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I hate to break up the cargo shorts and Kyler Murray conversation, but I figured someone cruising through this buttfuck of a thread might have an interest in an update from a few guys who've been to p

Born Burnt
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Machinator

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Yesterday's practice report, from IT

 

By: Joe Cook

The first thing I was able to note was the offensive and defensive first teams. 

First team OL: Okafor - Vahe - Shackleford - Rodriguez - Kerstetter
First WRs: Duvernay at Z, Heard at slot, Johnson at X, Beck at TE
First QB/RB: Ehlinger and Young. 

Brennan Eagles, Davion Curtis, and Toneil Carter were running behind those players. Lil'Jordan Humphrey is still getting work at the X position in 3WR sets. Curtis was not in a green no-touch jersey.

On the second team line, Mikey Grandy's and Patrick Hudson's absence is still being felt, as a walk-on continued to man the second LG spot. To his left was Sam Cosmi, To his right in the second team were Derek Kerstetter, Tope Imade, and JP Urquidez. 

QBs, WRs, and RBs repeatedly repped variations of the jet sweep in the Texas offense. When the ball was flipped to the WR, the RBs worked on how to properly block for that play. Other times, the QB handed off the the RB and carried out a fake to the WR. The third option was having the QB keep the ball.

When the offense stopped running against air, each position split for individual work except for one difference. Derek Warehime was working with the tackles and the tight ends on combo blocks. Kerstetter, Okafor, Cosmi, and Urquidez worked with the tight ends in this drill. 

On defense, the Todd Orlando's unit worked pursuit drills in the lightning package.

First DL: Hager - Nelson (still in the green jersey) - Omenihu
RLB: Roach
MLB: Wheeler
Safeties at the LOS: Bonney and Thompson
Deep safeties: Locke and Jones
CB: Boyd and Davis

Second DL: Bimage - Graham - Chisholm
RLB: Boyd
MLB: McCulloch
Safeties at the LOS: Brown and Durst
Deep safeties: Sterns and Foster
CB: Cook and Boyce.

One drill I was able to catch was the linebackers working on how to handle cut blocks. The player in the drill had to go down a line of four teammates, properly avoiding a cut block each time.

Safeties and corners did their normal drills, including breaking on the ball and staying low in their backpedals. 

The DL split its drills at one point, with part of Oscar Giles group working on end specific drills with the other part working on interior defensive linemen techniques. Omenihu, Hager, Chisholm, Bimage, and Fitzgerald (also in a no-touch jersey) were in this group. 

Colt McCoy and Nate Boyer were present, but appeared to be there to observe rather than get involved with practice.

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Machinator

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Yesterday's practice report, from TFB: http://texas.thefootballbrainiacs.com/2018/04/open-post-wednesday-april-4th-2/

– Spring Practice: April 3rd

Depth Chart:

1s…
QB: Sam Ehlinger
RB: Daniel Young
X: Collin Johnson
Y: Jerrod Heard
Z: Devin Duvernay
TE: Andrew Beck
OL: Denzel Okafor – Patrick Vahe – Zach Shackelford – Elijah Rodriguez – Derek Kerstetter

DL: Breckyn Hager – Chris Nelson – Charles Omenihu
BLB: Jeffrey McCulloch
RLB: Malcolm Roach
MLB: Anthony Wheeler
NB: PJ Locke
CB: Kris Boyd, Davante Davis
BS: John Bonney
FS: Brandon Jones

2s / 3s…
QB: Shane Buechele/Casey Thompson/Cam Rising
RB: Toneil Carter/Tristian Houston
X: Lil’Jordan Humphrey
Y: Jordan Pouncey
Z: John Burt
TE: Reese Leitao
OL: Samuel Cosmi – ? – Derek Kerstetter – Tope Imade – JP Urquidez

DL: Marquez Bimage – Taquon Graham – Jamari Chisholm/ D’Andre Christmas – Gerald Wilbon – ?
BLB: Jeffrey McCulloch / Kyle Hrncir (what a last name)
RLB: Ayodele Adeoye
MLB: Demarco Boyd
NB: Josh Thompson
CB: Anthony Cook, Kobe Boyce / Eric Cuffee, Donovan Duvernay
BS: Chris Brown / BJ Foster
FS: Caden Sterns / Montrell Estell

 

Notes:

I was late to the open practice period because once people hit Guadalupe they lose 20 IQ points. Still I was able to grab a few takeaways.

– Special guests for the practice were former players Nate Boyer and Colt McCoy.

– Andrew Fitzgerald was sporting the green “don’t touch me” jersey today

– Davion Curtis was a guy the coaches seemed very happy with. This is a continuation of having a great scrimmage. He’s still behind Duvernay and Burt. His method of catching the ball is a bit unorthodox and he looks a bit goofy, but gets the job done.

