The Deep Dig
Kansas State Part II: Offense
presented by Wendy Swantkowksi, DDS
Looking for experienced, family and cosmetic dental care in the Houston-Memorial area? Go with the best! OB sponsor Wendy Swantkowski, DDS. Call 281-293-9140 and find out why so many Orangebloods members are her patients!
Offensive Line Thoughts and Grades
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS OFFICIAL OL GRADING LOG
Deep Dig Grading Scale
55 LT Connor Williams - 61 snaps
1 false-start penalty (shared)
2 run-stuffs allowed
2 knockdowns, 1 pin
DEEP DIG GRADE: 79.01
It was Connor Williams’ second-best game of the season and he continues to look like a player Texas will only have on board for one more season before leaving for the NFL.
Let’s be clear: The Deep Dig has been one of the biggest proponents of Connor Williams since he set foot on the Texas campus. One could even say the bandwagon started right here within this dark basement. With this being said, we’re starting to become a group of Mike Zimmers about Pro Football Focus and their grades.
Some members of our basement have received pushback regarding Williams’ grades in the Deep Dig given the fact that Pro Football Focus keeps releasing propaganda about Williams that simply isn’t true. For example, PFF tweeted that its college graders have Williams not surrenerding a sack or QB hit all season while only committing one penalty following the KSU game. This is not true. Williams has allowed one sack. It’s true he has not allowed a QB hit. He has allowed 2 separate pressures, 1 TFL and committed a total of 2 penalties when you count the shared false-start the group was awarded versus the Wildcats.
The bottom line is that PFF is a good resource but the Deep Dig is a better one when it comes to grading Texas offensive linemen. Connor Williams will be an NFL player and a high pick one day, but his slotting on the scale at this time is exactly correct. As a sophomore, he’s a very high-end D1 player who’d likely be a late-round pick or priority UDFA if this was his junior season and he elected to come out early. Factoring in continuation of development, strength and size over the next year without sacrificing movement abilities, he’ll likely be up in the mid-80’s by next season. Our prediction is he’ll eventually break 80 this year.
77 LG Patrick Vahe - 61 snaps
1 false-start penalty (shared)
2 run-stuffs, 1 pressure allowed
3 knockdowns, 1 pin
DEEP DIG GRADE: 78.04
Patrick Vahe’s best game of the season. We were very worried to start the 2016 campaign that Connor Williams had appeared to take the next step in his development while his fellow freshman All-American in Vahe had not. Vahe started out the season looking like a player who had actually regressed — not only in the strength department but also in recognizing and picking up interior stunt and twist pressure. The most recent Deep Dig grades show a big trend, though:
Here are Vahe’s grades by week:
Notre Dame - 75.24
UTEP - 74.57
Cal - 76.02
OSU - 75.56
OU - 76
ISU - 77.34
KSU - 78.04
64 C Jake McMillon - 61 snaps
1 false-start penalty (shared)
No disruption allowed
2 knockdowns
DEEP DIG GRADE: 77.07
The bottom line is that he needs to be the new starter. We laid out the case last week as to why, but to recap, McMillon has been the far superior option to Zach Shackelford by all measures available to us and all statistics we keep within our creaky basement walls. If Shackelford starts another game in 2016 over a healthy McMillon, we view that as a mistake by a lame-duck coaching staff. We will add in the caveat that Shackelford is very likely to come into spring/summer 2017 as the best option after developing just a small bit more strength as Shack probably has physically higher upside.
76 RG Kent Perkins - 61 snaps
1 false-start penalty (shared)
2 TFL allowed
3 knockdowns
DEEP DIG GRADE: 78.68
We think Kent Perkins might have gotten wind of our column last week stating that his NFL hopes were, at this point, nothing more than nonsense based on everything he’s done at Texas thus far. He answered with his best game of the season and his best of his career. Perkins’ first drive on offense, as you can tell by looking at the Deep Dig’s official participation log, was one of the most dominating series we’ve ever seen by a Texas offensive lineman. Maybe we should start ripping him in the column more often. It might end up making Perkins some money.
75 Tristan Nickelson - 38 snaps
1 false-start penalty (shared)
3 pressures, 1 sack, 1 TFL allowed
DEEP DIG GRADE: 68.16
58 Brandon Hodges - 26 snaps
1 false-start penalty (shared)
2 sacks, 1 QB hit, 1 QB pressure allowed
DEEP DIG GRADE: 73.08
A great game for the rest of the entire offensive line was derailed by a miserable showing from the right-side edge. Hodges played his worst game of the season and Nickelson played one of the worst we’ve graded this season as he does not appear to be healthy after suffering an early-season ankle injury.
