Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend (Trying not to be too hyperbolic, but...)

[We Don't Rent Pigs]

How can you leave this brilliant scene off your dinner party list? You gotta know how to middle!

 

[kwayne64]

Call me crazy, but I think Kelvin Banks and Christian Jones have been the best two tackles I've seen in the Big 12 this year.

There... I said it.

After a decade and a half of wandering in the wilderness, we finally hit paydirt with an O-line coach. Kyle Flood is proving to be an A+ hire in both recruiting and development.

 

[snoop9928]

What was Kobe more skilled at? Certainly not defense which makes up the other half of the game.

Kobe was an all world defender

 

[borna'horn]

Bijan is currently tied with Johnathan Gray? Why does it feel like Gray’s career at Texas never actually happened?

 

[o5prey]

@Ketchum

talent wise I would rank him 3rd all time here above Cedric

earl
Ricky
Bijan

and I’m actually pretty close between Ricky and him because of how diverse his skill set is - he just isn’t getting as many touches per game and that’s ok

one slight statistical ding to benson is how much better his ypc goes when Vince comes in with him and they have to worry so much about him running to the outside or as a play breaks down - he was no longer the focal point defenses needed to worry about and that made a big jump in his efficiency

but I’d go third

 

[Uncut Degenerate]

Kobe was an all world defender

I’ll give MJ the slight edge because he was DPOY but I do see they were both 9x first team.

 

[KoolMoD]

Why do people still ask this? If you’re an RB, you have to go get paid. There’s isn’t enough longevity to wait around anymore. No, he won’t be back.

He even said so in the interview bit he did with the OSU QB a couple months ago. Let's just enjoy his awesomeness while we can 🤘🏼 He's a special guy.

 

[T-Sip-71-12]

Cedric averaged 1.2 yards less per carry than Bijan, depsite playing with the best line in school history.

Best line in school history was not the matured line that we remember in ‘05 and ‘06.

also, different game now. LBs were recruited to stop the run and not play in space.

injury statement still stands. Cedric was always available (except for the stealing incident before Baylor)

 

[Jameslavar]

Imagine him with the rams or bills or chiefs. As long as he doesn't end up in a place like Detroit or Cleveland.

Btw, great topic today! Fun stuff

Rather see him with Dallas, but that’s the homer in me.

 

[majorapplewhite]

Re: Bijan vs Charles…without looking at stats…I just don’t see the explosive plays, and I see too many run into the Oline and stop for no gain plays. Could be wrong - but that’s what my head sees. He is really good - but not Earl, Ricky, Charles, DForeman level.

DForeman?

Bijan is a much better and versatile back than D Foreman was

I'm not ready to put him in front of Earl, Ricky or even Jamal but D Foreman?

 

[Ketchum]

That’s a tough stance. @Williamhill2034 had a good point in that everyone knew who was getting the ball and Ricky still ran for 150+ like every week.

I love Bijan, but it’s hard for me to put him with Ricky and earl, and especially above them. . Anyone else, and I’m with u

That's kind of where I am.

 

[Ketchum]

No love for Austin FC in the scatter shooting section? Man I’m not even a soccer fan but I thought they’d get a shoutout for winning their first playoff game in austin.

Great write up @Ketchum

I watched the game. I can't believe I failed to mention it. My bad.

 

[Ketchum]

View embedded media

He's juking too much.

 

[Ketchum]

It's not even close.

The one handed, left handed screen catch for zero yards (probably a loss) was amazing.

Its really unfortunate, when comparing him to the other UT greats, the differential in the Line play he's had versus the others.

It feels a lot like the, "If Barry ran behind Emmit's lines" convo

Who is No.2?

 

[Ketchum]

@Ketchum Dinner for Schmucks was pretty funny.

I don't think I ever saw that one,

 

[SueVide]

I wouldn't even know how to handicap it, other than to not use 85%.

I think my point is that everyone is assuming he's gone but I'm not sure that is guaranteed. NIL is a game changer. He also might be motivated to stay and win a trophy. Seems like VY regrets coming out early.

 

[kenkam]

Chris Gilbert played three seasons when there were only 10 games in the regular season, plus a bowl game. Eleven games per season.

Agree about Quinn's game. IMO Sark risked losing the game by going so one dimensional. That is a bad idea with the receiving talent we have. He hardly dialed up Whitt and Sanders at all. He put the entire game on the line on the line with the fourth down call to Xavier. A less than good throw or X. not being open, we lose the game. It did not have to be that hard. Poor game for Sark IMO.

^^ is this for real? You are doing a parody right? ^^

 

[styrbjorn]

Best player of the last 12 seasons?

You can definitely make a case for best player, although that gets into apples and oranges when you start comparing guys at different positions (as one example, Justin Tucker may be the best at his position of all time, but likely wouldn't cross most people's minds.)

I would absolutely say he's the best offensive skill position player we've had since VY.

 

[kenkam]

Glad to see you think Texas has the best defensive personnel in the B12. I agree. Which begs the question, is it the X’s and O’s or the Jimmy and Joes as it relates to these stats that you mentioned…?

“88th in the nation in third-down defense (41.4-percent), while the defense still ranks 112th in turnovers gained”

Why are nit picking stats? Games are one and lost on the scoreboard. Does Texas have better players that LSU 41.7, ot Texas A&M 40.5?

 

[Ketchum]

If you don't see Bijan as better than Cedric, now, then the only thing that would change that would be Bijan coming back for another year.

Or leading this team to a Big 12 title.

