Texas O-line talk

[LTtxfan 49167]

Just watched one Texas OL clip in below video... rushing Quinn up the middle is one way to get him out of rhythm.  Our interior line continuing to improve throughout this year is a huge key for success this season.

Bama 3rd-&-long ALL NIGHT vs Texas! • Film Study ('23 week-2)

[Mitch Cumsteen 18547]

1 hour ago, LTtxfan said:

 

Anybody remember how terrible he was against Kansas in 2021? Unbelievably, that was his FOURTH!?!!? fucking year in the program where he had apparently been taught next to nothing about playing offensive line by Derek Warehime and Herb Hand.

Look where Jones is after two years with Flood now. He's going to play in the NFL. What a fucking disservice our past coaches did to our players. This is what player development looks like. 

[Hookem2147 21208]

Just now, Hookem2147 said:

OL grading and breakdown from the Bama game (via Dunlap)

  Reveal hidden contents

Skill Player Snap Counts and Game-by-Game Percentages of Offensive Snaps (2023 Through Week 2)



***please note that exact snap-count numbers may differ from other sources at times, as the Deep Dig does not count plays as offensive player snaps that are blown dead due to penalty, punts, extra points, field goals, spiked balls, victory formations, kneel-downs, etc.***

Personnel-Grouping Frequency Overall and by Game (2023 Through Week 2)



Tight End Total Snap Counts and Alignment Data (2023 Through Week 2)



Team Target Share By Week (2023 Through Week 2)



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



OL Grades (Alabama)

LT Kelvin Banks - 70 snaps
1 QB hit allowed
1 holding penalty
DEEP DIG GRADE: 78.71

LG Hayden Conner - 70 snaps
2 run stuffs, 1 QB pressure allowed
DEEP DIG GRADE: 76.57

C Jake Majors - 70 snaps
No disruption allowed
1 pin block
DEEP DIG GRADE: 77.86

RG DJ Campbell - 34 snaps
No disruption allowed
1 knockdown
DEEP DIG GRADE: 79.53

RG Cole Hutson - 36 snaps
1 TFL, 1 QB pressure allowed
1 knockdown
DEEP DIG GRADE: 74.83

RT Christian Jones - 70 snaps
1 run stuff allowed
2 pin blocks
DEEP DIG GRADE: 79.43


OL Grades by Week (2023 Through Week 2)



OL Snaps-per-Disruption Allowed (2023 Through Week 2)



2023 OL Snaps-per-Disruption Allowed Versus Historical Precedent (Last 11 seasons)




QUICK FINAL THOUGHTS

Just like that ... Texas fans finally had it. Maybe it was just for one night, and maybe, just maybe, it is something that could stick around a while.

An offensive line that finally looked just like the ones they'd longed over for years. The ones they'd point to at Wisconsin or Iowa or Ohio State and bemoan, "Why can't we have one like THAT?!" while pointing at the television as Ron Dayne or Ezekiel Elliott whizzed through wide-open run lanes. It was not a perfect game for the Texas big men versus Alabama, but none of those offensive lines you dreamed about before were ever really *perfect*, either. They were just awesome, and effective, and nothing they were doing could be perceived as having a negative effect on what the offensive game plan was for the given team. Just like Texas on Saturday night. Against Alabama. Future NFL players everywhere.

And, given the monumental concerns that Texas fans had about the offensive line's interior against Rice (a team that Houston found out last week is truly no total pushover), it felt so ... sudden.

It's like the old Ernest Hemingway quote about how you go bankrupt: "gradually, then suddenly."

We're not here to say the Texas offensive line has gone bankrupt, or even finds itself in any similar sort of peril. What made us think about this line from The Sun Also Rises was of a completely opposite viewpoint. Let us explain: The Texas OL, collectively, only allowed seven (7) total acts of disruption and/or penalties versus Alabama.

Alabama! Seven?! They allowed 16 just last week versus ... Rice? Now only seven versus Alabama?

Last year, the disruption + penalties allowed counts for the Texas OL were: Baylor (12), Kansas (11), TCU (10), KSU (9), OSU (11), ISU (6), OU (11), WVU (9), Tech (13), UTSA (10), Alabama (13) and ULM (11). Only one game last season did the Texas offensive line allow less disruption than it did versus No.3 Alabama, at night, in Tuscaloosa. Don't even get us started on the 2021 season -- Sark and Kyle Flood's first in Austin -- when Texas played another early season SEC opponent (a much less talented one than 2023 Alabama) in Arkansas. On that night in Fayetteville, the number was 20.

