One Thing About Spring Football: Defense
for Offense click here
Interior Defensive Line
(JR) Poona Ford - 476 snaps in 2015
(SR) Paul Boyette - 423 snaps in 2015
(SO) Chris Nelson - 122 snaps in 2015
(SO) Jake McMillon - 18 snaps in 2015
Overview of the Battle:
The real battle here is going to be fielding competitive practices without getting one of these guys hurt. The good news is that Charlie Strong recruited a whole crop of new DTs who’ll figure into the equation immediately during fall camp, but during the spring, the defensive front will be thin, thin, thin. It can’t afford any injuries.
There is not a battle among players for positioning within the depth chart. Barring injuries and/or catastrophe the spring two-deep will slate Boyette (nose/1-shade) and Ford (tackle/3-tech) as the starters and Nelson (nose/1-shade) and McMillon (tackle/3-tech) as the twos.
As for the threes, there are none. None on scholarship at least. The Texas defense will need to use exclusively walk-ons at these positions when running out its third group. Should injuries occur to any one of the four scholarship DLs listed above, the Texas spring two-deep will be forced to feature a non-scholarship player at the first level of the defense.
What makes this proposition a bit trickier is how Texas practices. We’ve seen under Charlie Strong at Texas that spring practices are more physical than fall practices with more tackling and contact during team drills. Getting through 15 spring practices healthy in the Texas trenches isn’t easy as we saw last season with numerous defensive linemen. Hassan Ridgeway and Boyette both nursed injuries for portions of spring last season along with Desmond Jackson.
One Possible Breakout Player:
Sophomore Chris Nelson has a chance to make a big splash in 2016 and take the reins as the guy to beat for starting nose-tackle snaps for the next two years following Paul Boyette’s exit.
Here’s what what we know about Nelson:
- He he didn’t miss a tackle in 122 snaps in 2015.
- Played a virtual No.2 role (the same he will surely take on to start 2016 behind Boyette) in three of the final four games of the 2015 season.
- Reports on Nelson got better and better in 2015 through the same period during practices and in those leading up to them.
- Nelson tore his labrum in his redshirt season per a source and spent a ton of time in the pit. He was able to keep in good condition by running with his lower-half unaffected. This is important because staying in good condition is half the battle with a lot of these big guys.
- Nelson’s trainers in Florida say he’s a ridiculous gym rat and hard worker — his limited Texas film shows a good motor that falls in line with this. However, we have not yet seen Nelson in a role that takes on 45-to-50-plus-percent of snaps, which is where motor sometimes teeters down — as the game rolls on and the adrenaline wears off.
- Nelson probably already has a better pure anchoring ability than Poona Ford. However, the length of Ford’s arms sometimes make this point moot for a number of technical reasons.
The bottom line is Chris Nelson is a good player with comparable physical abilities to Poona Ford and Paul Boyette at this time. What makes him more important is the positional scarcity and depth at his position.
A big Texas 2016 season almost requires a breakout from at least one or two of the unheralded interior defensive linemen and Nelson certainly has a better shot (from what we know at this time) of ascension than most any true-freshman.
One Player in a Make-or-Break Season:
Paul Boyette. He’s been a nice player for Texas who’s had big-time flashes of potential, but he hasn’t been a true beast or game-changer. He could be an NFL player with improvement this season and I’ll bet he comes out on the Senior Bowl’s 2016 Watch List this summer.
He’ll need to improve in his final season at Texas to garner much interest as a pro. Boyette will need to show more dominant explosion, better hands, slightly better pad-level and better lateral agility coupled with consistent follow-through. He’s been a good player for Texas, but those are the things it will take to become a prospect who’ll also pop off the film for NFL evaluators.
One Thing You May Have Forgotten About:
Poona Ford was actually named starter over a (then-) healthy Hassan Ridgeway to start the 2015 season and played more snaps on defense than Ridgeway, a 2016 NFL hopeful, last year.
One Ray of Sunshine:
This group could sure use one, and it is most definitely the large, quality crop of interior defensive line talent coming in this summer. The most interesting battle of all will occur in fall camp as we can monitor which one or two true-freshman DTs are trending toward becoming instant contributors - because a few are going to have to be players for Texas right off the bat regardless of what happens this spring.
Defensive Ends
(JR) Naashon Hughes - 670 snaps in 2015
(SR) Bryce Cottrell - 426 snaps in 2015
(SO) Charles Omenihu - 190 snaps in 2015
(SO) Derick Roberson - 91 snaps in 2015
(SR) Quincy Vasser - 40 snaps in 2015
Overview of the Battle:
It is a battle among a depleted group that has a few bright spots in the form of young players and will be boosted considerably come summertime with the addition of a few candidates for instant impact as true freshman.
