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Texas WR/TE Passing Offense Talk

LTtxfan

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victory88
victory88

Really hoping JWhitt can stay healthy because he’s pretty damn good when he plays.  Will never forget his brother calling out aggy for trying to buy him during his recruitment.  Dude switched to RB wh

sidis
sidis

not just that, he has been the one to break us out of our fucking offensive funks the last two games. against miss state, we were really struggle bussing the offense after blue's first momentum k

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RGBIII

If we understand this, we'll understand a lot of other things that Sark is going to do. Prizing Teaching Ability Sark's offense requires quick decision making, adjustments, and coordinated execu

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LTtxfan

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Big Thx for this @satyanash

Scipio Tex: Replacing Isaiah Neyor

Losing Isaiah Neyor for the season is a significant loss, not only for what he meant as a pure talent, but for how he uniquely complemented Xavier Worthy and allowed the Longhorns to put major pressure on defenses from both 11, 12 and 21 personnel. His presence freed other skill players by forcing the defense to make choices and in so doing he simplified the game for the QB. Texas also loses the value add of a plus blocker on the perimeter.

With Neyor, Texas had the ability to be both simple and dangerous, scheming easy shots over the top. Without him, Texas must be more creative. There is no 1:1 replacement for him on the Longhorn roster. I've read the discussion about replacing him and there's a big difference between what a player can do with Neyor and Worthy on the field commanding coverage as opposed to that player replacing Neyor. Neyor was also an insurance policy for Jordan Whittington and his own injury history.

Steve Sarkisian's job is to replace him in the aggregate by finding different approaches using less complete personnel. It's not quite replacing Jason Giambi in the aggregate as Billy Beane was tasked with by the A's in Moneyball because football ain't baseball, but that's the general idea. How can Sark move the chains differently? First, Agiye Hall. Agiye Hall has proven unreliable on and off the field. He's continuing behaviors that got him booted from Tuscaloosa and re-booted in Austin. You can argue the theory of Agiye Hall all you like, but this season won't be played on an X Box. Sark would jeopardize his locker room credibility with an opportunistic reversal of discipline.

Brenen Thompson has been cited as a potential replacement because he can fly. A physically immature 160 pound freshman playing traditional X every down would spend quite a bit of time being driven into the water cooler by physically mature corners. I understand the "But Xavier Worthy!" rebuttal but Worthy was the most productive freshman receiver in Longhorn history, is wiry strong and slippery as hell and generally terrifying to press because one mistake could mean a touchdown.

In a similar vein, Casey Cain is much less developed and has no track record of production in comparison to Neyor. Yes, they are both tall with long arms. Troy Omeire was once Isaiah Neyor with the same preseason accolades and we are still waiting for his recovery. A restored Omeire would be a replacement for Neyor, but we don't know whether he'll be that in September.

Tarique Milton has his own injury history and he's not a natural X, but his experience and savvy makes him employable in multiple roles. Slot Savion Red is turning heads, but I think the part that's left out from those accolades is....for a freshman.

Now, the good news. Steve Sarkisian hasn't always relied on conventional typing at the various receiver spots to fashion his passing game. Whether employing big wide receivers at USC or little guys at Bama. His high flying Alabama offenses didn't feature a 6-3, 220 pound X receiver and as they depleted to injuries, Sark had to use movement, deception and creativity to create breathing room for DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle and John Metchie. Technically, the splintery Smith was his X.

Of course, Smith, Waddle and Metchie were all 1st and 2nd round NFL talents. Having a bunch of awesome players obviates the need for traditional roles. There's only one Longhorn receiver on their level: Worthy. And Sark had a quick-thinking, experienced, accurate 1st round draft pick QB pulling the trigger. However, the realistic ambitions for Texas aren't winning the national title or crushing the 2020 Georgia and Notre Dame defenses. Texas is trying to win 6 or 7 games in Big 12 conference play in a league with a lot of average to above average teams. Every team in the league has significant flaws.

If the injury had to happen, better now than in September. Texas has some time to rethink their offensive approach. Sark needs a guy or two to step up - which can and has happened in the past no matter our current perceptions - and then he needs to consider how his offense will change with more involvement from Sanders and Robinson as pass catchers, possibly more RPOs, a little more stubbornness running the ball and being willing to create space for dinks and dunks and after-the-catch chain moving by a receiving corps that lacks a traditional 6'3" or 6'4" field stretcher.

The ceiling of the Texas offense has been eroded, but let's not concede the floor just yet. To that end, Neyor's loss will have implications not only at wide receiver, but base offensive formations, the starting QB, even OL.

 

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Sulser seems like the little WR's that NE Patriots have used in the past...

