Post-Fall Camp Roster and Depth Chart Breakdown
Part I: OFFENSE
(Part II: DEFENSE will be posted separately over the weekend)
Interior Defensive Line
The deepest position group on the Texas roster.
Personnel:
DT 1a: Hassan Ridgeway (junior) - He’s the best player on the current Texas roster from an NFL scouting perspective and comes into the 2015 season as a definite candidate to leave school early for the league …
IF a few conditions are met.
Ridgeway has been nursing a back ailment through most of camp, but now appears mostly fine, and close to over it. You begin to wonder how “over it†Ridgeway really is, though, considering he missed substantial time in the spring as well.
NFL scouts last season would say that they’d discovered Ridgeway while watching tape on Malcom Brown - and more than one scout told me through the 2015 draft process that they thought Ridgeway might have more NFL-upside than Brown. One former Longhorns teammate (on the offensive line) told me that Ridgeway was much harder to block in practice than Brown.
The issue with Ridgeway has always been an off-switch and a lack of consistent intensity through longer spells of games. The initial release of the Notre Dame depth chart features Poona Ford ahead of Ridgeway at tackle, which was, by far, the biggest surprise on the entire sheet of paper. This is a clear indication that, while Ridgeway might be basically back to full health as we’ve heard from sources at practice, conditioning and/or off-switch disease are likely to blame.
I said at this time last year that Malcom Brown would be a first-round pick, but I’m not comfortable giving near that prediction about Ridgeway at this time. The reasons are: 1) Malcom Brown’s motor was undeniable while Ridgeway’s remains a concern; and 2) Ridgeway has had issues staying healthy - and a nagging condition could effectively aid in derailing what Longhorns fans certainly hope will be a monster junior year.
DT 1b: Poona Ford (sophomore) - You might as well call him 1a for the Notre Dame game, because apparently that's what he is. Ford’s gotten valuable first-team reps basically all spring and through fall camp (at both the one and three-technique) due to health issues with Ridgeway and Tank Jackson. Ford finished the 2014 season as a disruptive force on the Texas defense and followed that up with a monster spring game. There is a falloff in level-of-athlete from Ridgeway to Ford, but Ford certainly brings things to the table in motor, length-of-arms and flexibility that Ridgeway doesn’t.
DT 3: Chris Nelson (redshirt freshman) - He’s a big guy who one source from practice texted saying was “dominating†- at least on one day. Another person said he plays with a low anchor and is hard to move. Nelson was held back a slight bit to start 2015 fall camp, but has since returned to full participation in practices that have not been open to the media. The number of positive reports on Nelson have been notable. He’s likely the “fifth man†of the interior DL unit coming into the 2015 season as he’s currently working at tackle, but could presumably handle duties at nose given his reported ability to anchor well against the run.
DT 4: Jake McMillon (redshirt freshman) - He’s worked at both DE and DT during his time at Texas, but it seems that as of 2015, he’s officially an interior-line player. McMillon, from what we’ve seen at practice, seems to have good feet and movement abilities but is not long - in fact, he’s relatively squatty in stature. For this reason, it’s hard to see the staff bumping him out to SDE, which would make sense given a lack of quality depth there. As it is, McMillon, Nelson and Alex Norman collectively serve as this group’s “depth†backing up the “Big 4†of the Texas interior; Ridgeway, Jackson, Ford and Boyette.
NT 1: Desmond “Tank†Jackson (senior) - He’s the strongest player on the team who can reportedly already bench press 225 pounds 33 times. Jackson is on the Senior Bowl watch list and a player who’s insertion back into the Texas DL rotation greatly mitigated much of the sting surrounding Malcom Brown’s foregoing of his senior season. Jackson started fall camp working with the second group, but has since returned, alongside Ridgeway and Ford, to the starter’s spot. Jackson comes into the 2015 season with realistic hopes of being drafted in 2016 should he remain healthy.
NT 2: Paul Boyette (junior) - One of the line’s key returning players, he’s likely to see snap-counts in the near-40-percent range through the season if healthy. Boyette played 237 snaps in the conference schedule last season and only missed one tackle. He was also in the Top 5 of 2014 Texas defenders in disruption-per-snap per
The Deep Dig.
NT 3: Alex Norman (junior) - He’s struggled to stay healthy for his entire career at Texas and figures in as the player least-likely to make any sort of real in impact in 2015 of the grouping.
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Strong-Side Defensive End
The Texas defense’s least-talented and shallowest position group.
Personnel:
1. Shiro Davis (senior) - Is he finally ready to live up to his physical potential? It’s the question fans have asked about Shiro Davis for the last three seasons - and the answer each time has eventually been “Nope.†Davis played an unspectacular 144 Big 12 snaps in 2014 only generating three disruptive plays while missing two tackles.
