Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend (I like Quinn just the way he is...)
- Thread starter Ketchum
- Start date
Can you believe I hadn't seen it until today?
for some reason a can't stop laughing at that bus video
@Ketchum I play at the Spring TCH quite often. Will be sure to drop the OB name and see if I can get some free play and membership for a month.It's been four days since Quinn Ewers faced the SEC media in Dallas and I still haven't completely come to terms with what my biggest takeaway is from watching him within arm's reach.
The book on Ewers coming into this season is one that we've read repeatedly since he arrived from Columbus in the 2021 off-season. He's got the talent to be the No.1 overall selection in the 2025 NFL Draft and yet it feels like everyone is still waiting for him to take that final step as a college player. Part of it is consistency in every part of his game from his mechanics to his deep balls to his overall performances.
That's the part that is easily quantifiable.
There's another part of his ongoing development that isn't so easily quantifiable. It centers around perceived intangibles. None other than Ewers, himself, has been transparent in discussing what he's trying to achieve. He wants to be more of a vocal leader and feels like he's taken steps in that department, but he admits that this form of leadership is a work in progress.
Frankly, I found myself wanting to compare Ewers to his SEC quarterback peers while we were in Dallas, especially after Alabama's Jalen Milroe dazzled the media with his confidence and charm hours before Ewers met with the media. Milroe was so charismatic in front of the media that it was hard not to come away wanting to suit and play with him.
When Ewers stepped in front of the media at the end of Wednesday's festivities, I had programmed in my head that I wanted Ewers to match Milroe in the charisma department step for step.
Yet, that's not who Ewers naturally is.
So, what is he?
He's incredibly likable. He's super respectful and often leans on his faith when working his way through questions. Ewers is naturally reserved. There wasn't anything close to a WWE promo being performed. At times, you could tell that all the meetings with the media over the last few years still haven't quite translated to it becoming his comfort zone. He was fidgety and squirmed a little in his seat without likely knowing that it was even happening.
Personally, I found him to be incredibly charming in a very unassuming way. What do I mean by that? Well, I found him to be charming without trying to be charming. He's the kind of guy that you can have a good time fishing with, but not because he's going to entertain you with a big personality. You just get the sense that he's good people.
At the very end of his session with the media, I snuck in the last question of the day, asking Ewers if this season felt like his last rodeo as a college football season.
He was modest in his answer in all the best kind of ways.
"It definitely feels that way, but..." Ewers said softly before taking a medium-sized breath. "Who knows what Jesus has planned for me in my life? I mean... I love this game so much and it can be taken away from you. I try not to put my identity just in football."
Ewers then shrugged and briefly looked at the ground before lifting his head and looking me dead in the eyes with a soft grin,
"It would be cool if it was, right?" Ewers remarked.
Maybe... just maybe... we need to quit trying to put Ewers in a box that he's never going to fit comfortably in. When I say "we", I mean me. I mean the media. I mean the Texas coaching staff. I mean NFL scouts.
Let's just let Ewers be himself.
Former Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger had all of the alpha-male charisma in the world, and, you know what? He wasn't better than Ewers on the football field. He didn't guide Texas to a Big 12 title or lead them to the playoffs. Perhaps Ewers will never be an "alpha-male" in the way a lot of coaches are convinced they need their quarterbacks to be. Yet, Ewers is a champion and has an alpha-sized WWE MVP championship belt to prove it.
Perhaps this is a discussion that will never stop. It's possible that it'll be a storyline that follows him throughout his career, partly because we've conditioned ourselves to believe that a successful quarterback has to be a certain way and only a certain way.
Personally, I'm done asking for Ewers to be something that he's not. There's nothing wrong with being a soft-spoken, unassuming nice human being.
What I'm trying to say, perhaps very inarticulately, in fact, perhaps despite appearances, I like Quinn very much.
Just the way he is.
No. 2 - Please indulge me for a brief moment ...
After a sensational week of coverage and content on both the website and the Youtube channel, I wanted to give a public shout-out to the five members of the Orangebloods team that joined me in Dallas: @Anwar Richardson, @Alex Dunlap, @CodyCarpentier, @CHastings and @Sunny Nelson
It was a total team effort and every single person served a variety of roles over four days and I just thought our group gave an A+ performance.
