-SCALE.jpg

 

 


OL Grades (Alabama)

LT Kelvin Banks - 66 snaps

2 run-stuffs allowed
DEEP DIG GRADE: 79.39

LG Hayden Conner - 66 snaps

1 illegal blindside block
DEEP DIG GRADE: 77.42

C Jake Majors - 66 snaps

2 run-stuffs, 1 QB hit, 1 TFL allowed
DEEP DIG GRADE: 75

RG Cole Hutson - 66 snaps

1 QB hit, 1 QB pressure, 1 run-stuff allowed
1 false-start penalty
DEEP DIG GRADE: 75

RT Christian Jones - 66 snaps

1 QB hit, 1 QB pressure allowed
1 pin
DEEP DIG GRADE: 76.82


OL Grades by Week (2022)

Deep-Dig-2022-OL-Grades-by-Week-1-1.jpg

 


OL Snaps-per-Disruption Allowed (2022)

Deep-Dig-2022-ol-s_dis-2.jpg

 


2022 OL Snaps-per-Disruption Allowed Versus Historical Precedent (Last 9 seasons)

Deep-Dig-2022-Historical-Comparison-thru-2.jpg

 

 


Quick Hits and Thoughts

It's really hard to believe that coming into Week 3 of the 2022 Longhorns season, we're trying to talk ourselves into excitement over Charles Wright's debut as a starter ... or in the best-case scenario, the return of Hudson Card who will still not be operating at 100%.

What a difference two weeks make. And during those two weeks, have we ever learned a lot about this football team? When Quinn Ewers went down at the end of the first quarter versus Alabama, we couldn't have been more deflated. Ewers was 9-of-12 to start the game and was just coming off throwing his longest pass of the day (46 yards) on a dime before suffering the game-ending injury to his non-throwing shoulder-area. Sark said earlier this week that Ewers was "day-to-day" but that was, of course, a lie. It will be weeks before we see Ewers again, and our only hope is that he can pick up RIGHT where he left off, because the beginning of the Alabama game felt like the beginning of the Quinn Ewers era in earnest. The arm strength, the arm angles, the timing and the touch were all coalescing in ways we'd hoped for, but had yet to see with our own eyes. It was a bittersweet pill (which was admittedly more bitter than sweet) to have to swallow, given the circumstances.

And, also extremely importantly, we've learned about the offensive line.

Moving forward into the future, focus on the OL in recruiting must always be at peak intensity. You cannot sustain a winning culture in the trenches at any major school if you do not treat line recruiting like a life-or-death endeavor. You don't need to be Texas circa November of 2021 to be so worried about OL recruiting that it gives you diarrhea and makes you wake up in the middle of the night with cold sweats.

Because that is about the future and you always have to plan for it.

But what about today? At this moment, for the first time ... (ever)? We're not overly concerned with the play of the Texas offensive line. The unit will be fine in 2022 with upside to actually be good barring major injuries. Elite (or even VERY good) will be a stretch, given the deficiencies of some of the current starters, but even those "weak link"-type players (Namely Cole Hutson and Jake Majors) bring an adequate floor.

This is a state of being that we have not had the opportunity to chronicle through this, the 10th season of the Deep Dig.

Christian Jones is basically the Christian Jones that we've always known with a little more intensity in the run-game and a little less time spent on an island in pass-pro given the nature of Texas' slide protections. The way the average viewer can tell on their own that Christian Jones is much more comfortable and fits so much better on the right side of the line than on the left (as he was last year) can be answered by this question: how much have you noticed him?

We're going to guess you really haven't if you're like the 95% of people who watch the game of football by following where the football goes. Your eyes used to be drawn to the left side of the Texas OL, though, away from your primary focus, because Christian Jones was getting put in a blender. Your eyes haven't drifted to the right side of the Texas OL this season in such a way, have they? It's truly surreal to us, especially given the types of athletes that No.15 and No.31 are off the edges for Alabama. Jones didn't play a perfect game versus the Tide, but it was certainly acceptable and even above-average.

Cole Hutson resides at the very bottom of the snaps/disruption-caused historical log through 2 games and we'll say these few things:

1) He apparently got the best pass-protection grade of the OL unit via Pro Football Focus this week, and we'd like to know what genius put Hutson's performance over that of Kelvin Banks (who is off to the hottest start of any OL of the last decade -- against those same two monsters we referenced when speaking about Jones in Anderson and Turner), Hayden Conner (who didn't allow any disruption, although he did have a penalty called against him), or even a moderately improved senior in Jones, himself?

2) Hutson's not a bad player and the sample of snaps is too small to take too much away from that number only 100-ish total plays. He will not stay at such a low snaps/disruption number all season just like Hayden Conner will not stay at such an absurdly high number.

3) He's not a good enough player to be thought of as above being replaced.