(72 Elijah Rodriguez; 3 snaps - jumbo package - 1 shared false-start penalty)
OL snaps per disruption allowed or penalty caused
(of players who’ve allowed disruption or committed penalties in 2016)
Skill-position snap counts and one-liners
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE SKILL PARTICIPATION CHART
Quarterback
7 Shane Buechele - 59 snaps
18 Tyrone Swoopes - 2 snaps
- The slow death of the 18-wheeler continues.
Running Back
33 D’Onta Foreman - 57 snaps
21 Kyle Porter - 2 snaps
- We were very surprised to look back over the participation log and see that D’Onta Foreman took so major a snap count over Kyle Porter’ Foreman is getting to show NFL scouts that he’s capable of holding up physically with volume and carrying a load. Thank goodness we’ve heard that Foreman “doesn’t even really have to practice” anymore these days. He takes all the beating his body needs on Saturdays.
Wide Receiver
8 Dorian Leonard - 45 snaps
3 Armanti Foreman - 43 snaps
11 Jacorey Warrick - 31 snaps
2 Devin Duvernay - 28 snaps
9 Collin Johnson - 27 snaps
6 Jake Oliver - 24 snaps
5 Lorenzo Joe - 22 snaps
13 Jerrod Heard - 9 snaps
1 John Burt - 4 snaps
- A John Burt sighting! Dorian Leonard made a very John Burt-like drop versus KSU and was replaced by the original version.
Tight End
42 Caleb Bluiett - 6 snaps
47 Andrew Beck - 4 snaps
- Texas has tight ends?
- In seriousness, it was by far the lightest usage from the position that we’ve seen all season. Good luck recruiting tight ends. Texas will have to continue recruiting players at other positions and shipping them over to TE later in their career when they flounder at the positions they came in to play.
Did he play on offense? Nope.
Scholarship players who did not record a snap on offense versus Kansas State (doesn’t include special teams participation if applicable):
PLAYER, TOTAL 2016 SNAPS ON OFFENSE
. . .
As we turn our attention to (yet another) make-or-break game for Charlie Strong at Texas (how many are there going to be?)
… we thank you, once again, for reading.
Kansas State Part II: Offense
presented by Wendy Swantkowksi, DDS
Looking for experienced, family and cosmetic dental care in the Houston-Memorial area? Go with the best! OB sponsor Wendy Swantkowski, DDS. Call 281-293-9140 and find out why so many Orangebloods members are her patients!
. . .
Offensive Line Thoughts and Grades
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS OFFICIAL OL GRADING LOG
Deep Dig Grading Scale
55 LT Connor Williams - 61 snaps
1 false-start penalty (shared)
2 run-stuffs allowed
2 knockdowns, 1 pin
DEEP DIG GRADE: 79.01
It was Connor Williams’ second-best game of the season and he continues to look like a player Texas will only have on board for one more season before leaving for the NFL.
Let’s be clear: The Deep Dig has been one of the biggest proponents of Connor Williams since he set foot on the Texas campus. One could even say the bandwagon started right here within this dark basement. With this being said, we’re starting to become a group of Mike Zimmers about Pro Football Focus and their grades.
Some members of our basement have received pushback regarding Williams’ grades in the Deep Dig given the fact that Pro Football Focus keeps releasing propaganda about Williams that simply isn’t true. For example, PFF tweeted that its college graders have Williams not surrenerding a sack or QB hit all season while only committing one penalty following the KSU game. This is not true. Williams has allowed one sack. It’s true he has not allowed a QB hit. He has allowed 2 separate pressures, 1 TFL and committed a total of 2 penalties when you count the shared false-start the group was awarded versus the Wildcats.
The bottom line is that PFF is a good resource but the Deep Dig is a better one when it comes to grading Texas offensive linemen. Connor Williams will be an NFL player and a high pick one day, but his slotting on the scale at this time is exactly correct. As a sophomore, he’s a very high-end D1 player who’d likely be a late-round pick or priority UDFA if this was his junior season and he elected to come out early. Factoring in continuation of development, strength and size over the next year without sacrificing movement abilities, he’ll likely be up in the mid-80’s by next season. Our prediction is he’ll eventually break 80 this year.