Naashon Hughes and Charles Omenihu handled the FOX position last season while Bryce Cottrell and Shiro Davis were the uninspiring group that dominated SDE snaps. Then-redshirt freshman Derick Roberson was sprinkled in at both positions very sparingly and mainly in garbage time while JUCO transfer Quincy Vasser’s inability to beat Davis or Cottrell out for anything more than table scraps of playing time was one of the season’s bigger disappointments.
It’s been the buzz from sources that Omenihu (who is now close to 260 pounds per one) will likely get at least a look to start the spring at the SDE position, making the move from FOX to SDE after one campaign as his body has grown. The plan all along for Omenihu was to let his body develop into a long and lean SDE-type and — actually — to redshirt while putting on weight to do so.
The staff forced its own hand with Omenihu in his true freshman season when making the cockamamie position change of Caleb Bluiett from FOX to TE. As a result, Omenihu was forced into action early at a position he was never really recruited at or for. The good that came out of this was a year of extra on-field development for Omenihu and a realization that he was actually much, much better than expected in the demanding and versatile role of the FOX. The fact that he operates so well in space translates very well to the strong-side as well and just adds more overall upside as a player.
Now, the battle (or really situation) to watch is at the SDE position as Naashon Hughes seemingly has the lion’s share of FOX duties pretty well wrapped up for the purposes of spring football. This is very likely to change eventually with the addition of super-stud DE/OLB recruit Erick Fowler. SDE could provide an opportunity this spring, though, for Omenihu to step into a much more significant and possible starting role coming into the summer if the staff feels now is indeed the time to flip him from FOX to SDE.
Incumbent SDE starter Bryce Cottrell is not a Charlie Strong recruit and has failed to make any consistent impact as a player despite being trumpeted as one of the success-stories of 2015’s fall camp by DC Vance Bedford. Texas needs production out of the SDE position in the worst way to start 2016 and all bets should be off among those who’ll be present this spring regarding who can step up and breathe some excitement back into the position.
One Possible Breakout Player:
For spring ball, it’s Charles Omenihu for the exact reasons listed above. In fall camp, true-freshman Andrew Fitzgerald or possibly even Chris Daniels could also start figuring in somehow.
One Player in a Make-or-Break Season:
As mentioned in the first segment above, Vasser, a JUCO transfer, came into the 2015 season only having Shiro Davis and Bryce Cottrell to beat out for starting SDE duties and was thought of by many in the fanbase in ways ranging from “savior of the position” to “at least quality depth.” What he ended up providing was none of the above.
Vasser barely played at all in 2015 and when he did it was in garbage time. The fact that he was not able to beat out an unimpressive group including only Cottrell and Davis was a disappointment to say the least. Vasser’s tape from 2015 shows a lack of power, explosion and bend that the staff surely saw in practice. He was too stiff and the production he did cause was usually in situations versus backup offensive lines.
Vasser is now entering his senior year and the position he plays is simply as ripe for the taking as anyone could ever imagine. In fact, it is at a level of crisis now that is somehow worse than the level of crisis it was in last spring.
It’s literally ‘now or never’ for Vasser in virtually every sense of the saying for his Texas career.
Linebackers
(SO) Malik Jefferson - 585 snaps in 2015
(SO) Anthony Wheeler - 293 snaps in 2015
(SR) Tim Cole - 215 snaps in 2015
(SO) Breckyn Hager - 120 snaps in 2015
(SO) Edwin Freeman - 77 snaps in 2015
(SR) Dalton Santos - Missed 2015 season (injury)
(RS FR) Cameron Townsend - Redshirted in 2015
(FR) Demarco Boyd - Freshman Early Enrollee
Overview of the Battle:
The common narrative among Longhorns fans is that Malik Jefferson is “moving to outside linebacker,” which is a flawed idea that is based in some truth. Surely Malik will be used off the edge more often in 2016 and likely more than that in 2017.
However, Texas is a nickel defense and only uses two linebackers for a vast majority of snaps. Furthermore, the difference between the “will” and the “mike” has been made a blurry one by function of the scheme and the staff’s use of Jefferson in the position.
For example, the Dalton Santos “mike” is different than the Malik Jefferson “mike.” Also, Jefferson isn’t always technically “the mike.”
This is all explained in Episode VI of the OB podcast in greater detail, but the important thing to know is that the battle here has to do with the one guy who’ll line up next to Jefferson as one of two linebackers.
A tertiary battle will involve duties at the infrequently used “sam” or strong-side linebacker position which sees only around 10% of snaps under Strong at Texas.
One Possible Breakout Player:
Why not Demarco Boyd? Anthony Wheeler, Breckyn Hager and Edwin Freeman have already all “broken out” somewhat, but any of these young players would be acceptable candidates also.
Boyd is a wild-card to the mix who brings more crazy athleticism to the unit.