– The team is a bit beat up at this point in Spring ball. Each unit has bumps, bruises, and fatigue.

– Maybe I’m just really out of shape, but I’m consistently impressed with the size of the players. Guys like Daniel Young, Sam Ehlinger, Davante Davis, PJ Locke, and the DL are ones that specifically stood out to me.

– Practice ended with BJ Foster picking off Shane Buechele.

– Punting game is a work in progress. – (Will)

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Machinator

Machinator 32098

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Posted (edited)

Current injuries:

QB: none

OL: Grandy (concussion), Hudson (ACL)

RB: Porter (ankle), Houston (knee), K. Johnson (something), Townsend (ankle)

WR: Pouncey (ankle)

TE: Brewer (ACL)

DL: Nelson (elbow?, practicing non-contact), Fitzgerald (knee?)

LB: G. Johnson (groin), Freeman (triceps)

DB: Estell (foot)

Edited by Machinator
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Eric Nahlin - What we know about the offensive line (plus what we think we know)

 

There are a lot of moving parts with this offensive line so I wanted to reset the buffet table. 

Charlie Strong often discussed the five phases of the off-season, one of those of course being spring ball. It's important to remember spring ball isn't specifically a build up to the season, it's a build up to August camp. 

With the hiring of offensive line coach Herb Hand, the offensive line is beginning anew. Had Derek Warehime been retained we'd have a much more clear view of the starting line up and rotations. The fact we don't is actually a very good thing. This isn't the time to create cohesion; it's the time to learn assignments. This is the time to find out what guys can and can't do. It's not even time to compete to start so much as it is to jockey for favorable position to earn the job down the road. Starters will be decided in August.

Let's take a look at each position currently.

Left Tackle:

Right now junior Denzel Okafor and redshirt freshman Sam Cosmi are 1 and 2 atop the depth chart. Fifth year senior Elijah Rodriguez also received looks at left tackle in the recent scrimmage. With him starting the bowl game at left but seeing so few reps in practice we can deduce Hand either saw something in E-Rod he didn't like for the position, or he saw something in Okafor he did like for the position. Maybe a little of both, maybe he just likes E-Rod at guard. Don't know.

We wrote that Cosmi has had his struggles at times getting off balance/reaching, and getting beat. Perhaps he's pressing. It's no indication of his upside, he just might not be ready to factor heavily into the first five for next season. Too early to tell, but until he supplants Okafor at first team LT shelve the notion of him starting.

It's possible the best left tackle in the spring becomes the starting right tackle and back-up left tackle long-term. In that regard, it wouldn't be prudent to move Okafor to guard just yet. Obviously they still see tackle upside in him.

Offensive linemen are tackles until they're not; similar to how defensive backs are corners until they're nickels/safeties. It's clear Hand is still finding out if Okafor is a tackle and so far Okafor is.

Left Guard:

Patrick Vahe is easily the safest bet to start at his current position. The coaches are very fond of his attitude and truth be told Vahe's always been a pretty big fan of this coaching staff. 

Vahe isn't being challenged, which doesn't seem ideal, but it doesn't sound like the coaches feel the need to throw competition his way like they're doing at the other guard spot.

Mikey Grandy has missed recent practices. I'll find out why that is but he hasn't been 100% since arriving to Texas. 

Center: 

Texas fans are too used to previous starters holding their job in perpetuity regardless of how that person played. This stems from the fact roster talent has been thin and players who should be competing at one position were starting at another. As we can see, Texas will have a full roster of contributors spanning each recruiting class across the board this year. That means competition across the board.

Aside his snapping issues there are other reasons the staff wants to find competition for Shack. All that's important for public consumption is they believe an upgrade can be made. That's hardly groundbreaking, they felt left tackle and right guard were ripe for upgrading. Had Jake McMillon returned do you think he'd be guaranteed to start? Not hardly.

Competition comes in the form of Derek Kerstetter, a player who might be performing at the highest level of any o-lineman. That's both good and bad for Shack. Good because that makes it tough for the staff to move Kerstetter. Bad because Kerstetter is likely the superior prospect to Shack. 

Like water, evaluations find their level. Kerstetter could become an above average right tackle, but what if he can become an exceptional center? Life is filled with trade-offs.

Right Guard: 

This position is pretty open, though Elijah Rodriguez would start if the lads were to play today. You'd have to think the fifth year player will find a fit in the starting line-up but that isn't guaranteed. If E-Rod is not a starter then that tells you this line will play above league average. If he is a starter it still might be above league average. I suspect we'll see his value this season.

Okafor has repped here with the ones and Hand is intrigued by his size and athleticism for the position.

Shackelford has also briefly repped here with the ones when Kerstetter worked center. 

The intrigue at right guard doesn't stop here. Tope Imade has been running with the twos (good size, strength, and physicality) and Patrick Hudson will come back healthy at some point. Hand will want to see what he can do ASAP.

