Jump to content

2019 Texas Longhorns fall practice thread


Machinator

Recommended Posts

29 minutes ago, Yesh said:

Through the haze of inebriation, I remember one of the reasons for Foreman's success in 2016 was run blocking on the left side...Williams + Vahe?  Do we think Cosmi + Braun are going to be better?

Depends on if you think an All-ACC LG from a triple option school is better than this guy 

 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sweat is a fucking stud.   I almost got negged to Bolivia last year for saying Leal vs Sweat was a draw.  Leal has not done shit at aggy and his practice video sucks ass.  Surly recruiting gurus  suck ass too. Leal is a lazy candi ass and Sweat is a grown ass man.

Edited by lemonandaturd
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, lemonandaturd said:

Sweat is a fucking stud.   I almost got negged to Bolivia last year for saying Leal vs Sweat was a draw.  Leal has not done shit at aggy and his practice video sucks ass.  Surly recruiting guru's suck ass too. Leal is a lazy candi ass and Sweat is a grown ass man.

Lemonturd, Leal hasn’t don’t shit for the same reason Sweat hasn’t done shit. They’re both true freshmen and haven’t played a fucking game.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyone that watched Sweat's senior year saw that he was a fucking top 15 talent in Texas.  The guy did not go to any camps and didn't care to play the recruiting game.  He had offers from bama and aggy thought they were going to get him and he committed to us right out the gate.  Dude has reshaped his body by adding good weight and plays violently.  He was tossing around OL like rag dolls in his senior film.  I'm really excited about him.  He's fucking huge and if Yancy can build on that and keep his athleticism, he's going to play a lot of snaps during his time here.

This staff continues to impress me with their evaluations.  We thought this was what we were going to get from the Strong staff after Mack basically recruited whoever was on the 24/7 top 20 and didn't care to watch film or evaluate in camps.  We finally have a staff that knows what they want, has a system they recruit for, they have a body and athletic profile they want, and they will turn every rock outside of Texas if they need to.  

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

52 minutes ago, lemonandaturd said:

Sweat is a fucking stud.   I almost got negged to Bolivia last year for saying Leal vs Sweat was a draw.  Leal has not done shit at aggy and his practice video sucks ass.  Surly recruiting gurus  suck ass too. Leal is a lazy candi ass and Sweat is a grown ass man.

Lot of lemon drops tonight I'm assuming?

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, victory88 said:

Anyone that watched Sweat's senior year saw that he was a fucking top 15 talent in Texas.  The guy did not go to any camps and didn't care to play the recruiting game.  He had offers from bama and aggy thought they were going to get him and he committed to us right out the gate.  Dude has reshaped his body by adding good weight and plays violently.  He was tossing around OL like rag dolls in his senior film.  I'm really excited about him.  He's fucking huge and if Yancy can build on that and keep his athleticism, he's going to play a lot of snaps during his time here.

This staff continues to impress me with their evaluations.  We thought this was what we were going to get from the Strong staff after Mack basically recruited whoever was on the 24/7 top 20 and didn't care to watch film or evaluate in camps.  We finally have a staff that knows what they want, has a system they recruit for, they have a body and athletic profile they want, and they will turn every rock outside of Texas if they need to.  

Perfect storm of competence with Herman and CDC coming in. Remember Strong asking for recruiting assistants to help find and evaluate recruit film and Plonsky basically laughing in his face?

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, ztejas said:

I can't believe Boyce would consider transferring but 19 year olds are dumb. 

From our depth chart and other indications it seems like he's an injury or a few good practices away from getting serious playing time this season. 

He could start for OU tomorrow if he wanted.. that’s not saying a whole lot though. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, lemonandaturd said:

Sweat is a fucking stud.   I almost got negged to Bolivia last year for saying Leal vs Sweat was a draw.  Leal has not done shit at aggy and his practice video sucks ass.  Surly recruiting gurus  suck ass too. Leal is a lazy candi ass and Sweat is a grown ass man.

He would crush Candi. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, closetojumping said:

On the younger guys in practice:

-The IT report mentioned Coburn not quite being there yet, or some such bullshit. I was told he's a potential DLOTY this season with what he's doing in practice. I'm confident in who told me that and I think IT is full of shit with half what they put in that write-up.

-They think Ojomo has the physical skills, but he's not always there mentally, and they think it is a youth thing. 

-There isn't a 2019 signee that they're not excited about, although Caleb Johnson is coming along slower than hoped in knocking the dust off after his shoulder problems from his JUCO time. 

