The Deep Dig
Kansas (Abbreviated Thanksgiving Edition)
presented by Wendy Swantkowski, DDS
Looking for experienced, family and cosmetic dental care in the Houston-Memorial area? Go with the best! OB sponsor Wendy Swantkowski, DDS. Call 281-293-9140 and find out why so many Orangebloods members are her patients!
OFFENSE
Deep Dig Offensive Line Grading Scale
55 LT Connor Williams - 90 snaps
1 run-stuff allowed, 1 knockdown
DEEP DIG GRADE: 80.6
77 LG Patrick Vahe - 90 snaps
1 TFL allowed, 1 holding penalty, 1 pin, 2 knockdowns
DEEP DIG GRADE: 78.2
72 C Elijah Rodriguez - 90 snaps
2 run-stuffs, 1 sack allowed, 1 pin, 2 knockdowns
DEEP DIG GRADE: 75.7
76 RG Kent Perkins - 90 snaps
1 run-stuff, 1 knockdown
DEEP DIG GRADE: 77.9
58 Brandon Hodges - 90 snaps
2 QB hits, 1 pressure, 1 sack allowed, 2 knockdowns
DEEP DIG GRADE: 75.1
All photos via UT Athletics
OL snaps per disruption allowed or penalty caused through 11 games:
. . .
Skill-position snap counts and one-liners
Quarterback
7 Shane Buechele - 85 snaps
18 Tyrone Swoopes - 5 snaps
Running Back
33 D’Onta Foreman - 83 snaps
21 Kyle Porter - 6 snaps
Wide Receiver
8 Dorian Leonard - 66 snaps
3 Armanti Foreman - 63 snaps
2 Devin Duvernay - 40 snaps
9 Collin Johnson - 36 snaps
13 Jerrod Heard - 28 snaps
11 Jacorey Warrick - 26 snaps
6 Jake Oliver - 17 snaps
Tight End
42 Caleb Bluiett - 43 snaps
47 Andrew Beck - 41 snaps
- Caleb Bluiett was injured in the 3rd quarter with what appeared to be an ankle. He was able to return to the game. Something to monitor is whether the senior is able to go for Senior Day versus TCU. On Monday, Bluiett was wearing a walking boot (which is normally not a sign that would worry us), but he was also on crutches, which is different than just the boot alone.
- Elijah Rodriguez started the game off looking much improved, as we’d noted was the case versus WVU when filling in via a left-guard platoon with Patrick Vahe. However, he still loses his feet too much and needs to play under a bit more control. In fact, he hit the turf on 3 of Texas’ first 14 snaps. Admittedly, overall it’s better than what we’d seen before — even as recently as last spring — which was Rodriguez getting dominated and rag-dolled by the likes of Poona Ford.
- For as good as Buechele has been in so many ways, the one thing he’ll likely benefit from this spring will be a year under his belt and getting concentrated, experienced work in practice about not evading a perfectly good pocket. You’d rather have the clock in his head be a little trigger-happy to bolt than a little big slow, though. Slow = blindside-sack-fumble disasters and injuries. No QB is going to have a perfectly tweaked internal clock without some tinkering and development.
- Don’t tell us the Deep Dig never told you about DE/OLB Torrance Armstrong of Kansas. We still have no idea why he’s not in a Texas uniform. He was one of the most impressive players during a whole summer of Texas mini-camps per numerous sources and had filthy tape out of high school. Cedric Reed, who was a camp counselor the day Armstrong was in town, said that the kid was a beast and a lock to get an offer in his opinion. You have to wonder if Charlie now wishes he’d have offered Armstrong, who beat Brandon Hodges badly to sack-fumble Shane Buechele in Strong’s Waterloo game at Texas vs. Kansas. That one play could have changed the game and that one game could have changed Strong’s career. Did anyone else hear a butterfly’s wings flapping somewhere in the distance?
- One positive to take from the crap sandwich Coach Strong served up in Lawrence was vintage Patrick Vahe play. By “vintage,” we mean, looking about as good as a sophomore should who played as well as he did as a freshman. In a season of regression for Vahe, it’s about the most you could ask for. Jake McMillon should remain starter when he returns, however. It would be fantastic for Texas fans to see Vahe and Shackelford take the next step together at C an RG next year respectively with McMillon and Williams holding down the left side of the line. If those things happen, the only remaining issue in taking what is already turning into a good OL to the next, dominant level will be finally figuring out what the hell is going on at RT. The decade-long question at this point.