Juxtapose all this competition with the lack of it at left guard. Indeed, they must feel good about Vahe.

Right Tackle: 

As of right now this is Kerstetter's spot but his versatility, and that of some of his teammates, may motivate the staff to move him. That's not just dependent on Kerstetter, but also Okafor's viability at tackle and Shack's level of play. Kerstetter's a fantastic piece to help medicate what ails this line. 

Behind Kerstetter is seldom discussed JP Urquidez. Urquidez keeps plugging along, quietly getting stronger. He was always a long-curve player and he may still develop into a piece down the road.

CALVINISM

Texas picked up the biggest Calvin transfer since Jean Calvin left Collège de Montaigu for the University of Orleans and this Calvin is set to Reform the offensive line!

With his experience, quickness of mind and quickness afoot, Calvin Anderson will likely spend half a practice competing to become the starting left tackle. That will affect the entire line, but it's entirely predictable. Because it's so predictable it would be safe to assume the staff is preparing current players in the event Anderson will be the opening day starter on the blindside. 

Ian's best guess of how the dominoes will fall is entirely plausible. Okafor is still at left tackle which means the staff sees him as a tackle, but he won't beat out Anderson. 

You either think Kerstetter is working at center in the event Shack is hurt or he's there to provide real competition. You know what I believe. If Kerstetter goes to center then Okafor is the leader to become right tackle.

We know Vahe is safe.

That leaves right guard where E-Rod is most likely to start -- he's starting there now, after all -- but certainly not guaranteed. That position has by far the most competition.

Based on inside information, my own personal evaluations, and intuition, this is how I currently see the state of offensive line.

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BurntOrangeCrush

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15 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Eric Nahlin - What we know about the offensive line (plus what we think we know)

  Reveal hidden contents

There are a lot of moving parts with this offensive line so I wanted to reset the buffet table. 

Charlie Strong often discussed the five phases of the off-season, one of those of course being spring ball. It's important to remember spring ball isn't specifically a build up to the season, it's a build up to August camp. 

With the hiring of offensive line coach Herb Hand, the offensive line is beginning anew. Had Derek Warehime been retained we'd have a much more clear view of the starting line up and rotations. The fact we don't is actually a very good thing. This isn't the time to create cohesion; it's the time to learn assignments. This is the time to find out what guys can and can't do. It's not even time to compete to start so much as it is to jockey for favorable position to earn the job down the road. Starters will be decided in August.

Let's take a look at each position currently.

Left Tackle:

Right now junior Denzel Okafor and redshirt freshman Sam Cosmi are 1 and 2 atop the depth chart. Fifth year senior Elijah Rodriguez also received looks at left tackle in the recent scrimmage. With him starting the bowl game at left but seeing so few reps in practice we can deduce Hand either saw something in E-Rod he didn't like for the position, or he saw something in Okafor he did like for the position. Maybe a little of both, maybe he just likes E-Rod at guard. Don't know.

We wrote that Cosmi has had his struggles at times getting off balance/reaching, and getting beat. Perhaps he's pressing. It's no indication of his upside, he just might not be ready to factor heavily into the first five for next season. Too early to tell, but until he supplants Okafor at first team LT shelve the notion of him starting.

It's possible the best left tackle in the spring becomes the starting right tackle and back-up left tackle long-term. In that regard, it wouldn't be prudent to move Okafor to guard just yet. Obviously they still see tackle upside in him.

Offensive linemen are tackles until they're not; similar to how defensive backs are corners until they're nickels/safeties. It's clear Hand is still finding out if Okafor is a tackle and so far Okafor is.

Left Guard:

Patrick Vahe is easily the safest bet to start at his current position. The coaches are very fond of his attitude and truth be told Vahe's always been a pretty big fan of this coaching staff. 

Vahe isn't being challenged, which doesn't seem ideal, but it doesn't sound like the coaches feel the need to throw competition his way like they're doing at the other guard spot.

Mikey Grandy has missed recent practices. I'll find out why that is but he hasn't been 100% since arriving to Texas. 

Center: 

Texas fans are too used to previous starters holding their job in perpetuity regardless of how that person played. This stems from the fact roster talent has been thin and players who should be competing at one position were starting at another. As we can see, Texas will have a full roster of contributors spanning each recruiting class across the board this year. That means competition across the board.

Aside his snapping issues there are other reasons the staff wants to find competition for Shack. All that's important for public consumption is they believe an upgrade can be made. That's hardly groundbreaking, they felt left tackle and right guard were ripe for upgrading. Had Jake McMillon returned do you think he'd be guaranteed to start? Not hardly.