Having seen Boyd last summer at state 7-on-7’s I can say with confidence he certainly didn’t belong on a football field with people his age. In fact, his high school staff ran the 7-on-7 offense through Boyd using him as a receiving running back rather than a linebacker simply because Boyd could not be stopped in this role and was capable of making a bigger impact as a weapon in this way.
One Player in a Make-or-Break Season:
It’s tough to say because there are a number of players in the linebacker room who would really love to come out of spring feeling like they have a firm hold on substantial — if not starting — roles within the defense: Guys like Wheeler, Hager and Freeman are all high-end prospects who bring different skill sets to the table and there isn’t room for all of them on the field at once.
If having to pick one person in a true make-or-break situation, the tie-breaker could be age and Edwin Freeman will be coming into his third year in the program while Wheeler and Hager were true freshmen last season. There could be a greater sense of urgency for Freeman to step up in order to avoid getting passed up.
One Thing You May Have Forgotten About:
Edwin Freeman was the team’s most disruptive player last season on a per-snap basis.
One Ray of Sunshine:
All this young talent on board for the spring and we haven’t even discussed how Jeffery “The Shark” McCulloch could affect things once he gets on campus this summer …
Cornerbacks
(SO) Holton Hill - 636 snaps in 2015
(SO) John Bonney - 508 snaps in 2015
(SO) Davante Davis - 411 snaps in 2015
(SO) Kris Boyd - 184 snaps in 2015
(JR) Antwuan Davis - 161 snaps in 2015
(SR) Sheroid Evans - Medical redshirt senior who has had horrible injury luck
Overview of the Battle:
One of the situations that Texas fans can feel truly good about for the next 2-3 seasons is the state of the outside corners should Holton Hill and Davante Davis stay healthy.
The staff hit home runs in both prospects from an evaluation-standpoint, which is ironic in Davis’ case. Davis is the sole remaining reminder of a once-ballyhooed group of incoming 2015 recruits called the ‘Florida 5,’ and Davis was the least hyped of all of them. As things stand now, Hill and Davis have the corner positions on lock for the foreseeable future.
The true battle — and one that sort of bleeds over into the ‘safeties’ section — is what’s going to happen at the nickel corner.
One Possible Breakout Player:
It’s time for Kris Boyd to break out, but the only question is, “how?”
Boyd played 184 snaps in the 2015 season and was, at a point, a player who the Deep Dig said the Texas staff would keep off the field at its own peril. Boyd made appearances in his first five games at Texas playing significant snaps until he got in the doghouse for a halftime tweeting escapade. Of Texas remaining seven games, Boyd only saw minimal action in three of them, logging 18, 21 and 4 snaps respectively and only in garbage-time situations.
The issue of Kris Boyd gets us into the issue of the nickel corner which will be the predominant and key battle to monitor of the secondary this spring. Boyd has the body, skill set, nose for the football, speed and aggression to play inside at nickel quite capably. He has smooth hips in coverage, a burst into cuts (as well as ball-carriers) and a maniacal on-field persona that puts opposing receivers — and maybe even refs — on extreme tilt. It’s hard to imagine a player better suited for responsibilities of hook/curl/flat and seam coverage coupled with the abilities to knife off the edge as a rusher and bring the wood in run support.
Also, as we’ll get to in the safeties section, PJ Locke is an outstanding candidate to man the nickel as well, and may come into spring ball with the slight edge having started there versus Baylor to end 2015.
Finally, we still have John Bonney on the roster who was the biggest disappointment on a defense full of them in 2015. Bonney started the season as the nickel corner only to get phased out as the freshmen took over the outsides and Duke Thomas got bumped in. Bonney played 508 snaps in total during the season and missed an unacceptable 13 tackles.
Bonney simply didn’t produce at a position designed to put him in productive situations. Bonney was by far the team’s worst player in snaps-per-disruption caused at 26.74 snaps. His nearest competition (the second-worst on the entire team) was 15.85 snaps. Bonney was half as productive in 2015 as the next-least productive guy.
One Player in a Make-or-Break Season:
It has to be Antwuan Davis. Anwar Richardson reported in this week’s ‘Inside the War Room’ on Orangebloods that one of his sources mentioned that Davis was one of four corners returning in 2015 that was expected to “play a lot.”
Whether or not that’s lip service to the oldest player on the depth chart (and how crazy is it that Davis is now the group’s veteran leader?), the fact is, Davis needs to find a niche on defense or he’ll be left to wallow in special-teams obscurity for the remainder of his time at Texas.
Texas does not substitute secondary personnel through games. These guys do not get breathers like the defensive linemen who only handle 55-60% of snaps as starters or to a lesser extent, the linebackers.
Heck, Strong’s defense doesn’t even like having the corners or safeties switch sides, much less switch players. In understanding this, it’s clear that Anwar’s source saying all four would “play a lot” is indeed some degree of lip service. We saw in 2015 that the staff would toy around with giving some of the younger players run in the secondary with opportunities to gain more, but not the Mack Brown-players. Antwuan Davis played significant downs in the first six games of 2015 but only played one total snap on defense for the final six.
