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Spring Practice 2017

247 Spring Practice #6 Notes
A portion of the practice was aired via Periscope.​

-- An ankle injury suffered by Zach Shackelford in Saturday’s scrimmage and Brandon Hodges having to miss practice time to deal with academic issues has led to some shuffling along the offensive line. The first time the No. 1 offense took the field field it featured Jake McMillon sliding over to center with Elijah Rodriguez at right guard and Tristan Nickelson still at right tackle. The second time the first unit took the field it was a line featuring Rodriguez at center, McMillon at right guard and Denzel Okafor at right tackle.

-- The biggest change on defense came in the secondary where Brandon Jones ran out as the No. 1 boundary safety over John Bonney. DeShon Elliott was still the field safety. Jones had been working behind Elliott through the scrimmage on Saturday and this is the first time (to my knowledge) he’s gotten some work with the first unit.

-- Running back depth continues to be thin as Kirk Johnson and Tristian Houston could be seen during stretch standing with the injured players near the south goal post on the main practice field. Toneil Carter couldn’t be seen in any of the footage, but after Kyle Porter took the No. 1 reps the second unit was led by walk-on Trenton Hafley.

-- Andrew Beck worked in with the second offense. Tom Herman was hoping to have Beck back as early as today as he makes his way back from a foot injury, so this is a good sign. It looked like Garrett Gray was the first tight end on the field with the No. 1 offense.

-- One notable play by the No. 1 defense was Malik Jefferson pressuring Shane Buechele and coming away with what would’ve been a sack had the quarterback been live.

-- The most notable highlight came from Lil'Jordan Humphrey, who caught a quick hitch and made Eric Cuffee miss a tackle in space before ripping off a big gain.
 
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Godz40Acrez said:
247 Spring Practice #6 Notes
A portion of the practice was aired via Periscope.​

-- The biggest change on defense came in the secondary where Brandon Jones ran out as the No. 1 boundary safety over John Bonney. DeShon Elliott was still the field safety. Jones had been working behind Elliott through the scrimmage on Saturday and this is the first time (to my knowledge) he’s gotten some work with the first unit.
Click to expand...
YES! GET JONES ON THE FIELD!! Nothing against the other guys, but Jones is a player!
 
Team Notes:

OL Shuffling: Zach Shackelford...suffered an ankle injury on Saturday and had to leave the scrimmage. It sounds like his spring is over...

OT Brandon Hodges had been working with the 1s along with Tristan Nickelson at RT, but Texas released a statement that he’s out indefinitely as he has some academic things to take care of.

Starting LG Jake McMillon has moved to the starting center spot, with Elijah Rodriguez and Patrick Hudson going after the LG spot. With Hodges out that has given Denzel Okafor a chance to rotate in with the 1s some at RT. The fact that Tristan Nickelson didn’t have a great scrimmage on Saturday has given Okafor some additional reps.

It still looks like 4 spots on the OL are basically locked down by Williams-McMillon-Shackelford-Vahe, but Shack’s injury history would be a small cause for concern in my mind. Getting Rodriguez and Hudson some extra reps can’t hurt.

Secondary: Things have seemed to settle down at CB with Holton Hill and Davante Davis taking most of the reps at CB with the 1s. But it looks like Sophomore Brandon Jones is starting to rotate in with John Bonney some with the 1s at safety opposite DeShon Elliott.

Jones issue, per our sources, has simply been understanding the defense. He certainly does not lack athleticism.
[More @ TFB]

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It's odd/sad/disappointing that we hear little to nothing about JP Urquidez or Buck Wang.
 
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E$PN's Big 12 roundtable: Judging the defenses

Which Big 12 defense is set for a jump in 2017?

Max Olson: I’ll say Texas simply because the Longhorns bring back 17 defenders who earned starts last season. You don’t see that too often. That group came nowhere close to playing up to its potential in 2016 and finished No. 8 in the Big 12 in scoring defense. New defensive coordinator Todd Orlando did an unbelievable job at Houston, and it’s hard to see him failing with all that talent at his disposal.
 
The Aranda Plan at Texas​

When Todd Orlando arrived at Houston he was inheriting a secondary that included four returning starters, including future NFL corner Will Jackson III and seniors at strong safety and nickel in Adrian McDonald and Trevon Stewart that had been trained up by David Gibbs before he left for Texas Tech. Those three combined for 13 interceptions in 2015 and were eminently capable of executing a variety of different coverages.

They had to replace all three the following season but Orlando had already been training the replacements in his schemes for two offseasons and even then they had to pare things down a bit while leaning on Oliver and Taylor up front to win games.