DJ Campbell is on the roster behind Hutson and brings better upside and more athleticism. Hutson can improve, but if his backup improves at his same speed, there is zero reason not to try out Campbell at Hutson's right guard spot.

We will admit that Hutson's struggles do come mainly in the run game, and Jake Majors, for his part, does very little to help the guy out. Texas ran a lot of zone-runs to the left side of the offensive line versus Alabama, because the two guys you want to run behind are obviously Banks and Conner. With this said, for those plays to work, Hutson has to get his backside cutoff blocks or players at good schools like Alabama are just going to pursue down the line of scrimmage and really gunk up the play by the moment the running back is just coming into his cutback.

Hutson has a hard time establishing play-side leverage against DLs lined up inside of him and toward the play-side. He doesn't get his body across well and when he does, he often gets his feet tangled and goes to the ground. Jake Majors needs to be much better in helping with that before bailing to leave for the second level, because, the fact is, Majors ain't getting to the second level a whole heck of a lot of the time, anyway. If we were his coaches, we'd make him run hills for every time he left Hutson stranded to go after a linebacker and never even touched the linebacker.

But here we are, nitpicking certain plays and certain techniques within certain schemes that become more pressing and clear when juxtaposed with actual good play. AGAINST ALABAMA, no less.

There have been times over the last decade where analyzing this offensive line would just make us throw our hands up in the air and say "they all suck, it's all terrible." We wouldn't even know where to start.

At least for now, though, Texas has its starting point offensively. It's time to stop worrying about the Texas offensive line until we are given reason to believe otherwise.

It's a good thing the worry-warts out there have a QB injury crisis burning hot to occupy their fevered minds in the meantime.

 

 
 
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On 9/12/2022 at 2:25 PM, HtownHorn said:

Banks got confused becase Bama blitzed the CB next to Anderson too. Banks has to pick up the guy closest to the QB, which was Anderson. Bijan not tripping would have blocked the blitzing DB, if he didn't run himself out of the play. The backside DE is almost never blocked in these type of concepts, so him coming free is not a surprise. I still wouldn't have called the play considering Card is hobbled and you have a free DL by design that he would have to potentially avoid, not to mention Card freezes when he has to make quicker decisions like this one a lot more than he completes the play.

Agree on Banks. The real problem is this play relies on the threat of the run, which Bama completely disregards. Anderson and Turner don’t even slow down for a second. Even if Banks gets Anderson, Turner is coming and the blitzer on the edge is coming free and fast. Card is going to have to get this out fast and with someone in his face either way 

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28 minutes ago, Codaxx said:

Agree on Banks. The real problem is this play relies on the threat of the run, which Bama completely disregards. Anderson and Turner don’t even slow down for a second. Even if Banks gets Anderson, Turner is coming and the blitzer on the edge is coming free and fast. Card is going to have to get this out fast and with someone in his face either way 

Turner was in conflict between Sanders and Whittington. That was the Bama DE that was unblocked, by design on the backside.

This is the same play, albeit with different personnel, that Texas scored against ULM.

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56 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

Turner was in conflict between Sanders and Whittington. That was the Bama DE that was unblocked, by design on the backside.

This is the same play, albeit with different personnel, that Texas scored against ULM.

Wrong name. It’s 91 playside DE, he does slow down a step though on review. The backside will have a free rusher also (Anderson or the Blitzer, whomever Banks doesn block). 

Edited by Codaxx
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Agree on Banks. The real problem is this play relies on the threat of the run, which Bama completely disregards. Anderson and Turner don’t even slow down for a second. Even if Banks gets Anderson, Turner is coming and the blitzer on the edge is coming free and fast. Card is going to have to get this out fast and with someone in his face either way 

The Greg Davis play. There might have been whole seasons where there was never a run threat to our playaction plays.
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Before going back to watch film, I think the interior missed a lot of assignments in the run game, especially in the first half. Can recall several instances where Conner and Hutson just missed blocks or failed to properly seal off their man. My question is if someone like DJ Campbell is going to be better balanced at both pass and run blocking to the point that he should get more time. How many snaps has he received this season?

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7 minutes ago, Sal said:

Before going back to watch film, I think the interior missed a lot of assignments in the run game, especially in the first half. Can recall several instances where Conner and Hutson just missed blocks or failed to properly seal off their man. My question is if someone like DJ Campbell is going to be better balanced at both pass and run blocking to the point that he should get more time. How many snaps has he received this season?

Campbell has only gotten like 3 snaps I think in the ULM game. There’s probably a reason he isn’t out there. If he was better balanced in run and pass pro he would probably be out there. They don’t seem to be afraid to play young guys.

Him and Cam Williams might be guys who need to bake in the oven a little bit longer before being ready. 

