Texas O-line talk

[Machinator 32102]

Big addition:

 

[taybo20 3008]

Fuck yes!

[NAVY 6912]

Welcome Parker. Get the snap count down and let’s roll. 

[LTtxfan 49921]

........Hook'em........

 

Edited March 3, 2019 by LTtxfan

[gmr548 16681]

Good addition. The learning curve coming from GT will be steep, but he certainly has the tools to succeed and Hand has certainly earned the benefit f the doubt when it comes to getting him prepared. He will certainly help create some push in the interior run game that was sorely lacking all year.

[sushihorn 3248]

1 minute ago, gmr548 said:

Good addition. The learning curve coming from GT will be steep, but he certainly has the tools to succeed and Hand has certainly earned the benefit f the doubt when it comes to getting him prepared. He will certainly help create some push in the interior run game that was sorely lacking all year.

Braun is going to kill it on power and counter.  Replacing Vahe with a truly mobile OG should allow Herman to run more outside zone as well.

[gmr548 16681]

4 minutes ago, sushihorn said:

Braun is going to kill it on power and counter.  Replacing Vahe with a truly mobile OG should allow Herman to run more outside zone as well.

Yeah, dude is pretty athletic for a guy his size. Certainly moves better than Vahe. He'll be much more effective getting to the second level on combo blocks. And you're right, when it comes to pulling he'll be our best weapon from the first day he is on campus. Braun barreling around the corner and clearing the way for Sam will be a bitch to deal with in short yardage and goal to go situations.

Dumb question amnesty - Will he be here for spring ball?

[Machinator 32102]

Just now, gmr548 said:

Yeah, dude is pretty athletic for a guy his size. Certainly moves better than Vahe. He'll be much more effective getting to the second level on combo blocks. And you're right, when it comes to pulling he'll be our best weapon from the first day he is on campus. Braun barreling around the corner and clearing the way for Sam will be a bitch to deal with in short yardage and goal to go situations.

Dumb question amnesty - Will he be here for spring ball?

I don't think so.

[CastHorn 896]

I don’t know if this guy is an immediate starter. He’ll only have the summer & fall to put on necessary mass and learn the offense/blocking schemes. Guys like Imade and Okafor are better looking guards but lack the game experience of Braun. I’m worried about him in pass protection with his small arms and slim frame. Great pickup either way. 

[Machinator 32102]

From Nahlin, on Braun's weight:

Quote

Haven't heard but his dad recently told me 287. The way they fed him, probably 295.

 

[gmr548 16681]

3 minutes ago, CastHorn said:

I don’t know if this guy is an immediate starter. He’ll only have the summer & fall to put on necessary mass and learn the offense/blocking schemes. Guys like Imade and Okafor are better looking guards but lack the game experience of Braun. I’m worried about him in pass protection with his small arms and slim frame. Great pickup either way. 

 

Pass pro is a legit concern. Still, I'd be surprised if a two-time All ACC player couldn't snag one of the two open guard spots, but if there are two guys that can play at a higher level than that then 2019 is going to be a fun year.

[LebongJames 1901]

Guys a starter. I don’t think his weight will be a concern besides against LSU. 

[Burt Macklin 19222]

17 minutes ago, CastHorn said:

I don’t know if this guy is an immediate starter. He’ll only have the summer & fall to put on necessary mass and learn the offense/blocking schemes. Guys like Imade and Okafor are better looking guards but lack the game experience of Braun. I’m worried about him in pass protection with his small arms and slim frame. Great pickup either way. 

Okafor and imade are bigger, but they’re not better. Not even that close. He has pass pro reps against Clemson and plenty of other P5 teams and holds up pretty well. He’ll definitely have to work on his pass pro, but it’s not like he’s currently terrible at it.

[texifornia 58920]

33 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

Okafor and imade are bigger, but they’re not better. Not even that close. He has pass pro reps against Clemson and plenty of other P5 teams and holds up pretty well. He’ll definitely have to work on his pass pro, but it’s not like he’s currently terrible at it.

Have at it:

 

[Burt Macklin 19222]

6 minutes ago, texifornia said:

Have at it:

 

Thanks. I already watched the game when his name first came up. He holds up pretty well. He gets beat on pass rep somewhere in the first 10-15 minutes of the full game video, but overall, he holds up pretty well. I think the primary thing for him will be working on punch and hand placement in pass pro. He has the feet to mirror, but with his lack of size, he’s going to have to be up on his technique so he doesn’t let guys get into his body.

i think I mentioned this last time, but he reminds me a lot of Jake Majors, except Braun is more explosive. A ceiling for Majors is being a bigger Braun who has four years practicing pass pro full time.