Here's hoping our dinner at Kelvin Banks' favorite Terry Black's on Wednesday night was a nice step towards repaying them for the quality of their work.
Also, I wanted to give a special shout out to our title sponsors from SEC Media Days - Texas Card House, Hays City Store and Taste on Main in Buda.
As soon as possible, I'll be letting Travis and Tamara take care of us for a pre-season OB team dinner at Taste in Main. Meanwhile, Texas Card House is offering all OB members a chance to walk into any of its locations in the state of Texas and receive 1 month of membership and 2 hours of free play... just by mentioning Orangebloods. Boom!
Who wants to meet me at the Spring location?
No. 3 - This might not be the conventional or popular thought, but ...
If everything goes really, really, really well this season, the Longhorns should lose 2 of the team's 10 scholarship receivers to the NFL Draft in January.
That would be senior Silas Bolden and junior Isaiah Bond, which would leave the Longhorns going into the 2025 season with the following 8 receivers:
Senior: Matthew Golden
Juniors: Johntay Cook and Deandre Moore
Sophomores: Ryan Niblett, Ryan Wingo, Aaron Butler, Parker Livingstone and Freddie Dubose
Of those eight players, five are currently among the seven players that Steve Sarkisian name-checked on Wednesday when talking about the deepest receiver unit he's had since he arrived at Texas.
Even if a small handful of the eight that are scheduled to return end up entering the Portal, the Longhorns don't need to sweat adding bodies to the room. The only thing that should matter is adding elite of the elite talent. Semi-elite talent shouldn't even be a thought.
If I'm Sarkisian, I'm going to do whatever I can to close with Kaliq Lockett and Jamie Ffrench (and Dakorien Moore for that matter), but I'm not dropping down to the next tier of talent at the high school level to replace losing one of those names. Instead, I'd wait until the Portal season arrives and select the next Bond/Adonai Mitchell to fill that void. If I need numbers, I'll go into the Portal and select proven commodities like Bolden or Golden instead of taking a flyer on a kid that probably has a 25-percent chance of being as good as the two I just mentioned.
Quit sweating wide receiver recruiting. Everything is more than fine.
No. 4 – It's raining All-SEC Longhorns...
I feel like everything you need to know about the 2024 Texas Longhorns can be ascertained by viewing Friday's preseason All-SEC teams.
On one hand, the Longhorns only had one truly elite offensive/defensive player that the SEC media deemed worthy of earning first-team honors. On the other hand, the Longhorns had 10 other offensive/defensive players worthy of second- or third-team honors. The Longhorns might not have many elite of the elites, but it has a lot of guys on the verge of being that kind of player.
A few more thoughts on the preseason All-SEC choices...
a. D.J. Campbell wasn't even listed as a voting option among offensive linemen, while Hayden Conner was, which tells you that you should always take these things with a grain of salt.
b. Considering Jalen Milroe was a Heisman finalist and the best player in the SEC Championship game, I was a little surprised that the SEC media voted Quinn Ewers ahead of him.
c. I can't wait to see how good CJ Baxter is in his second season.
d. Color me slightly shocked that Anthony Hill earned 2nd-team linebacker honors while A&M sophomore Taurean York wasn't ranked among the top 10 players at his position. I know that has the Aggies on tilt.
e. The SEC media is telling us that the Texas secondary is not an issue.
d. Who had Will Stone earning second-team All-SEC honors on their Bingo cards?
No. 5 - Not much left in 2025 in the way of uncommitted prospects ...
If you're wondering, only 10% of the Top 70 in the current 2025 LSR Top 100 Rankings remain uncommitted as we head into August. Here's the list.
No.2 Lewisville OL Michael Fasusi (announcing 8/21)
No.5 Galveston Ball DB Jonah Williams
No.7 Sachse WR Kaliq Lockett (announcing 8/7)
No.13 San Antonio Alamo Heights athlete Michael Terry
No.15 Katy Jordan WR Andrew Marsh
No.16 Bellville DT D.J. Sanders
No.55 Denton Guyer DT Xavier Ukponu
No. 6 – Updated Texas Scholarship Board
With the Longhorns up to 15 commitments in the 2025 recruiting cycle, I thought it would be a good time to update the scholarship board.