The development of this offensive line group has occurred gradually, and no better case can be made for that than looking at the unprecedented ascension of Christian Jones. When Kyle Flood got to Texas, Jones was viewed by many (some of us here at the Deep Dig included) as soft and needing to be replaced. Through that season, he improved. In 2022, more gradual steps forward occurred; so much so that by the end of the year, it was somewhat of a surprise that he elected to return for another year at Texas. Enter 2023, where you have Senior Bowl Director Jim Nagy tweeting about how Jones is exactly what you want to see when looking for an NFL tackle and that "soft" ex-soccer player who always had a little something special in his feet is putting dudes in the dirt and falling on them with all his weight, playing with a nasty, nasty streak and completely demoralizing the opposition with pin blocks. It's been a slow bake, but -- with all due respect to Kelvin Banks -- Jones has played the best of any Texas OL this season when looking at things objectively from solely an on-field performance standpoint. He's very likely not to sustain his level of efficiency in not allowing disruption, but the historical chart above shows you where his current play would place him if he, somehow, were able to keep this up through the season.

And Kelvin Banks has been Kelvin Banks. He hasn't had a game yet where he popped up into the 80s like we saw so much last season, but those days will come. Those are your two NFL guys. They will both play in the league. Which brings us to the Deep Dig Grading Scale shown above. Stick those two in the NFL-level. Hayden Conner has not really taken leaps and bounds in his play, but has remained a solid and steady presence. He will improve when and if he focuses on how to shore up his power base when coming into engagement laterally in open space. We said last week that one thing that we could pin our hopes on with Jake Majors is that he's very smart and has traditionally been an asset with picking up and passing off stunts. We saw that versus Alabama as Majors allowed no immediate disruption, and, like the rest of the OL, committed no pre-snap penalties. If we're getting that 76.5-or-so level of play from those guys, the scale says it all: if an OL has an entire unit operating at a level in that 76.5 range and up, there will be no hindrance to an offensive game plan. If your baseline, your weakest link that along the OL you are often only as strong as, is elevated up into that range while your higher-end players operate in their respective ranges, the offensive line is set and is a massive strength of your entire team.

Which brings us to what happened suddenly to make this all come together: DJ Campbell. The night-and-day comparison from Rice to Bama with Campbell (who only played about half the snaps, ceding the rest to the less effective Cole Hutson; who, admittedly had some really nice plays himself mixed in with more frequent not-so-good ones) was shocking. We worried about Campbell's development arc after the Rice game that saw him made to look pretty terrible. We suggested patience with him, and the extension of some grace as the line could have come in with some rust. Campbell has always shown a rare, rare ability to move bodies in the run game. Indeed, it was where he was best versus Alabama, but his anchor through engagement in pass protection and his awareness in tandem with both Majors and Jones was just so vastly improved. A sudden entrance of a player with Campbell's gifts - playing at a level above previous expectation - inserted into a unit playing with 1) the elevated baseline discussed; and 2) among two surefire future NFL players is going to have a predictable outcome, and that was what we saw on Saturday.

It was coming along slowly until it wasn't.

Onward to Wyoming.

 

Cross-posting from another thread^

[Codaxx 5731]

10 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Just watched one Texas OL clip in below video... rushing Quinn up the middle is one way to get him out of rhythm.  Our interior line continuing to improve throughout this year is a huge key for success this season.

Bama 3rd-&-long ALL NIGHT vs Texas! • Film Study ('23 week-2)

Interior rush kills every Qb, especially a pocket passer. 

[Huckleberry 32851]

25 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

Anybody remember how terrible he was against Kansas in 2021? Unbelievably, that was his FOURTH!?!!? fucking year in the program where he had apparently been taught next to nothing about playing offensive line by Derek Warehime and Herb Hand.

Look where Jones is after two years with Flood now. He's going to play in the NFL. What a fucking disservice our past coaches did to our players. This is what player development looks like. 