- Connor Williams is so good with his down-block on the play-side of the C-gap power concept to his side that he actually switched the sides of the line he was on versus Kansas. The unit would go to a jumbo look which had Williams as a blocking TE on the right side and Caleb Bluiett and/or Andrew Beck lining up in a three-point stance as backside tackle.
- When you have bigger, more athletic, stronger kids coming at smaller kids with tempo and good conditioning, you will win 99 times out of 100 from play to play, and most certainly over the course of the game. Right? .... Right?
- We finally saw the Jerrod Heard snap-uptick, but it didn’t really amount to too much.
- When D’Onta Foreman first came to Texas, we were always the first to predict he’d be a monster player, but it wasn’t necessarily what it was we saw in the runner — it was what we saw in the athlete. The traits (that don’t always show up functionally over a college career) were through the roof with D’Onta as a prospect. Everything aligned to create one of the most special runners Texas has ever seen. Power, balance, vision, long-speed and quickness, acceleration and burst. Shed-ability through the hips and flexibility to get skinny through the hole. All of those things are outcomes (functionally) of proper use of elite attributes. No one is a “naturally” special runner. Not Adrian Peterson, not Emmit Smith, not Tony Dorsett or even Gale Sayers, Sweetness or Jim Brown. They were all naturally special athletes who dedicated themselves to funneling those elite attributes into the art of playing running back. D’Onta Foreman has worked his ass off because he wanted to live up to his own potential in the same way. Whether he plays a down of NFL football or not, his life will be a success given this mental make-up and approach to obstacles.
. . .
Did he play on offense? Nope.
Scholarship players who did not record a snap on offense versus Kansas (doesn’t include special teams participation if applicable):
. . .
DEFENSE
Market Shares and Futures
Here’s how the productivity rankings are tallied, as always, Deep Dig data and statistics are likely to differ from “official” statistics kept by the university:
Solo Tackles: 1 point
Assisted and Boundary-Assisted Tackles: .5 points
Touches-Down and Untouched Force-Outs: 0 points
Sacks: 2 points
QB Hits: 1 point
QB Pressures: 1 point
TFL: 2 points
Batted Passes: 1 point
Fumbles Caused: 3 points
Fumbles Recovered: 1.5 points
Run-Stuffs: 1 point (on top of tackle if applicable)
Pass Break-Ups: 1 point
Blowups (a PBU that ‘blows up’ the opposing WR): 2 points
Interceptions: 3 points
Defensive Touchdowns: 6 points
Missed Tackles: -1 point
Safeties: 4 points*
FOR DBs ONLY (new in 2016)
Lockdown Bonus: A bonus awarded (3 points for CB, 2 points for S and Nickel**) that can be whittled down by the following negatives stats:
Completions allowed: -.5 points
Burns: -2 points
* the “Paul Boyette Rule” (adopted in November of 2016) says that defensive players who cause offensive holding penalties in the opposing end-zone with result in safeties will be awarded a safety.
** points per total snaps in the game. If a player was only a 50% snap participant as an outside cornerback, the lockdown bonus he’d start out with would be only 1.5 points.
Standings in the Deep Dig’s Productivity Market Share Rankings represent the number of points the player has scored to this point in the season per the Deep Dig’s official records.
The rankings will be updated weekly through the season as players move in and out of the Top 10 and market-shares shift toward the future.
. . .
THE TOP 10 RANKINGS (through 11 games)
(Player) (% total team productivity created) (movement in ranking from last week)
1. FOX Breckyn Hager (even) 8%
T2. DT Poona Ford (+1) 6.80%
T2. LB Malik Jefferson (even) 6.80%
4. FOX Malcolm Roach (+1) 6.54%
5. DT Chris Nelson (+2) 5.96%
6. S Jason Hall (-2) 5.95%
7. LB Anthony Wheeler (-1) 5.91%
8. DT Paul Boyette (+1) 5.13%
9. CB Kris Boyd (-1) 4.71%
10. NCB PJ Locke (NR) 4.67%
Falling out of the Top 10: DE Charles Omenihu (previously 10)
. . .
