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With the commitment of transfer WR Tarik Black, Texas has added important veteran depth with actual upside to contribute immediately. Do fans wish this sort of player would have come along the offensive or defensive lines? Of course, as WR isn't necessarily a position that Texas is hurting at currently, and, in fact, represents one of its position groups of higher expectation.
Still, Black is a former four-star prospect with what appears to be legit, X-WR size. He will most certainly come in and compete for slotting in the role recently vacated by Collin Johnson. The question is, will he be needed as a primary option?
If the Texas staff is intent on keeping Jake Smith in the slot and having him split work with Jordan Whittington there, then that likely makes for a battle between Marcus Washington and Black at the X while Brennan Eagles would work at the Z as he did much of last season. It never felt right to simply anoint Washington as basically a projected starter for next fall without serious/proven competition, anyway. However, if the staff chose to attempt the optimal talent configuration with Brennan Eagles moving back to his proper X role, Jake Smith out to the flanker/Z role as a lid-lifter and Whittington as a mismatch out of the slot, then I don't see any way that Black can compete with Brennan Eagles to start.
While he was an excellent prospect out of high school, he's been a disappointment thus far in his college career, where he will have one season remaining at Texas.
Poster @mavs07 had a Michigan fan friend of his log on to OB last night and give the following perspective on Black from the Wolverines side, replying to a poster asking why Black's entire highlight video from Michigan is only just under two minutes long in total:
"As a huge Michigan fan (using friends login to read UT reactions to Black’s decision), A 1:50 (highlight video) is longer than I would’ve thought. Kid was injury prone. Broke a bone in his foot a few games into his freshman year, and then in the other foot the offseason prior to his sophomore season. By the time his junior year rolled around he got passed up for faster underclassman on the team. QB play didn’t help either, but there were also rumors of an attitude and effort issue towards the end of his time in Ann Arbor. Had some issues with dropped balls his junior year also. I think he just needed a fresh start, and hopefully UT can provide that."
And it's true that the Michigan offense didn't do its WRs many favors last year. Look at Donovan Peoples-Jones, another highly touted, 5-star recruit and 99th-percentile SPARQ athlete at the 2020 NFL combine. At nearly 6-2 and 212 pounds with 10 1/4" hands, 4.48 speed and 99th percentile broad and vertical jumps, you have to wonder what the hell is in the water in Ann Arbor to where a player of this athleticism could only rack up 438 yards receiving in his final college season (which was at least still more than Black's very pedestrian 323).
Having been to the Senior Bowl week of practices, I can say personally that one of the reasons was surely his QB last year, Shea Patterson (talk about high school busts ...) who didn't even look to me like he belonged at practices with the others. Not 2012 Kellen Moore-bad, but not far off. NFL teams seem to feel the same way as he is, at the time of this writing, the only player at any position that was invited to the NFL combine who has not yet been picked up by an NFL club.
Peoples-Jones was selected by the Browns in the sixth round of the draft, a place to take gambles, as a player who may have just been the victim of circumstance in an offense that just didn't seem conducive to any one player really taking over as the alpha among the receiving corps. Black is not as elite an athlete as DPJ, but it's not entirely unreasonable to come to the conclusion that what the Cleveland Browns hope hindered DPJ's ability to be a difference-maker in 2019 is the same circumstance that Texas fans could point to regarding Black.
Book Review: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
From the Publisher: The Pulitzer Prize–winning American classic of the American West that follows two aging Texas Rangers embarking on one last adventure. An epic of the frontier, Lonesome Dove is the grandest novel ever written about the last defiant wilderness of America.
My Take: It's the best book I've ever read. It's perfect. I never wanted it to end and it's not just because I'm a Texan or because I've always been a fan of books and stories about the Indians and settlers' conflicts in my home state. It's the characters. Gus and Call are clearly the main attractions (Gus, particularly with his loud mouth and off-the-wall, know-it-all sensibilities) but the rest of the Hat Creek crew along with the women of the story (in a genre of book that really usually doesn't feature women in such prominent and strong roles the way Lorena and Clara are portrayed) makes it perfect. I'll never forget reading Lonesome Dove during the 2020 pandemic. If I could give it more I would, but clearly it gets 5 STARS.