He's gone from someone who the fans couldn't wait to see leave to a guy who should get an absolutely huge ovation on Senior Day. Sticking it out that long and putting in the work to take advantage of the opportunity presented when a good staff came in is obviously commendable and should be greatly appreciated. 

[Pam Cummings 9640]

5 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

He's gone from someone who the fans couldn't wait to see leave to a guy who should get an absolutely huge ovation on Senior Day. Sticking it out that long and putting in the work to take advantage of the opportunity presented when a good staff came in is obviously commendable and should be greatly appreciated. 

Yep, Christian Jones is one of my favorite recent Longhorns. Dude wants to be coached. He wants to learn. He trusted Sark and Flood and it's paid off hugely for him and for us.

[Had Enough 2081]

Anybody remember how terrible he was against Kansas in 2021? Unbelievably, that was his FOURTH!?!!? fucking year in the program where he had apparently been taught next to nothing about playing offensive line by Derek Warehime and Herb Hand.
Look where Jones is after two years with Flood now. He's going to play in the NFL. What a fucking disservice our past coaches did to our players. This is what player development looks like. 

Versus KU in 2021 he allowed 1 sack and 1 pressure. That sack by the way was by a guy that played in 16 games the following year for the Super Bowl bound Philadelphia Eagles. Mostly special teams. Musta been a shitty player.

Oh and two games later versus KSU, future Big 12 defender of the year, future NFL first rounder going against Jones had a whopping 3 tackles, no TFLs/sacks.

Jones was no doubt out of position at LT in 2021 but that run blocking unit was the best we’ve had since probably 2006. The pass pro of that same team improved quite a bit over the course of the season.

The sonofabitch moves people in the run game. He’s done that for a long time but bitchass fans ignored the positives because of the 1/2 piss poor plays in the pass game. And just ignore the fact that the Big 12 defensive playmakers in the front 7 that beat lots of guys to the QB that year.

I’m not an advocate of Herman and his crew, but the understanding of Jones and his development is poorly understood and told.

That said I hope the dude does get a 10 year run.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18547]

4 hours ago, Had Enough said:

Versus KU in 2021 he allowed 1 sack and 1 pressure. That sack by the way was by a guy that played in 16 games the following year for the Super Bowl bound Philadelphia Eagles. Mostly special teams. Musta been a shitty player.

Oh and two games later versus KSU, future Big 12 defender of the year, future NFL first rounder going against Jones had a whopping 3 tackles, no TFLs/sacks.

Jones was no doubt out of position at LT in 2021 but that run blocking unit was the best we’ve had since probably 2006. The pass pro of that same team improved quite a bit over the course of the season.

The sonofabitch moves people in the run game. He’s done that for a long time but bitchass fans ignored the positives because of the 1/2 piss poor plays in the pass game. And just ignore the fact that the Big 12 defensive playmakers in the front 7 that beat lots of guys to the QB that year.

I’m not an advocate of Herman and his crew, but the understanding of Jones and his development is poorly understood and told.

That said I hope the dude does get a 10 year run.

This bitchass just went back and looked. Jones got benched twice for long stretches in the kansas game. Once after giving up a pressure off the edge where his man knocked the ball out of the qbs hand and caused a fumble. The second time after he gave up a pressure near the goal line. Maybe he was hurt? I don't remember. I have tried my best to suppress that memory. But either way, you're numbers aren't particularly meaningful. 

With all due respect to "the best run blocking unit we've had since 2006" were you watching our lines over that period? Talk about your tallest midget, we could hardly field five live bodies for most of that time.

My post was in praise of Jones and Flood. I don't think a 6 year development curve is typical where a guy goes from getting benched in year four to playing his way into the NFL in year 6. Not sure what changed for him. Oh actually I do and his name is Kyle Flood. 

And finally, double fuck you in the goat ass for making me go watch video of Kansas the same week we beat bama. I need a shower now. 