Defensive Snap Counts and Quick Hits
NOSE
94 Gerald Wilbon - 29 snaps at NT
97 Chris Nelson - 22 snaps (12 at DT, 10 at NT)
93 Paul Boyette - 16 snaps (13 at NT, 3 at DT)
TACKLE
95 Poona Ford - 52 snaps (31 at DT, 21 at NT)
98 D’Andre Christmas - 10 snaps (7 at DT, 3 at NT)
END
90 Charles Omenihu - 27 snaps
91 Bryce Cottrell - 3 snaps
FOX/SAM/“Double Fox”/Overhang
32 Malcolm Roach - 49 snaps
44 Breckyn Hager - 43 snaps
40 Naashon Hughes - 31 snaps
41 Erick Fowler - 2 snaps
MIKE
23 Jeffrey McCulloch - 45 snaps
30 Tim Cole - 31 snaps
WILL
45 Anthony Wheeler - 42 snaps
35 Edwin Freeman - 34 snaps
NICKEL
11 PJ Locke - 73 snaps
DIME/CHEETAH
9 Davante Davis - 27 snaps
CORNER
24 John Bonney - 76 snaps
2 Kris Boyd - 72 snaps
SAFETY
4 Deshon Elliott - 76 snaps
14 Dylan Haines - 76 snaps
- Kris Boyd got the first play ever to be categorized as a coverage “burn” that did not result in a completion. Boyd had his bacon saved thanks to the inaccuracy of Kansas QB Connor Stanley when his man broke wide-open in the end zone. Someone on the staff certainly noticed, though, as Boyd was replaced by Davante Davis on the next series before halftime. He did come back to start the second half, though ... and ended the game by coming this close to icing another one with an endzone pick at the last second.
- McCulloch would’ve had more than his ridiculous 4 QB hits if we counted hits for the two plays that ended up being called as roughing the passer/targeting. The second with only 19 seconds remaining and Kansas teetering on the edge of field-goal range was a killer.
- Gerald Wilbon opened up the game as the starting nose and was a significant part of the interior DL rotation for during meaningful action early on and he ended up leading all players for the snaps at nose on the game. It was by far the most he'd played all season.
- Bryce Cottrell is officially being phased out.
- “Brecklyn Hager.” Be better, announcers.
- Deshon Elliott started the whole game for Jason Hall and showed why he needs to be playing more. “That guy is EVERYWHERE!” one of our regulars screamed.
. . .
Snaps per production generated (through 11 games)
players who have not yet caused 2016 production not included; *players with under 100 total defensive snaps in 2016 not included
. . .
Did He Play on Defense? No He Didn’t …
scholarship players on defense that have played at least a defensive snap in 2015, but did not against Kansas
. . .
This Week in Missed Tackles …
For a total of missed 13 tackles on defense versus Kansas, In case Vance Bedford asks.
Happy Thanksgiving, Orangebloods.
We thank you, once again, for reading.
Kansas (Abbreviated Thanksgiving Edition)
presented by Wendy Swantkowski, DDS
Looking for experienced, family and cosmetic dental care in the Houston-Memorial area? Go with the best! OB sponsor Wendy Swantkowski, DDS. Call 281-293-9140 and find out why so many Orangebloods members are her patients!
OFFENSE
Deep Dig Offensive Line Grading Scale
55 LT Connor Williams - 90 snaps
1 run-stuff allowed, 1 knockdown
DEEP DIG GRADE: 80.6
77 LG Patrick Vahe - 90 snaps
1 TFL allowed, 1 holding penalty, 1 pin, 2 knockdowns
DEEP DIG GRADE: 78.2
72 C Elijah Rodriguez - 90 snaps
2 run-stuffs, 1 sack allowed, 1 pin, 2 knockdowns
DEEP DIG GRADE: 75.7
76 RG Kent Perkins - 90 snaps
1 run-stuff, 1 knockdown
DEEP DIG GRADE: 77.9
58 Brandon Hodges - 90 snaps
2 QB hits, 1 pressure, 1 sack allowed, 2 knockdowns
DEEP DIG GRADE: 75.1
All photos via UT Athletics
OL snaps per disruption allowed or penalty caused through 11 games:
. . .
Skill-position snap counts and one-liners
Quarterback
7 Shane Buechele - 85 snaps
18 Tyrone Swoopes - 5 snaps
Running Back
33 D’Onta Foreman - 83 snaps
21 Kyle Porter - 6 snaps
Wide Receiver
8 Dorian Leonard - 66 snaps
3 Armanti Foreman - 63 snaps
2 Devin Duvernay - 40 snaps
9 Collin Johnson - 36 snaps
13 Jerrod Heard - 28 snaps
11 Jacorey Warrick - 26 snaps
6 Jake Oliver - 17 snaps
Tight End
42 Caleb Bluiett - 43 snaps
47 Andrew Beck - 41 snaps
- Caleb Bluiett was injured in the 3rd quarter with what appeared to be an ankle. He was able to return to the game. Something to monitor is whether the senior is able to go for Senior Day versus TCU. On Monday, Bluiett was wearing a walking boot (which is normally not a sign that would worry us), but he was also on crutches, which is different than just the boot alone.
