Some thoughts on the OL at Texas' first practice of the spring:
- The starting group to begin practice was (L to R) Connor Williams - Brandon Hodges - Zach Shackelford - Patrick Vahe - Kent Perkins
- Hodges left practice at some point during positional work (we'll see what his status is the rest of the week) and his spot at LG was taken over by Terrell Cuney for the remainder of practice. The second group in this situation was (L to R) Garrett Thomas - (walk-on) - Elijah Rodriguez - Alex Anderson - Tristan Nickelson.
- I was very surprised that Rodriguez did not take over at LG for Hodges when Hodges exited practice.
- Cuney allowed awful disruption in shorts and a t-shirt to a very uninspiring talent in DT Jake McMillon basically any time you looked up, messing some things up for the offense. I would guess that after review of the film from practice today that Cuney will be one a short leash if Hodges stays out of action and Mattox elects to keep rolling him out.
- It was a quiet practice for Zach Shackelford and - as Jason Suchomel mentioned to me during the event - that's probably the best you could hope for. In watching Shackelford, you see that he really did come in stronger than expected and that he's got great, heavy bones and an athletic frame on him. He's also, as I've always mentioned in my reports on him, super-smart. He's your new starting center, it appears.
- During the install of pass-protection schemes (a much easier big-on-big, two-call base system) Shackelford was going over things with the others and almost seemingly explaining them to a freshman All-American in Patrick Vahe.
- I'll be most interested to see how Shackelford stands up power-wise once the pads go on. He does not shake the sled like Vahe and Kent Perkins, but then again, neither does Connor Williams.
- Speaking of Connor Williams, it's around this time of year where I start getting reminded that his kick-slide and balance through his punch are starter-kits for the OL skill-sets I see in drills at all the different pro days I'll attend.
- Ronnie Major continues to work with the third group and is clearly, by body type, a tackle option only. It's a non-padded setting, but it still appears Major is not ready. His feet are still too sloppy.
- Garrett Thomas absolutely caved in Charles Omenihu on one play in team drills ... about as dominantly as you can without pads on.
- Tristan Nickelson looks like about the same player as 2015, but thicker through the chest, shoulders and arms. He's more deliberate in his kicks this year and less unwieldy, but still can appear a little unbalanced at times and is still certainly a candidate for overextension.
- The drills are much different during position work. I didn't see 2X4 plank through all of the drills - the type Joe Wickline and even Stacy Searels would set up at 45-degree angles from the line of scrimmage to have the OL practice zone-angles. New OL coach Matt Mattox is teaching these guys power-football. It's exciting to watch and seems refreshing for the players to partake in. It's pulling and trapping and clearing up a gap dominantly there's nothing fancy of flashy about it.
- The Deep Dig will have a much easier time charting run-block concepts in 2016 than ever before.
- VIDEO: The drills are set up in three-man groups for the right side and the left side. Shackelford would take center snaps with the "right" guys, Rodriguez would take them with the "left" guys. The calls are simple and intuitive. If watching inside-run drills today was any indication, D'Onta Foreman and Chris Warren will both thrive in a system where they are sprung by a good lead block. It's a different moment of decisiveness than the one needed to make the one-cut-and-go decision behind the line of scrimmage in zone when a lane develops.
Bonus Thought: It's not about the offensive line, but you can't write a column of any type about the first day of Texas spring practice without mentioning Collin Johnson. That's the story of practice. It was Collin Johnson's first day of practice on this very Monday - and I think I'm going to remember that fact for years to come.
- The starting group to begin practice was (L to R) Connor Williams - Brandon Hodges - Zach Shackelford - Patrick Vahe - Kent Perkins
- Hodges left practice at some point during positional work (we'll see what his status is the rest of the week) and his spot at LG was taken over by Terrell Cuney for the remainder of practice. The second group in this situation was (L to R) Garrett Thomas - (walk-on) - Elijah Rodriguez - Alex Anderson - Tristan Nickelson.
- I was very surprised that Rodriguez did not take over at LG for Hodges when Hodges exited practice.
- Cuney allowed awful disruption in shorts and a t-shirt to a very uninspiring talent in DT Jake McMillon basically any time you looked up, messing some things up for the offense. I would guess that after review of the film from practice today that Cuney will be one a short leash if Hodges stays out of action and Mattox elects to keep rolling him out.
- It was a quiet practice for Zach Shackelford and - as Jason Suchomel mentioned to me during the event - that's probably the best you could hope for. In watching Shackelford, you see that he really did come in stronger than expected and that he's got great, heavy bones and an athletic frame on him. He's also, as I've always mentioned in my reports on him, super-smart. He's your new starting center, it appears.
- During the install of pass-protection schemes (a much easier big-on-big, two-call base system) Shackelford was going over things with the others and almost seemingly explaining them to a freshman All-American in Patrick Vahe.
- I'll be most interested to see how Shackelford stands up power-wise once the pads go on. He does not shake the sled like Vahe and Kent Perkins, but then again, neither does Connor Williams.
- Speaking of Connor Williams, it's around this time of year where I start getting reminded that his kick-slide and balance through his punch are starter-kits for the OL skill-sets I see in drills at all the different pro days I'll attend.
- Ronnie Major continues to work with the third group and is clearly, by body type, a tackle option only. It's a non-padded setting, but it still appears Major is not ready. His feet are still too sloppy.
- Garrett Thomas absolutely caved in Charles Omenihu on one play in team drills ... about as dominantly as you can without pads on.
- Tristan Nickelson looks like about the same player as 2015, but thicker through the chest, shoulders and arms. He's more deliberate in his kicks this year and less unwieldy, but still can appear a little unbalanced at times and is still certainly a candidate for overextension.
- The drills are much different during position work. I didn't see 2X4 plank through all of the drills - the type Joe Wickline and even Stacy Searels would set up at 45-degree angles from the line of scrimmage to have the OL practice zone-angles. New OL coach Matt Mattox is teaching these guys power-football. It's exciting to watch and seems refreshing for the players to partake in. It's pulling and trapping and clearing up a gap dominantly there's nothing fancy of flashy about it.
- The Deep Dig will have a much easier time charting run-block concepts in 2016 than ever before.
- VIDEO: The drills are set up in three-man groups for the right side and the left side. Shackelford would take center snaps with the "right" guys, Rodriguez would take them with the "left" guys. The calls are simple and intuitive. If watching inside-run drills today was any indication, D'Onta Foreman and Chris Warren will both thrive in a system where they are sprung by a good lead block. It's a different moment of decisiveness than the one needed to make the one-cut-and-go decision behind the line of scrimmage in zone when a lane develops.
Bonus Thought: It's not about the offensive line, but you can't write a column of any type about the first day of Texas spring practice without mentioning Collin Johnson. That's the story of practice. It was Collin Johnson's first day of practice on this very Monday - and I think I'm going to remember that fact for years to come.
