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The search for more defensive linemen continues as Texas is at least kicking the tires on Oregon transfer Johnny Bowens III, who redshirted at Oregon as a freshman in 2023, playing only 11 snaps through three games according to PFF. Seven of them came versus Portland State, an opener that the Ducks won 81-7, so they were getting into the deep reserves there, for sure. We have to consider the situation and the opponent, but PFF did at least credit the guy with two solo tackles in that game. They also note that he lined up at defensive end for those snaps.
Other than that, it was all at defensive tackle: 3 snaps in Week 3 against Hawaii, more garbage time as UO beat the Rainbow Warriors 55-10 in that one, but nonetheless, PFF did credit him with one tackle. The only other time he played was in a third blowout, this time getting in one snap versus Cal in a 63-19 drubbing and not recording any stats per the often-cockamamie PFF.
So, we don't have much to go on from this year, but that's not how I think about this. Texas has had reasonable shots with a few players on the DL through the transfer window and none have had a profile similar to Bowens. Coming out of high school (Converse Judson), he was classified as an SDE by Rivals and ranked as a 5.8 four-star, and had an offer from Texas. We aren't talking about a Bear Alexander-type of timeline and/or recruitment here, (although how many situations are similar to that of Bear Alexander?) but he also doesn't present a profile similar to Tiaoalii Savea or Bill Norton who come in with enough skins on the wall to allow us to ignore recruiting pedigree in favor of actual college on-field accomplishments in assessing their fit at Texas.
He was a strong-side defensive end as a recruit, but at 6-3, 270 pounds at the time, it would have been easy to see him bumping inside as time went on. And if Texas was into him as a recruit, why shouldn't they be into him now -- especially given the fact that he's currently up to 290 per the Oregon roster? It's not monstrous, and if you look at his frame, he probably will max out between 290 and 300 pounds (although he does have long arms), but Savea is going to be counted on this season to play relatively major snaps at 293 pounds, and we've seen time and time again that slightly undersized three-techniques can certainly be disruptive forces at the college level - over the last two NFL drafts, guys like Calijah Kancey (2023) and Johnny Newton (2024) both come to mind.
In this article, one Tampa Bay Bucs regional scout is quoted as saying (in relation to Cancey):
"I think we are on the precipice of a possible change at the defensive tackle position because the game has changed," said Cesar Rivera, the Bucs' northeast region college scout. "Offenses are more spread out than ever, the pass game is at a premium, run attacks are stretching laterally and the game as a whole is being played in space more than at any point. That brings more value to guys who are better athletes, quicker and more explosive movers who can run and play with range against lateral rush attacks, in addition to rushing the passer. I think a lot of times, while some of these guys that lack the brute strength that the more massive guys have, they become superior in other aspects and use what they do have to win. There is more than one way to do any job. Being shorter helps win the leverage battle."
And this is not to say that Johnny Bowens is going to be the next Aaron Donald or Grady Jarrett or Ed Oliver. That's not the point. The point is that Texas is set to lose Alfred Collins, Vernon Broughton and Tiaoalii Savea and Bill Norton following this season, leaving on the roster Jaray Bledsoe, Aaron Bryant, Sydir Mitchell, Alex January and summer-enrollee Melvin Hills as scholarship interior DL (If that is where Hills lines up). As for 2025 commitments, Brandon Brown from Florida is on the board, and we have to assume that there will be additions as well as in the portal, specifically through the first wave where the Horns might have to take a pretty aggressive stance in dealing with whatever big fish might come on to the market in the initial period.
Based on Bowens' high school highlights, he moves well and has a very good first step. He's long-levered with good body control and use of leverage. He can separate from blockers with the length of his arms and find the football. He has really good instincts and a lot of juice getting to the ball-carrier post-disengagement. His highlights from Judson are good-to-very-good. And he technically played more defensive snaps (13) in 2023 than Sydir Mitchell did as a college freshman. He didn't play as many snaps as a true freshman at Oregon as Aaron Bryant played at Texas (46 through 7 games played in), but, on these miniscule samples, Bowen did have 3 tackles while Aaron Bryant didn't generate one ounce of production. Not a tackle, not a run-stuff, nothing.
This is not to say Bryant is going to be bad - I don't think he will be bad. Everyone from the media to Sark himself said that Bryant looked to be taking steps forward this spring. This is only to say that Bowens profiles a lot like a few of the core guys Texas has in the pipe for future development and depth through traditional high school recruiting over the last cycle -- A cycle where they needed to come away with more as we look to the future. They need more guys. Not just for right now, either. If Texas could have an extra chip on the roulette table at defensive tackle in hopes that at least one hits when the wheel stops, what's the downside?