Davis will mix in with Bonney, Boyd and Locke to earn a shot to handle nickel duties.
One Thing You May Have Forgotten About:
On only 411 snaps last season Davante Davis led the team in cumulative pass-break-ups + interceptions + blowups per the Deep Dig with 11.5 total. His nearest competition was Dylan Haines with a total of 9.5 on many more (668) snaps. Davis is certifiably the team’s most reliable ball-hawk and attacker of the catch-point if nothing else.
One Ray of Sunshine:
Texas will have a much-improved secondary in 2016 and it will have it while likely depending completely on players at the corner and nickel positions who are true sophomores and younger.
Safeties
(JR) Jason Hall - 714 snaps in 2015
(SR) Dylan Haines - 668 snaps in 2015
(SO) P.J. Locke - 206 snaps in 2015
(SR) Kevin Vaccaro - 86 snaps in 2015
(SO) Deshon Elliott - 70 snaps in 2015
Overview of the Battle:
One of the most interesting battles to monitor, Jason Hall and Dylan Haines come in with the experience, but also with younger players nipping at their heels. Haines is recovering from a late-2015 injury, but there have not been any indications that he should not be available for spring work at this time. We'll see at practices next week if he's fully operational.
Deshon Elliott only played 70 snaps last season on defense, but was in the Top 5 Texas defenders in snaps per production caused via the Deep Dig which shows Elliott was around the football and/or making plays nearly twice as often with his limited snaps than Dylan Haines or Jason Hall were as starters.
There’s also the element of PJ Locke who could have technically gone in either the cornerback or the safety category as he finished the 2015 season as the team’s starting nickel corner in a win versus Baylor. Locke’s positioning on the depth chart will be a nuance to watch in itself as he has versatility to play either the nickel or the safety.
Finally, CBs Kris Boyd or John Bonney could also possibly play into the equation and we’re just talking about the spring time. Once summer rolls around, Texas will have its top 2016 recruit, safety Brandon Jones, on campus. This could throw a whole new and different wrench in the thing.
One Possible Breakout Player:
Deshon Elliott. In fact, if he doesn’t break out, it will be a pretty major disappointment to a lot of Longhorns fans. It’s important to remember that Elliott was making big waves to start fall camp in 2015 and was poised to go the way of Holton Hill and Davante Davis as a player the staff would probably have trouble keeping off the field for long. A foot injury that occurred while Elliott was an observer to “bull-in-the-ring” drills at an open summer practice effectively stunted Elliott’s initial bit of development at Texas and threw the timeline off-track.
One Player in a Make-or-Break Season:
Jason Hall came to Texas looking like a future NFL player as a freshman. Hall started right off in his first year at Texas and provided some splash-plays and big moments. However, the Texas secondary as a whole has struggled for two seasons now in over-the-top coverage assignments and missed tackles from the last line of defense, all things Hall has had a hand in at times.
It’s been clear in his usage and also in indications from people close to the program that the staff actually places less trust in Jason Hall than it does in the fanbase’s favorite whipping boy, Dylan Haines.
The staff, most notably Vance Bedford, have openly acknowledged that Hall has to be more consistent. At a 2015 exit evaluation with coaches, Hall reportedly was told that he’s a player the staff expects to see more out of him. With (quality) competition now starting to creep into the rearview, it is Hall’s job to understand he’s not the only game in town anymore the way he has been for two seasons where he’s started due equally as much to his own talent as it was to the lack of talent in the safety room.
Jason Hall still has a chance to be an NFL player. He also has a chance to get his job taken if he doesn’t put his head down to improve and become more consistent. He might have the biggest make-or-break season ahead of him of any Longhorn.
One Thing You May Have Forgotten About:
Kevin Vaccaro had a monster game versus Cal in 2015 after Dylan Haines was ejected early for a targeting penalty. While most people only remember the game for Jerrod Heard’s heroics, media from all over was taking big-time notice of Vaccaro.
In all, Vaccaro had nine tackles (seven solo, two assisted) with one blowup and one forced fumble in the contest. His tackle-numbers led the team and his caused fumble at the goal-line was a true game-changer.
One Ray of Sunshine:
If the Texas staff feels squeamish about either Haines or Hall through the spring, fall or 2016 football season, it will now officially have other capable players to turn to. All Texas fans can ask for is having the luxury of options and it’s been a while since they’ve been available at safety. Adrian Colbert just got passed on the depth chart at Texas and Miami is now happy to have him if that says anything.
The starters will be starters based on merit, not on service and dues paid. Always remember, Charlie Strong doesn't go by the old Mack Brown "spilled blood" philosophy.
Strong says "ties" in productivity and ability-to-contribute will go to the younger player.
