Texas freshman quarterback Shane Buechele is doing everything the right way.
I know it may sound like a cliché, a desperate play on words, or possibly an understatement. No matter how you want to characterize the conservation about Buechele, it is important to know this young man does not resemble a freshman right now. Instead, Buechele resembles an upperclassman who is not satisfied with the status quo.
The initial hope was for Buechele to be competitive during the spring, show improvement, and be in the mix for playing time later this season. As everyone knows, Buechele exceeded those expectations. He did not perform like a nervous freshman this spring, but resembled a player capable of taking the first snap against Notre Dame. His performance in the spring game was the final piece proof most Longhorn fans – and coaches - needed to give Buechele a vote of confidence.
However, Buechele’s determination to lead the team did not end after the rain-shortened spring game.
From what I have been told, Buechele is blowing away everyone in the program – again – by demonstrating his leadership qualities during the offseason. Instead of being content with his spring performance, Buechele continues to grind away like the gym rat he is and is actually organizing informal workouts with his teammates in an effort to improve.
For those who follow college football, a quarterback organizing informal workouts is nothing new. In fact, it can be categorized as a rite of passage. Quarterbacks are expected to show their leadership qualities by gathering teammates together to practice during the offseason. On the surface, it may not appear that Buechele is not doing anything special.
Here are the reasons why you should be impressed.
When quarterbacks traditional organize informal workouts, those exercises traditionally do not occur until the summer. Once the spring game is over, guys lay low as they prepare for finals. After finals, players begin team workouts before fading into summertime mood. Quarterbacks often attempt to organize workouts with teammates before fall camp.
Yet, Buechele is about a month ahead of the offseason workout schedule.
From what I was told, Buechele and freshman receiver Collin Johnson work together to gather teammates to workout throughout the week. Whenever teammates discover the workouts are taking place, a number of players decide to join them. As a result of that initiative, players are now looking at Buecehle to organize these workouts.
In addition, I was told Buechele is the only quarterback currently organizing workouts.
The other impressive aspect about these workouts is they are being organized by a true freshman. One source told me, “I’ve never seen a freshman do something like this.” To say everyone in the program is thrilled about Buechele’s assertiveness would be an understatement.
If Buechele continues at this pace, he will make it easier for the staff to name him a starter in the fall. Not only is Buechele performing on-the-field, this freshman is exhibiting all of the intangibles necessary to win the trust of the entire team - and staff. Here is what Buechele has accomplished so far:
- Enrolled early.
- Started winning the respect of his teammates during offseason workouts.
- Began pushing the quarterbacks ahead of him for playing time.
- Took advantage of his opportunity after Jerrod Heard’s shoulder injury.
- Excelled during the Orange-White scrimmage.
- Emerging into a leader.
Sure, Tyrone Swoopes is technically the No. 1 guy, but Buechele’s performance this spring made it easier for Texas to start its freshman quarterback and not worry about backlash from the fan base. At this point, naming Buechele the starter prior to this season will generate excitement from Texas fans.
More importantly, there is a growing belief from within the football facilities that Buechele may give Texas a better chance at success this season than any quarterback on the roster. Buechele is definitely doing his best to prove he deserves a shot, and he doing everything possible to win the job. (Richardson)
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The offseason is also the beginning of “transfer season” in college football.
This is the time when athletes who are disgruntled about playing time decide to transfer and try their luck at another program. The majority of players who leave fell behind on the depth chart and realize it will be hard to see the field at their current school. Others are homesick and rather play for a program near close to their family. Some players just need a change of scenery.
There are many reasons why players leave, and we will find out which guys are ready to depart Austin pretty soon.
From what I was told, players began meeting with Strong on Wednesday to discuss their future at UT. Each player is receiving an individual assessment and should have a better idea of where they stand after their meeting. Friday is the last planned meeting day, assuming nobody had to reschedule.
So far, I do not have a list of potential transfer candidates, and speculating in a public forum could create unnecessary tension between players who might believe they are being pushed out the door at the staff. For that reason, it is best to wait until the meetings are concluded and players have a chance to contemplate their future before discussing specific Longhorns.