IT:  A couple of receivers who will play this year but we haven’t discussed a whole lot are Tarique Milton and Peter Billingsley look alike Gabe Sulser. The reply, “Sulser might surprise some people. I wouldn’t be surprised if he finds his way into the end zone a few times this year. He can create space, has good speed, knows the plays. He’ll get some run. Milton, similar to Sulser, creates space, knows what to do, but he’s fast as hell. Faster than Sulser. They both line up inside and outside, but Milton is more likely to play outside.”

 

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Scipio Tex aka Paul Wadlington   9/5/2022

Texas-ULM Post Mortem: Offense

The Texas offense only ran 58 plays, but still managed 52 points on the strength of two non-offensive touchdowns, minimal penalties and 6.6 yards per play. Texas left a lot in the tank. Bijan Robinson notched only three touches in the second half, Quinn Ewers ran a stripped down offense after two shaky opening throws and couldn’t connect deep with Xavier Worthy, and most of the starters were phased out in the mid 3rd quarter. Steve Sarkisian pulled Ewers a little early in my view. I’d have preferred Ewers have one more 3rd quarter drive with the starters, particularly after a couple of Sanders throws where he started to show comfort, but Sark saw enough.

Pummeling teams you should pummel is good. However… in my preseason preview, I pointed out that ULM was a really terrible football team. In fact, I wrote:

“Nonetheless, if Texas struggles too much with the Warhawks in their season opener, turn this preview into a fireplace log and take up another hobby.“

and

Breaking down the Warhawks player by player is not a particularly useful exercise. This game will be determined more by Longhorn energy, focus, and effort than anything Louisiana-Monroe does.

I echoed the same sentiments in my weekly preview. A lot of potential for egg on the face with that kind of talk, but I watched their film. It doesn’t take many reels to understand bad athletes plus head coach padding his retirement accounts. I’m still seeing a lot of “Yeah, yeah, but we won big so…IT’S HAPPENING!” Fan is short for fanatic after all. I get it. Telling folks to cool their jets never goes over well. That second point from my preseason preview does have some applicability. Texas did show energy, focus, and effort. That’s a base expectation. That’s doesn’t earn a letter grade or an Attaboy. It’s Pass/Fail. Texas Passed. On to the real season now.

QB

Quinn Ewers had a shaky start, but eventually got it together. On his first throw, he hung up a go route to Worthy that could have been picked by a better single high safety, then threw a nonsense interception on 3rd and 7 into coverage. On that second attempt, which was from empty set, he had a clean pocket and a wide open Jordan Whittington four yards past the sticks, but chose to leave the pocket and halve the field to make something happen. You’ll hear the Longhorn play by play guy say he was flushed. He wasn’t. Bad QB play. What should have been an easy 14 yard gain and a new set of downs became a turnover.

Sark had a nice little chat with Quinn on the sideline and then pulled back the reins on the offense for the next three quarters, which is a correct gauge of where the freshman is right now. A lot of simplistic single reads, check downs and a staple RPO. He overthrew Worthy in the end zone twice and also threw behind Keilan Robinson on a swing pass. When he finally nailed the lead on a little swing pass to Bijan, Robinson did the rest for a 16 yard touchdown. That’s stuff he’ll see in the film room and understand that if he can just distribute cleanly on time, Texas has good enough athletes to make him look good. In the 3rd quarter, Ewers also had a couple of nice connections with Sanders.

The first, a little flip out improv where he felt Sanders trailing him and flipped it to him while pretending to look downfield. The second, a veteran instinctive step up in the pocket to find a streaking Sanders between two defenders (3rd Q, 9:57 mark). Quinn threw that ball effortlessly and the zip on it from a pure arm throw is good stuff. His final stat line of 16 of 24 for 225 yards and two touchdowns with one pick is largely a tribute to YAC (190 of 249 passing yards were gained after the catch) and a couple of Sark set piece gimmes (see Sanders TD throw). Ewers in on a developmental trajectory and Sark will dial up the offense based on what he sees Ewers can handle. The freshman will grow in fits and starts and it won’t be a straight line. Fortunately, Texas has some weapons and a very good play-caller to help him along.

Hudson Card got a lot of action in the second half. He was sacked twice. One of them suggesting that his internal clock is still too often a sundial. Sark adjusted to his QB and the protection he was getting from the #2 OL and Card was successful on a series of sprint and roll outs, completing 4 of 5 short passes.

The QB position is limited right now. But not by physical constraints. It will be fascinating to see various facets of the O open up as Ewers gains confidence, experience, sees the field better and starts tossing it around like the natural thrower he is.