Orlando is not inheriting a cast of DBs with proven experience playing sound, intelligent football and is adjusting accordingly. As much as everyone loves the young cornerbacks and safeties on the roster, not a one of them has proven that they’re ready to execute a modern, pattern-reading coverage without gifting easy points to opponents on blown assignments.

But if Orlando were to emphasize good old fashioned cover 1 while bringing everyone along in the quarters coverages that might allow the defense a chance at success while building towards the future.

The Aranda plan is essentially to take a roster full of talented players and first focus on installing sound fundamentals in a few base defenses to ensure success before graduating them to pro-level complexity in how they attack opponents or match route distributions. Dave Aranda did this very well at LSU but the order is a bit taller at Texas for Todd Orlando. LSU was already a very good defense before Aranda took over, his main challenge was to maintain and build on what they were already doing without losing ground in the transition.

At Texas a football 101 approach is necessary not only to maintain and build on what was already being done but to even ensure success in the first place. However, it may well prove that the Longhorns are able to grow into an effective unit using Aranda-lite schemes to thwart Big 12 offensive designs until they can graduate and start playing with “smart aggression.”

Here’s a glimpse of what Texas could look like playing these schemes with the current starting lineup:

[Illustrations and explanations at the site]​

“This team wins a lot of games if it can rush the passer in the late 2nd quarter and 4th quarter without bringing more than four or five. Period.” – Scipio

You solve for the problem of isolated DBs trying to hold up in space by getting consistent pressure on the QB and preventing him from getting clean looks at your defense and clean pockets from which to make throws.

This is where Malcolm Roach’s welcome success at the DE position this spring could be huge, where the battle at B-backer between Naashon Hughes and younger players like McCulloch matters, and where the conditioning of Jordan Elliott comes into play. If Texas can get consistent play from Malik and Hager so as to regularly blitz them as well, mores the better. The more pass-rushing weapons that Orlando has to work with the easier it will be to protect the secondary when playing simple, man coverage on the back end.

There’s a lot more variables in Austin than Dave Aranda found in Baton Rouge but the blueprint is there for Orlando to copy and get some immediate results with the Texas defense.
[More @ IT]
 
TFB Notes:

Defensive Line: Spoke to a source regarding the defensive line and was told that the lone standout at this point has been Poona Ford. Outside of Ford I’m told, “there is no depth chart. Everyone is getting a chance to compete”.

At this point a lot of the players are still trying to figure out the plays. One source on the Texas side said that the staff doesn’t expect the players to know the plays but they want to see them go one hundred percent regardless. Source also noted that a true depth chart probably won’t be established until fall camp. The staff wants the defensive linemen to continue to compete.

Young guys like Jordan Elliot and Chris Daniels are starting to come on I’m told. Both fit the physical mold of guys coach Giles likes in terms of the height and length.

I spoke to someone who was around Herman in his years at Houston and he told me, “You thought Tom was lying when he said in his opening presser that he was going to make practices harder than the games will be? That’s what he does.”
 
Godz40Acrez said:
TFB Saturday Scrimmage Notes

Collin Johnson and Malcolm Roach were the alpha dogs on their sides of the ball, not a huge surprise.

The OL had their share of struggles. Zach Shackelford left early with an injury and the backups were a little jumpy. I was told Terrell Cuney (who replaced Shack) and Jean Delance both didn’t have their best days at all.

I think the staff knows what they’ve got in WR Devin Duvernay. It seems he’s moved past Armanti Foreman as the #1 guy in the slot.

Shane Buechele worked with the 1s and Sam Ehlinger with the 2s. Both had good moments, more designed roll-outs for Ehlinger.

Malik Jefferson and Breckyn Hager were all over the place at LB, very little running room on Saturday.

Davante Davis and Holton Hill were with the 1s at CB and DeShon Elliott and John Bonney at safety with PJ Locke at nickel.

Speaking of RBs, Kirk Johnson is banged up again so he didn’t participate. Chris Warren was in the bull-in-the-ring drills and was working in team drills before coming out. ...After talking to some people, Warren’s weight is a concern and one person told me as of right now, “No way he could get more than 15 carries a game.” So it sounds like getting Warren in shape will be a top goal for RB coach Stan Drayton and S&C coach Yancy McKnight this summer.

There were also reports that early enrollee RB Toneil Carter didn’t participate Saturday along with Kirk Johnson, and was in a walking boot. I was told it’s just a sprained ankle for Carter so it doesn’t sound too serious.
Click to expand...


Look I admit I'm just a fan.