Whether you agree or not, it’s how Strong runs his business and business is opening up next week.
for Offense click here
. . .
Interior Defensive Line
(JR) Poona Ford - 476 snaps in 2015
(SR) Paul Boyette - 423 snaps in 2015
(SO) Chris Nelson - 122 snaps in 2015
(SO) Jake McMillon - 18 snaps in 2015
Overview of the Battle:
The real battle here is going to be fielding competitive practices without getting one of these guys hurt. The good news is that Charlie Strong recruited a whole crop of new DTs who’ll figure into the equation immediately during fall camp, but during the spring, the defensive front will be thin, thin, thin. It can’t afford any injuries.
There is not a battle among players for positioning within the depth chart. Barring injuries and/or catastrophe the spring two-deep will slate Boyette (nose/1-shade) and Ford (tackle/3-tech) as the starters and Nelson (nose/1-shade) and McMillon (tackle/3-tech) as the twos.
As for the threes, there are none. None on scholarship at least. The Texas defense will need to use exclusively walk-ons at these positions when running out its third group. Should injuries occur to any one of the four scholarship DLs listed above, the Texas spring two-deep will be forced to feature a non-scholarship player at the first level of the defense.
What makes this proposition a bit trickier is how Texas practices. We’ve seen under Charlie Strong at Texas that spring practices are more physical than fall practices with more tackling and contact during team drills. Getting through 15 spring practices healthy in the Texas trenches isn’t easy as we saw last season with numerous defensive linemen. Hassan Ridgeway and Boyette both nursed injuries for portions of spring last season along with Desmond Jackson.
One Possible Breakout Player:
Sophomore Chris Nelson has a chance to make a big splash in 2016 and take the reins as the guy to beat for starting nose-tackle snaps for the next two years following Paul Boyette’s exit.
Here’s what what we know about Nelson:
- He he didn’t miss a tackle in 122 snaps in 2015.
- Played a virtual No.2 role (the same he will surely take on to start 2016 behind Boyette) in three of the final four games of the 2015 season.
- Reports on Nelson got better and better in 2015 through the same period during practices and in those leading up to them.
- Nelson tore his labrum in his redshirt season per a source and spent a ton of time in the pit. He was able to keep in good condition by running with his lower-half unaffected. This is important because staying in good condition is half the battle with a lot of these big guys.
- Nelson’s trainers in Florida say he’s a ridiculous gym rat and hard worker — his limited Texas film shows a good motor that falls in line with this. However, we have not yet seen Nelson in a role that takes on 45-to-50-plus-percent of snaps, which is where motor sometimes teeters down — as the game rolls on and the adrenaline wears off.
- Nelson probably already has a better pure anchoring ability than Poona Ford. However, the length of Ford’s arms sometimes make this point moot for a number of technical reasons.
The bottom line is Chris Nelson is a good player with comparable physical abilities to Poona Ford and Paul Boyette at this time. What makes him more important is the positional scarcity and depth at his position.
A big Texas 2016 season almost requires a breakout from at least one or two of the unheralded interior defensive linemen and Nelson certainly has a better shot (from what we know at this time) of ascension than most any true-freshman.
One Player in a Make-or-Break Season:
Paul Boyette. He’s been a nice player for Texas who’s had big-time flashes of potential, but he hasn’t been a true beast or game-changer. He could be an NFL player with improvement this season and I’ll bet he comes out on the Senior Bowl’s 2016 Watch List this summer.
He’ll need to improve in his final season at Texas to garner much interest as a pro. Boyette will need to show more dominant explosion, better hands, slightly better pad-level and better lateral agility coupled with consistent follow-through. He’s been a good player for Texas, but those are the things it will take to become a prospect who’ll also pop off the film for NFL evaluators.
One Thing You May Have Forgotten About:
Poona Ford was actually named starter over a (then-) healthy Hassan Ridgeway to start the 2015 season and played more snaps on defense than Ridgeway, a 2016 NFL hopeful, last year.
One Ray of Sunshine:
This group could sure use one, and it is most definitely the large, quality crop of interior defensive line talent coming in this summer. The most interesting battle of all will occur in fall camp as we can monitor which one or two true-freshman DTs are trending toward becoming instant contributors - because a few are going to have to be players for Texas right off the bat regardless of what happens this spring.
. . .
Defensive Ends
(JR) Naashon Hughes - 670 snaps in 2015
(SR) Bryce Cottrell - 426 snaps in 2015
(SO) Charles Omenihu - 190 snaps in 2015
(SO) Derick Roberson - 91 snaps in 2015
(SR) Quincy Vasser - 40 snaps in 2015
Overview of the Battle:
It is a battle among a depleted group that has a few bright spots in the form of young players and will be boosted considerably come summertime with the addition of a few candidates for instant impact as true freshman.