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8 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Campbell has only gotten like 3 snaps I think in the ULM game. There’s probably a reason he isn’t out there. If he was better balanced in run and pass pro he would probably be out there. They don’t seem to be afraid to play young guys.

Him and Cam Williams might be guys who need to bake in the oven a little bit longer before being ready. 

Maybe it’s a matter of regular vs. early enrolling. They should play in a few weeks if they’re more talented

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14 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

Speaking of Angilau, I wonder if they are going to push for him to return in 2023. Going to be interesting to see how things shake out if he does.

Maybe, I guess of the 7 2022 OL guys, Robertson might be the least likely to leave if he isn't on the two deep next year.

Got to think Parr, Merrill, Karic, and Goram-Welch are likely gone after this season.

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26 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

Maybe, I guess of the 7 2022 OL guys, Robertson might be the least likely to leave if he isn't on the two deep next year.

Got to think Parr, Merrill, Karic, and Goram-Welch are likely gone after this season.

Yeah, I agree.

The only starter who is for sure gone is Jones, so it’s going to be interesting to see how they shuffle things around if Angilau comes back. Williams seems like the obvious choice to slide in at RT but it will be interesting to see if they find a way to get Campbell in there somehow.

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12 hours ago, HtownHorn said:

Yes, the guards are manned by 1st year starters. It might take more than 3 games to get consistent play for them.

I get the fact that they will improve, but you cant whistle past the grave about either. Huston has been the worst OL on the year. The competition has not been great for 2 out of the 3 games. Think it comes down to the fact there isnt a single upper classmen available on the roster. It is a shocking turn of events that Texas has looked very solid at OT and struggled at OG. You would think Campbell, Williams, or Agbo would have the size to play guard competently (perhaps they lack the strength at this time). 

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On 9/18/2022 at 12:48 AM, Sal said:

Before going back to watch film, I think the interior missed a lot of assignments in the run game, especially in the first half. Can recall several instances where Conner and Hutson just missed blocks or failed to properly seal off their man. My question is if someone like DJ Campbell is going to be better balanced at both pass and run blocking to the point that he should get more time. How many snaps has he received this season?

I only noticed him in the 4th qtr against ULM

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6 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

Two of our best runs against UTSA came off RT with Jones and Sanders blocking next to each other. I think Sark is starting to identify what works. He's moving away from inside zone and getting more creative. 

I know what doesn't work: running left. We are terrible at it. 

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Dunlap's OL grades and thoughts

Spoiler

Deep Dig OL Grading Scale (each snap by each player is graded as its own independent event)
 

Deep-Dig-2021-OL-GRADING-SCALE.jpg




OL Grades (UTSA)

LT Kelvin Banks - 57 snaps

1 holding penalty
1 knockdown
DEEP DIG GRADE: 79.12

LG Hayden Conner - 57 snaps

1.5 TFL, 1 pressure, 1 run-stuff allowed
1 false-start penalty
DEEP DIG GRADE: 75.7

C Jake Majors - 57 snaps

1 illegal snap penalty
1 knockdown
DEEP DIG GRADE: 75.7

RG Cole Hutson - 56 snaps

2 pressures allowed, 1 run-stuff, .5 TFL allowed
DEEP DIG GRADE: 73.77

RT Christian Jones - 57 snaps

No disruption allowed
3 knockdowns
DEEP DIG GRADE: 80.21

Reserves

RG Logan Parr - 1 snap

No disruption allowed
DEEP DIG GRADE: N/A


OL Grades by Week (2022)

 

Deep-Dig-2022-OL-Grades-by-Week-1-2.jpg



OL Snaps-per-Disruption Allowed (2022)
 

Deep-Dig-2022-ol_dis-3.jpg



2022 OL Snaps-per-Disruption Allowed Versus Historical Precedent (Last 9 seasons)
 

Deep-Dig-2022-Historical-Comparison-thru-3.jpg





Quick Hits and Thoughts

The UTSA game was an interesting one to work on this week when evaluating the offensive line play.

Steve Sarkisian echoed our exact sentiment from this very column last week when addressing the media on Monday, saying that the best sign for the Texas offensive line (and, pretty obviously Christian Jones) was that you simply don't notice them as much during games this year. Most of the time when a casual fan is hyper-focused on what is happening with the OL, the situation is not a pretty one. It takes a lot to divert the eyes of someone following the football around the field of play to the trenches where the lower-profile (yet still critically important) battles are taking place. It was certainly the case this week with Christian Jones, who played the best game of his career.

Jones' move to right tackle has done wonders for his play in 2022. Of course, Kyle Flood deserves credit for continuing to develop and improve a player that many of us had written off as having plateaued in the mold of a Kent Perkins or a Denzel Okafor -- a player who had a high ceiling coming in and who played significantly during their career at Texas while we all awaited the moment the light would finally come on and they'd improve from being basically replacement-level to somewhere near the hypothetical potential foisted upon them from the beginning. At some point in each of these stories, a realization comes during the senior season that the light just isn't coming on and the player is who the player is, for better or for worse.

