Texas O-line talk

[LTtxfan 49173]

Need to keep improving... hopefully better run blocking vs tech this week.  🤘

[Red Five 40853]

This will be Campbell's spot some point, soon. 

[Hookem2147 21209]

Was there anything in Campbell's game in high school that seemed like it would need some work before he started at the next level?

I remember people saying Banks was pretty polished and had no glaring weakness. Campbell obviously bulldozed a lot of people in the run game, was there any worries about his pass pro?

[Had Enough 2081]

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

Angilau was going to be the Center don’t you remember.

[Nope 3114]

4 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Was there anything in Campbell's game in high school that seemed like it would need some work before he started at the next level?

I remember people saying Banks was pretty polished and had no glaring weakness. Campbell obviously bulldozed a lot of people in the run game, was there any worries about his pass pro?

They had a pretty run heavy offense so there aren’t many highlights of him in pass pro (similar to Angilau coming out of HS)

[futureman 22453]

Hutson is unacceptable. 

[Burt Macklin 19020]

16 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Was there anything in Campbell's game in high school that seemed like it would need some work before he started at the next level?

I remember people saying Banks was pretty polished and had no glaring weakness. Campbell obviously bulldozed a lot of people in the run game, was there any worries about his pass pro?

Campbell is an elite athlete, but his technique needed a ton of work. It doesn’t surprise me he’s not ready yet since he wasn’t an EE. People have been overhyping Campbell’s ability to play right away just based on his 5 star ranking, but he was always going to need a lot of development. He might be able to be better than Hutson right now, but the fact they out in Parr when Hutson went out makes me think they’re trying to avoid playing Campbell so he can work on his technique. Some guys need time and if you play them early, their muscle memory kicks in and they revert back to bad technique, which slows their development.  

11 minutes ago, Had Enough said:

Angilau was going to be the Center don’t you remember.

Not if Hutson was playing RG at this level. 

[Had Enough 2081]

Not if Hutson was playing RG at this level. 

I was mostly being a smartass regarding Majors/Angilau as it seemed many assumed that would be the change. I’m not saying it wouldn’t have been the case, but it was likely for a hedge/flexibility going into the season. Converting to Center is not exactly an easy transition.


Your point on Campbell seems correct. If they felt he was ready, he’d be on the field, at least some. His longer term projection is more important than play him now. Different position but early returns on JaTavion are very positive after allowing him to acclimate.

[Bodacious Bevo 3584]

1 hour ago, Hookem2147 said:

Dunlap's OL grades and thoughts

  Reveal hidden contents

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

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)
 

OL Snaps-per-Disruption Allowed (2022)
 

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

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.

 

Dunlap's grading scale is pretty weird. But from following it for a couple years, my general interpretation is that <74 is bad, 74-77 is average, >77 is good, > 79 is great. 

Also, I have not been in agreement with the calls to replace Hutson with Campbell, but those clips are damning. I rewatched and saw him lose his balance a bunch but I hadn't counted it. 8 is pretty horrendous. The coaches seem to like Karic - maybe there's an option with him rotated in somewhere. I trust Flood to put the best lineup on the field though.

[LTtxfan 49173]

 

[Codaxx 5731]

10 minutes ago, Had Enough said:

I was mostly being a smartass regarding Majors/Angilau as it seemed many assumed that would be the change. I’m not saying it wouldn’t have been the case, but it was likely for a hedge/flexibility going into the season. Converting to Center is not exactly an easy transition.


Your point on Campbell seems correct. If they felt he was ready, he’d be on the field, at least some. His longer term projection is more important than play him now. Different position but early returns on JaTavion are very positive after allowing him to acclimate.

The only thing odd is they are not moving people around. IF Cam Williams was truly threatening for Jones's job. I would attempt to slide one of them over to guard. 

[Red Five 40853]

I want to see us try Cam at that guard spot, but I think that's at least partially because it would look really funny. 

[Had Enough 2081]

Wasn’t Hutson’s best game versus Bama thus far? If so, the rationale makes sense. First game jitters - understandable. Best game versus best opponent shows upside. Then falters again.

Now if he comes out slow versus Tech, then maybe you’ll see some movement.

It is a bit surprising there hasn’t been more rotation. That seems more intentionally than not though.

[Atticus 3973]

We don’t want Parr out there. Unless one of the other freshmen step it up (Agbo, Robertson, Neto), we’re gonna have to live with Hutson’s growing pains this year. 

Hopefully it pays off big next year. 

[gmr548 16576]

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

That Angilau figure feels weird because there were plenty of times he got lost on stunts. That is happening far less this year, if at all, even though this year’s interior isn’t moving shit in the run game. I suppose it factors in disruptions of the running snaps as well, which is where Hutson is really getting embarrassed.