[Jkwellborn 6697]

I think moving to the right side helped quite a bit too

[Had Enough 2081]

This bitchass just went back and looked. Jones got benched twice for long stretches in the kansas game. Once after giving up a pressure off the edge where his man knocked the ball out of the qbs hand and caused a fumble. The second time after he gave up a pressure near the goal line. Maybe he was hurt? I don't remember. I have tried my best to suppress that memory. But either way, you're numbers aren't particularly meaningful. 
With all due respect to "the best run blocking unit we've had since 2006" were you watching our lines over that period? Talk about your tallest midget, we could hardly field five live bodies for most of that time.
My post was in praise of Jones and Flood. I don't think a 6 year development curve is typical where a guy goes from getting benched in year four to playing his way into the NFL in year 6. Not sure what changed for him. Oh actually I do and his name is Kyle Flood. 
And finally, double fuck you in the goat ass for making me go watch video of Kansas the same week we beat bama. I need a shower now. 

No a 6 year career is not typical. But it’s not typical that a dude comes to football late as a high schooler, works with 2/3 coaches under 2/3 schemes and misses a spring/summer/parts of a season either. Then the dude gets thrown at LT before he’s even mastered the RT spot and faces off against well above average to great players in the Big 12. He was more productive as a run blocker than in pass pro. And his struggle was mostly against quick twitch guys. So you say 4 year guy, but it was really his 3rd year, which is typically the natural progression for many Olinemen.

He was heavily ridiculed and overly criticized. So what you highlighted was those handful of plays and perhaps even the meaningless stats I quoted - 1 sack, 1 pressure. Again against an NFL caliber dude. But certainly with 600 yards of offense and 50 plus points he made some good blocks in that game.

I don’t have the stats now, but there are metrics from 2021 that says the run blocking was damn good. We also gave up fewer TFL that year than our opponents per game averages in all but 2/3 teams. We faced 3/4 top 10ish teams in that stat too. They were a well above average run blocking unit.

But yes kudos to both Jones and Flood for where we are today. I just wish Jones hadn’t been a little bitch two years ago.

So there. Your final word if you want it.

[Boss Hogg 808]

On 9/14/2023 at 8:39 AM, LTtxfan said:

 

In depth breakdown of his game here.  
 

He’s also getting love from Senior Bowl. Stock is on the rise  

 

 

 

[Post Oak 20209]

I mean I never thought he could be a NFL player much less an OT so kids to Christian for working his ass off and Flood and co. for getting this out of him.

I'm still of the opinion that he can be a dominant OG. 

[LTtxfan 49167]

Keep building depth Coach Flood  🤘

 

[satyanash 14481]

Terrible injury to Hutson.

 

[futureman 22452]

2 minutes ago, satyanash said:

Terrible injury to Hutson.

describe it.  what made it terrible?

[LTtxfan 49167]

Hated seeing Cole go down yesterday.  

DJ seems to really struggle against amoeba DL fronts (like baylor's) that use a lot of stunts and blitzes. 

Time for Flood to work hard with this OL preparing for baylor's fronts and pass rush.  

[Rickylovesweed 14293]

7 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

DJ seems to really struggle against amoeba DL fronts (like baylor's) that use a lot of stunts and blitzes. 

 

I would be surprised if Baylor brings much pressure. Their secondary is a pile of dog shit. Their secondary was torched against Texas State who has been the only real threat they've played in the passing game (I.e. Rising was out for Utah). 

It will be much like Wyoming where they only rush 3 and drop in zone. Meaning Sark needs to run the ball and Ewers/WRs need do a better job of finding soft spots in the zone. 

I don't think Sark minds pressure. If he gets 1 v 1 match ups with our WRs against the Baylor DBs it's a win. 

[Codaxx 5731]

3 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

I would be surprised if Baylor brings much pressure. Their secondary is a pile of dog shit. Their secondary was torched against Texas State who has been the only real threat they've played in the passing game (I.e. Rising was out for Utah). 

It will be much like Wyoming where they only rush 3 and drop in zone. Meaning Sark needs to run the ball and Ewers/WRs need do a better job of finding soft spots in the zone. 

I don't think Sark minds pressure. If he gets 1 v 1 match ups with our WRs against the Baylor DBs it's a win. 

Aranda completely confused the OL last year with pass rush packages. I dont have much to lose, so I would t bet on him protecting the secondary 

[Rickylovesweed 14293]

6 minutes ago, Codaxx said:

Aranda completely confused the OL last year with pass rush packages. I dont have much to lose, so I would t bet on him protecting the secondary 

It's an interesting decision for Aranda. If Lemear is still out, Baylor is playing with fire if they bring numbers. Their secondary is bad and Lemear is their best player at that level. 

