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Orangebloods Owned! Contact Andy Luedecke (aka @MyPerfectFranchise.Net) anytime at:
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(404) 973-9901
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Junior Angilau has entered the transfer portal. Seven words I never thought I would type.
It's not that everyone always knew Junior Angilau was a sure thing as a prospect or that he was 100% destined for an NFL future after his time at Texas. It's just that he played 1940 offensive snaps for Texas during his career (increasingly well as time went on) and he'd become what most people saw as a fixture along the offensive line before his injury during 2022 fall camp. Angilau was set to once again start at offensive guard and be the leader among an inexperienced group that would feature at least one true freshman and likely more through the natural attrition of a season. He was a team captain and a guy who, as I check my drafts folder, has been referenced at least once in 91 separate articles I've written for Orangebloods.
For comparison's sake, the name "Connor Williams" is found at least once in 89 drafts, "Sam Ehlinger" in 61, "Charlie Strong" in 83, and "Tom Herman" in 179.
That's a lot of virtual ink spent on Angilau. A lot of 1s and 0s or whatever makes the letters show up in the old word processor.
And it really is amazing how one season can change everything. Prior to the 2022 campaign, when Angilau was injured, it was seen as devastating. There were arguments on Orangebloods about which injury was a bigger kick in the nuts to start off the season between Junior Angilau and Isaiah Neyor. Folks would argue that Angilau was the one loss that simply couldn't happen. Here's a guy who was coming off a team-best 41.12 snaps-per-disruption-allowed season in 2021 and was thought of as the veteran on the Texas offensive line who was actually the good one. The other, of course, being Christian Jones, from whom no one foresaw the success he ended up having out of the stone blue as a senior.
Still, Angilau was a part of the team in 2022. Not on the field, but as a presence. He would frequently be seen in videos released by the media department of after-game celebrations in the locker room or giving speeches. He was totally bought-in while the transfer portal is typically reserved for guys who are totally checked-out.
What can we make of it? Well, there are certainly going to be factors that no one knows outside of Angilau and his close associates. For example, he could be ready to be back closer to home. In his mind, perhaps the end of the 2022 season had always figured in as his last in Austin. Maybe some new scenery and time to rehab his injury in a new setting could rejuvenate him. Maybe things were just getting stale in Austin.
But, that doesn't make perfect sense. If Angilau simply wanted to retire from football ... it would make all the sense in the world. Coming off injury, wanting to get back closer to home, being tired of the grind and wanting to move on with life, etc. OK; got it. But to have him say (through his actions) that he's done at Texas, but still wants to play elsewhere? That simply HAS to come down to two factors with all else being simple window dressing:
1) He's coming off a knee reconstruction that has a typical period of about one year to return to full health from -- with notable exceptions falling on either side of that expected timeline. That would have him missing spring football and getting in by the skin of his teeth during fall camp just in time for a few practices before the games started. In the past, Texas would have waited for him, and would have welcomed him back to his starting role upon his return with open arms ... which brings us to the most important piece:
2) The young offensive linemen who will be working all during winter workouts, then through the spring, then the summer with the strength and conditioning staff heading into fall camp simply don't allow for a soft landing back into a starting job Angilau would have enjoyed in the past. There are five seats at the table, but none of them are reserved. They are to be fought over.
What spot would Angilau have projected with certainty to "reclaim" upon a 2023 return? (One that is now purely hypothetical). The answer is none of them. In fact, There are already battles going on for those seats among players who the staff rightfully really likes and who are many years younger.
At left guard, you have Hayden Conner who played through some injuries in 2022 but was good enough, and we've seen that he brings, at the very least, a very comfortable floor overall with positional versatility to play 4 positions on the offensive line. Angilau never played center in a college game, but he did cross-train there a lot in recent spring ball and fall camps. Could he be better than Jake Majors? Maybe. Indeed, the bar isn't terribly high with Majors from an athletic perspective. But it should tell you all you need to know that Kyle Flood and Steve Sarkisian talk about him so glowingly due to his understanding of the system. That's worth something to them. Taking Majors' job in your first year back off a major knee reconstruction at a position you've never played ... and to do so over MAYBE a few weeks of fully healthy fall camp practices begins to sound impossible.
Then there is the dogfight at right guard with DJ Campbell starting to move from nipping at Cole Hutson's heels to possibly stealing his cornbread.
There's not a clear and easy path back for Angilau where he can show the NFL (if that is his goal) that he returned from injury as a for-sure starter at Texas. The last thing that anyone wants on their resume is a career where they started every game they were healthy for from their redshirt freshman season to their junior seasons, then were injured for their senior season, and were then unable to regain their starting job returning from the injury.
Texas can't guarantee to Angilau that his career at Texas will not follow this dubious arc. And it's nothing about Junior Angilau as much as it is about changing circumstances. Changing circumstances that are excellent for the program, to be sure. Raise your hand if you thought at this point following the 2021 season that Texas would soon be having to cull players like Angilau due to circumstance. It really is impressive. It's a credit to the staff's recruiting and Kyle Flood's development plans for players in his unit.
"Junior Angilau has entered the transfer portal" truly are seven words I never thought I would type.
lt just doesn't make any sense ... until it does.