-Jake Smith is going to play plenty, but they think they're truly stacked at WR across the board. Guys are going to be fighting for time. Kennedy Lewis is very, very likely to redshirt as this level of play is pretty far above what he's used to seeing. Woodard is going to have a hard time ever seeing the field.

-Braun's coming along on passblocking, but he's not going to be a plus guy there any time soon. He's truly elite in the running game though.

-They love the FR TEs. Wiley's got a chance to play. He could be a LT by his senior year. They like him.

-Sweat is whipping ass. If you're lining up at NT and you're name isn't Coburn, Ojomo, Sweat, or Wilbon, you'll be transferring before school starts. 

-Owens is freakier than Adimora, but Adimora is the better football player today. They like both of those guys a lot.

-No one knows why in the fuck Boyce is playing with the 1's other than they don't want him transferring before school starts. Watson is better than they hoped. 

In times past, I wouldn't lend much credence to a lot of the excitement from preseason practices, but this staff is proving that it can evaluate well. Texas is young but talented. Anything less than the Big 12 title this year will be a letdown to the team and those around it.

you heard anything on myron warren?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, lemonandaturd said:

Okay, Leal is injured and can't push a sled.  I get it.  Let us revisit when Sweat gets drafted and see  where Leal compares then.  Sweat is going to be as good as Poona or Robison when it all shakes out.,  

There is no need to shit on Leal just because he didn't pick us. The guy was being recruited personally by Herman, which indicates he was one of our top 2 or 3 targets in the class last year. Sweat very well may end up being a more impactful player, but writing off Leal at this point as a bust is silly. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Vertigo said:

There is no need to shit on Leal just because he didn't pick us. The guy was being recruited personally by Herman, which indicates he was one of our top 2 or 3 targets in the class last year. Sweat very well may end up being a more impactful player, but writing off Leal at this point as a bust is silly. 

Well said.  I choose to fault Leal for being aggy.

Is that still a valid reason?

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

59 minutes ago, TheMailBox357 said:

@Machinatoror @satyanash Y'all got this?:

 

 

 

One of the quieter stories coming out of fall camp has been the deployment of Texas’ tight ends. With All-Big 12 first team “fullback” Andrew Beck moving on from that position the Longhorns are likely to be less physical and effective blocking opponents from that spot in 2019. The players that have been through both spring and fall camp (or more) and are poised to contribute in 2019 are Cade Brewer, Reese Leitao, and Jared Wiley, each one more inclined to help as receivers rather than blockers than the last. That’s okay though, Texas can adjust their offense easily enough to accommodate the changing skill sets in that room.

If you watch big time college football these days there are two programs that really stand out as being on the cutting edge of modern offensive strategy; the Clemson Tigers and the Oklahoma Sooners. Both teams laid a whooping on Nick Saban’s 2018 Crimson Tide defense, both teams did so by leaning towards the passing attack, and both relied mostly on four-wide sets to allow them to quickly find targets before Bama nose tackle Quinnen Williams could disrupt the play.

It took the Sooners much of the first half to sort out how to slow down Williams and get their offense rolling but once they did, the Tide had to lean on the combination of their own offensive firepower and Oklahoman defensive impotence to close out the game. The Tigers blew the doors off the Tide pretty early in the game.

A consistent theme for each of these two teams is that they’ll play a great deal of “11” personnel with a tight end, or even “21” personnel for the Sooners with a TE/WR hybrid and then a TE/FB hybrid on the field. For either team all of those players are flexing out as often as not so they can create 2x2 and 3x1 formations that present four receivers on the line at all times that can threaten to run down the field on vertical routes. It’s hard to beat vertical passing for generating the elusive “50+ yard” gains that Texas lacked from their offense in 2018.

Texas flexed out Beck quite often in 2018 in order to get a good blocker on the perimeter or to play games with defensive alignments. Opponents had to either match him with a linebacker and remove that player from the box or else “waste” a better coverage player on Beck while Lil’Jordan Humphrey aligned tighter to the box to run a route on a linebacker. The Sooners and Tigers both use that same trick fairly often but they sent their blocking TEs down the field far more often and in ways that the Longhorns seem poised to mimic in 2019.

The Clemson and OU flex TE

The Tigers and Sooners each have some favorite plays that make the most of their TEs from a flexed out alignment. The Sooners tend to play more of a big receiver as their flex TE, utilizing guys with skill sets a little closer to Lil’Jordan Humphrey than Andrew Beck. Their current big slot is Grant Calcaterra, a 6-4, 233 target who’s pretty quick moving down the field. Their last two TE/FB players have been Dmitri Flowers (6-2, 245) and Carson Meier (6-4, 250). Utilizing Calcaterra in the passing game is the whole point, but Flowers and Meier were more “ancillary” players that can move around and block in the box one snap and then motion or flex out the next.