Edited March 4, 2019 by Burt Macklin

[Burt Macklin 19222]

Also, for those watching, the guy he goes up against in most of those reps is 1st rounder Dexter Lawrence, who has about 60 LBs on him in that game and may be the toughest DT to move in the entire country. If you want to get a better sense of how he looks against a more normal college DT, I’d suggest watching his game against a team like Miami or Pitt.

[Majorcholas 557]

5 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

Thanks. I already watched when his name first came up. He holds up pretty well. He gets beat on pass rep somewhere in the first 10-15 minutes, but overall, he holds up pretty well. I think the primary thing for him will be working on punch and hand placement in pass pro. He has the feet to mirror, but with his lack of size, he’s going to have to be up on his technique so he doesn’t let guys get into his body.

i think I mentioned this last time, but he reminds me a lot of Jake Majors, except Braun is more explosive. A ceiling for Majors is being a bigger Braun who has four years practicing pass pro full time.

I’m more worried about pass scheme than his actual technique. We are going to be much more multiple in schemes and calls. It looks like from a very quick watch that GT was in full slide protection almost every pass.  A lot of run heavy teams will use that more frequently because it doesn’t take a lot of recognition/reps by the line. Since they have so many run schemes to work on they aren’t gonna waste tons of practice reps on something they may call 10 times a game. 

But dude is definitely an athlete. If he’s got some brains on him he should be okay and make it translate.

[Burt Macklin 19222]

I can’t remember if it @sushihorn or @gmr548 or someone else who mentioned it, but I think I’d like Braun at RG, or opposite whichever side we choose to be our money gap.

Braun is elite a pulling and getting to the second level. It’s pretty freakish how well he moves in space. He’s extremely quick/fast and nimble and located LBs with ease. Same with pulling, he gets around quickly and squares his body to engage his man on the strong side shoulder. I’d love to see us use Cosmi and Okafor as our strong side leads and have Braun pulling into the gap behind them. It could be absolutely devastating.

in the past I think we tend to run power/QB lead to the right moreso than the left, but Cosmi will likely generate much more movement than Kerstetter (assuming he starts at RT), so I’d like to see us run power to the left with Braun pulling that way next year.

[Sock Drawer 214]

Has there been anything definitive announced by Herman/the school on Patrick Hudson? I know he's currently not on the roster, but is that a permanent situation or is he rehabilitating with the possibility of coming back? It looks like he's gone but it would be nice to know something, one way or the other. I remember being elated when we got him out of the Rapelor meltdown, but now it looks like his chances of contributing are all but nonexistent.

[South Austin 53158]

Maybe this is a bad assumption on my part, but I've already written off Hudson.  Aside from his injury history, I recall reading semi-reliable Surly hearsay indicating his heart wasn't really in football. 

[Sock Drawer 214]

2 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Maybe this is a bad assumption on my part, but I've already written off Hudson.  Aside from his injury history, I recall reading semi-reliable Surly hearsay indicating his heart wasn't really in football. 

Agree, reluctantly. There was a time, early in his tenure here, when we really needed a contribution from him. Now, not so much, but still, another contributing OL would have been great-depth-wise. BTW, as you doubtless know, "semi-reliable Surly hearsay" is an oxymoron. 

[HtownHorn 15243]

1 hour ago, South Austin said:

Maybe this is a bad assumption on my part, but I've already written off Hudson.  Aside from his injury history, I recall reading semi-reliable Surly hearsay indicating his heart wasn't really in football. 

I think things might have been different had he not got run over from behind by Warren against San Jose State.

[Red Five 41620]

Agreed re: Okafor at LG. But him at guard and leave him there. Let RT be a Kerstetter vs. Christian Jones vs. maybe Tyler Johnson battle.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18933]

What a difference having an Oline coach who can both teach and recruit makes.

I can't remember the last competent Oline coach we had. Mattox was pretty decent in his system. Wickline, for all his pedigree, was horrible here. Mack had a terrible run of Tim Nunez, McWhorter and Stacy Searels. The offensive line hasn't been a strength of this team since 2006.

[Sock Drawer 214]

33 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

What a difference having an Oline coach who can both teach and recruit makes.