77 LG Patrick Vahe - 61 snaps
1 false-start penalty (shared)
2 run-stuffs, 1 pressure allowed
3 knockdowns, 1 pin
DEEP DIG GRADE: 78.04
Patrick Vahe’s best game of the season. We were very worried to start the 2016 campaign that Connor Williams had appeared to take the next step in his development while his fellow freshman All-American in Vahe had not. Vahe started out the season looking like a player who had actually regressed — not only in the strength department but also in recognizing and picking up interior stunt and twist pressure. The most recent Deep Dig grades show a big trend, though:
Here are Vahe’s grades by week:
Notre Dame - 75.24
UTEP - 74.57
Cal - 76.02
OSU - 75.56
OU - 76
ISU - 77.34
KSU - 78.04
64 C Jake McMillon - 61 snaps
1 false-start penalty (shared)
No disruption allowed
2 knockdowns
DEEP DIG GRADE: 77.07
The bottom line is that he needs to be the new starter. We laid out the case last week as to why, but to recap, McMillon has been the far superior option to Zach Shackelford by all measures available to us and all statistics we keep within our creaky basement walls. If Shackelford starts another game in 2016 over a healthy McMillon, we view that as a mistake by a lame-duck coaching staff. We will add in the caveat that Shackelford is very likely to come into spring/summer 2017 as the best option after developing just a small bit more strength as Shack probably has physically higher upside.
76 RG Kent Perkins - 61 snaps
1 false-start penalty (shared)
2 TFL allowed
3 knockdowns
DEEP DIG GRADE: 78.68
We think Kent Perkins might have gotten wind of our column last week stating that his NFL hopes were, at this point, nothing more than nonsense based on everything he’s done at Texas thus far. He answered with his best game of the season and his best of his career. Perkins’ first drive on offense, as you can tell by looking at the Deep Dig’s official participation log, was one of the most dominating series we’ve ever seen by a Texas offensive lineman. Maybe we should start ripping him in the column more often. It might end up making Perkins some money.
75 Tristan Nickelson - 38 snaps
1 false-start penalty (shared)
3 pressures, 1 sack, 1 TFL allowed
DEEP DIG GRADE: 68.16
58 Brandon Hodges - 26 snaps
1 false-start penalty (shared)
2 sacks, 1 QB hit, 1 QB pressure allowed
DEEP DIG GRADE: 73.08
A great game for the rest of the entire offensive line was derailed by a miserable showing from the right-side edge. Hodges played his worst game of the season and Nickelson played one of the worst we’ve graded this season as he does not appear to be healthy after suffering an early-season ankle injury.
(72 Elijah Rodriguez; 3 snaps - jumbo package - 1 shared false-start penalty)
. . .
OL snaps per disruption allowed or penalty caused
(of players who’ve allowed disruption or committed penalties in 2016)
. . .
Skill-position snap counts and one-liners
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE SKILL PARTICIPATION CHART
Quarterback
7 Shane Buechele - 59 snaps
18 Tyrone Swoopes - 2 snaps
- The slow death of the 18-wheeler continues.
Running Back
33 D’Onta Foreman - 57 snaps
21 Kyle Porter - 2 snaps
- We were very surprised to look back over the participation log and see that D’Onta Foreman took so major a snap count over Kyle Porter’ Foreman is getting to show NFL scouts that he’s capable of holding up physically with volume and carrying a load. Thank goodness we’ve heard that Foreman “doesn’t even really have to practice” anymore these days. He takes all the beating his body needs on Saturdays.
Wide Receiver
8 Dorian Leonard - 45 snaps
3 Armanti Foreman - 43 snaps
11 Jacorey Warrick - 31 snaps
2 Devin Duvernay - 28 snaps
9 Collin Johnson - 27 snaps
6 Jake Oliver - 24 snaps
5 Lorenzo Joe - 22 snaps
13 Jerrod Heard - 9 snaps
1 John Burt - 4 snaps
- A John Burt sighting! Dorian Leonard made a very John Burt-like drop versus KSU and was replaced by the original version.
Tight End
42 Caleb Bluiett - 6 snaps
47 Andrew Beck - 4 snaps
- Texas has tight ends?
- In seriousness, it was by far the lightest usage from the position that we’ve seen all season. Good luck recruiting tight ends. Texas will have to continue recruiting players at other positions and shipping them over to TE later in their career when they flounder at the positions they came in to play.
. . .
Did he play on offense? Nope.
Scholarship players who did not record a snap on offense versus Kansas State (doesn’t include special teams participation if applicable):
PLAYER, TOTAL 2016 SNAPS ON OFFENSE
. . .
As we turn our attention to (yet another) make-or-break game for Charlie Strong at Texas (how many are there going to be?)
… we thank you, once again, for reading.