- Elijah Rodriguez started the game off looking much improved, as we’d noted was the case versus WVU when filling in via a left-guard platoon with Patrick Vahe. However, he still loses his feet too much and needs to play under a bit more control. In fact, he hit the turf on 3 of Texas’ first 14 snaps. Admittedly, overall it’s better than what we’d seen before — even as recently as last spring — which was Rodriguez getting dominated and rag-dolled by the likes of Poona Ford.
- For as good as Buechele has been in so many ways, the one thing he’ll likely benefit from this spring will be a year under his belt and getting concentrated, experienced work in practice about not evading a perfectly good pocket. You’d rather have the clock in his head be a little trigger-happy to bolt than a little big slow, though. Slow = blindside-sack-fumble disasters and injuries. No QB is going to have a perfectly tweaked internal clock without some tinkering and development.
- Don’t tell us the Deep Dig never told you about DE/OLB Torrance Armstrong of Kansas. We still have no idea why he’s not in a Texas uniform. He was one of the most impressive players during a whole summer of Texas mini-camps per numerous sources and had filthy tape out of high school. Cedric Reed, who was a camp counselor the day Armstrong was in town, said that the kid was a beast and a lock to get an offer in his opinion. You have to wonder if Charlie now wishes he’d have offered Armstrong, who beat Brandon Hodges badly to sack-fumble Shane Buechele in Strong’s Waterloo game at Texas vs. Kansas. That one play could have changed the game and that one game could have changed Strong’s career. Did anyone else hear a butterfly’s wings flapping somewhere in the distance?
- One positive to take from the crap sandwich Coach Strong served up in Lawrence was vintage Patrick Vahe play. By “vintage,” we mean, looking about as good as a sophomore should who played as well as he did as a freshman. In a season of regression for Vahe, it’s about the most you could ask for. Jake McMillon should remain starter when he returns, however. It would be fantastic for Texas fans to see Vahe and Shackelford take the next step together at C an RG next year respectively with McMillon and Williams holding down the left side of the line. If those things happen, the only remaining issue in taking what is already turning into a good OL to the next, dominant level will be finally figuring out what the hell is going on at RT. The decade-long question at this point.
- Connor Williams is so good with his down-block on the play-side of the C-gap power concept to his side that he actually switched the sides of the line he was on versus Kansas. The unit would go to a jumbo look which had Williams as a blocking TE on the right side and Caleb Bluiett and/or Andrew Beck lining up in a three-point stance as backside tackle.
- When you have bigger, more athletic, stronger kids coming at smaller kids with tempo and good conditioning, you will win 99 times out of 100 from play to play, and most certainly over the course of the game. Right? .... Right?
- We finally saw the Jerrod Heard snap-uptick, but it didn’t really amount to too much.
- When D’Onta Foreman first came to Texas, we were always the first to predict he’d be a monster player, but it wasn’t necessarily what it was we saw in the runner — it was what we saw in the athlete. The traits (that don’t always show up functionally over a college career) were through the roof with D’Onta as a prospect. Everything aligned to create one of the most special runners Texas has ever seen. Power, balance, vision, long-speed and quickness, acceleration and burst. Shed-ability through the hips and flexibility to get skinny through the hole. All of those things are outcomes (functionally) of proper use of elite attributes. No one is a “naturally” special runner. Not Adrian Peterson, not Emmit Smith, not Tony Dorsett or even Gale Sayers, Sweetness or Jim Brown. They were all naturally special athletes who dedicated themselves to funneling those elite attributes into the art of playing running back. D’Onta Foreman has worked his ass off because he wanted to live up to his own potential in the same way. Whether he plays a down of NFL football or not, his life will be a success given this mental make-up and approach to obstacles.
. . .
Did he play on offense? Nope.
Scholarship players who did not record a snap on offense versus Kansas (doesn’t include special teams participation if applicable):
. . .
DEFENSE
Market Shares and Futures
Here’s how the productivity rankings are tallied, as always, Deep Dig data and statistics are likely to differ from “official” statistics kept by the university:
Solo Tackles: 1 point
Assisted and Boundary-Assisted Tackles: .5 points
Touches-Down and Untouched Force-Outs: 0 points
Sacks: 2 points
QB Hits: 1 point
QB Pressures: 1 point
TFL: 2 points
Batted Passes: 1 point
Fumbles Caused: 3 points
Fumbles Recovered: 1.5 points
Run-Stuffs: 1 point (on top of tackle if applicable)
Pass Break-Ups: 1 point
Blowups (a PBU that ‘blows up’ the opposing WR): 2 points
Interceptions: 3 points
Defensive Touchdowns: 6 points
Missed Tackles: -1 point
Safeties: 4 points*
FOR DBs ONLY (new in 2016)
Lockdown Bonus: A bonus awarded (3 points for CB, 2 points for S and Nickel**) that can be whittled down by the following negatives stats:
Completions allowed: -.5 points
Burns: -2 points
* the “Paul Boyette Rule” (adopted in November of 2016) says that defensive players who cause offensive holding penalties in the opposing end-zone with result in safeties will be awarded a safety.