Oklahoma often flexes those players out in order to run them down the seam, like on their dagger mesh play:

spacer.png

Texas has run mesh as well, moreso in 2017 and typically while using their TE on the crossing routes over the middle to create a rub for the other crosser. Oklahoma has that version of the play but they also like to do things like this and send the TE up the field on a vertical route. What makes this version of the play so effective is that it turns defensive coverage rules into offensive strengths. Big 12 defenses are very careful to match vertical routes with their best athletes because nothing gets you beat in this conference like failing to have adequate speed carrying deep routes.

Consequently, when you send someone running down the field, coverages are designed to match that player with one of their good athletes. So if you send a big, burly TE down the field the defense will probably match him with one of their safeties. Underneath, the Sooners have a pair of speedy receivers running the mesh pattern, which is tough enough to cover before accounting for the fact that they have another version of this play where everyone but the key receiver (probably X here) starts to run a route before turning into blockers.

Between the TE running the deep route and then the mesh pattern underneath, there’s often a lot of space in the mid range where the H in our diagram is running a dig or a sit route and basically just hunting for open space between the LBs and the distracted safeties. Here’s the play reimagined with Texas’ 2019 offensive personnel:

spacer.png

If that’s Cade Brewer running the vertical up the seam and Jordan Whittington or Keaontay Ingram running the wheel route then the defense cannot ignore them. To best defend Collin Johnson (tower) or Brennan Eagles (Z) on the mesh or Devin Duvernay (H) on the dig, defenses will be tempted to have the free safety pick up the seam by the TE (Y) and the weakside linebacker (W) chase the wheel route. That latter matchup is a big problem. If they match both vertical routes with the safeties then they leave the linebackers to negotiate the dig and crossing patterns against Texas’ best skill athletes. This is exactly the sort of conundrum that Tom Herman likes to create with his personnel and why Andrew Beck would often flex out in 2018.

Clemson’s offense relies heavily on the “smash” concept, which they run in a variety of ways but sometimes like this:

spacer.png

They like to do it this way with the TE (Y) to the field so that they can stack a pair of dynamic WRs on the boundary where they are more likely to face a LB. The Tigers see a lot of two-high alignments and coverages from their opponents because of the explosiveness of their passing game. Their response is to have the slot receivers run these flag routes or corner posts, where they can run at the safety and then break outside of them with leverage. It’s a simple read for the QB, if the corner sinks to stop the flag route then they can throw the hitch-in route underneath to the outside receiver. If the corner doesn’t sink then the slot should have leverage to win to the sideline against the safety who has to deny the inside lane before they can run with the WR breaking outside. That’s a tough assignment and generally the safety executing it isn’t as fluid in such a maneuver as the corner would be.

The Tigers ran this play from 11 personnel pretty often but they’d put Hunter Renfrow or Justyn Ross in that H position running the easily accessible boundary flag route against a safety. Sometimes they’d flex the RB out as well and have him (or someone else) running a go route up the middle of the field aiming to split the safeties while also threatening them with smash combos to either side. Here’s that play reimagined with Texas’ personnel:

spacer.png

Doubling those pesky flag routes by Texas’ two best WRs would have the effect of leaving Cade Brewer 1-on-1 running down the field on a middle linebacker with no help.

Modern defenses play a lot of pattern matching coverages, as opposed to the “personnel matching” you find in man coverage. Meaning that they divvy out their assignments so that their players stay in familiar realms. The corners match routes outside the hash marks, the safeties and corners carry verticals, and the linebackers protect the seams and stick the quick stuff in or near the box. The problem occurs when defenses send slower players into the jurisdiction of the speedy athletes on defense and then have their faster targets run routes into the jurisdiction of the slower defenders. A good blocking TE with soft hands or a smooth receiving TE with passable blocking can be easily weaponized into a tool that threatens the structure of a defense with these tactics.

Texas’ flex TE package

The Longhorns have always maintained the ability to flex their tight ends out in order to hunt matchups for the H receiver or to block on the perimeter for a screen or crossing route. Andrew Beck even got involved down the field in the passing game from time to time. But this crop is different, Cade Brewer was a star receiver at Lake Travis and his back-ups Reese Leitao, Jared Wiley, and Brayden Liebrock are all pretty dangerous running routes in space.

One play design that Texas used effectively in 2018 and could ramp up in 2019 is the 4-verticals concept. It’s a simple enough play, the offense sends four receivers on vertical routes up the field with the fifth player either helping to block, running a quick check down from the backfield, or also flexing out and hunting for space over the middle. Things can get pretty wild though on this play design when the offense starts tagging receivers to run adjustable routes.