No. 7 - A few more football thoughts to chew on ...
We're almost done with our yearly updating of the historical in-state rankings by position. We're down to running backs and linebackers.
This weekend's focus is the running back position, which ranks as one the surest bets out of all the positions we've profiled this summer. Check out the numbers...
Of the top 21 highest-running backs rated since 2002, More than 52 percent were drafted and 66.7% earned game-checks in the NFL. Meanwhile, the two lowest four-star tiers still hit between 20.9-23.0% in terms of being drafted and between 23.0-25.6% when it comes to playing in the NFL.
These performance numbers are among the best of any position on the field. It means from a historical performance standpoint, current 2025 commitment Rickey Stewart Jr. is probably right there with DE Smith Orogbo as the most valuable non-super blue chip prospect in the current commitment class.
Here's the full historical breakdown (NFL drafted players in bold):
Texas Five-Stars
Adrian Peterson (2005/Oklahoma), Jermie Calhoun (2008/Oklahoma), Christine Michael (2009/Texas A&M), Lache Seastrunk (2010/Oregon), Malcolm Brown (2011/Texas), Brandon Williams (2011/Oklahoma), Trey Williams (2012/Texas A&M), Jonathan Gray (2012/Texas), Soso Jamabo (2015/UCLA) and Zach Evans (2020/TCU)
Active Players: Camar Wheaton (2021/Alabama/SMU)
High four stars:
Jamaal Charles (2005/Texas), Michael Goodson (2006/Texas A&M), Emmanuel Moody (2006/USC), Vondrell McGee (2006/Texas), Lennon Creer (2007/Tennessee), Cyrus Gray (2008/Texas A&M), Desean Hales (2008/Texas), Keith Ford (2013/Oklahoma), Ronald Jones (2015/USC), J.K. Dobbins (2017/Ohio State) and Jase McClellan (2020/Alabama)
Active Players: L.J. Johnson (2021/Texas A&M/SMU), Rueben Owens (2023/Texas A&M) and Taylor Tatum (2024/Oklahoma)
Mid Four Stars
Webster Patrick (2004/Iowa State), Russell Ball 205/(Florida State), Mon Williams (2006/Florida), Cody Johnson (2007/Texas), Bradley Stephens (2007/Texas A&M), Knile Davis (2009/Arkansas), Waymon James (2009/Arkansas), Herschel Sims (2011/Oklahoma State), Aaron Green (2011/Nebraska), Dontre Wilson (2013/Ohio State), Chris Warren (2015/Texas), Eno Benjamin (2017/Arizona State) and Isaiah Spiller (2019/Texas A&M)
Active Players: E.J. Smith (2020/Texas A&M/Stanford), Ollie Gordon (2022/Oklahoma State), Jamarion Miller (2022/Alabama), Tavorus Jones (2022/Missouri), Kedrick Reescano (2023/Ole Miss), Quinten Joyner (2023/USC), Kewan Lacy (2024/Missouri), James Peoples (2024/Ohio State) and Caden Durham (2024/LSU)
Low Four Stars
Jamaal Evans (2006/Georgia Tech), Fozzy Whittaker (2006/Texas), Quentin Castille (2007/Nebraska), Jeremy Hills (2008/Texas), Aundre Dean (2008/UCLA), LaMichael James (2008/Oregon), Sam McGuffie (2008/Michigan), Terrence Robinson (2008/Michigan), Stepfan Taylor (2009/Stanford), Eric Stephens (2009/Texas Tech), Toben Opurun (2009/Kansas), Hasan Lipscomb (2009/Minnesota), Rex Burkhead (2009/Nebraska), Jonathon Miller (2009/Oklahoma), Traylon Shead (2010/Texas), Dontae Williams (2010/Oregon), Ben Malena (2010/Texas A&M), DJ Jones (2010, Texas A&M), Josh Huff (2010/Oregon), Kenny Williams (2011/Texas Tech), Jonathan Williams (2012/Arkansas), Kyle Hicks (2013/TCU), Adam Taylor (2013/Nebraska), Varshaun Nixon (2014/TCU), Donald Catalon (2014/Texas), Samaje Perine (2014/Oklahoma), Jamycal Hasty (2015/Baylor), Rodney Anderson (2015/Oklahoma), Aca'Cedric Ware (2015/USC), Jordan Stevenson (2015/Nebraska), D'Vaughn Pennamon (2016/Ole Miss), Devwah Whaley (2016/Arkansas), Rakeem Boyd (2016/Texas A&M), Kameron Martin (2016/Auburn), Kyle Porter (2016/Texas), Trayveon Williams (2016/Texas A&M), Kennedy Brooks (2017/Oklahoma), Dominic Williams (2017/Kansas), Toneil Carter (2017/Texas), Keaontay Ingram (2018/Texas), Stanley Hackett (2018/Unsigned), Deondrick Glass (2019/Oklahoma State), Taye McWilliams (2020/Baylor), Jonathon Brooks (2021/Texas)
