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Texas D-Line Talk


Reese Bennett

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Awesome job this year Kenny Baker!!! 🤘

Baker_kenny-2024edit_3lN3B.jpg?width=300

 

 

On 12/5/2024 at 10:33 AM, unclebean said:

Alex January, Aaron Bryant and Sydir Mitchel remain, with 2 recruits coming in (Sharma/Charles). Gonna need some portal help

Add Justus Terry at DL !!! 🤘

Edited by LTtxfan
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9 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Curious about Horns DL depth in playoffs???

 

All of our scholly DL will play in the playoffs

Collins-Broughton

Norton-Lole

January-Hill??

The team usually goes 3 deep before garbage time of course if he is not ready he is not ready. But there is zero margin for injury.

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Along with the goal line stops against aggy and a few more, I’m not sure I’ve seen a Texas team this good at defending 3rd and 1 and 4th and 1.   

Kuddos to Broughton, Norton and Collins. I know it’s a flex to score running the ball up the middle and it’s easy to criticize when you go try to pass and fail to convert, but you’d have to be nuts to run between the tackles it that situation.  

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DL play is going to be the key vs ASU. Skataboo is a load but his initial acceleration is not great. The ability of Longhorn DL to penetrate or create pileups at the LOS will determine if the Sun Devils can get a ground game going. Get to Skataboo’s legs while he’s trying to accelerate or turn him laterally and he becomes easier to bring down. Force him to change direction significantly and you create the same kind of window. 

A lot of Skataboo’s yards come on power, blast and counter concepts. I feel very confident that Texas could stop him with interior line play. The issue in my mind is the degree to which the defense has to account for ASU’s QB in the ground game. I can see them having some success by slowing the backside pursuit and LB commitment to their gap responsibility with QB keeper threats.

If PK is able to commit a S or NB against QB runs, ASU’s rushing attack  is probably hosed. I saw a couple of their games and the OL seemed competent but not that physical, much less dominant. KSU may have been the best D Line they’ve seen this season and they held Skataboo under 75 total and 3 YPC. 

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15 minutes ago, sushihorn said:

DL play is going to be the key vs ASU. Skataboo is a load but his initial acceleration is not great. The ability of Longhorn DL to penetrate or create pileups at the LOS will determine if the Sun Devils can get a ground game going. Get to Skataboo’s legs while he’s trying to accelerate or turn him laterally and he becomes easier to bring down. Force him to change direction significantly and you create the same kind of window. 

A lot of Skataboo’s yards come on power, blast and counter concepts. I feel very confident that Texas could stop him with interior line play. The issue in my mind is the degree to which the defense has to account for ASU’s QB in the ground game. I can see them having some success by slowing the backside pursuit and LB commitment to their gap responsibility with QB keeper threats.

If PK is able to commit a S or NB against QB runs, ASU’s rushing attack  is probably hosed. I saw a couple of their games and the OL seemed competent but not that physical, much less dominant. KSU may have been the best D Line they’ve seen this season and they held Skataboo under 75 total and 3 YPC. 

I don't think we need to commit a safety or nickel to the run. Their QB is an effective runner....but he's not a world beater with his legs. I feel like we'll play the keep everything in front of us and see what we can do with 4-5 people in the box which we should be able to handle their OL with. 

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On 12/21/2024 at 9:32 PM, Navin R. Johnson said:

Norton was a massive portal addition. I didn’t follow the portal last year so I don’t know if he was highly recruited. But I do know that we need more Bill Nortons.

 

On 12/21/2024 at 9:35 PM, D_Goose said:

^ came here to shout out Norton too. He was nails on that 4th and goal stop.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Eric Nahlin: Departures of Alfred Collins and Vernon Broughton signal end of the 'Assembly Line'

Quote

Upon arrival to Texas, Steve Sarkisian inherited a roster sorely lacking in talent nearly across the board. One position group that was more than adequately stocked, however, was defensive tackle. In Tom Herman’s first full recruiting cycle, 2018, he signed Keondre Coburn and Moro Ojomo. He followed that up with T’Vondre Sweat who was for some reason ranked as a defensive end but clearly destined for the interior.

In 2020 Herman hit it big with Alfred Collins and Vernon Broughton, two highly rated, high-upside players who at the time fit the “tite” front Texas was running. In 2021, Herman gained a commitment from Byron Murphy, though he never coached him. That’s six signings, all with entirely different body types and skill-sets who have or will be drafted.

How it played out

Coburn and Ojomo played two seasons under Sark at Texas. Coburn was drafted in the sixth round of the 2023 draft, Ojomo in the seventh. Sweat and Murphy would elevate play at the position the following year. Sweat would win the Outland Trophy before being drafted in the second round while Murphy went in the first.

Given losses at the position there was quite a bit of fan trepidation heading into the 2024 season. There were concerns regarding both the starters and depth. Admittedly Texas wasn’t as deep as in years past — that’s what happens when four players are drafted in two years — but Collins and Broughton were clearly up to the task of starting.

Grading out

This season, with by far their heaviest workload, the duo scored the fifth and sixth highest PFF grades on the defense after the sensational Austin DB trio of Jahdae Barron, Andrew Mukuba, and Michael Taaffe. While PFF is not the end all, be all, the lofty grades certainly lined up with what I saw on the field this season.

Alfred Collins

Screenshot-2025-01-13-at-4.08.59%E2%80%A

Vernon Broughton

Screenshot-2025-01-13-at-4.09.58%E2%80%A

Note the trend line for each, particularly with rush defense. That’s evidence of two guys taking to S&C and positional coaching to get stronger and more technically sound. Many factors contributed to this run of NFL DT’s for Texas. Those include good evaluation from the Tom Herman staff, good coaching from Bo Davis and Kenny Baker, and a strong culture instituted by Sark and Torre Becton.

As one era ends we’ll see if a new Assembly Line era can begin. Texas will need a bridge year or two with help from the portal but eventually Alex January, Justus Terry, Josiah Sharma, Myron Charles and others will have a very good chance to follow the footsteps set down by the above six.

 

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On 11/13/2024 at 11:52 AM, MuellerHorn said:

Agreed.

The improvement in pass defense is also due to myriad factors too: better DB talent, Nansen, and a better pass rushing core of players.

I wanted to touch on this, actually. Give credit to Scotty Hazleton for the DBs improving, as well as adding Mukuba. Nansen is LB/DL 

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  • 2 weeks later...

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