The reports from camp about Davis have been glowing so far, which is good news, but they’ve been mostly glowing in the past, too. Davis started his junior season (and Charlie Strong’s first at Texas) lining up at the starting FOX position opposite Cedric Reed until it was realized Davis could not move well enough in space to handle linebacker/end-hybird position. After switching back over to the strong side to back up Reed in 2014, Davis was the second-least disruptive player per snap on the entire Texas defense besides …
2. Bryce Cottrell (junior) - He had an absolutely monster spring game and the staff, coming into fall camp, talked about him like a player it was expecting to make a big jump from 2014 to 2015. Charlie Strong at his first game-week availability of the 2015 season said Monday that he’d had an incredible camp.
Cottrell is not a special player physically and was tied as the least impactful per-snap player during the 2014 season (through minimal playing time) per
The Deep Dig’s disruption metrics. The strong-side defensive end position at Texas being predominantly handled by Cottrell and Davis should be considered a liability until proven otherwise.
3. Quincy Vasser (junior) - Sticking with the theme of the underachieving position group, he’s a JUCO transfer who came in looking fantastic but hasn’t done a thing to truly inspire any confidence since.
Vasser has been a complete non-factor in practices open to the media during spring and fall camps. The fact that we’ve heard no positive reports - or really anything - on Vasser through all of the closed practices leading into game-week would indicate that he hasn’t done enough to make any waves, even given the lack of quality depth ahead of him. In all, this is the weakest spot on the Texas defense.
Edge-setting SDE-types should be a major focus of the Texas staff in recruiting as there are currently no other players in the pipeline. It is highly likely a true freshman will see at least some playing time at the position in 2016. Or, perhaps a a player who transitions over from the …
. . .
Fox Defensive End
A young, talented and versatile stable at all levels gives Texas both near- and long-term stability at its most versatile position.
Personnel:
1. Naashon Hughes (sophomore) - He’s a major stud in the making - in fact, it’s almost hard to believe Hughes is only entering his sophomore season. It’s clear he’s being molded in a way that NFL teams will value for roles like dime linebacker.
Hughes has drawn glowing reviews through camp and he’s a player that Charlie Strong has been quoted as calling “unbelievable†on more than one occasion. In fact, I was asked during a recent chat which player on the entire Texas roster represents the greatest loss if injured due to the dropoff proven in talent that would occur with their loss. Hughes was the easy answer. While there is talent behind him, it is anything but proven now that Caleb Bluiett (one of the 2014 defense’s most disruptive players per-snap) has been forced to move to tight end for depth reasons. Hughes simply can’t get hurt.
2a. Derick Roberson (redshirt freshman) - He came into fall camp with a ton of excitement. I reported in July that Roberson was looking extremely beastly in team-led activities coming off of shoulder surgery, and we’ve seen at practices open to the media it was true. Roberson has undergone a transformation physically that is a sight to behold - going from around 215-220 pounds to over 240 in a matter of months.
For as good as Roberson looks, it almost seems like he’d been in the doghouse from a lack of buzz. One source from practice, just in the last week, indicated that Roberson was working behind Charles Omenihu. Roberson had academic issues that Strong hinted at during fall camp, so perhaps his lack of impact through August have to do with missing practices for study halls and the like.
Clearly, Roberson’s done enough academically to stay eligible as he’s been on the field and practicing as recently as last Friday per a source - but for whatever reason, a major breakout has been delayed and will hopefully (for fans and the staff alike) come about at some point in-season - as Roberson will most certainly be expected to contribute.
It’s a positive indication that Roberson was one of the players who Strong mentioned in his season-opening availability as really standing out to him through camp. Strong doesn’t talk like that about players he doesn’t see something in. Furthermore, if he was not confident in the abilities of both Roberson and Omenihu, Charlie Strong - a man who puts defense above all else - would have
never shipped Caleb Bluiett off to the offense side.
2b. Charles Omenihu (true freshman) - He came into fall camp and surpassed all reasonable expectations. Omenihu indicated to
The Deep Dig in May, that coming into his true-freshman season, a redshirt-year was likely on deck as he’d need time to truly “grow into†his body. This was, of course, in a goal of becoming a long and beastly presence and eventually taking over the SDE position down the road.
What no one knew or expected (probably even the coaching staff), was that Omenihu would be so versatile and move so well right off. Strong has constantly commented on Omenihu’s ability to drop into coverage and use his length to disrupt passing lanes … And the staff has gotten to see plenty of Omenihu this fall to form an opinion.