[Hookem2147 21209]

45 minutes ago, Atticus said:

We don’t want Parr out there. Unless one of the other freshmen step it up (Agbo, Robertson, Neto), we’re gonna have to live with Hutson’s growing pains this year. 

Hopefully it pays off big next year. 

I'm sure if there was a long term injury at guard they would think about putting Campbell out there. If a guys helmet pops off during a game or he's forced to miss a few plays, Parr seems like the guy.

[Codaxx 5731]

18 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

That Angilau figure feels weird because there were plenty of times he got lost on stunts. That is happening far less this year, if at all, even though this year’s interior isn’t moving shit in the run game. I suppose it factors in disruptions of the running snaps as well, which is where Hutson is really getting embarrassed.

Last year Texas ran it 57% of the time, which was 111 more rush attempts vs Pass attempts (not including sacks).. So rushing is the larger part of the grade. 

Hutson is 20% of the OL and he is responsible for 50% of the sacks, 50% of the hits on a QB, 60% of the pressures, 44.4% of the stuffs (run game), and 17% of the TFLs. He is been bad in every aspect. 

Edited September 22, 2022 by Codaxx

[Funk Doctor Spock 12190]

It just shows how fucking bad ass Bijan and Rojo truly are. We're really, really, really going to miss those two next season. Brooks is good, but after that we have no clue how good Blue really is/can be, so I'm hoping Baxter can come in ready. He looks the part, but he holds the ball like a loaf of bread because of his long freakish arms. Choice has to fix that pronto

[Hookem2147 21209]

2 hours ago, Spider2YBanana said:

It just shows how fucking bad ass Bijan and Rojo truly are. We're really, really, really going to miss those two next season. Brooks is good, but after that we have no clue how good Blue really is/can be, so I'm hoping Baxter can come in ready. He looks the part, but he holds the ball like a loaf of bread because of his long freakish arms. Choice has to fix that pronto

Well I’m sure the hope next year with us returning 4 of 5 starters is that the OL will take a big steps forward in both run and pass blocking. Will make easier for Brooks/Blue/Baxter/etc.

 

[Atticus 3973]

9 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Well I’m sure the hope next year with us returning 4 of 5 starters is that the OL will take a big steps forward in both run and pass blocking. Will make easier for Brooks/Blue/Baxter/etc.

 

4 of 5? Jones can come back if he wants to. If he's playing like this or better next year i imagine big things are gonna happen.

[Hookem2147 21209]

4 minutes ago, Atticus said:

4 of 5? Jones can come back if he wants to. If he's playing like this or better next year i imagine big things are gonna happen.

Yeah, Jones has a covid year but if he keeps playing like this he doesn’t have a reason to use it. He’ll be a draft pick. NFL teams will like his measurables and he’ll have the improved tape to back it up. 
 

I would assume the thought process is Williams is preparing to take over for Jones in 2023 and then we will sort out the interior based off the development of Campbell/Hutson/Majors/Conner.

[Funk Doctor Spock 12190]

2 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

Well I’m sure the hope next year with us returning 4 of 5 starters is that the OL will take a big steps forward in both run and pass blocking. Will make easier for Brooks/Blue/Baxter/etc.

 

True, but got damn the balance and the will power of Bijan and Rojo will be missed so badly. Fuck I hate thinking about it. 4 years and 3 years have gone by too fast for those two to already be going to the NFL. At least we loved them from the beginning and never thought about transferring. They're gifts 

[futureman 22453]

5 hours ago, Spider2YBanana said:

It just shows how fucking bad ass Bijan and Rojo truly are. We're really, really, really going to miss those two next season. Brooks is good, but after that we have no clue how good Blue really is/can be, so I'm hoping Baxter can come in ready. He looks the part, but he holds the ball like a loaf of bread because of his long freakish arms. Choice has to fix that pronto

I bet choice brings in a transfer who wants to be Quinn’s RB1 on our way to the championship. 

[Funk Doctor Spock 12190]

21 hours ago, futureman said:

I bet choice brings in a transfer who wants to be Quinn’s RB1 on our way to the championship. 

Next year? We'll already have Baxter, Brooks, and Blue hoisting the trophy with Quinn 

[futureman 22453]

34 minutes ago, Spider2YBanana said:

Next year? We'll already have Baxter, Brooks, and Blue hoisting the trophy with Quinn 

those guys may be great but they aren’t bijan. 

[LTtxfan 49173]

Wow, not a good game thru 3 qtrs vs tech

[hookem48 4687]

gets Hutson the fuck off the field, period

[satyanash 14481]

Horrible day for the interior O-line. We told ourselves it was just the strength of Bama's front, but the line looks no better than last year's. Hutson blew so many blocks.