Active Players: Darwin Barlow (2018/UNC/USC/TCU), Qualan Jones (2019/SFA/Baylor), Seth McGowan (2020/New Mexico State/Butler CC/Oklahoma), Tre Bradford (2020/North Texas/LSU), Brandon Campbell (2021/Houston./USC), Cam'Ron Valdez (2021/Texas Tech), Ahmonte Watkins (2021/New Mexico State/TCU), Jadarian Price (2022/Notre Dame), Jayson Blue (2022/Texas), A'Marion Peterson (2023/USC), Parker Jenkins (2023/Houston), Jeremy Payne (2024/TCU) and Kedren Young (2024/Notre Dame)
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy) Damn skippy.
(Sell) I'm not sure what would make the band underrated. It's in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They have sold over 100 million records. Personally, I think it's a band with several great songs, some good ones, and a bunch of meh. Yet, I am a man of the people and if I sense that people would want a Top 10 list featuring Birmingham, England's finest, I'll do it.
(Buy) Flood gates? I'm going to say that doesn't quite happen, although I think it could impact recruiting in the wide receiver/tight ends/offensive line market.
(Sell) I expect Game Day to be at Ohio State/Oregon on the weekend of Texas/OU.
(Buy) That's probably correct, or close to it.
(Sell) I'm not incredibly hungry after every episode. That being said, yes, I would love one of those beef sandwiches.
(Sell) I don't know that Lockett committing would automatically send Ffrench elsewhere. Yes, I think Texas is all but done with Marsh.
(Buy) The Tigers look like a 10-2 team in the making.
(Sell) I'm going to say two... softball and volleyball.
(Buy) Why not? Blow him away and make him schedule an official visit.
(Sell/sell/sell) The "at least" part of the questions if my favorite part.
(Sell) Is the Texas offense going to be ready for that straight out of the gates in week two? I'm not so sure.
(Buy) That's certainly within the realm of possibilities.
No. 9 – Scattershooting all over the place …
... Xander. Freaking. Schauffele. What a performance on the back nine on Sunday. Tip of the cap, my man. That was sensational.
... Did Schauffele just steal the 2024 season away from Scottie Scheffler?
... Arkie Ogunbowale scored THIRTY-FOUR points in the second half to lead the WNBA All-Stars to an emphatic win over the US Olympic team. It was actually a really fun game. Ogunbowale was just ridiculous. It was better than any recent NBA all-star game that I can remember.
... The rest of the NFL actually allowed this to happen.
... If the Longhorns find themselves looking for a new basketball coach in the next few years for any reason, I continue to maintain that Royal Ivey should be at the top of that list. His resume can be the work he's done with the South Sudan basketball team, which nearly took down Team USA on Saturday.
... Saturday Sports Viewing Schedule:
* British Open 3rd round,
* US men's hoops team vs. South Sudan
* UFC Fight Night prelims
* Phillies/Pirates
* MLS 360 Wrap-around show
* WNBA All-Star game
I don't know if it means I need help or if the sports schedule was pretty good this weekend or if it's a combination of both.