That said I just got through watching the first half of the LV/UH game from last year. What I observed was the cougar d started off blitzing from the edge and they were getting tfl's and causing Lamar Jackson to throw the ball away, or sooner than he wanted. Then it came from the middle I mean that Ed Oliver was incredible. LJ was clearly frustrated and when he was on time his receivers dropped the ball.

So maybe there's a reason why the coaches have been hard on our dl. No sin in not having anyone as good as EO, but after coaching him for a season I think I understand why our coaches are pushing our dl. At least that's what I think.

Thoughts?
 
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outhereincali said:
... I just got through watching the first half of the LV/UH game from last year. What I observed was the cougar d started off blitzing from the edge and they were getting tfl's and causing Lamar Jackson to throw the ball away, or sooner than he wanted. Then it came from the middle I mean that Ed Oliver was incredible. LJ was clearly frustrated and when he was on time his receivers dropped the ball.

So maybe there's a reason why the coaches have been hard on our dl. No sin in not having anyone as good as EO, but after coaching him for a season I think I understand why our coaches are pushing our dl. At least that's what I think.
Click to expand...
Agreed.

And that's what Orlando has been talking about bringing here. It would certainly help if we had an Ed "The Beast" Oliver at Nose who could apply destroy a backfield on his own with sacrificing a backer. Hopefully, moving The Hagernator back to the Mike should help when we need inside pressure.
 
TFB Scrimmage Notes (Saturday, April 1)

Brandon Jones and DeShon Elliott were still with the 1s at S. With Kris Boyd and Holton Hill at CB.

Denzel Okafor, Tristan Nickelson, and JP Urquidez all got some looks at RT, but none really got going.

Some guys whose names came up when mentioned as either making a big play or forcing a turnover: Malcolm Roach, John Bonney, Jeff McCulloch, and Chris Daniels. Daniels seems to be a really good scheme fit, and could start seeing some more time with the 2s behind Poona Ford at NT.

Both QBs made good plays, and bad. The strengths and weaknesses of both guys were clear. Ehlinger can make much more out of nothing than Buechele with his feet. And Buechele is just a step ahead as a passer and when it comes to timing with the WRs he has a clear step up. Was told neither one really stood out too much on Saturday.

In general over the weekend we are told that the offense is struggling to do much of anything against the defense. Not surprisingly, Todd Orlando’s defense is difficult to adjust to given all the various pressure points.

One source said, “The offense is getting suffocated. They couldn’t do anything. The defense is playing downhill and they come from everywhere. There really wasn’t much completed past 8 yards”.

Source also noted, “The practice (this past weekend) was very violent.”

------------

"The practice was very violent."

 
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clob94 said:
Ahhhh hernia surgery---- somebody needs to buy that boy a case of stool softener.

That first number 2 after a hernia surgery is about as much fun as giving birth to triplets.
Click to expand...

True words. Been there, done that. I had inguinal hernia surgery 20+ years ago and it sucked!
 
Concerning the announcement of Shack's ankle surgery, a poster on another site wrote this:

Not a Physician but after practicing Physical Therapy for 35 years maybe I can shed a little light.

First: Ligamentous injuries to the ankle primarily involve those that connect the tibia (shinbone), fibula(bone on outside of leg) and the talus( the top bone of the foot that the tibia and fibula ride on),
  • The talo-fibular ligament is by far the most commonly injured. This is the lateral/outside ankle sprain all of us have had. It is rarely surgically corrected, easier to manage and predict return to play, responds well to taping/bracing etc.
  • The deltoid ligament connects the tibia to the talus (medial/inside ankle). It is much thicker than the talo-fibular thus taking much more force to tear and less likely to be injured. Injuries here can be more severe and commonly involve associated fractures because of significant forces required to injure it. Like the talofibular and because of biomechanics it is often treated well with rehab, taping and bracing.
High Ankle Sprain: This involves the syndesmosis (the ligaments connecting the tibia to the fibula) these ligaments run from the knee to the ankle, however, the primary affected ligaments are in the lower leg. This injury is a challenge to Physicians, therapists, trainers etc. as it is much more difficult to quantify severity, prognosis for return to play and recurrences. It is much more difficult to stabilize externally through taping/bracing.

The surgical repair/stabilization of this I have seen involves a plate on the tibia with screw fixation into the tibia. This effectively immobilizes or fixes the distance between the two bones. According to Tom Hermans description of the doctors using wires, I am thinking they are doing a procedure called the "tightrope." In this procedure there is a plate screwed into the distal fibula and fixation provided by braided polyethylene cord which is secured to the tibia. I looked at a few studies which showed this to have a better outcome on all measures of function as compared to screw fixation. The braid allows compressive movement between tibia-fib but prevents seperation as the normal syndesmosis would do. This is a more correct bio mechanical repair.