Competition comes in the form of Derek Kerstetter, a player who might be performing at the highest level of any o-lineman. That's both good and bad for Shack. Good because that makes it tough for the staff to move Kerstetter. Bad because Kerstetter is likely the superior prospect to Shack. 

Like water, evaluations find their level. Kerstetter could become an above average right tackle, but what if he can become an exceptional center? Life is filled with trade-offs.

Right Guard: 

This position is pretty open, though Elijah Rodriguez would start if the lads were to play today. You'd have to think the fifth year player will find a fit in the starting line-up but that isn't guaranteed. If E-Rod is not a starter then that tells you this line will play above league average. If he is a starter it still might be above league average. I suspect we'll see his value this season.

Okafor has repped here with the ones and Hand is intrigued by his size and athleticism for the position.

Shackelford has also briefly repped here with the ones when Kerstetter worked center. 

The intrigue at right guard doesn't stop here. Tope Imade has been running with the twos (good size, strength, and physicality) and Patrick Hudson will come back healthy at some point. Hand will want to see what he can do ASAP.

Juxtapose all this competition with the lack of it at left guard. Indeed, they must feel good about Vahe.

Right Tackle: 

As of right now this is Kerstetter's spot but his versatility, and that of some of his teammates, may motivate the staff to move him. That's not just dependent on Kerstetter, but also Okafor's viability at tackle and Shack's level of play. Kerstetter's a fantastic piece to help medicate what ails this line. 

Behind Kerstetter is seldom discussed JP Urquidez. Urquidez keeps plugging along, quietly getting stronger. He was always a long-curve player and he may still develop into a piece down the road.

CALVINISM

Texas picked up the biggest Calvin transfer since Jean Calvin left Collège de Montaigu for the University of Orleans and this Calvin is set to Reform the offensive line!

With his experience, quickness of mind and quickness afoot, Calvin Anderson will likely spend half a practice competing to become the starting left tackle. That will affect the entire line, but it's entirely predictable. Because it's so predictable it would be safe to assume the staff is preparing current players in the event Anderson will be the opening day starter on the blindside. 

Ian's best guess of how the dominoes will fall is entirely plausible. Okafor is still at left tackle which means the staff sees him as a tackle, but he won't beat out Anderson. 

You either think Kerstetter is working at center in the event Shack is hurt or he's there to provide real competition. You know what I believe. If Kerstetter goes to center then Okafor is the leader to become right tackle.

We know Vahe is safe.

That leaves right guard where E-Rod is most likely to start -- he's starting there now, after all -- but certainly not guaranteed. That position has by far the most competition.

Based on inside information, my own personal evaluations, and intuition, this is how I currently see the state of offensive line.

Nahlin hardly mentions Patrick Hudson, saying he will come back at some point when he is healthy. Can someone remind me of what his injury was? Didn't he get injured before the beginning of last season? I can't remember.

Edited by BurntOrangeCrush
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Machinator

Machinator 32098

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4 minutes ago, BurntOrangeCrush said:

Nahlin hardly mentions Patrick Hudson, saying he will come back at some point when he is healthy. Can someone remind me of what his injury was? Didn't he get injured before the beginning of last season? I can't remember.

Tore his ACL in the San Jose State game.

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CBMUFC

CBMUFC 0

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9 minutes ago, BurntOrangeCrush said:

Nahlin hardly mentions Patrick Hudson, saying he will come back at some point when he is healthy. Can someone remind me of what his injury was? Didn't he get injured before the beginning of last season? I can't remember.

He tore his ACL.

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Katfid54

Katfid54 8594

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4 minutes ago, Daichee Bell said:


Damn. I saw that after I posted. Got to start at the bottom and work my way up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's funny, because I started at your mom's bottom and worked my way up last night.

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ousux

ousux 5588

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So did Cuney and Macmillon get run off or was it just graduation/retirement? Seemed like those two guys contributed last year and were in line for some playing time. 
McMillon could see the NFL wasn't in his future but graduation (and a job waiting for him) was last December. As for Cuney, who knows..I thought he was thinking the same, but he participated in the Texas pro day.

To be honest, don't think it's going to hurt us much. McMillon could have provided quality depth for '18, but he was never starter material. As for Cuney, the only reason he got play time last year was due to injuries making depth a dire issue..
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GlenFromTheMailRoom

GlenFromTheMailRoom 1603

Posted
Posted (edited)
28 minutes ago, Marcusharbinger said:

So did Cuney and Macmillon get run off or was it just graduation/retirement? Seemed like those two guys contributed last year and were in line for some playing time. 

I don't consider graduating and moving on to be the same thing as being run off.  McMillion is going into the workforce with a degree.  Cuney may have tested at pro-day but the same will most likely happen with him.  Congrats on the two of them for finishing school in under 4 years while being a student athlete.  Shit isn't easy to do.

Edited by GlenFromTheMailRoom
I can't fucking type.
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