RB

Bijan touched the ball 13 times for 111 yards and two touchdowns. He looked very good. No reason to take tread off of his tire, even if he could put up 100 yards in the second half running against the ULM defense. Roschon, Brooks and Keilan combined for 12 carries for 73 yards and two rushing touchdowns while Blue handled closing time. The backs are what we think they are and frankly, our quarterbacks needed the work.

In the two back set featuring Keilan and Bijan, I wouldn’t exactly describe Keilan as a blocker (see 5:05 mark in Q1). More of a I-got-in-your-way-er.

WR/TE

Ja’Tavion Sanders had a coming out party, suggesting that my prediction that the Texas TE who had not yet caught a collegiate pass would be on All Big 12 teams by year end could come to fruition. Sanders looked good as a receiver (6-85-1) and above average-ish as a blocker. A dual description we haven’t seen here in a while. Let’s see how it plays out. Gunnar Helm got the TE #2 snaps and was fine in about a dozen snaps.

The Texas receivers didn’t put up numbers as the game flowed, a couple of missed balls, and some of the constraints on the offense disallowed it, but I was pleased with the blocking effort I saw from Jordan Whittington and Casey Cain. Whittington earned his Lambo like he was trying to eventually play at Lambeau with some absolutely outstanding blocks. He’s just stronger than the average corner or nickel across from him, particularly the 170 pound variety. Casey Cain even contributed a pancake on Bijan Robinson’s touchdown run. Cain had the best play of the day as a pass catcher, breaking a tackle near the line of scrimmage and then sprinting for another 40+ yards of YAC. Right now, he’s WR #3 over Milton. Worthy was quiet with 2 catches, but hopefully he and Ewers get on the same deep ball page soon. Savion Red intrigued me in very limited action. Moves easy for a thickly built 205 pound freshman.

OL

Kelvin Banks has special feet for a 18 year old big guy and you can tell he takes football seriously. I only imagine what he can be once he gets strong and 20 starts under his belt. He and Hayden Conner did a nice job passing off stunts and slants to each other, albeit against weak competition. Jake Majors was alright but he’s no stronger now on the field than he was as a true freshman. 3rd year player. There’s no shock at contact. Cole Hutson showed good aggression, though he did give up the primary pressure that flushed Ewers into a sack. Hutson did a good job of sealing defenders on double teams a couple of times. A lot of guards want to drive the defender, but that often allows disengagement. Blocking him off and turning him is more valuable and an easy visual cue for the RB. HEY, CUT HERE. You’ll see a good example of that on the Jonothan Brooks TD. Christian Jones had some good run blocks and held up as a Big 12 average right tackle. He may be overplaying the inside move given his struggles there and gave up some pressure on a couple of pass rushes that he should have driven past the QB by five yards. He also surrendered a sack on Card while in a double team with Gunnar Helm. That’s a weird deal that happens more often than you’d think as both blockers essentially get in each other’s way and neither declares definitively who has inside/outside.

All in all, this group looked decently cohesive and focused, but ULM lacks the athletes to test much outside of gross incompetence.

Final

ULM is a bad football team. Have I made that sufficiently clear? The Texas offense will improve as the year goes on and Sark left plenty in the playbook for future opponents. Nothing is static when a team is starting three freshmen at the most developmentally intensive positions in the game. Alabama looms, but it’s a mirage as a measuring stick. How the offense performs and grows against UTSA, Texas Tech, West Virginia, Oklahoma will set the season’s upside.

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IT-Coach Venables      Bama Game

You always lose a edge when a front line starter goes down with injury. I think the thing that bothers me the most is I honestly believe it was a busted play when Quinn Ewers (3) suffered the injury. It seems easier to accept when they just outplayed you. It hurt almost as bad when Hudson Card (1) lost his quickness to injury. I think we did well considering the circumstances but it was obvious Quinn and Hudson don’t share many of the same strengths so we lost that deep edge that kept defenders from overplaying quick support against the run.

Several offensive players had banner games. Xavier Worthy (8) is worthy of star status. Casey Cain (88) has proven to be a big play artist along with steady blocker. Jordan Whittington (4) is still a winner and the good news is he’s staying healthy. JT Sanders (0) has improved his blocking and just needs to keep his feet in the open field. Bijan Robinson (5) was the best player on the field period. That catch and run on our last drive was something else—not many can fade adjust with their feet off the ground. WOW—just WOW.

 Must mention Andrej Karic (69-92) taking two jobs every week. This week it was mostly TE and he couldn’t change the LOS but he did block his man. Gunnar Helm (85) is a good player that probably will develop into a excellent player before he’s called it a career. I really like this O-Line and more is coming

https://www.on3.com/teams/texas-longhorns/news/coach-v-texas-longhorns-football-is-fun-again/

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