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Texas Recruiting Notes 2023: Strippers, Monkeys, and 5-Stars

Machinator

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billfromlaketravis

billfromlaketravis 11823

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Posted
3 hours ago, Fumbles said:

I know we're still hanging around the rim with some guys, but we've got NSD in the books and 22 signees (plus 2 transfers so far).  Let's take stock of what we got, starting with the offense.

QB - Arch Manning

Misses - Don't care, got Arch.

Best player on the board at the most important position in football.  I haven't watched film on the other top QBs in this cycle to know what we're missing out on because I don't care.  Arch is fantastic prospect and he would deserve his ranking if his name was Archquavious Jones.

RB - Cedric Baxter, Tre Wisner

Misses - Rueben Owens

I love Cedric's film and I love that we pulled him out of Florida.  Dude is a power runner with top end speed and some nice shake for his size.  I can't believe there are recruiting services who don't think he's the best running back in the country.  Tre Wisner is a nice complementary piece with a lot of versatility.   Owens would have been an even better lightning to Baxter's thunder, but he also seemed like a headcase who didn't want to share carries or the spotlight.  If I had to choose between Owens and Baxter, I take Baxter every time.

WR - Johntay Cook, Ryan Niblett

Misses - Jalen Hale, Jaquaize Petteway, Jaden Greathouse, DeAndre Moore (maybe?), Ja'Kobi Lane (maybe?)

I'm excited about Johntay Cook and think he's one of the very few guys who could contribute as a true freshman depending on how the WR room develops in the offseason.  He's a polished route runner, has great speed, and his film shows solid hands.  Niblett is a super athletic project who has all the tools to become a great slot receiver.  Two great recruiting wins against some very stiff competition.

The problem is both Cook and Niblett are under 6 feet and neither shows much of an ability to win contested balls on film.  Enter Jalen Hale.  Go watch his junior season highlights:  Jalen Hale - Longview - 2021 Junior Season Highlights (247sports.com).  Nearly every catch is him adjusting to poorly thrown balls, high-pointing, and fighting for the catch.  It's a skill that is woefully missing from this recruiting class and the WR room on campus right now.   Hale would have been the perfect player to round out this WR class and, in my opinion, is the worst miss of the cycle.  We really could have used him.  Jaden Greathouse is a really well-rounded player, good routes, good hands, good size, decent speed, and has a lot of nasty blocks on film.  I'm not gonna dickride him like I did Hale, but I like his game and wish we would have made him more of a priority.  Petteway is a good player, but between Cook and Niblett I think we have his skillset covered in the class.

I'm happy with who we got, but I think the misses really hurt here.  Maybe we can make up for it with Moore or Lane, but neither of those guys is bringing what Hale has to the table.

TE - Spencer Shannon, Will Randle

Misses - Duce Robinson (maybe?), Ka'Morreun Pimpton

Spencer Shannon's film shows a technically competent blocker with a great frame for physical development.  And he caught a few balls on slant routes for like 40 yards.  Hopefully he eventually wins the Geoff Swaim Memorial Extra Blocking Surface Award for providing outstanding value to the team that no one cares about.  Will Randle only makes sense to me as a take if he was necessary to secure Arch Manning.  If we just needed a guy with Will Randle's skillset, there are 10 dudes as good or better than him in Texas every year.

Pimpton and Robinson would have been nice additions, but I'm not losing sleep over either of them.  I would have been perfectly happy with Shannon as the only TE take this cycle.