 

[Codaxx 5731]

31 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

It's an interesting decision for Aranda. If Lemear is still out, Baylor is playing with fire if they bring numbers. Their secondary is bad and Lemear is their best player at that level. 

 

The issue was he didn’t have to bring numbers last year. He got a lot of pressure bringing just 4. Texas really struggled vs simulated pressures (show 5-6 coming and bring 4). I can’t see him backing off of that. 

Edited September 18, 2023 by Codaxx

[Hookem2147 21208]

We found something late against Baylor last year lining up in those bunch sets and just running it down their throat, even when they knew it was coming. Sorta similar to what we did to Iowa State late too.

Not having Ika clogging up the middle for Baylor has been very noticeable. They still have some talent in the front 7 (Franklin/Hall at DE, Matt Jones at LB), but it is a bunch of jags besides those guys.

[Codaxx 5731]

12 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

We found something late against Baylor last year lining up in those bunch sets and just running it down their throat, even when they knew it was coming. Sorta similar to what we did to Iowa State late too.

Not having Ika clogging up the middle for Baylor has been very noticeable. They still have some talent in the front 7 (Franklin/Hall at DE, Matt Jones at LB), but it is a bunch of jags besides those guys.

They are giving up 4.43  per rush, which is 13th. 

[Atticus 3973]

13th in the big 12? Baylor is not good against the run this year at all. 

[Coach pop a bitch 5459]

 

[Coach pop a bitch 5459]

Bet he was gassed dude was sprinting all over the field.

[Had Enough 2081]

I saw it fly. He was motioning before it happened. Thought he was ticked about something. Guess with the puking the refs thought he needed a break.

[BurgleBro 787]

Perhaps has been mentioned several times already but I still want to bring attention to the vast night-and-day improvement on our designed run blocking plays. 

The slow motion replays of some of our run blocking schemes show damn good coaching.  The guys know their assignments and are giving the RBs great lanes.

Execution and power and great coaching thus far.  Hope they continue to improve and maintain it. 

[BabaYaga 15290]

This is a special team when they are dialed in.  If the big uglies can give the offense time and beat down DLs time and time again, skies the limit.   DCs can scheme all they want, but big and fast is still big and fast.  

[Atticus 3973]

It sure would be nice to pair Banks with another solid run blocker, but Conner is above average to good in pass protection. I always laugh when I see him try to pull though. Hopefully Connor Stroh shows a meaner streak whenever he plays.

[burdine 522]

It was a Paul “Christ”-like performance. 

[LTtxfan 49167]

Need Texas O-line to play well vs jayhawks this Saturday.  Texas needs to run the ball well and possess the ball longer.

It's gonna be hot on the field Saturday afternoon... gotta rest our defense more.

 

Edited September 25, 2023 by LTtxfan

[Hard Times 302]

41 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Need Texas O-line to play well vs jayhawks this Saturday.  Texas needs to run the ball well and possess the ball longer.

It's gonna be hot on the field Saturday afternoon... gotta rest our defense more.

 

Texas actually has more depth on the DL than OL with Hutson out. Dunno if Zeno can back-up both G positions and the options after that aren't good. Although I do believe the best strategy is to keep the jaybird offense off the field and wear down their defense. The one thing we can't have is 3 & out's due to bad passes, drops or turnovers.

[futureman 22452]

Zeno?  Xenu?   what?

[Hard Times 302]

Neto! See what drugs do to your brain!

[Codaxx 5731]

@NoName. I get that Hutson has a lot of starts at guard. The difference is Campbell started the opener and has been playing at RG with Hutson out. Even when both were healthy there was a rotation there. I think that has opened the door for Campbell.  Conner hasnt left the line-up all year. Why I agree that he is likely the starter there. I cant imagine Flood would open the year next year with Campbell and Neto on the bench. Flood is going to have to do some serious tap dancing to avoid losing a player or 2 to the transfer portal next year. At least Texas is moving to a point of having high call problems. 