With Naashon Hughes missing nearly a week of practices to undergo a root canal, Roberson having study halls and Caleb Bluiett leaving, Charles O. has actually taken his fair share of first-team reps. It seems to be a foregone conclusion at this point that Omenihu will be one of numerous true freshman Texas fans will be seeing on the field, at least during points of the 2015 season.
. . .
Linebacker
A mixed bag of young and old players that, despite excitement about depth and what the future may hold, remains 100-percent unproven at this time.
Personnel:
MLB 1: Malik Jefferson (true freshman) - He’s
the absolute story of spring and fall camp. It’s hard to come into a freshman season (admittedly as an early-enrollee) and come out of fall camp not only a starter but basically the heart of the defense, but Jefferson is just that kind of player, person and presence. Truly special is the only real way to define it. Jefferson will be the team’s starting mike linebacker to start the 2015 season - and it might be one of only three seasons he plays at Texas so my recommendation would be to enjoy watching and cheering for him while he’s here.
MLB 2: Tim Cole (junior) - He lost his job to Malik Jefferson during fall camp after stepping into the starting mike role for spring practices following the exit of Dalton Santos with ankle injury. Cole is a spirited player that brings some thump, but is not the caliber of athlete who will keep a player like Jefferson off of the field. Cole missed time in fall camp with an undisclosed injury, but, per sources, has been back practicing fully for the last two weeks or so. The missed time was enough to let Jefferson truly take hold of the role. At this point int time, Cole represents valuable depth - but not proven depth - as he only played three snaps of conference play in 2014; two versus Kansas State and one versus Kansas.
WLB 1: Peter Jinkens (senior) - He’s going to be handling “double duty†per Charlie Strong in 2015, meaning, Jinkens will start at the SAM linebacker position when the defense is aligned in its base 4-3 grouping and at the inside WILL position when in nickel. In short, it is looking like Jinkens will be the player with the highest snap percentages of any on the front 7. Considering the fact that he only played 73 conference snaps in 2014 (Jordan Hicks played 566 by comparison), Jinkens’ suitability to be a reasonable contributor at the Big 12-level will be one of the most important storylines to the team’s success on a defensive unit full of them.
WLB 2: Edwin Freeman (redshirt freshman) - He was a monster on scout team at the SAM linebacker position during practice as a true freshman per Jordan Hicks. Freeman, like Jefferson, some plenty of run with the first group during fall camp, but has failed to yet overtake Jinkens as the starting WILL linebacker when the team shifts to nickel. When the unit is in its base 4-3 that employs three linebackers, all indications are that Freeman will come and fill in at the inside WILL position while Jinkens bumps out to SAM. In essence, this leads to a projection of playing time for Freeman that would be equivalent to the 10-15% clip that fans saw Jinkens operating at in 2014 when Jinkens would come in as the SAM in base 4-3.
Depth
- Dalton Santos (senior) - He’s never fully recovered from the ankle injury suffered in spring camp and it’s very fair to begin wondering if he’s played his last meaningful snap at Texas given the young depth coming up on the team.
- Anthony Wheeler (true freshman) - He’s been a staple of the second-LB unit through camp at the WILL linebacker position. Wheeler’s 2015 playing time will likely be based on the health of the players ahead of him on the depth chart. Wheeler is a magnificent athlete that has a higher physical upside than Edwin Freeman, so it’s reasonable to envision a 2016 starting LB duo of Malik Jefferson at the MIKE and Wheeler at the WILL.
- Breckyn Hager (true freshman) - He plays with maniacal effort and it’s clear that Charlie Strong notices it. Hager was the MVP of the first padded practice of fall camp that was open to the media making huge plays as both a pass-rusher and a pass-defender in coverage. However, Hager has struggled with injuries through camp. He returned to practice in the last week or so only to reportedly be back in the pit again as of Friday. Playing with such reckless abandon is an attribute of Hager’s game that is easy to love, but he’ll need to learn how to harness it in ways that do not put his body at great risk if he plans to stay on the field.
- Cameron Townsend (true freshman) - He’s quietly had a really good camp lining up mostly at the SAM linebacker position behind Peter Jinkens when the team employs its base 4-3 personnel. Sources have said that where Townsend shines is in coverage - he has the wheels to get vertical with receivers trying to push the seam and can match the speed of running backs out to the flats and on wheel routes. Fans are likely to see a redshirt season from Townsend as his role is specialized and one that is not used very often due to the wide-open, spread nature of most Big 12 offenses. This is was Edwin Freeman’s exact path, backup SAM his true freshman season while preserving a redshirt.
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Cornerback
Freshman depth has led to a battle at one position that will shape the entire secondary unit.