OL - Jaydon Chatman, Trevor Goosby, Payton Kirkland, Connor Stroh, Andre Cojoe

Chatman is an excellent player that's a solid take in any class.  Trevor Goosby is a lean, athletic player with a great frame that has the skillset to play outside.  His upside is Connor Williams/Sam Cosmi.  His downside is the fact that we have to hope he becomes that level of player instead of already being that level of player.  Payton Kirkland is a massive human being that plays as tough as he looks, but I'm not sure he has the feet to play tackle at the college level.  Compare Kirkland's tape to Kelvin Bank's senior season:  SENIOR SZN HIGHLIGHTS - Kelvin Banks jr highlights - Hudl.  00:35, 3:10, and 4:40 show some beautiful pass protection and at 1:03 there is a literal murder caught on film.  Now, I know we can't expect everyone to be Kelvin Banks, but I think the comparison is useful to see Kirkland's shortcomings so far.  There's not a whole lot of tape on Kirkland pulling, getting to the second level, finding guys in space, or stonewalling in pass protection.  He's just lining up and mauling dudes half his size.  Maybe we see more of his game in senior season tape but it's not on HUDL so I haven't seen it.  I love Connor Stroh's senior highlights:  2022 Senior Season Highlights - Connor Stroh highlights - Hudl.  He's consistently finding guys in space and at the second level to block.  There's also some nice pass protection moments in there at 2:39 and 5:45. He's still got a long way to go regarding footwork and technique but I could see him taking the Christian Jones developmental path.  Andre Cojoe is a poor man's Payton Kirkland and he's carrying a lot of bad weight in his senior tape.  You need a lot of faith in Kyle Flood to see Cojoe as a take.

Honestly, this is a bit of a disappointing haul.  There are excuses: 2023 was clearly a down year for offensive linemen in Texas, the 2022 OL class was so good that it scared off elite linemen who wanted quick playing time, the coaches were looking for developmental guys to sit behind the 2022 OLs, etc.  I also can't recall us "missing" on anyone as the coaching staff locked the OL guys down pretty quickly and seemed to focus on other areas.  I wish we had made finding a surefire offensive tackle more of a priority, even considering last year's class.  We're a few key injuries/portal entries away from the dark times again, we need to keep the cupboard as stocked as possible.

Overall Thoughts on the 2023 Offensive Class

Listen, we got the number 1 recruit/top QB in the class, top RB in the class, the best WR in Texas, and a lot of useful toys to go along with them.  Could I piss and moan about the WRs we didn't get or that the OL class isn't loaded with five stars?  Sure.  And I kinda did already.  But this is still a really good class and, when viewed in context with the 2022 class, addressed our roster needs very well.   

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irishtexan

irishtexan 11712

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52 minutes ago, Fumbles said:

I feel like you're hyperfocusing on my negative comments and missing the part where I concluded this was a really good offensive class that meets our roster needs very well.  But I'm very sorry for what I said about your little boy, Mrs. Randle.

That was a super weird response to what I thought was a good post. Ignore it. I wish more people had the stones to go on record with a take that isn’t straight up circle-jerkoffery. Please continue to post. 

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JBJ

JBJ 3827

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53 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

The Akana family-

*Keonilei Akana left Nebraska in the dust and transferred to Texas. After making the national title match the year before at Nebraska. 

*She then helped Texas win a national title in volleyball and her service ace was the final point in the national championship match. 

*Tausili Akana then led OU on in recruiting and signed with Texas. 

This family is really trying to get a building named after them. 

 

Having some authentic Hawaiian food to celebrate:

 

20221222_131105.jpg

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IDIOTsavant

IDIOTsavant 8688

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8 minutes ago, walker said:

So the db's lost EVERY. SINGLE.  REP.   What did I watch here?   Either a cut that did not represent the whole outing, or some crap dbs...   

It’s not a shitty edit…it’s a shitty drill. A QB with no pressure is throwing to a single WR with man coverage and the entire field to work with. If the WR doesn’t win, it means he was seriously outclassed athletically.

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Vito Andolini

Vito Andolini 9452

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Branch is amazing, but both he and Moore are extremely mature for HS seniors and would seem to have the physical makeup to compete at a high level in college, and do so early. Instead of relying on speed to get open like some of the skinny kids, they should also be able to muscle a DB as well. I like the take.

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futureman

futureman 22704

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2 hours ago, Fumbles said:

I feel like you're hyperfocusing on my negative comments and missing the part where I concluded this was a really good offensive class that meets our roster needs very well.  But I'm very sorry for what I said about your little boy, Mrs. Randle.

yawn.  get fucked, loser. 

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