Find Your Perfect Franchise at MyPerfectFranchise.Net
Orangebloods Owned! Contact Andy Luedecke (aka @MyPerfectFranchise.Net) anytime at:
aluedecke@myperfectfranchise.net
(404) 973-9901
www.myperfectfranchise.net
Junior Angilau has entered the transfer portal. Seven words I never thought I would type.
It's not that everyone always knew Junior Angilau was a sure thing as a prospect or that he was 100% destined for an NFL future after his time at Texas. It's just that he played 1940 offensive snaps for Texas during his career (increasingly well as time went on) and he'd become what most people saw as a fixture along the offensive line before his injury during 2022 fall camp. Angilau was set to once again start at offensive guard and be the leader among an inexperienced group that would feature at least one true freshman and likely more through the natural attrition of a season. He was a team captain and a guy who, as I check my drafts folder, has been referenced at least once in 91 separate articles I've written for Orangebloods.
For comparison's sake, the name "Connor Williams" is found at least once in 89 drafts, "Sam Ehlinger" in 61, "Charlie Strong" in 83, and "Tom Herman" in 179.
That's a lot of virtual ink spent on Angilau. A lot of 1s and 0s or whatever makes the letters show up in the old word processor.
And it really is amazing how one season can change everything. Prior to the 2022 campaign, when Angilau was injured, it was seen as devastating. There were arguments on Orangebloods about which injury was a bigger kick in the nuts to start off the season between Junior Angilau and Isaiah Neyor. Folks would argue that Angilau was the one loss that simply couldn't happen. Here's a guy who was coming off a team-best 41.12 snaps-per-disruption-allowed season in 2021 and was thought of as the veteran on the Texas offensive line who was actually the good one. The other, of course, being Christian Jones, from whom no one foresaw the success he ended up having out of the stone blue as a senior.
Still, Angilau was a part of the team in 2022. Not on the field, but as a presence. He would frequently be seen in videos released by the media department of after-game celebrations in the locker room or giving speeches. He was totally bought-in while the transfer portal is typically reserved for guys who are totally checked-out.
What can we make of it? Well, there are certainly going to be factors that no one knows outside of Angilau and his close associates. For example, he could be ready to be back closer to home. In his mind, perhaps the end of the 2022 season had always figured in as his last in Austin. Maybe some new scenery and time to rehab his injury in a new setting could rejuvenate him. Maybe things were just getting stale in Austin.
But, that doesn't make perfect sense. If Angilau simply wanted to retire from football ... it would make all the sense in the world. Coming off injury, wanting to get back closer to home, being tired of the grind and wanting to move on with life, etc. OK; got it. But to have him say (through his actions) that he's done at Texas, but still wants to play elsewhere? That simply HAS to come down to two factors with all else being simple window dressing:
1) He's coming off a knee reconstruction that has a typical period of about one year to return to full health from -- with notable exceptions falling on either side of that expected timeline. That would have him missing spring football and getting in by the skin of his teeth during fall camp just in time for a few practices before the games started. In the past, Texas would have waited for him, and would have welcomed him back to his starting role upon his return with open arms ... which brings us to the most important piece:
2) The young offensive linemen who will be working all during winter workouts, then through the spring, then the summer with the strength and conditioning staff heading into fall camp simply don't allow for a soft landing back into a starting job Angilau would have enjoyed in the past. There are five seats at the table, but none of them are reserved. They are to be fought over.
What spot would Angilau have projected with certainty to "reclaim" upon a 2023 return? (One that is now purely hypothetical). The answer is none of them. In fact, There are already battles going on for those seats among players who the staff rightfully really likes and who are many years younger.
At left guard, you have Hayden Conner who played through some injuries in 2022 but was good enough, and we've seen that he brings, at the very least, a very comfortable floor overall with positional versatility to play 4 positions on the offensive line. Angilau never played center in a college game, but he did cross-train there a lot in recent spring ball and fall camps. Could he be better than Jake Majors? Maybe. Indeed, the bar isn't terribly high with Majors from an athletic perspective. But it should tell you all you need to know that Kyle Flood and Steve Sarkisian talk about him so glowingly due to his understanding of the system. That's worth something to them. Taking Majors' job in your first year back off a major knee reconstruction at a position you've never played ... and to do so over MAYBE a few weeks of fully healthy fall camp practices begins to sound impossible.
Then there is the dogfight at right guard with DJ Campbell starting to move from nipping at Cole Hutson's heels to possibly stealing his cornbread.
There's not a clear and easy path back for Angilau where he can show the NFL (if that is his goal) that he returned from injury as a for-sure starter at Texas. The last thing that anyone wants on their resume is a career where they started every game they were healthy for from their redshirt freshman season to their junior seasons, then were injured for their senior season, and were then unable to regain their starting job returning from the injury.
Texas can't guarantee to Angilau that his career at Texas will not follow this dubious arc. And it's nothing about Junior Angilau as much as it is about changing circumstances. Changing circumstances that are excellent for the program, to be sure. Raise your hand if you thought at this point following the 2021 season that Texas would soon be having to cull players like Angilau due to circumstance. It really is impressive. It's a credit to the staff's recruiting and Kyle Flood's development plans for players in his unit.
"Junior Angilau has entered the transfer portal" truly are seven words I never thought I would type.
lt just doesn't make any sense ... until it does.