Naashon Hughes and Charles Omenihu handled the FOX position last season while Bryce Cottrell and Shiro Davis were the uninspiring group that dominated SDE snaps. Then-redshirt freshman Derick Roberson was sprinkled in at both positions very sparingly and mainly in garbage time while JUCO transfer Quincy Vasser’s inability to beat Davis or Cottrell out for anything more than table scraps of playing time was one of the season’s bigger disappointments.
It’s been the buzz from sources that Omenihu (who is now close to 260 pounds per one) will likely get at least a look to start the spring at the SDE position, making the move from FOX to SDE after one campaign as his body has grown. The plan all along for Omenihu was to let his body develop into a long and lean SDE-type and — actually — to redshirt while putting on weight to do so.
The staff forced its own hand with Omenihu in his true freshman season when making the cockamamie position change of Caleb Bluiett from FOX to TE. As a result, Omenihu was forced into action early at a position he was never really recruited at or for. The good that came out of this was a year of extra on-field development for Omenihu and a realization that he was actually much, much better than expected in the demanding and versatile role of the FOX. The fact that he operates so well in space translates very well to the strong-side as well and just adds more overall upside as a player.
Now, the battle (or really situation) to watch is at the SDE position as Naashon Hughes seemingly has the lion’s share of FOX duties pretty well wrapped up for the purposes of spring football. This is very likely to change eventually with the addition of super-stud DE/OLB recruit Erick Fowler. SDE could provide an opportunity this spring, though, for Omenihu to step into a much more significant and possible starting role coming into the summer if the staff feels now is indeed the time to flip him from FOX to SDE.
Incumbent SDE starter Bryce Cottrell is not a Charlie Strong recruit and has failed to make any consistent impact as a player despite being trumpeted as one of the success-stories of 2015’s fall camp by DC Vance Bedford. Texas needs production out of the SDE position in the worst way to start 2016 and all bets should be off among those who’ll be present this spring regarding who can step up and breathe some excitement back into the position.
One Possible Breakout Player:
For spring ball, it’s Charles Omenihu for the exact reasons listed above. In fall camp, true-freshman Andrew Fitzgerald or possibly even Chris Daniels could also start figuring in somehow.
One Player in a Make-or-Break Season:
As mentioned in the first segment above, Vasser, a JUCO transfer, came into the 2015 season only having Shiro Davis and Bryce Cottrell to beat out for starting SDE duties and was thought of by many in the fanbase in ways ranging from “savior of the position” to “at least quality depth.” What he ended up providing was none of the above.
Vasser barely played at all in 2015 and when he did it was in garbage time. The fact that he was not able to beat out an unimpressive group including only Cottrell and Davis was a disappointment to say the least. Vasser’s tape from 2015 shows a lack of power, explosion and bend that the staff surely saw in practice. He was too stiff and the production he did cause was usually in situations versus backup offensive lines.
Vasser is now entering his senior year and the position he plays is simply as ripe for the taking as anyone could ever imagine. In fact, it is at a level of crisis now that is somehow worse than the level of crisis it was in last spring.
It’s literally ‘now or never’ for Vasser in virtually every sense of the saying for his Texas career.
. . .
Linebackers
(SO) Malik Jefferson - 585 snaps in 2015
(SO) Anthony Wheeler - 293 snaps in 2015
(SR) Tim Cole - 215 snaps in 2015
(SO) Breckyn Hager - 120 snaps in 2015
(SO) Edwin Freeman - 77 snaps in 2015
(SR) Dalton Santos - Missed 2015 season (injury)
(RS FR) Cameron Townsend - Redshirted in 2015
(FR) Demarco Boyd - Freshman Early Enrollee
Overview of the Battle:
The common narrative among Longhorns fans is that Malik Jefferson is “moving to outside linebacker,” which is a flawed idea that is based in some truth. Surely Malik will be used off the edge more often in 2016 and likely more than that in 2017.
However, Texas is a nickel defense and only uses two linebackers for a vast majority of snaps. Furthermore, the difference between the “will” and the “mike” has been made a blurry one by function of the scheme and the staff’s use of Jefferson in the position.
For example, the Dalton Santos “mike” is different than the Malik Jefferson “mike.” Also, Jefferson isn’t always technically “the mike.”
This is all explained in Episode VI of the OB podcast in greater detail, but the important thing to know is that the battle here has to do with the one guy who’ll line up next to Jefferson as one of two linebackers.
A tertiary battle will involve duties at the infrequently used “sam” or strong-side linebacker position which sees only around 10% of snaps under Strong at Texas.
One Possible Breakout Player:
Why not Demarco Boyd? Anthony Wheeler, Breckyn Hager and Edwin Freeman have already all “broken out” somewhat, but any of these young players would be acceptable candidates also.
Boyd is a wild-card to the mix who brings more crazy athleticism to the unit.