[Coach pop a bitch 5459]

 

[BurntOrange&White 39931]

 

 

[Mitch Cumsteen 18547]

On 9/14/2023 at 6:23 PM, Had Enough said:

No a 6 year career is not typical. But it’s not typical that a dude comes to football late as a high schooler, works with 2/3 coaches under 2/3 schemes and misses a spring/summer/parts of a season either. Then the dude gets thrown at LT before he’s even mastered the RT spot and faces off against well above average to great players in the Big 12. He was more productive as a run blocker than in pass pro. And his struggle was mostly against quick twitch guys. So you say 4 year guy, but it was really his 3rd year, which is typically the natural progression for many Olinemen.

He was heavily ridiculed and overly criticized. So what you highlighted was those handful of plays and perhaps even the meaningless stats I quoted - 1 sack, 1 pressure. Again against an NFL caliber dude. But certainly with 600 yards of offense and 50 plus points he made some good blocks in that game.

I don’t have the stats now, but there are metrics from 2021 that says the run blocking was damn good. We also gave up fewer TFL that year than our opponents per game averages in all but 2/3 teams. We faced 3/4 top 10ish teams in that stat too. They were a well above average run blocking unit.

But yes kudos to both Jones and Flood for where we are today. I just wish Jones hadn’t been a little bitch two years ago.

So there. Your final word if you want it.

 

3 hours ago, Coach pop a bitch said:

 

There is your final word @Had Enough  

Love Christian Jones. He’s been absolutely killing it this season. So happy for him. 

[ImissWallyPryor 9046]

3 hours ago, BurntOrange&White said:

 

 

I’ll be honest. Early in his career, I held out no hope that Christian Jones would develop into what he is today. No hope whatsoever. 

[Bodacious Bevo 3584]

Dunlap's offensive/OL deep dig for Baylor

Spoiler

Skill Player Snap Counts and Game-by-Game Percentages of Offensive Snaps (2023 Through Week 4)

 

***please note that exact snap-count numbers may differ from other sources at times, as the Deep Dig does not count plays as offensive player snaps that are blown dead due to penalty, punts, extra points, field goals, spiked balls, victory formations, kneel-downs, etc.***

Personnel-Grouping Frequency Overall and by Game (2023 Through Week 4)

 

Tight End Total Snap Counts and Alignment Data (2023 Through Week 4)

 

Team Target Share By Week (2023 Through Week 4)

 

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

 

OL Grades (Baylor)

LT Kelvin Banks - 58 snaps
1 TFL allowed
DEEP DIG GRADE: 78.45

LG Hayden Conner - 55 snaps
1 run-stuff, 1 QB hit allowed
DEEP DIG GRADE: 75.36

C Jake Majors - 55 snaps
1 pressure allowed
1 snap infraction penalty
1 knockdown
DEEP DIG GRADE: 76.09

RG DJ Campbell - 60 snaps
1 run-stuff allowed
DEEP DIG GRADE: 77.33

RT Christian Jones - 54 snaps
1 TFL allowed
1 knockdown
DEEP DIG GRADE: 78.33

Reserves

RT Cam Williams - 6 snaps
No disruption allowed
(4 of 6 snaps with positive grades)

C Conner Robertson - 5 snaps
No disruption allowed

LG Neto Omeozulu - 5 snaps
1 run-stuff allowed

LT Malik Agbo (not counting Jumbo TE snaps) - 2 snaps
No disruption allowed


OL Grades by Week (2023 Through Week 4)

 

OL Snaps-per-Disruption Allowed (2023 Through Week 4)

 

OL Snaps-per-Disruption Allowed BY WEEK (2023 Through Week 4)

 

2023 OL Snaps-per-Disruption Allowed Versus Historical Precedent (2023 Through Week 4)

 

QUICK FINAL THOUGHTS

The takeaways from this game are simple and easy to understand regarding the Texas offensive line, and the charts likely spell out what is happening with the group better than we might be able to.

The story coming into the Kansas game is the continued progression of DJ Campbell, who, slowly but surely is working his way up into a reasonable realm in the snaps-per-disruption-allowed metric. After Week 1 versus Rice, he was sitting at a mark that -- if you compare the charts above -- was literally the worst we've ever seen. Wake up four weeks later, and not only is he nailing down some reasonable-to-very-good game-to-game grades, but he's also seen his level of disruption cut by over half on a per-snap basis. Look at the snaps per disruption allowed (by game) chart above for reference.

