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Texas recruiting notes 2019


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Eric Nahlin: Marcus Washington, New JUCO DL, Roles and Fits Evolving

MARCUS WASHINGTON

The senior receiver from St. Louis Trinity Catholic released his to-date senior highlights....and they are good. 

Washington was more highly rated until national 247 writers overreacted to his testing numbers over the summer and dropped him all the way down to an 87.

Washington is showing to be the player they initially rated more highly. Best of all, for a player who projects to the boundary, is his ability to make the entire spectrum of catches: in the air and contested, over the shoulder, back shoulder, coming back to a low thrown ball, etc. He looks to have sticky hands and the ability to make the most of his catch radius. He isn't overly explosive in his routes or after the catch, but he's smooth and fluid and fluid and provides value after the catch. While the staff started recruiting him with much more fervor after missing on Garrett Wilson, the in-state comp is probably more Theo Wease.

Washington is 6-foot-2, but long limbed and with a frame that will eventually play at 210 pounds. As evidenced by his tape on defense as a junior, he'll put that strength to good use on his projected side of the ball.

If he becomes a good route runner he could be devastating. I love a nice, clean projection and that's what Washington is.

Whoever lands this guy is getting a good player. That fan base should probably be at an 8.5 on the Celebratron.

NEW POTENTIAL JUCO DL

Malcolm Lee from Iowa Western looks more like a good project for Yancy McKnight than a guy who will impact the roster in 2019, but at 6-foot-5, 250 pounds he may be worth the three-year commitment. With his size and solid movement skills he fits the bill for 4i.

Originally from Omaha, Lee found himself 15 minutes and one state over in hopes of pinging the radar of bigger schools.

As of now I'd guess Iowa as the favorite.

Despite not yet holding an offer he plans to take an official visit in November. The fact he doesn't hold an offer is an indication the staff has some Juco irons in the fire that are still burning -- perhaps Jacoby Jones or Kuony Deng.

The staff appears dead set to add one more d-lineman from the Juco ranks and one more from the high school ranks (Myron Warren) but would go to a class of five for the right guy.

EVOLVING FITS and ROLES

Understanding how roles and fits are evolving will help identify prospects who fit, or don't, as well as how often a position will be prioritized from cycle to cycle.

It's clear that when in dime, Todd Orlando prefers run stopping ability from his nickel. With emphasis on 'backer' PJ Locke has been pretty good as an f-backer, the staff's term for nickel. But he's been poor as nickel as most fans understand the position in coverage. Far too often he's been mismatched and it's clear he lacks ability in that regard. However, when playing downhill he's made a lot of plays, even though many have gone unnoticed. We all remember the swim move BJ Foster had against OU. That situation was set up by a good Locke effort the play just before it.

If the nickel has to play the run first and foremost when in dime, then you're going to want guys built more like Locke (Jalen Catalon) than your typical player capable of playing man (D'shawn Jamison). Jamison is going to have to add significant size and strength (particularly in his legs) to hold up at the position.

Some have wondered about putting BJ Foster there. I'd still wonder about him in coverage, though obviously less so than Locke. I'd be keen on keeping Foster at joker unless Overshown isn't a rover full time.

For now the nickel position is Josh Thompson's to lose and I'm confident he has all the tools necessary. His coverage busts have been lamented, but we've seen the same from the senior starter. Thompson is still a young player.

If dime is being heavily employed that means b-backer isn't. Of the remaining games, we'll probably only see the team play more nickel rather than dime against Iowa State. If that's going to be standard, and it appears that way, then the staff should re-think the way it recruits b-backers. In the future, unless they can just grow into 4i, those players should offer mac or rover versatility. Rian Davis, as an example, would have been real big here.

Lengthy, muscled up edge guys look good coming off the bus, but it doesn't much matter if they don't come off the sidelines.

For the first time in a long time tight end looks like a fun position to play at Texas. On one play you're flexed out, the next you're motioning over or playing h-back. You're an edge blocker, a lead blocker, and your hard work is rewarded with targets. Most encouragingly for the players Texas has committed in this class is the position has become a certified receiving threat. They're still going to need to learn how to block, but it's not hard to see how Brayden Liebrock. Jared Wiley, and red-shirt Malcolm Epps can be featured in the passing game. That's an exciting development.

The only two dimensions the offense is missing remain hitting the deep ball and a truly dynamic slot receiver. I'm not sure how soon the first one can be fixed (a Z with natural ball skills would help), but the second one will be remedied in June.

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McCoy recently took a Washington visit and will visit Oklahoma in November. Horace says that they will have a final decision “immediately after the final visit”.

The original plan was to announce at the All America game but Horace says, because of Bru’s early enrollee status, they may do a special signing day announcement, instead. McCoy will obviously sign early.

 

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Super K added this in the comments:

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I’ll be honest. My sense is that Bru probably likes Texas more than USC. That’s my gut. But SC has that network and it’s close to home which is why a guy like Steele committed there in the first place. When Steele committed to SC, he told me it was because of his family. It didn’t stick. But I can’t help but feel like Bru may be in a similar situation where he likes Texas, the family likes Texas and the network but in California SC is SC and it’s close to home. I’m not sure on this one, at all. Neither decision would surprise me.

 

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1 minute ago, SydneyCarton said:

Man. I'm not sure how to interpret that...one would think that implies he already knows where he's going if they are positive they will have a decision after their final visit. I would *think* that means OU is just a fun trip since it was so recently added?