Alex's Daily Short Reading List (updated 4-28-20)
Books I've read or listened to on Audiobook since I've been sharing these reviews on OB (this list is not encompassing of all of my favorite books although it certainly includes a few of them - books I recommend reading/listening to start at 3.5 stars).
Lonesome Dove (5 stars)
The Undoing Project (5 stars)
The Accidental Superpower (5 stars)
I Am Pilgrim (5 stars)
Empire of the Summer Moon (5 stars)
Gridiron Genius (5 Stars)
The Cartel (5 stars)
The Wanderers (5 stars)
Disunited Nations (5 stars)
The 4-Hour Work Week (4.75 stars)
Astroball (4.75 stars)
Dueling With Kings (4.5 stars)
The Border (4.25 stars)
Wrath of the Khans - Dan Carlin Podcast Series (4.25 stars)
The Son (4.25 stars)
Unfreedom of the Press (4.25 stars)
Supermarket (4 stars)
The Great Alone (3.75 stars)
Hunting El Chapo (3.75 stars)
The President is Missing (3.75 stars)
The First Conspiracy (3.75 stars)
REAMDE (3.75 stars)
American Wolf (3.75 stars)
The End is Always Near (3.75 stars)
The Lost City of the Monkey God (3.5 stars)
The Summer That Melted Everything (3.5 stars)
The North Water (3.5 stars)
Deep Survival (3.5 stars)
----
Woolly (3.25 stars)
Cathedral of the Wild (3.25 stars)
Classic Krakauer (3 stars)
A Beautiful, Terrible Thing (3 stars)
The World of Lore: Wicked Mortals (2.5 stars)
Game Theorist's Guide to Parenting (2 stars)
American Gods (2 stars)
The Graveyard Book (2 stars)
Stay Interesting (1 star)
The Absolute BEST in family and cosmetic dentistry for the Houston-Memorial Area
Now Accepting New Patients --- 281-293-9140
With the commitment of transfer WR Tarik Black, Texas has added important veteran depth with actual upside to contribute immediately. Do fans wish this sort of player would have come along the offensive or defensive lines? Of course, as WR isn't necessarily a position that Texas is hurting at currently, and, in fact, represents one of its position groups of higher expectation.
Still, Black is a former four-star prospect with what appears to be legit, X-WR size. He will most certainly come in and compete for slotting in the role recently vacated by Collin Johnson. The question is, will he be needed as a primary option?
If the Texas staff is intent on keeping Jake Smith in the slot and having him split work with Jordan Whittington there, then that likely makes for a battle between Marcus Washington and Black at the X while Brennan Eagles would work at the Z as he did much of last season. It never felt right to simply anoint Washington as basically a projected starter for next fall without serious/proven competition, anyway. However, if the staff chose to attempt the optimal talent configuration with Brennan Eagles moving back to his proper X role, Jake Smith out to the flanker/Z role as a lid-lifter and Whittington as a mismatch out of the slot, then I don't see any way that Black can compete with Brennan Eagles to start.
While he was an excellent prospect out of high school, he's been a disappointment thus far in his college career, where he will have one season remaining at Texas.
Poster @mavs07 had a Michigan fan friend of his log on to OB last night and give the following perspective on Black from the Wolverines side, replying to a poster asking why Black's entire highlight video from Michigan is only just under two minutes long in total:
"As a huge Michigan fan (using friends login to read UT reactions to Black’s decision), A 1:50 (highlight video) is longer than I would’ve thought. Kid was injury prone. Broke a bone in his foot a few games into his freshman year, and then in the other foot the offseason prior to his sophomore season. By the time his junior year rolled around he got passed up for faster underclassman on the team. QB play didn’t help either, but there were also rumors of an attitude and effort issue towards the end of his time in Ann Arbor. Had some issues with dropped balls his junior year also. I think he just needed a fresh start, and hopefully UT can provide that."