** points per total snaps in the game. If a player was only a 50% snap participant as an outside cornerback, the lockdown bonus he’d start out with would be only 1.5 points.
Standings in the Deep Dig’s Productivity Market Share Rankings represent the number of points the player has scored to this point in the season per the Deep Dig’s official records.
The rankings will be updated weekly through the season as players move in and out of the Top 10 and market-shares shift toward the future.
. . .
THE TOP 10 RANKINGS (through 11 games)
(Player) (% total team productivity created) (movement in ranking from last week)
1. FOX Breckyn Hager (even) 8%
T2. DT Poona Ford (+1) 6.80%
T2. LB Malik Jefferson (even) 6.80%
4. FOX Malcolm Roach (+1) 6.54%
5. DT Chris Nelson (+2) 5.96%
6. S Jason Hall (-2) 5.95%
7. LB Anthony Wheeler (-1) 5.91%
8. DT Paul Boyette (+1) 5.13%
9. CB Kris Boyd (-1) 4.71%
10. NCB PJ Locke (NR) 4.67%
Falling out of the Top 10: DE Charles Omenihu (previously 10)
. . .
Defensive Snap Counts and Quick Hits
NOSE
94 Gerald Wilbon - 29 snaps at NT
97 Chris Nelson - 22 snaps (12 at DT, 10 at NT)
93 Paul Boyette - 16 snaps (13 at NT, 3 at DT)
TACKLE
95 Poona Ford - 52 snaps (31 at DT, 21 at NT)
98 D’Andre Christmas - 10 snaps (7 at DT, 3 at NT)
END
90 Charles Omenihu - 27 snaps
91 Bryce Cottrell - 3 snaps
FOX/SAM/“Double Fox”/Overhang
32 Malcolm Roach - 49 snaps
44 Breckyn Hager - 43 snaps
40 Naashon Hughes - 31 snaps
41 Erick Fowler - 2 snaps
MIKE
23 Jeffrey McCulloch - 45 snaps
30 Tim Cole - 31 snaps
WILL
45 Anthony Wheeler - 42 snaps
35 Edwin Freeman - 34 snaps
NICKEL
11 PJ Locke - 73 snaps
DIME/CHEETAH
9 Davante Davis - 27 snaps
CORNER
24 John Bonney - 76 snaps
2 Kris Boyd - 72 snaps
SAFETY
4 Deshon Elliott - 76 snaps
14 Dylan Haines - 76 snaps
- Kris Boyd got the first play ever to be categorized as a coverage “burn” that did not result in a completion. Boyd had his bacon saved thanks to the inaccuracy of Kansas QB Connor Stanley when his man broke wide-open in the end zone. Someone on the staff certainly noticed, though, as Boyd was replaced by Davante Davis on the next series before halftime. He did come back to start the second half, though ... and ended the game by coming this close to icing another one with an endzone pick at the last second.
- McCulloch would’ve had more than his ridiculous 4 QB hits if we counted hits for the two plays that ended up being called as roughing the passer/targeting. The second with only 19 seconds remaining and Kansas teetering on the edge of field-goal range was a killer.
- Gerald Wilbon opened up the game as the starting nose and was a significant part of the interior DL rotation for during meaningful action early on and he ended up leading all players for the snaps at nose on the game. It was by far the most he'd played all season.
- Bryce Cottrell is officially being phased out.
- “Brecklyn Hager.” Be better, announcers.
- Deshon Elliott started the whole game for Jason Hall and showed why he needs to be playing more. “That guy is EVERYWHERE!” one of our regulars screamed.
. . .
Snaps per production generated (through 11 games)
players who have not yet caused 2016 production not included; *players with under 100 total defensive snaps in 2016 not included
. . .
Did He Play on Defense? No He Didn’t …
scholarship players on defense that have played at least a defensive snap in 2015, but did not against Kansas
. . .
This Week in Missed Tackles …
For a total of missed 13 tackles on defense versus Kansas, In case Vance Bedford asks.
Happy Thanksgiving, Orangebloods.
We thank you, once again, for reading.