[Kevin O’Shea 279]

How is Hutson playing over DJ Campbell? 

[LTtxfan 49173]

Interior o-line was horrible vs tech... 

They fuckin' sucked 

[hookem48 4687]

RoJo had 9 carries for 15 yards and got 8 yards on one carry, that's 7 yards on the other 8 carries. Bijan making Barry Sanders moves is the only reason we can run at all. 

[936horn 910]

How is it possible that we’ve had an absolutely fucking trash offensive line for, literally, 13 straight years now? How have we not figured this out?

[JFKFC 4878]

14 hours ago, satyanash said:

Horrible day for the interior O-line. We told ourselves it was just the strength of Bama's front, but the line looks no better than last year's.

I think this is a very unfair criticism of the players. The interior o-line is garbage, but we all knew this would happen. The blame falls on Sark. We all knew that our o-line would be a combination of very poor players and true freshmen. 

For 2 off-seasons, Sark completely ignored the transfer portal for o-linemen. Baylor didn't - and won the conference. KU didn't - and they will beat us for a 2nd year in a row. If we had picked up a couple of 1-year rentals on the o-line that were just average players, it isn't unreasonable to think that Quinn doesn't get rocked against Bama and this season is radically different. Even if that didn't prevent Quinn's injury, then we would have certainly run up the gut better against Tech.

Sark deliberately chose this o-line path and it will lead us to another disappointing season. 

[hookem48 4687]

1 minute ago, 936horn said:

How is it possible that we’ve had an absolutely fucking trash offensive line for, literally, 13 straight years now? How have we not figured this out?

we've recruited 6 year projects until this last cycle, hopefully we're figuring it out but Hutson ain't ready.

[hookem48 4687]

1 minute ago, JFKFC said:

I think this is a very unfair criticism of the players. The interior o-line is garbage, but we all knew this would happen. The blame falls on Sark. We all knew that our o-line would be a combination of very poor players and true freshmen. 

For 2 off-seasons, Sark completely ignored the transfer portal for o-linemen. Baylor didn't - and won the conference. KU didn't - and they will beat us for a 2nd year in a row. If we had picked up a couple of 1-year rentals on the o-line that were just average players, it isn't unreasonable to think that Quinn doesn't get rocked against Bama and this season is radically different. Even if that didn't prevent Quinn's injury, then we would have certainly run up the gut better against Tech.

Sark deliberately chose this o-line path and it will lead us to another disappointing season. 

if Quinn doesn't jump in the fucking air he doesn't get drove into the ground, he made a high school move and it bit him in the ass.

[hookem48 4687]

11 hours ago, Kevin O’Shea said:

How is Hutson playing over DJ Campbell? 

him just standing in the way would seem to be an improvement.

[Codaxx 5731]

15 hours ago, satyanash said:

Horrible day for the interior O-line. We told ourselves it was just the strength of Bama's front, but the line looks no better than last year's. Hutson blew so many blocks.

It’s shocking how this OL turned. If you told me that Texas was getting good play from their Tackles, I would have predicted 2k+ rushing yards from Bijan. Not being able to fill the guard spots with a decent options is pretty crazy to me, though I have been wondering why Campbell or Williams have not shown up at guard in a game (more Williams). 

[Atticus 3973]

10 minutes ago, JFKFC said:

I think this is a very unfair criticism of the players. The interior o-line is garbage, but we all knew this would happen. The blame falls on Sark. We all knew that our o-line would be a combination of very poor players and true freshmen. 

For 2 off-seasons, Sark completely ignored the transfer portal for o-linemen. Baylor didn't - and won the conference. KU didn't - and they will beat us for a 2nd year in a row. If we had picked up a couple of 1-year rentals on the o-line that were just average players, it isn't unreasonable to think that Quinn doesn't get rocked against Bama and this season is radically different. Even if that didn't prevent Quinn's injury, then we would have certainly run up the gut better against Tech.

Sark deliberately chose this o-line path and it will lead us to another disappointing season. 

keep fucking that chicken bud.

We lost our senior guard to injury before the season even started. Hutson should have been depth this year. Conner hasn't been great but Angilau likely would have been at least as good as him.

You're saying we should have brought in some random starter quality OL to come here as depth? Seems legit. Maybe we could get Eli Manning to walk onto our team too.

This team looks different with a QB that has pocket presence and can threaten every part of the field. The known issues of the team are having a greater impact due to injury.

[hookem48 4687]

1 minute ago, Codaxx said:

It’s shocking how this OL turned. If you told me that Texas was getting good play from their Tackles, I would have predicted 2k+ rushing yards from Bijan. Not being able to fill the guard spots with a decent options is pretty crazy to me, though I have been wondering why Campbell or Williams have not shown up at guard in a game (more Williams). 

spring ball would have been such a plus, obviously Hutson understands what to do better than them but just can't do it.