And it's true that the Michigan offense didn't do its WRs many favors last year. Look at Donovan Peoples-Jones, another highly touted, 5-star recruit and 99th-percentile SPARQ athlete at the 2020 NFL combine. At nearly 6-2 and 212 pounds with 10 1/4" hands, 4.48 speed and 99th percentile broad and vertical jumps, you have to wonder what the hell is in the water in Ann Arbor to where a player of this athleticism could only rack up 438 yards receiving in his final college season (which was at least still more than Black's very pedestrian 323).
Having been to the Senior Bowl week of practices, I can say personally that one of the reasons was surely his QB last year, Shea Patterson (talk about high school busts ...) who didn't even look to me like he belonged at practices with the others. Not 2012 Kellen Moore-bad, but not far off. NFL teams seem to feel the same way as he is, at the time of this writing, the only player at any position that was invited to the NFL combine who has not yet been picked up by an NFL club.
Peoples-Jones was selected by the Browns in the sixth round of the draft, a place to take gambles, as a player who may have just been the victim of circumstance in an offense that just didn't seem conducive to any one player really taking over as the alpha among the receiving corps. Black is not as elite an athlete as DPJ, but it's not entirely unreasonable to come to the conclusion that what the Cleveland Browns hope hindered DPJ's ability to be a difference-maker in 2019 is the same circumstance that Texas fans could point to regarding Black.
Book Review: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
From the Publisher: The Pulitzer Prize–winning American classic of the American West that follows two aging Texas Rangers embarking on one last adventure. An epic of the frontier, Lonesome Dove is the grandest novel ever written about the last defiant wilderness of America.
My Take: It's the best book I've ever read. It's perfect. I never wanted it to end and it's not just because I'm a Texan or because I've always been a fan of books and stories about the Indians and settlers' conflicts in my home state. It's the characters. Gus and Call are clearly the main attractions (Gus, particularly with his loud mouth and off-the-wall, know-it-all sensibilities) but the rest of the Hat Creek crew along with the women of the story (in a genre of book that really usually doesn't feature women in such prominent and strong roles the way Lorena and Clara are portrayed) makes it perfect. I'll never forget reading Lonesome Dove during the 2020 pandemic. If I could give it more I would, but clearly it gets 5 STARS.
Alex's Daily Short Reading List (updated 4-28-20)
Books I've read or listened to on Audiobook since I've been sharing these reviews on OB (this list is not encompassing of all of my favorite books although it certainly includes a few of them - books I recommend reading/listening to start at 3.5 stars).
Lonesome Dove (5 stars)
The Undoing Project (5 stars)
The Accidental Superpower (5 stars)
I Am Pilgrim (5 stars)
Empire of the Summer Moon (5 stars)
Gridiron Genius (5 Stars)
The Cartel (5 stars)
The Wanderers (5 stars)
Disunited Nations (5 stars)
The 4-Hour Work Week (4.75 stars)
Astroball (4.75 stars)
Dueling With Kings (4.5 stars)
The Border (4.25 stars)
Wrath of the Khans - Dan Carlin Podcast Series (4.25 stars)
The Son (4.25 stars)
Unfreedom of the Press (4.25 stars)
Supermarket (4 stars)
The Great Alone (3.75 stars)
Hunting El Chapo (3.75 stars)
The President is Missing (3.75 stars)
The First Conspiracy (3.75 stars)
REAMDE (3.75 stars)
American Wolf (3.75 stars)
The End is Always Near (3.75 stars)
The Lost City of the Monkey God (3.5 stars)
The Summer That Melted Everything (3.5 stars)
The North Water (3.5 stars)
Deep Survival (3.5 stars)
----
Woolly (3.25 stars)
Cathedral of the Wild (3.25 stars)
Classic Krakauer (3 stars)
A Beautiful, Terrible Thing (3 stars)
The World of Lore: Wicked Mortals (2.5 stars)
Game Theorist's Guide to Parenting (2 stars)
American Gods (2 stars)
The Graveyard Book (2 stars)
Stay Interesting (1 star)