Personnel:
LCB 1: John Bonney (redshirt freshman) - He’s probably the most impactful redshirt freshman player on the Texas team for 2015. Bonney, as we’ve reported since July, will start at LCB when the team is in its base 4-3 defense and will be bumped in to the nickel position when the team goes to its five-DB package. The only way this would not occur is if the staff elected to use Duke Thomas in the nickel and shift another player to RCB. Regardless, John Bonney will be a 95-98% snap-count player in 2015 so fans might want to get used to the name.
LCB 2a: Antwuan Davis (sophomore) - He’s had a fight on his hands through camp to hold onto the LCB position opposite Duke Thomas when the unit goes to nickel. As it looks now, one or more talented freshman clearly have their eyes on the job and the season-opening depth chart provided for Notre Dame doesn’t give much clarity, as Kris Boyd is listing as backing up Davis, but Davante Davis, who’s listed as backing up Duke Thomas, could be very much in play as the two players have reportedly swapped sides through camp per multiple sources.
LCB 2b: Kris Boyd (true freshman) - He’s a trash-talker and one of the key pieces in the 2015 class as far as bringing a new feeling and intensity to practice. Clearly, Boyd’s put himself in good position with his work this fall.
RCB 1: Duke Thomas (senior) - He’s on the Senior Bowl watch list and he’s a terrific player who got bit bad by the burn bug on a few big plays in 2014. We’ve talked about Thomas getting burned on double moves until we were blue in the face. The staff has done nothing but talk about Thomas’s leadership and enhanced expectations for him this season.
RCB 2: Davante Davis (true freshman) - By the eyeballs, he’s the most impressive freshman DB at the practices open to the media. Reports about Davis have continued to be glowing, but it is unclear how much fans will see of him this season. Outside of injury, it appears that only one cornerback slot is going to be contested through the season and it will very likely be either Davis or Kris Boyd filling it. The staff does not play backups often in the defensive backfield as none of last year’s starters played less than 96% of snaps during conference play.
RCB 3: Bryon Echols (junior) - He’s listed behind Davante Davis on the official depth chart, and at this point in time, it’s only fair to wonder if Echols has underachieved. He has great footwork and he’s a technically sound player, but at some point you start to think he might just not have that dog in him. It’s what Strong is looking for.
RCB 4: Holton Hill (true freshman) - He’s the next person to pass up Bryson Echols on the depth chart and I’m not sure he’ll stop there. Hill got off to a slow start with a minor injury biting into his beginning of fall camp but it’s only a matter of time with this one. Too fast, long and ball-hawking to be ignored.
. . .
Safety
Youth everywhere.
Personnel:
SS 1: Dylan Haines (junior) - He’s the starting strong safety. Period. Whether fans appreciate Haines or not, it’s clear that the staff does not have one worry about its starting safeties in Haines and Jason Hall. Where Haines struggles is in bad pursuit angles and missed tackles which are obvious for fans to see and boo about. And in fairness, neither of them should be acceptable in a defensive scheme that drills both things so much in practice.
Haines averaged exactly one missed tackle on defense per game during Texas’ 2014 Big 12 schedule - by far the team’s leader. If he can improve in this area, there’s no doubt he figures to be a solid contributor.
SS 2: Kevin Vaccaro (junior) - He might have to play if there’s an injury. Vaccaro hasn’t really had a shot to crack into the starting rotation yet with guys like Jason Hall coming in as a freshman and some walk-on named Dylan Haines going gangbusters in front of a new coaching staff last season.
It’s clear from practices open to the media that Vaccaro can easily work at either the strong or free safety position, so this sort of versatility puts Vaccaro squarely in play should an injury occur to either Haines or Hall.
SS 2b: Deshon Elliott (true freshman) - He’s injured. Still in a boot, but off crutches at least, per sources.
FS 1: Jason Hall (sophomore) - He’s going to play in the NFL one day. Hall was told by the Texas staff prior to fall camp that he needed to pick up his game and that they wanted to see more plays like the big body slam against Oklahoma most fans are sure to remember. It’s a motivational tactic, but make no mistake - Hall is the best safety the Texas staff has available to it at this time.
FS 2: P.J. Locke (true freshman) - I’ve said from the start, he’s not going to wow you with physical size, but he’s got feet like a point guard and wait until you see how technical he is. Locke is a special young player who possesses incredible spatial understanding on film and who comes from freaky athletic bloodlines on both his mother and his father’s side.
Simply put, he’s a baller and a playmaker. As I’ve reported through camp, Locke will also be in play at nickel should an injury occur anywhere in the defensive backfield as a result of shuffling that could ensue.
FS 3: Adrian Colbert (junior) - He’s underachieved. Colbert was noted quite a bit through player-led workouts as one of the team leaders helping to set things up and always being vocal, but he’s buried on the depth chart by two younger players.