 

 

From what I've seen, Hand does fit the above description, and it's a breath of fresh air. There's been a lot of (justifiable) carping on this board about certain of our assistant coaches who either can't recruit, can't teach, or both. It seems so fundamental: First, if at all possible, get one who's good at both. If you can't, at all costs stay away from unacceptably minimal ability to contribute to one of the above facets. Then, if you have to settle for, say, a 60-40 65-35 mix, make it 60-65%% recruiting--GA's, analysts, ex-NFL program volunteers, somebody can coach 'em up--just get the talent in here.

[HtownHorn 15243]

Just added another piece for him to mold in Willie Tyler.

[sushihorn 3248]

1 hour ago, Sock Drawer said:

From what I've seen, Hand does fit the above description, and it's a breath of fresh air. There's been a lot of (justifiable) carping on this board about certain of our assistant coaches who either can't recruit, can't teach, or both. It seems so fundamental: First, if at all possible, get one who's good at both. If you can't, at all costs stay away from unacceptably minimal ability to contribute to one of the above facets. Then, if you have to settle for, say, a 60-40 65-35 mix, make it 60-65%% recruiting--GA's, analysts, ex-NFL program volunteers, somebody can coach 'em up--just get the talent in here.

I agree as long as the S&C coach is good and assessment is included under the recruiting header.  OL is the toughest position to assess and the one which seems to have the highest rate of false positives as well as false negatives coming out of HS.  If the staff can choose guys who will develop into solid OL with adequate coaching 75-80% of the time, you're already way ahead of the curve.  If you can also get superior position coaching and S&C development on top of that...

[BigHorn'13 3480]

3 hours ago, Red Five said:

Let RT be a Kerstetter vs. Christian Jones vs. maybe Tyler Johnson battle.

I was just thinking about this. Don't see why a GT would come and redshirt although 2 years paid for on grad school isn't shabby if he can work it out. 

All this to say that I don't see how Kerstetter isn't starting RT next season unless Jones has a Cosmi type RS year and offseason. Kerstetter was too good as a freshman and was the 6th man last season to not be starting somewhere.

If Braun does start next season, you've got 3/5 spots locked down. There are a lot of viable options for the other guard spot and Kerstetter seems too easy of a lock for RT.

[Magus Ossis 2997]

So guys available by year (and on roster but still first year) are:

19: Shack, Braun, Oak, Kerstetter, Imade, Cosmi, Angilau, Ghirmai, Jones, Moore,  (Hookfin, Johnson, Shepherd, Tyler)

20: Oak, Kerstetter, Imade, Cosmi, Angilau, Ghirmai, Jones, Moore, Hookfin, Johnson, Shepherd, Tyler, (Majors, Parr, Garth, ?Lind, ?George)

21: Angilau, Ghirmai, Jones, Moore, Hookfin, Johnson, Shepherd, Tyler, Garth, Majors, Parr, ?Lind, ?George, (?Brock)

Depending on maturation and hit rates, we might not want/need a GT next year. We look like we will be turning over a lot of starting positions in 21. If Brock is already arguably better than the guys in the year ahead of him, might he play some as a true freshman in 21 despite having a lot of guys on the roster? This chart assumes everybody but Urquidez (chaff) and Cosmi (NFL) stay.

[zork 629]

🤘

[Tired Horn 829]

1 hour ago, Magus Ossis said:

So guys available by year (and on roster but still first year) are:

19: Shack, Braun, Oak, Kerstetter, Imade, Cosmi, Angilau, Ghirmai, Jones, Moore,  (Hookfin, Johnson, Shepherd, Tyler)

20: Oak, Kerstetter, Imade, Cosmi, Angilau, Ghirmai, Jones, Moore, Hookfin, Johnson, Shepherd, Tyler, (Majors, Parr, Garth, ?Lind, ?George)

21: Angilau, Ghirmai, Jones, Moore, Hookfin, Johnson, Shepherd, Tyler, Garth, Majors, Parr, ?Lind, ?George, (?Brock)

Depending on maturation and hit rates, we might not want/need a GT next year. We look like we will be turning over a lot of starting positions in 21. If Brock is already arguably better than the guys in the year ahead of him, might he play some as a true freshman in 21 despite having a lot of guys on the roster? This chart assumes everybody but Urquidez (chaff) and Cosmi (NFL) stay.

Nice to see this position group finally settling down after so many years of being a fire drill.