Texas Tech beat the Longhorns in that famous 2008 game throwing comebacks to Michael Crabtree outside on this play, including on that game-winning touchdown pass. Texas utilized the play effectively in 2018, particularly to throw to Lil’Jordan Humphrey breaking inside or outside from the slot into space or else to hit comebacks to Devin Duvernay. Here’s how it can look with the 2019 personnel:

spacer.png

What makes this play really difficult to defend is trying to get safety help over both Collin Johnson and Devin Duvernay. If the defense resolves to use their free safety to double Johnson then the strong safety has to carry that vertical by Brewer as the Y and that leaves the nickel pretty exposed trying to handle Duvernay on an option route.

Once the offense knows the common coverages employed by the defense it becomes all too simple to align the TE to run into the zones that the defense knows are weak spots. That diverts attention to stopping someone like Brewer when help is really needed to cover a star like Collin Johnson.

The key to all of this is that the offense maintains the ability to move the TE back into the box if defenses respond to these tactics by getting more DBs on the field so that they have enough resources to get help everywhere it’s needed. If you’ve watched Clemson over the years you’ll notice that their TEs are often only good when blocking lighter or weaker fronts, none of their championship winning TEs were very useful for blocking Alabama’s front.

Texas’ heavier emphasis on RPOs should help them in creating leverage for their TEs to be effective from the box. In particular, the pop pass to the TE on the tight zone play.

spacer.png

Ehlinger and Beck struggled to connect on this play in 2018 but Brewer mentioned it as an area of focus that was mastered in spring practices. When this is a regular threat it can slow up the run fits by the linebackers or else hold the attention of the safeties, in either event it introduces hesitation that can help the TE when he does block and loosens the run game in general.

Texas may be four-wide more often in 2019 but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they have to get out of their beloved 11 personnel to do it. There's still a wide world of tactics available for Texas to employ in order to create problems for modern defenses with the more receiving-oriented players currently meeting in the TE room. Look out for more flex TE formations in 2019

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Chip Brown: Exclusive intel from UT's most important fall camp scrimmage

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas coach Tom Herman told his players ahead of time Saturday’s scrimmage would be their best chance to make a statement before coaches start forming a depth chart with which to use for game planning for the season opener against Louisiana Tech on Aug. 31. After talking to a few sources who attended the Longhorns’ all-important, second scrimmage of fall camp Saturday, here’s what they had to say about the quarterbacks, the new, Jake Smith wrinkle in the offense, the cornerback position battle and much more:

In perhaps the team’s most important position battle of fall camp, Jalen Green and Kobe Boyce lined up with the first-team defense to start the scrimmage, while sophomores D’Shawn Jamison and Anthony Cook lined up with the second-team defense. According to one source, Cook “got beat a lot” in Saturday’s scrimmage. The starting linebackers in the scrimmage were Ayodele Adeoye in the middle, Jeffrey McCulloch at Rover and Joseph Ossai at B-backer. Adeoye “played with confidence and played fast” in the scrimmage, according to one source, who added that JUCO transfer Juwan Mitchell and freshman Marcus Tillman “showed up big-time” at linebacker on the second-team defense.

With Caden Sterns (ankle) out, Chris Brown replaced him at safety. Several veteran players were limited to rep counts (or withheld altogether) to protect them from injury. B.J. Foster, Brandon Jones and Devin Duvernay barely saw the field, according to sources. Foster was held out of the scrimmage for precautionary reasons and was replaced at nickel by Josh Thompson, who had at least one pass breakup. Collin Johnson got a couple series and caught a long pass from Sam Ehlinger on the first offensive play of the scrimmage, then caught another deep ball from Ehlinger between Kobe Boyce and Chris Brown.

Ehlinger got “three or four series," but Casey Thompson got most of the reps at quarterback, including several series with the first-team offense, according to one source. Both Ehlinger and Thompson had highlight moments and a few missed passes they’d probably like to have back - but no turnovers, according to sources. "Sam looked good — not great," said one source.  Ehlinger led the first-team offense on drives to two Cameron Dicker field goals — the first field goal a chip shot, the second one from 46 yards.

The first field-goal drive was set up by a long catch-and-run by freshman running back Jordan Whittington on a screen for about 50 yards into the red zone, sources said. The second field-goal drive included freshman receiver Jake Smith at running back for the entire series. Smith looked good, according to sources, breaking one run for 15 to 20 yards. “Smith reminds you of Christian McCaffery when he’s in that running back spot,” according to one source.