Attrition has not being a problem at Texas under Strong, but with the emphasis on playing sophomores and incoming freshmen this season, it will be interesting to see which players are worried about getting lost in the shuffle.
So far, I do not have any indication Texas is in danger of losing any potential starters, but we should have a better idea of what will in the near future. (Richardson)
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Texas’ incoming freshmen are expected to hit campus in June, and there appears to be very good news for Longhorn fans.
So far, it seems everybody should graduate from high school on time, and Texas may not have to worry about any player failing to qualify academically. When I asked about this a few months ago, I was told there were at least two players who still had some classroom work to pull off.
However, I spoke to a source on Thursday, and that person does not believe we will see a repeat of the academic casualties Texas sustained last year.
My only disclaimer is anything can happen between now and June.
If by some outside chance we discover a player is struggling in the classroom, just know when I spoke to a source on April 28, every incoming freshman appeared to have their grades under control. Ultimately, this situation will become very clear in the near future. (Richardson)
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With the NFL draft this weekend and no real Longhorns headliners outside of Hassan Ridgeway (who projects as a Day 2 pick), here is your first-look breakdown of what kind of weekend Texas fans may be looking at next year:
SENIORS
RT Kent Perkins - Well, this is the big year for Perkins. We’ve been on the verge of a Kent Perkins breakout for three seasons now. If Perkins can finally play at the dominating level we’ve seen in spurts consistently, that’s a third-round guard with some upside. If he plays like he has played for his entire career, he is a borderline-draftable prospect, grading slightly lower than guys like Trey Hopkins and Donald Hawkins who both went undrafted.
TE/DE Caleb Bluiett - He won’t be featured in the passing game, but he’ll have a shot to put some nice things on tape as a pass-protector and a run-blocking H-back. Teams will likely also love the athleticism he showed on the defensive side of the football and that versatility. It’s not unreasonable to optimistically project that he can have the kind of season that gets him drafted.
DT Paul Boyette - His wife just got drafted, I think he can too with a really big season. It’s just hard to chalk it up to a good chance. The defensive line is going to be very thin, at least to start things out, and Boyette will likely have to be a 70% snap-participant which I could certainly see making him gassed frequently. I think he’ll end up in an NFL camp if he wants, but I’m not confident just yet saying he’ll get drafted.
QB/RB Tyrone Swoopes - Who knows, they could want to look at him at defensive end or tight end or who knows where. I think teams will just be interested in his size and running ability. It’s hard to project how the scenario plays out without knowing what Swoopes’ plan was to be positionally, but he has better natural athleticism and size than a lot of the guys who’ll get drafted this weekend.
JUNIORS WHO COULD DECLARE
(This list will have a lot of interesting names when projecting the 2018 NFL draft - Vahe, Williams, Warren, Jefferson, Hill, Davis, Omenihu and others all could find themselves in position to seek advisory board feedback)
RB D’Onta Foreman - RB is a deep group next season in the NFL draft. A generational talent in Leonard Fournette will presumably be coming out. He’s the sort of player who I wouldn’t be shocked if teams have in the overall Top 5 of their big boards by draft time barring injury or disaster. Nick Chubb, Dalvin Cook, Christian McCaffrey, Semaje Perine, it’s deep. I’ve heard that Foreman is focused on his Texas career at this time of course, but it’s clearly a big dream of his to get to play professionally. If he had a monster 2016 season garnering national awards and/or received a second-round grade from the advisory board, it would be something I know he’d think about pretty hard.
So, looking at next year, it appears Texas fans may not have a much bigger year on tap and it has a good possibility of being a worse showing for the Longhorns. Kent Perkins’ realistic upside with a mega-monster of a season is about where Ridgeway is currently slotted. Also, in the scenario of a D’Onta Foreman mega-monster, it would likely only realistically catapult his stock into the second-round range with the positional value that will be present.
With the 2015 and 2016 classes at Texas, it’s a virtual guarantee the Longhorns will be back to a program that has 5-10 players at the combine annually, but it won’t be until 2018 or possibly 2019. (Dunlap)