This is important because DJ Campbell is an interesting player to watch progress. The high-water mark with this player is so absurdly high that we can almost just accept the warts that come along with it as is. That is to say, if we get 10 plays and 7 of them are DJ Campbell at the height of his powers, 1 where he's average and 2 where he screws the pooch and probably allows the play to be disrupted, we'd almost be apt to take that deal.

Almost.

Because, when the highs are so good, it makes up for the mistakes. The ones that Steve Sarkisian talked about as being so frustrating because he looks at DJ Campbell at his best, sees those mistakes, and thinks to himself, "You're better than that." What happens when the mistakes start to become fewer and far between? What if ... you know ... he develops?

Develops in the same way we've seen from Christian Jones, whose development arc from two seasons ago to now is borderline unthinkable. Prior to his breakout season in 2022, many here in our dark basement were absolutely sure that Jones should be benched. Laughably now looking back, for guys like Andrej Karic (because how can he be worse than what we've seen thus far out of Jones) or even Hayden Conner (who, thanks to trouble allowing upfield penetration on outside-zone concepts thus far has been the line's biggest relative disappointment, and certainly its top liability).

What we have in Christian Jones should be considered by close observers to be a future NFL pick, and likely a high one. Through four games, he's allowed the least disruption on a per-snap basis of any OL the Deep Dig has ever seen over the course of a season. He'll likely go on to play in the Senior Bowl this winter and probably become a Day 2 pick who could end up being as highly coveted as former Longhorns OL like Connor Williams or Sam Cosmi.

Everyone knows Kelvin Banks is going to go much earlier than that in his NFL draft a year later, and one scary thing (not so much for Texas fans, more so for opposing teams) is that we haven't really seen a signature Kelvin Banks game yet thus far in the 2023 season. He's playing like the high-level D1 talent that we know him to be, while clearly still maintaining that elite-level upside that's hiding in plain sight, ready to be deployed at any moment.

With two NFL tackles, one quickly emerging elite-potential guard, one center, who -- at the very least -- is not committing costly mistakes and one other guard who is playing at a lower level than he has historically which could indicate positive regression moving forward, it leads to one clear finding: the Texas OL -- which has been an overall team strength this season -- is still trending up.

 

[LTtxfan 49167]

 

[Codaxx 5731]

Just being at the game. I am giving the game ball to the OL. They opened some huge holes. J Brooks had at least 100 yards where he was untouched 

[SarkAfterDark 1688]

I know Banks gets most of the pub, but I think Christian Jones has been our best OL this year. 

[Jkwellborn 6697]

I know Banks gets most of the pub, but I think Christian Jones has been our best OL this year. 

I think he’s graded the highest the last few games.

[Atticus 3973]

44 minutes ago, SarkAfterDark said:

I know Banks gets most of the pub, but I think Christian Jones has been our best OL this year. 

Banks hasn't improved this year as much as I expected him to. DJ Campbell and Jake Majors are showing up in a big way though. 

Christian Jones is definitely our most reliable guy right now

[Hookem2147 21208]

Scipio Tex pointed this out on IT, but 75% of our runs yesterday were behind the middle or right side of the OL. Campbell and Jones are easily our best two run blockers and Majors has held his own as well.

Campbell looks night and day different compared to Rice.

[Mother mopar 3318]

Scipio Tex pointed this out on IT, but 75% of our runs yesterday were behind the middle or right side of the OL. Campbell and Jones are easily our best two run blockers and Majors has held his own as well.
Campbell looks night and day different compared to Rice.

Majors has improved a lot this year IMO.

[Codaxx 5731]

2 hours ago, Mother mopar said:

Majors has improved a lot this year IMO.

Majors is arguably the biggest surprise on the offense. 

[Park Gothic 5017]

2 hours ago, Mother mopar said:

Majors has improved a lot this year IMO.

 

15 minutes ago, Codaxx said:

Majors is arguably the biggest surprise on the offense. 

It's funny how improved our center looks when the guards on either side of him are playing better. Almost as if our center wasn't the problem to begin with.  

[BurntOrange&White 39931]

12 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

Scipio Tex pointed this out on IT, but 75% of our runs yesterday were behind the middle or right side of the OL. Campbell and Jones are easily our best two run blockers and Majors has held his own as well.

Campbell looks night and day different compared to Rice.

Makes sense since Conner is our current worst run blocker.