[Codaxx 5731]

7 minutes ago, hookem48 said:

spring ball would have been such a plus, obviously Hutson understands what to do better than them but just can't do it.

He is been an issue from game 1. At some point you need to prepare someone to fix the issue. The fear of someone making a some metal errors isn’t as big when the starter is consistently struggling. 

[hookem48 4687]

1 minute ago, Codaxx said:

He is been an issue from game 1. At some point you need to prepare someone to fix the issue. The fear of someone making a some metal errors isn’t as big when the starter is consistently struggling. 

Hutson needs to grab and hold and if it gets called oh well, there were plays where he looked like it was a walk through or something, not using his hands at all.

[Codaxx 5731]

8 minutes ago, hookem48 said:

Hutson needs to grab and hold and if it gets called oh well, there were plays where he looked like it was a walk through or something, not using his hands at all.

At this point it looks like he is not ready to play physically. It doesn’t mean he won’t be a good player at some point, but right now he is over-matched 

[LTtxfan 49173]

37 minutes ago, Codaxx said:

It’s shocking how this OL turned. If you told me that Texas was getting good play from their Tackles, I would have predicted 2k+ rushing yards from Bijan. Not being able to fill the guard spots with a decent options is pretty crazy to me, though I have been wondering why Campbell or Williams have not shown up at guard in a game (more Williams). 

Coach Flood has to get better interior line play or else Ewers may get crushed...

[MonkeyDoughnut 10232]

Some of this goes back to Sark calling what he knows too. He's got to understand what he HAS. He's got to help them out. Middle Oline not great, don't run up the middle every play.  Try some stretch plays, screens, quick slants, reverses. Something to not just let the D just fire and go.

[Codaxx 5731]

Just now, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Some of this goes back to Sark calling what he knows too. He's got to understand what he HAS. He's got to help them out. Middle Oline not great, don't run up the middle every play.  Try some stretch plays, screens, quick slants, reverses. Something to not just let the D just fire and go.

They ran OZ and Bijan usually had to cut it up early, because of penetration. I am missing the Jet sweep on lay though. I can’t remember seeing much of it this year. Perhaps he is worried about negative plays with Card. Just trying to keep on schedule 

[JFKFC 4878]

1 hour ago, hookem48 said:

if Quinn doesn't jump in the fucking air he doesn't get drove into the ground, he made a high school move and it bit him in the ass.

In that play, Quinn was immediately chased out of the pocket buy a guy who rushed right up the gut and our crap interior o-line couldn't block him. Quinn spun out only to find Dallas Turner closing on him. Quinn had to elevate just to through the ball over Dallas Turner and out of bounds. 

51 minutes ago, Atticus said:

keep fucking that chicken bud.

We lost our senior guard to injury before the season even started. Hutson should have been depth this year. Conner hasn't been great but Angilau likely would have been at least as good as him.

You're saying we should have brought in some random starter quality OL to come here as depth? Seems legit. Maybe we could get Eli Manning to walk onto our team too.

This team looks different with a QB that has pocket presence and can threaten every part of the field. The known issues of the team are having a greater impact due to injury.

You are the strangest guy on this board and it isn't close. 

[hookem48 4687]

Just now, JFKFC said:

In that play, Quinn was immediately chased out of the pocket buy a guy who rushed right up the gut and our crap interior o-line couldn't block him. Quinn spun out only to find Dallas Turner closing on him. Quinn had to elevate just to through the ball over Dallas Turner and out of bounds. 

ask him if he'd jump in the air again

[Codaxx 5731]

The infamous 4th down call. Hutson gets blown up. I believe Sanders has the MLB and ups blocking nobody as Banks destroys the DE. 

[ClubWhatever 12129]

3 minutes ago, Codaxx said:

The infamous 4th down call. Hutson gets blown up. I believe Sanders has the MLB and ups blocking nobody as Banks destroys the DE. 

It wouldn’t have mattered if Hutson had just stalemated his guy.  There are 8 black helmets within 2 yards of the ball and a 9th coming downhill at the snap.  

[Codaxx 5731]

4 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

It wouldn’t have mattered if Hutson had just stalemated his guy.  There are 8 black helmets within 2 yards of the ball and a 9th coming downhill at the snap.  

If you call the fact that the DT hit Rojo 1 yard behind a stalemate, than sure the guy that tackled Rojo didnt matter. If Hutson doesnt get blown up and Sanders picks up the MLB, it is Rojo vs the Safety at the first down maker with nobody between them and the endzone. 

Edited September 26, 2022 by Codaxx