 

[Ketchum]

OSU has the #126th ranked defense in passing yardage allowed and 57th ranked D in rushing yards allowed. Texas should be able to both run and pass at will against them, so I foresee Texas easily passing the 35 point mark. Now Texas may need to put up 50 to win, because Texas may struggle with their mobil QB, but I don't Texas needs to keep them under 35 to win.

OSU is pretty horrible on defense.

 

[Ketchum]

Some of my favorite dinner scenes:

1. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - just look here:

2. Surviving the Game - Ice-T’s character given a “last meal” while listening to crazy hunters talk about the importance of survival.

3. The Dark Crystal - I always loved the part when the Skeksis feasted.

4. The Ref - Loved the candle hats.

Great call on The Ref.

I definitely considered Temple of Doom.

 

[Ketchum]

Yo! Didn't you say that the new episode of Andor was inspiring your top 10 list this weekend?

I did, but I remembered that I did a Best Heist List in the last year, so I didn't want to repeat myself.

 

[Ketchum]

Agree about Whitt being under utilized. We are leaving points on the field by not targeting him and Sanders much more frequently.

There are only so many footballs, I suppose.

 

[Ketchum]

The dinner scene from The Ref needs to be in your top 10. It’s fantastic.

Definite bad call on my part. Can't believe I left it out.

 

[Ketchum]

This. Ricky was an alien.

The man would drop 300+ at any given time and every single one of those yards would be needed.

 

[GuyPie9]

When you dance like Mikhail Baryshnikov, I understand the urge to lean into the dancing.

might be the greatest reply to a post ever.

 

[Ketchum]

1) I don't get some of the desire by neutral baseball fans and the national media for wanting the Mariners to do well in the Playoffs? I get it to a certain point but the overwhelming consensus by the national media is hard to understand. Seattle is one of the worst ran cities in the country and it is a disaster to live in as well as most of the state is that way. I just can't find much sympathy for a city like Seattle. Now I respect the Seattle Mariners as a baseball team and feel they will push the Astros even more next year but I don't think they will finish above Houston.

2) Glad you took the view you did on Ewers because he played much better than the stats say he did.

3) Colton Vasek at this stage is a much more twitched up athlete when compared to Burke but I think Burke also has the potential to be a 1st round pick much like could be said of Vasek if they commit themselves to gaining good lean weight.

4) Bijan Robinson is no doubt special but the NFL draft is loaded with quality backs for next Draft Day so I hope the slide on RB's doesn't push him too far into the late 1st round. He will almost guaranteed be talked about needing to improve his pass protection and his running harder behind his pads, but those 2 things can and will get better with continued maturity physically as well as when he can fully dedicate all his time to his craft. I'm also a huge fan of Jahmyr Gibbs from Alabama as he's a true HR threat and he's good in the passing game just like Bijan. I think you might have many teams with different #1 rated backs. I'm also believer in of Mohamed Ibrahim from Minnesota but thats if his injury history doesn't show too many red flags. Before being injured last season, he was heading to being the #1 back like Bijan is today. I don't care how Zach Evans handled his recruiting but I'm not sure how much I like him in the NFL. He's likely to go on late day-2 even still. Devon Achane is explosive but I don't see him as a RB at the next level but more in the Deebow Samuel type of player which is a good thing. I'd take Achane over Zach Evans even though Evans likely remains at RB in the NFL.

5) With Barryn Sorrell his issue is he's not an explosive athlete and not sure how much he can improve that elite quickness. Now if he can still improve in that area, his speed to power could help him become much better at rushing the passer as his technique improves.

6) Not to pile on anyone as I've never been an anti-PK guy and I still am not going down that road but if the Texas Defense is now playing winning football and no longer a liability for the Longhorns, how is it they can't get off the field? When you take all of those factors into consideration, it has to be scheme and possibly the team not having faith and trust in the way they are coached in those crucial downs.


Separate Note:
After watching Nebraska again, the pass rushing wouldn't have been any better with Ochaun Mathis and you likely wouldn't have gotten as much player development out of the young guys with Mathis taking so many snaps away from the younger guys on the team. Mathis would have set the edge better but his sack numbers wouldn't be any better than his 2 total sacks in 7 games for Nebraska. While on the Huskers, Casey Thompson had your typical Casey Thompson day. He played very well at times and then poorly at times and the poor play was usually costly for Nebraska. One thing I've noticed is if you can keep Casey in the pocket and collapse the pocket around him, he craters to that pressure and is almost always ineffective...this is similar to Card as well to be fair. How good is the Trey Palmer (portal from LSU) at WR for Nebraska? Likely gone to the NFL but what happened to him at LSU as he was a 5-star coming out of HS.

1. You don't understand how people are sympathetic towards a team that has had virtually no success in two decades?

2. He really didn't. The touchdown passes saved his numbers, as they should.

3. agreed.

4. Lots of greats backs. None of those dudes are on Bijan's level.

5. He's still kind of a puppy looking to turn into a dog. He has a higher ceiling than this.

 

[Ketchum]

Yep. It was ridiculous. You would have thought he threw 2 pick-sixes and fumbled twice in the first half. I truly don’t understand the football mentality, or lack-there-of, of certain posters. We have no right to criticize the aggy fandom when our own fan base has those that would think stuff like that.

The 2022 version of this board would have truly melted down over thee Chris Simms Experience. 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

 

[Ketchum]

Great TTFTW - Top 5 Level work this week.

The Bijan write up was excellent. Dude is insane good and I’ve never seen anything like him. His ability to operate in a phone booth is freaky and he has elite receiver skills.

It’s selfish but I’d love to see what RoJo could do next year as the lead back. I said it earlier, I’ve not once thought “I wish Bijan were in” when RoJo is in the game. He’s that good.

I think Roschon is a 1,300 yard back as the lead guy.