Having seen Boyd last summer at state 7-on-7’s I can say with confidence he certainly didn’t belong on a football field with people his age. In fact, his high school staff ran the 7-on-7 offense through Boyd using him as a receiving running back rather than a linebacker simply because Boyd could not be stopped in this role and was capable of making a bigger impact as a weapon in this way.
One Player in a Make-or-Break Season:
It’s tough to say because there are a number of players in the linebacker room who would really love to come out of spring feeling like they have a firm hold on substantial — if not starting — roles within the defense: Guys like Wheeler, Hager and Freeman are all high-end prospects who bring different skill sets to the table and there isn’t room for all of them on the field at once.
If having to pick one person in a true make-or-break situation, the tie-breaker could be age and Edwin Freeman will be coming into his third year in the program while Wheeler and Hager were true freshmen last season. There could be a greater sense of urgency for Freeman to step up in order to avoid getting passed up.
One Thing You May Have Forgotten About:
Edwin Freeman was the team’s most disruptive player last season on a per-snap basis.
One Ray of Sunshine:
All this young talent on board for the spring and we haven’t even discussed how Jeffery “The Shark” McCulloch could affect things once he gets on campus this summer …
. . .
Cornerbacks
(SO) Holton Hill - 636 snaps in 2015
(SO) John Bonney - 508 snaps in 2015
(SO) Davante Davis - 411 snaps in 2015
(SO) Kris Boyd - 184 snaps in 2015
(JR) Antwuan Davis - 161 snaps in 2015
(SR) Sheroid Evans - Medical redshirt senior who has had horrible injury luck
Overview of the Battle:
The staff hit home runs in both prospects from an evaluation-standpoint, which is ironic in Davis’ case. Davis is the sole remaining reminder of a once-ballyhooed group of incoming 2015 recruits called the ‘Florida 5,’ and Davis was the least hyped of all of them. As things stand now, Hill and Davis have the corner positions on lock for the foreseeable future.
The true battle — and one that sort of bleeds over into the ‘safeties’ section — is what’s going to happen at the nickel corner.
One Possible Breakout Player:
It’s time for Kris Boyd to break out, but the only question is, “how?”
Boyd played 184 snaps in the 2015 season and was, at a point, a player who the Deep Dig said the Texas staff would keep off the field at its own peril. Boyd made appearances in his first five games at Texas playing significant snaps until he got in the doghouse for a halftime tweeting escapade. Of Texas remaining seven games, Boyd only saw minimal action in three of them, logging 18, 21 and 4 snaps respectively and only in garbage-time situations.
The issue of Kris Boyd gets us into the issue of the nickel corner which will be the predominant and key battle to monitor of the secondary this spring. Boyd has the body, skill set, nose for the football, speed and aggression to play inside at nickel quite capably. He has smooth hips in coverage, a burst into cuts (as well as ball-carriers) and a maniacal on-field persona that puts opposing receivers — and maybe even refs — on extreme tilt. It’s hard to imagine a player better suited for responsibilities of hook/curl/flat and seam coverage coupled with the abilities to knife off the edge as a rusher and bring the wood in run support.
Also, as we’ll get to in the safeties section, PJ Locke is an outstanding candidate to man the nickel as well, and may come into spring ball with the slight edge having started there versus Baylor to end 2015.
Finally, we still have John Bonney on the roster who was the biggest disappointment on a defense full of them in 2015. Bonney started the season as the nickel corner only to get phased out as the freshmen took over the outsides and Duke Thomas got bumped in. Bonney played 508 snaps in total during the season and missed an unacceptable 13 tackles.
Bonney simply didn’t produce at a position designed to put him in productive situations. Bonney was by far the team’s worst player in snaps-per-disruption caused at 26.74 snaps. His nearest competition (the second-worst on the entire team) was 15.85 snaps. Bonney was half as productive in 2015 as the next-least productive guy.
One Player in a Make-or-Break Season:
It has to be Antwuan Davis. Anwar Richardson reported in this week’s ‘Inside the War Room’ on Orangebloods that one of his sources mentioned that Davis was one of four corners returning in 2015 that was expected to “play a lot.”
Whether or not that’s lip service to the oldest player on the depth chart (and how crazy is it that Davis is now the group’s veteran leader?), the fact is, Davis needs to find a niche on defense or he’ll be left to wallow in special-teams obscurity for the remainder of his time at Texas.
Texas does not substitute secondary personnel through games. These guys do not get breathers like the defensive linemen who only handle 55-60% of snaps as starters or to a lesser extent, the linebackers.
Heck, Strong’s defense doesn’t even like having the corners or safeties switch sides, much less switch players. In understanding this, it’s clear that Anwar’s source saying all four would “play a lot” is indeed some degree of lip service. We saw in 2015 that the staff would toy around with giving some of the younger players run in the secondary with opportunities to gain more, but not the Mack Brown-players. Antwuan Davis played significant downs in the first six games of 2015 but only played one total snap on defense for the final six.