[Machinator 32102]

 

[LebongJames 1901]

Those 3 plus Braun and junior 

[satyanash 15429]

 

[victory88 5755]

12 hours ago, LebongJames said:

Those 3 plus Braun and junior 

Correct.  I expect our O-line to be pretty good this year.  Junior is probably the most talented next to Cosmi from an athleticism stand point.  They just need to get him up to speed which he seems to be right on track for.  He already passed up Tope and was starting on the 1st team for the spring game.  I just wonder who they will start between Okafor and Kerstetter ar RT.  Kerstetter will probably also be our swing guy that can play multiple positions.  

Cosmi- Angilau- Shack- Braun- Kerstetter/Okafor

 

[Fico 1806]

Cosmi - Braun - Shack - Okafor - Kerstetter

[Burt Macklin 19222]

1 hour ago, victory88 said:

Correct.  I expect our O-line to be pretty good this year.  Junior is probably the most talented next to Cosmi from an athleticism stand point.  They just need to get him up to speed which he seems to be right on track for.  He already passed up Tope and was starting on the 1st team for the spring game.  I just wonder who they will start between Okafor and Kerstetter ar RT.  Kerstetter will probably also be our swing guy that can play multiple positions.  

Cosmi- Angilau- Shack- Braun- Kerstetter/Okafor

 

I'm with Fico. Maybe by the end of the year Angilau can take over. But he had a lot of issues in the Spring game, and he has a ton of technique stuff to clean up still. It will not be fun if he's starting during the LSU game.  Either Okafor or Kerstetter are much better options at G to start the year. 

[Goodman 3280]

We'll find out in game 2. Based on what we've seen in their careers so far, tough to expect Tope or Okafor to do the dirty work necessary at Guard. Kerstetter should be our floor at RT which we can live with.

[Coach pop a bitch 5890]

What's the word on T. Johnson? Any chance he starts a game at RT?

[thepop 4418]

8 minutes ago, Coach pop a bitch said:

What's the word on T. Johnson? Any chance he starts a game at RT?

I hope not.

[texifornia 58920]

11 minutes ago, Coach pop a bitch said:

What's the word on T. Johnson? Any chance he starts a game at RT?

Young, raw, what you'd expect from a guy who ran a very simplistic high school offense last year.

[HtownHorn 15243]

1 hour ago, Coach pop a bitch said:

What's the word on T. Johnson? Any chance he starts a game at RT?

Hope he gets to RS, no need to rush OL anymore. Everyone should RS.

[Coach pop a bitch 5890]

2 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

Hope he gets to RS, no need to rush OL anymore. Everyone should RS.

What a great thing to be able to redshirt top talent on the line.

[Burt Macklin 19222]

4 hours ago, Goodman said:

We'll find out in game 2. Based on what we've seen in their careers so far, tough to expect Tope or Okafor to do the dirty work necessary at Guard. Kerstetter should be our floor at RT which we can live with.

What is this based on? Okafor’s pretty much always been a plus run blocker when he’s played. He just can’t hold up in pass pro outside because he’s a guard.

[Goodman 3280]

1 hour ago, Burt Macklin said:

What is this based on? Okafor’s pretty much always been a plus run blocker when he’s played. He just can’t hold up in pass pro outside because he’s a guard.

We'll find out in game 2 but he's not proven that he can do it under the lights yet. Hope you're right.

[HtownHorn 15243]

1 hour ago, Goodman said:

We'll find out in game 2 but he's not proven that he can do it under the lights yet. Hope you're right.

You mean when he played before he was ready, after getting a handful of snaps as a true freshme because the previous coaching staff were idoits?

Edited May 7, 2019 by HtownHorn

[Burt Macklin 19222]

1 hour ago, Goodman said:

We'll find out in game 2 but he's not proven that he can do it under the lights yet. Hope you're right.

I agree he hasn’t proven he can play at a high level against elite competition, but we probably know more about him than any other potential 5th starter, and he’s a 4th year guy who’s played some, including at USC (never mind that Porter Gustin ate him alive). 

[Goodman 3280]

52 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

You mean when he played before he was ready, after getting a handful of snaps as a true freshme because the previous coaching staff were idoits?

Correct, not his fault. We should RS 99% of OL/QB. Now it's time for him to step up, we will find out pretty quick.

Our staff has made personnel errors to begin both seasons here, no excuses this year.

[Coach pop a bitch 5890]

The line also lost Beck. Brewer and leitao offer more in the passing game but I wonder if they can be adequate blockers?

[Jkwellborn 7011]

I think Beck is going to be a much larger loss than expected on the blocking side.