As far as prognosis for return to play without lingering effects? You would be foolish not to wonder about the forces required to perform elite level athletic activities at 320#, however, the repair only adds to the stability he had prior to surgery. He was performing at a very high level even with an unstable ankle, although with great risk for re-injury. His physician knows best about his prognosis and if he has given Tom Herman reason for optimism, then Im hopeful that Shack will be full speed by opening day and that the surgical stabilization, and good rehab will minimize the risk for re-injury.
 
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Congratulations to @PjLocke4 for his tremendous effort and attitude in the classroom in March. #ThisIsTexas
– Coach Tom Herman Apr 6

PJ Locke-StudentMonth.jpg
 
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TFB Spring Practice Notes (4-4-17)

RB’s Toniel Carter and Tristan Houston (ankle) returned to practice on Tuesday but we[re] in green non-contact jerseys so they aren’t 100% back yet. And with Chris Warren (hamstring) and Kirk Johnson (foot) also out right now, Sophomore Kyle Porter is the only healthy scholarship RB. And Herman said after practice yesterday that Porter is “seizing the opportunity.”

Devin Duvenay: Everyone loves the NFL upside of WR Collin Johnson, but if there is one Texas WR to buy stock in I’d tell you it’s sophomore Devin Duvernay. We saw the big play potential he has at times last year, and it doesn’t seem like he took a very long time to make a huge impression on the new staff. Senior Armanti Foreman was the starter in the slot, for about a week before Duvernay took over.

I was also told not to be surprised to see him get some carries out of the backfield at times as well.
 
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Two Takes on Beck's Take on Buechele​

247's Take:
Buechele is not yet an upperclassman, but holds the experience and poise that has put him as the leader for the quarterback battle with freshman Sam Ehlinger.

It’s a role that has propelled him front and center to be a leader for Texas.

“He’s growing in that area, certainly,” said offensive coordinator Tim Beck after Thursday’s practice. “Obviously last year, as a true freshman, some seniors, older players they kind of took that charge, and Shane that wasn’t in that role, I don’t think it was expected of him.

“[But] I expect that of him. Coach Herman expects that of him and I think he’s learning, he’s growing into that.”

Through 10 spring practices, Buechele given himself a slight edge over Ehlinger, both Herman and Beck have said. But it hasn’t been easy so far. The new coaching staff is throwing a whole new system at the sophomore while making him compete against a defense that has several different looks.

“Sometimes it’s very hard to lead when you’re overwhelmed,” Beck said. “There’s days when the information I’ve given him is like shoving a hose down his throat, so its hard to lead when you can’t speak. But he’s doing really good. I think he can do that for us.”

...It’s his personality that does it. Buechele’s teammates gravitate towards him. They see he’s a competitor and want to learn more.

“That’s one of the things I’ve learned, he doesn’t always show emotion on his face, he’s hard on himself and he’s a professional,” Beck said. “He wants to be really good; the best he can be. He just doesn’t wear it on his sleeve, jump up and down, those types of things.

“I’m trying to let him know it’s ok to play with passion and emotion and allow that to show.

IT's Take:
Beck has basic expectations of his quarterbacks, sophomore Shane Buechele and freshman Sam Ehlinger, and he said it has been difficult for them to excel so far because of how much information he’s thrown at them.

“I like both of them,” Beck said. “They’re working really hard. They’re competing. They’re locked in, dialed in. At times, it can be overwhelming seeing a lot of different things for those guys, but that’s okay. That’s part of what spring ball is. It’s throw everything at them as much as you can as you install, see what they can handle and can’t handle. The harder we make it for them right now, the easier it’s going to be for them in the game, and that’s part of the process.”

Even though things have been running at a hectic pace, Beck said Buechele had a slight leg up on the true freshman because he has college experience.

“I think he sees thing faster,” Beck said. “I think, defensively, there’s a lot of movement, a lot of things that are happening, so he’s able to adapt quicker. He’s able to see it. He understands and knows where the hole might be, and where he needs to go with the ball faster than Sam does.”

Buechele played last year as a true freshman but was rarely called on to be a vocal leader, as other juniors and seniors took that responsibility. This allowed Buechele to focus on learning the offense in preparation for his starting role.

Now, Beck expects Buechele to be more a vocal guy in the locker room, even though he’s a “cool customer.”

“I think he’s learning, he’s growing into that.”
 
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