This is what I am hoping.  Still think it may be USC but one can dream

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Sounds to me like it will be USC.  They’re 4-2 right now.  His best friend is the QB there.  If the commitment is right after ou then they already have decided where he will be going.  Does he have another visit planned to Texas? The visit to ou is a weird one.  They will 100% negative recruit Texas right before “he decides”.  If he was going to commit to Texas, why take a last minute visit to our biggest rival?  Sounds like he’s decided on SC and is taking his last free trips.  I would imagine he’d visit Texas again if he’s still torn between SC and Texas.  Going to ou and Oregon makes no sense since they were never under consideration.  

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14 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

Man. I'm not sure how to interpret that...one would think that implies he already knows where he's going if they are positive they will have a decision after their final visit. I would *think* that means OU is just a fun trip since it was so recently added?

That is my take. He scheduled an OU visit last minute and is going to announce right after? 

If he is making us he mind now, the season could not be going any better for us. 

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11 minutes ago, Newy25 said:

That is my take. He scheduled an OU visit last minute and is going to announce right after? 

If he is making us he mind now, the season could not be going any better for us. 

This, and the announcement of the change in decision timeline right after his friend (right?) Steele decommits seems to point more towards the good guys than USC

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21 minutes ago, victory88 said:

Sounds to me like it will be USC.  They’re 4-2 right now.  His best friend is the QB there.  If the commitment is right after ou then they already have decided where he will be going.  Does he have another visit planned to Texas? The visit to ou is a weird one.  They will 100% negative recruit Texas right before “he decides”.  If he was going to commit to Texas, why take a last minute visit to our biggest rival?  Sounds like he’s decided on SC and is taking his last free trips.  I would imagine he’d visit Texas again if he’s still torn between SC and Texas.  Going to ou and Oregon makes no sense since they were never under consideration.  

He was supposed to visit OU earlier, but couldn't because he was recovering from a surgery. He's been to Austin twice. Both OU and Oregon were under solid consideration for most of the process. He's good friends with Bookie, and Bedlam is a solid game to check out.

After seeing Steele bail, it's hard to see him accelerating his timeline for USC.

Edited by Atticus
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1 minute ago, Atticus said:

He was supposed to go to OU, but couldn't because he was recovering from a surgery. He's been to Austin twice. Both OU and Oregon were under solid consideration for most of the process.

After seeing Steele bail, it's hard to see him accelerate his timeline to USC.

I hope I’m wrong man.  Just doesn’t make sense to visit ou and then commit to Texas immediately after.  Hopefully it’s just Mensa fucking with Riley but I’m more inclined to believe he’s picked SC and is enjoying these last two visits.  If he would have decided on Texas, you’d think he’d come down for the WV game.  I also don’t think Chris Steele’s decommitment will have any impact on Bru’s.  A lot of these recruiting guys say to look at the play player’s actions when trying to figure out where there head is at.  Just seems off for a guy that’s about to pick Texas to visit their rival right before committing. 

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2 minutes ago, victory88 said:

I hope I’m wrong man.  Just doesn’t make sense to visit ou and then commit to Texas immediately after.  Hopefully it’s just Mensa fucking with Riley but I’m more inclined to believe he’s picked SC and is enjoying these last two visits.  If he would have decided on Texas, you’d think he’d come down for the WV game.  I also don’t think Chris Steele’s decommitment will have any impact on Bru’s.  A lot of these recruiting guys say to look at the play player’s actions when trying to figure out where there head is at.  Just seems off for a guy that’s about to pick Texas to visit their rival right before committing. 

These kids don't care about rivals like that.

How often do kids flip from Texas to OU or A&M? Once they actually get somewhere, rival shit begins to mean something more.

How often do we hear kids saying they grew up rooting for Texas, then turn around and choose to play for OU?

If it can happen with kids from Texas, it can definitely be the case with kids from California. 

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3 minutes ago, JBJ said:

Sounds like Bru's new schedule is due to wanting to be an EE moreso than any indication about where he is going.

Because you can't EE and still be a part of AA games?

He could actually sign to his school of choice and still announce during the AA game a la Nik Bonitto FCB.

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1 hour ago, SydneyCarton said:

Man. I'm not sure how to interpret that...one would think that implies he already knows where he's going if they are positive they will have a decision after their final visit. I would *think* that means OU is just a fun trip since it was so recently added?

South beach, fun trip. Tempe, fun trip. U of Hawaii, fun trip.   Shithole methlahoma?  Waste of a trip unless you are looking to develop trailer parks.  

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56 minutes ago, victory88 said:

I hope I’m wrong man.  Just doesn’t make sense to visit ou and then commit to Texas immediately after.  Hopefully it’s just Mensa fucking with Riley but I’m more inclined to believe he’s picked SC and is enjoying these last two visits.  If he would have decided on Texas, you’d think he’d come down for the WV game.  I also don’t think Chris Steele’s decommitment will have any impact on Bru’s.  A lot of these recruiting guys say to look at the play player’s actions when trying to figure out where there head is at.  Just seems off for a guy that’s about to pick Texas to visit their rival right before committing. 

The Debbie Downer in me thinks that Bru moving up his announcement date is to help stem USC's hemorrhaging on the recruiting front.

The Pollyanna in me thinks that Bru moving up his announcement date is to help Texas close on their final targets.


(I wanna believe!)

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8 minutes ago, Treefidy said:

South beach, fun trip. Tempe, fun trip. U of Hawaii, fun trip.   Shithole methlahoma?  Waste of a trip unless you are looking to develop trailer parks.  

OU has a whole bunch of SoCal kids and pulls out all the stops for football players in a way those schools don't. He'll have fun.

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