The only touchdowns scored by the first- or second-team offense were on drives led by Thompson, who capped both drives with keepers for the score, sources said. “Thompson was pretty sharp passing and running the ball,” one source said.

With Collin Johnson and Malcolm Epps both on small rep counts for this scrimmage, Kennedy Lewis got some looks at the X receiver and caught a long pass from Thompson on one of Thompson’s TD drives, sources said. With Cade Brewer on a small rep count at tight end, Reese Leitao got a lot of work and caught a pass in the red zone from Thompson on a TD drive, sources said.

With Brennan Eagles out after having minor arthroscopic surgery on his elbow (Eagles is expected back for UT’s Aug. 31 opener), Moore, John Burt and Marcus Washington got most of the reps at the Z receiver. Joshua Moore, who was arrested on an unlawful gun possession charge earlier this month and has an upcoming court date, took part in Saturday’s scrimmage, sources said.

Whittington was on a small rep count and played in the first couple series and then turned over the running back reps to Danny Young, walk-on Jarrett Smith and newly converted walk-on safety-turned-running back Mason Ramirez. (Ramirez is roommates with Sam Ehlinger, Cade Brewer, Josh Thompson and Brandon Jones.) Josh Thompson had a nice breakup on a pass intended for Leitao in the red zone early in the scrimmage that helped force a field goal, sources said. DeMarvion Overshown, who worked his way back from a mid-foot sprain by working with the second-team defense earlier in the week, was lining up with the first-team defense Saturday before suffering what Tom Herman called a "neck strain."

The defensive line starters in the scrimmage were Malcolm Roach and Ta’Quon Graham at end with Keondre Coburn at nose tackle. Roach batted a pass for a breakup in very limited work for the starting D-line. Freshman D-lineman T’Vondre Sweat got a lot of reps with the first-team defense as the scrimmage wore on, next to nose tackles Gerald Wilbon and Moro Ojomo and ends Marqez Bimage and Jacoby Jones. There was one turnover in the scrimmage, a fumble on a trick play, but it was unclear whether the fumble was forced or was simply a drop on an attempted exchange, sources said.

With Zach Shackelford (sprained foot) out, Derek Kerstetter was the first-team center with Sam Cosmi at left tackle, Parker Braun at left guard, Junior Angilau at right guard and Denzel Okafor at right tackle, sources said. The second-team offensive line was Tyler Johnson at left tackle, Tope Imade at left guard, Rafiti Ghirmai at center, J.P. Urquidez at right guard and Christian Jones at right tackle, sources said. Ghirmai, who struggled with low snaps in the spring, had a low snap to Casey Thompson on his first rep of the scrimmage, one source said.

When the second-team O-line took the field later in the scrimmage, sophomore JUCO transfer Willie Tyler replaced Urquidez at right guard, one source said. Late in the scrimmage, the third-team O-line was Javonne Shepherd at left tackle, redshirt freshman Matt Frost at left guard, Lake Travis freshman walk-on Chad Wolf at center, Plano West freshman walk-on Michael Balis at right guard and freshman Isaiah Hookfin at right tackle, sources said.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, HtownHorn said:

Overshown was hurt during the scrimmage today. Neck strain.

Thx to @Yesh and @westexhorn for Twitter updates on injury thread...

Herman said DeMarvion Overshown had a neck sprain and will get imaging done on it. Brayden Liebrock twisted his knee but called it “stable.” #hookem
11:45 AM · Aug 17, 2019·
 
Correction: Strain not sprain.
 
Edited by LTtxfan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Vertigo said:

There is no need to shit on Leal just because he didn't pick us. The guy was being recruited personally by Herman, which indicates he was one of our top 2 or 3 targets in the class last year. Sweat very well may end up being a more impactful player, but writing off Leal at this point as a bust is silly. 

I saw Leal play in 4 games in HS, the kid took a lot of snaps off. More than 50% of the time he loafed.  

He is a big dude, and when he decides to get involved it obvious why everyone wanted him.   Looked like he needed to go to a program that would give him the best conditioning and coaching available to become a 1st round pick.  aggy wasn't the best choice, probably not even a good choice.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Treefidy said:

I saw Leal play in 4 games in HS, the kid took a lot of snaps off. More than 50% of the time he loafed.  

He is a big dude, and when he decides to get involved it obvious why everyone wanted him.   Looked like he needed to go to a program that would give him the best conditioning and coaching available to become a 1st round pick.  aggy wasn't the best choice, probably not even a good choice.  

Lazy and on the take (allegedly),  glad we missed out.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...