Book Review: Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz
From the Publisher: Evan Smoak is a man with skills, resources, and a personal mission to help those with nowhere else to turn. He’s also a man with a dangerous past. Chosen as a child, he was raised and trained as an Orphan, an off-the-books black box program designed to create the perfect deniable intelligence asset: An assassin. Evan was Orphan X―until he broke with the program and used everything he learned to disappear. But now someone is on his tail. Someone with similar skills and training who will exploit Evan’s secret new identity as the Nowhere Man to eliminate him.
Alex's Thoughts: Evan Smoak/Orphan X/The Nowhere Man is a bad dude and I can't deny that this book is a page-turner, definitely really entertaining with lots of action. He was part of a government black-op that recruited orphans and trained them from infancy into assassins skilled in the dark arts of surveillance, warfare, spycraft and dangerous clandestine operations as these recruits didn't have family tethering them to anyone or anything on-the-record. When the unit was dissolved, some of the orphans (who are not supposed to know each other, and who are numbered by letter, the first being A, the second being B, etc.) went on to be freelancers, Orphan X included. He still has access to the program's original funding, so his new line of work is pro-bono, helping innocent people who are in danger and well ... killing the bad guys that are endangering them. He works with one client at a time, with the only stipulation being that once the job is finished, the client is to find someone else in need of his services and pass his phone number along to them. But, another Orphan - the one that legends say is the only one on par with Orphan X - wants him dead and what follows is a mystery where Orphan X doesn't know who to trust as he faces off with an enemy whose skills are similar to his own. In the end, I would recommend the book, but my only slightly negative comment is that it feels the tiniest bit "teenage" action-mystery to me, and the whole thing about saving the people in distress as his only job has a little bit of a superhero vibe to it which is fine, but not really a genre I'm as into as pure, real-world-adjacent fiction. It makes the list with a rating of 3.75 stars!
- Alex's Daily Short Reading List (updated 5-8-2024)
Books I've read or listened to on Audiobook since I've been sharing these reviews on OB (this list is not encompassing of all of my favorite books although it certainly includes a few of them - books I recommend reading/listening to start at 3.5 stars - I will review every book I read, but only list those that I awarded 3.5 stars and up here).
Lonesome Dove (5 stars)
Joe Pickett Series (5 stars)
The Undoing Project (5 stars)
The Accidental Superpower (5 stars)
I Am Pilgrim (5 stars)
Empire of the Summer Moon (5 stars)
Gridiron Genius (5 Stars)
The Cartel (5 stars)
Disunited Nations (5 stars)
Lone Survivor (5 stars)
The Terminal List Series (5 stars)
The Gray Man Series (5 stars)
The Year of the Locust (5 stars)
The Son (4.75 stars)
Seasons of Man Series (4.75 stars)
The Lincoln Highway (4.75 stars)
The 4-Hour Work Week (4.75 stars)
Astroball (4.75 stars)
Project Hail Mary (4.75 stars)
Tier One Series (4.75 stars)
Shantaram (4.5 stars)
Dueling With Kings (4.5 stars)
Wanderers (4.5 stars)
Back of Beyond (4.25 stars)
Blue Heaven (4.25 stars)
The Border (4.25 stars)
Wrath of the Khans - Dan Carlin Podcast Series (4.25 stars)
The Time it Never Rained (4.25 stars)
Hard Country (4.25 stars)
This Tender Land (4 stars)
Supermarket (4 stars)
Ready Player Two (4 stars)
When Christmas Comes (4 stars)
Hollywood Park (4 stars)
Fields of Fire (4 stars)
Terminal Rage (4 stars)
Orphan X (3.75 stars)
The Great Alone (3.75 stars)
Hunting El Chapo (3.75 stars)
The President is Missing (3.75 stars)
The First Conspiracy (3.75 stars)
REAMDE (3.75 stars)
American Wolf (3.75 stars)
The End is Always Near (3.75 stars)
Second Wind (3.75 stars)
The End of the World is Just the Beginning (3.75 stars)
A Strange Habit of Mind (3.75 stars)
The River (3.75 stars)
The House of Love and Death (3.75 stars)
The Sandbox (3.75 stars)
A Bright Shore (3.5 stars)
The Lost City of the Monkey God (3.5 stars)
The Summer That Melted Everything (3.5 stars)
The North Water (3.5 stars)
Deep Survival (3.5 stars)
The Boy From the Woods (3.5 stars)
The Frackers (3.5 stars)
Arliss Cutter Series (3.5 stars)
AS ALWAYS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW ANY BOOKS YOU WOULD RECOMMEND, PREFERABLY THAT ARE AVAILABLE ON AUDIOBOOK. MANY OF THE BEST BOOKS ON THIS LIST HAVE COME VIA RECOMMENDATIONS ON ORANGEBLOODS.