Well, Christian Jones ain't Christian Jones. Not anymore, at least not the one we thought we knew.

All of the sudden, he's sitting in first place in the snaps/disruption-allowed metric, above even guys like Hayden Conner, who (outside of a relatively down game versus UTSA) has made his bacon on staying clean, playing SMART, and, if nothing else, avoiding big mistakes.

Christian Jones got a better score this week in the Deep Dig than fellow OT Kelvin Banks. Normally, you'd say that of course a true senior should be scoring better than a true freshman in his grades from a game such as this, but that would ignore the fact that Banks has had the best start to his career of any OL in the history of the Deep Dig. Hell, he's had the second-best start to a season (PERIOD) among any player at any class-level outside of Sam Cosmi in 2019, the year he left for the NFL. Cosmi started out with an 82.07 against Louisiana Tech, a 79.52 against LSU and an 80,46 against Rice. Connor Williams in 2017 might have gotten off to a better 3-game start in the year he left early for the NFL had he played the first three games, but remember, Williams was hurt after the San Jose State game where he scored a 84.56 after starting the season with a 78.43 versus Maryland.

This is all to say that Banks is playing at a historic level, even though he's a freshman. Christian Jones playing at a level at or above him is something important and telling. The combined tackle play at Texas, if this holds up (BIG IF), will unequivocally be the best we have seen over the course of a season in the history of the Deep Dig, and would undoubtedly result in Christian Jones getting drafted in late-April of 2023. Whether it's signal or noise from Jones as a result of this outing is yet to be seen, though.

One aspect of the offensive line that is not as worthy of heaps of praise is the right guard spot and Cole Hutson. Again, we reiterate he is only a freshman and simply not a superstar like Banks. Hutson has good strength and motor, and is clearly a smart guy. Tough player. His issues with his balance need to be worked out though. Anyone who has ever played offensive line knows penalties like running hills, bleachers or extra sprints are likely to come in the practice after you lose your feet repeatedly in a game before finishing contact. You can't block from the ground.

Thanks to fellow maniacal basement-dweller, @Nash Talks Texas and his great YouTube game cut-ups, you can take a look for yourself to see what we're talking about:

Hutson lost his feet 8 times in this way versus UTSA. He played 56 total snaps, so that's once every 7 snaps. It can't happen.

WATCH the RG No.54

#1 (start at 1:27 if it doesn't take you there automatically)


#2 (start at 8:31 if it doesn't take you there automatically)


#3 (start at 8:40 if it doesn't take you there automatically)


#4 (start at 9:23 if it doesn't take you there automatically)


#5 (start at 9:35 if it doesn't take you there automatically - recipe for a chop-block penalty call)


#6 (start at 10:23 if it doesn't take you there automatically)


#7 (start at 44:43 if it doesn't take you there automatically)


#8 (start at 45:32 if it doesn't take you there automatically)


The good news for Texas is that we now have a better idea of the type of development that is to be expected under Kyle Flood and it's more reasonable than ever to bank on improvement from these young players on the margins as well as in areas where they are clearly struggling. Hutson's balance issues will have to be fixed. And even if they can't be, the other good news is that a guy who came into this class at a level at (or above) the perceived talent of Kelvin Banks in DJ Campbell happens to be lining up at right guard himself and is presumably waiting in the wings.

 

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2 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Yeah, 3 of the 5 seem to be average or better on snaps per disruption when compared to all OL graded over the last 9 years. Majors looks like he is slightly below average and obviously Hutson is dead last.

We might need to have a different baseline. Average based on the last 9 years of Texas OL play would be what most programs call dogshit. 

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4 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

2021 starting OL snaps per disruption allowed:

Jones- 23.4

Angilau- 41.1

Majors- 28.5

Okafor- 22.3/Imade- 31

Kerstetter- 35.8

 

2022 so far

Banks- 35.1

Conner- 29.1

Majors- 26.7

Hutson- 11.7

Jones- 35.4

 

 

TDLR; we miss Angilau

Yeah, damn. What a huge difference having him would make. Hopefully Hutson learns fast. 

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4 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

2021 starting OL snaps per disruption allowed:

Jones- 23.4

Angilau- 41.1

Majors- 28.5

Okafor- 22.3/Imade- 31

Kerstetter- 35.8

 

2022 so far

Banks- 35.1

Conner- 29.1

Majors- 26.7

Hutson- 11.7

Jones- 35.4

 

 

TDLR; we miss Angilau

I get that Hutson had the jump on everyone else in the class by enrolling early, but Campbell needs to replace him once ready

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