Davis will mix in with Bonney, Boyd and Locke to earn a shot to handle nickel duties.
One Thing You May Have Forgotten About:
On only 411 snaps last season Davante Davis led the team in cumulative pass-break-ups + interceptions + blowups per the Deep Dig with 11.5 total. His nearest competition was Dylan Haines with a total of 9.5 on many more (668) snaps. Davis is certifiably the team’s most reliable ball-hawk and attacker of the catch-point if nothing else.
One Ray of Sunshine:
Texas will have a much-improved secondary in 2016 and it will have it while likely depending completely on players at the corner and nickel positions who are true sophomores and younger.
. . .
Safeties
(JR) Jason Hall - 714 snaps in 2015
(SR) Dylan Haines - 668 snaps in 2015
(SO) P.J. Locke - 206 snaps in 2015
(SR) Kevin Vaccaro - 86 snaps in 2015
(SO) Deshon Elliott - 70 snaps in 2015
Overview of the Battle:
One of the most interesting battles to monitor, Jason Hall and Dylan Haines come in with the experience, but also with younger players nipping at their heels. Haines is recovering from a late-2015 injury, but there have not been any indications that he should not be available for spring work at this time. We'll see at practices next week if he's fully operational.
Deshon Elliott only played 70 snaps last season on defense, but was in the Top 5 Texas defenders in snaps per production caused via the Deep Dig which shows Elliott was around the football and/or making plays nearly twice as often with his limited snaps than Dylan Haines or Jason Hall were as starters.
There’s also the element of PJ Locke who could have technically gone in either the cornerback or the safety category as he finished the 2015 season as the team’s starting nickel corner in a win versus Baylor. Locke’s positioning on the depth chart will be a nuance to watch in itself as he has versatility to play either the nickel or the safety.
Finally, CBs Kris Boyd or John Bonney could also possibly play into the equation and we’re just talking about the spring time. Once summer rolls around, Texas will have its top 2016 recruit, safety Brandon Jones, on campus. This could throw a whole new and different wrench in the thing.
One Possible Breakout Player:
Deshon Elliott. In fact, if he doesn’t break out, it will be a pretty major disappointment to a lot of Longhorns fans. It’s important to remember that Elliott was making big waves to start fall camp in 2015 and was poised to go the way of Holton Hill and Davante Davis as a player the staff would probably have trouble keeping off the field for long. A foot injury that occurred while Elliott was an observer to “bull-in-the-ring” drills at an open summer practice effectively stunted Elliott’s initial bit of development at Texas and threw the timeline off-track.
One Player in a Make-or-Break Season:
Jason Hall came to Texas looking like a future NFL player as a freshman. Hall started right off in his first year at Texas and provided some splash-plays and big moments. However, the Texas secondary as a whole has struggled for two seasons now in over-the-top coverage assignments and missed tackles from the last line of defense, all things Hall has had a hand in at times.
It’s been clear in his usage and also in indications from people close to the program that the staff actually places less trust in Jason Hall than it does in the fanbase’s favorite whipping boy, Dylan Haines.
The staff, most notably Vance Bedford, have openly acknowledged that Hall has to be more consistent. At a 2015 exit evaluation with coaches, Hall reportedly was told that he’s a player the staff expects to see more out of him. With (quality) competition now starting to creep into the rearview, it is Hall’s job to understand he’s not the only game in town anymore the way he has been for two seasons where he’s started due equally as much to his own talent as it was to the lack of talent in the safety room.
Jason Hall still has a chance to be an NFL player. He also has a chance to get his job taken if he doesn’t put his head down to improve and become more consistent. He might have the biggest make-or-break season ahead of him of any Longhorn.
One Thing You May Have Forgotten About:
Kevin Vaccaro had a monster game versus Cal in 2015 after Dylan Haines was ejected early for a targeting penalty. While most people only remember the game for Jerrod Heard’s heroics, media from all over was taking big-time notice of Vaccaro.
In all, Vaccaro had nine tackles (seven solo, two assisted) with one blowup and one forced fumble in the contest. His tackle-numbers led the team and his caused fumble at the goal-line was a true game-changer.
One Ray of Sunshine:
If the Texas staff feels squeamish about either Haines or Hall through the spring, fall or 2016 football season, it will now officially have other capable players to turn to. All Texas fans can ask for is having the luxury of options and it’s been a while since they’ve been available at safety. Adrian Colbert just got passed on the depth chart at Texas and Miami is now happy to have him if that says anything.
The starters will be starters based on merit, not on service and dues paid. Always remember, Charlie Strong doesn't go by the old Mack Brown "spilled blood" philosophy.
Strong says "ties" in productivity and ability-to-contribute will go to the younger player.
Whether you agree or not, it’s how Strong runs his business and business is opening up next week.