... Jake Paul beat some dude named Mike Perry and I just didn't care. Apparently, Perry is 0-2 as a professional bare-knuckle fighter. Seriously?
... Watching Austin FC week-in and week-out is a damn chore.
... Slow down!
No. 10 – The List: Bill Paxton …
I was first introduced to him as Chet in Weird Science. He emerged as an honest-to-goodness star with performances in Tombstone, True Lies, Apollo 13, and Twister from 1993-96. Nearly 20 years later, he was still fantastic in Edge of Tomorrow.
With the sequel of Twister hitting theaters this weekend (starring Texas-Ex Glen Powell), it felt like the perfect time to do a list on the former Arlington Heights HS grad who famously saw John F. Kennedy on the day he was assassinated.
This isn't an easy list to put together because he has small roles in some of the best movies ever made, especially in this science fiction genre.
Let's get to it.
(Editor's note: Shout to his role in Big Love, which isn't eligible for the list, but deserves to be mentioned. Same with Hatfields and McCoys.)
Honorable Mention: Near Dark, Predator 2, U-571, Next of Kin, One False Move, Traveller, Mean Dreams and Streets of Fire
Last 5 Out: A Simple Plan, Frailty, Nightcrawler, Trespass and Commando
10. Stripes
On one hand, he doesn't have a speaking role and is simply known as "Soldier No.8". On the other hand, he's right next to John Candy moments before he goes into the mud pit. It counts.
9. Weird Science
There's no way I can leave his performance as big brother Chet off the list.
9. Tombstone
This might actually be my least favorite Paxton performance, but... it's Tombstone.
7. Apollo 13
This isn't my favorite movie on the list, but it's very, very good. Hell, it's a great movie and he's either the third or fourth lead with Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise, and Kevin Bacon. It HAS to be on the list.
6. Edge of Tomorrow
It's one of the most underrated movies from this century and he's the ultimate scene-stealer every time he's on camera.
5. Titanic
He's basically the 5th lead on a movie that made more than 2 billion dollars and won Best Picture. It HAS to be on the list.
4. True Lies
It has to be somewhere in the Top 10. It's Arnold at his best. It's Tom Arnold at the best he could ever dream about being. More than anything, Paxton is as good in this movie as he's been in anything. He steals the movie with his pants pissing.
3. The Terminator
He's got a small role in an all-time classic. It counts.
2. Twister
It was his big chance to be THE star in a big budget movie and all he did was create a timeless disaster classic that made almost 500 million in 1996,
1. Aliens
It's only one of the greatest science-fiction films ever made, while also ranking among the best films of the 1980s and one of the greatest action flicks of all time..
I watched it today and liked it, but I didn't think it was elite of the elite. It was very good, though.
Yes, but mainly Twisters coming out and being the No.1 movie of the weekend,
I listened to the True Lies pod on the way home from Dallas on Thursday. 🤣 🤣 🤣
what are you bumping out?your list has left me severely gruntled...in an award worthy career of Top 10's you laid a massive...
One False Move, A Simple Plan, Frailty...WTF is the matter with you...
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As I’ve told you, you’re knowledge of obscure movie references is impeccable.This column is an inspiration for knowledge.
I’ve watched that movie so many times and never noticed that. @Her costar in the beaver picture is the expert on that movie. Maybe he can chime in. 🤣
Good read Ketch.
Re Ohio State/Oregon- I tend to agree that's the Gameday play in all likelihood. But there's a new dynamic now with espn being all in on the sec and Fox/NBC/CBS being all in on the B1G. Because of that, I feel like espn might do RRS if both teams are undefeated.
Re Ohio State/Oregon- I tend to agree that's the Gameday play in all likelihood. But there's a new dynamic now with espn being all in on the sec and Fox/NBC/CBS being all in on the B1G. Because of that, I feel like espn might do RRS if both teams are undefeated.
I get it that you straddle the line between epic movie & great performances, but, in this case booting Stripes, Titanic & Terminator seem like easy culls...
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