Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian praised several players during his media availability after practice on Tuesday.
Here are the players who have stood out.
--- Sarkisian said his younger defensive linemen are at different stages. Sarkisian said Aaron Bryant has shown the most progress and continues to improve. He has seen flashes from Jaray Bledsoe and “now we’re fighting for that consistency.” In addition, Sarkisian said they are seeing flashes from Sydir Mitchell and are looking for consistency from him, too.
--- Sarkisian was asked which players in the secondary have stood out and Manny Muhammad was the first player he mentioned. According to Sarkisian, Muhammad is playing confidently and has a much better understanding of the scheme.
In addition, Sarkisian said, “Jelani McDonald has made really some tremendous strides at safety. He's very rangy. He's very physical. He's a good tackler. I think the instincts, thinking about in high school, him basically playing quarterback the majority of the time, that football IQ is translating over to the defensive side of the ball. He's seeing things unfold. It’s enabled him to react well. We got a glimpse of that from him last year on special teams, and now it's carrying over to defense.”
--- Sarkisian said Jaylon Guilbeau is having a tremendous spring at the Star position.
“He’s back,” Sarkisian said.
--- In addition, Sarkisian said the goal is to get the best five defensive backs on the field. He said Jahdae Barron and Guilbeau can play multiple positions. In addition, Andrew Mukuba can play safety and nickel, according to Sarkisian.
--- I asked Sarkisian about the transfer portal and incumbent players.
“I would say that the two guys, obviously, Isaiah Bond, Matt Golden. Isaiah, you definitely see the flashes. You see the big play ability. He had another couple of big plays today. You see the speed element that he provides. There's still nuances schematically that sometimes can jam him up a little bit, but he's a little bit more familiar just because of the time at Alabama and some of the carryover systematically, but you see it there. Matt Golden was a little bit slowed early on because of a previous injury that he came into us with from Houston, so we had to kind of pace him back into play. But I thought the last couple of days we're starting to get the real version of Matt Golden. He's got very strong hands. He's a smart player, he’s sudden, we see the return ability, so we feel very comfortable in those two.
“I would say at the receiver spot, the one guy that really jumps out is Ryan Wingo. From a true freshman perspective, when he's out there, it doesn't feel like a true freshman. He plays fast. He makes plays on the ball. He's not right all the time. I don't expect him to be right all the time. But he's making some full-speed mistakes. And he looks very comfortable right now as a guy who should still be in high school out there playing with all our guys.”
--- Sarkisian was asked to name the players who stood out during Saturday’s scrimmage.
“Offensive side of the ball, Tre Weisner and Jaydon Blue both had very good scrimmages,” Sarkisian said. “Played hard, played well. I'd say on the offensive line, Kelvin (Banks), Jake Majors, I thought had really good scrimmages. I'd say defensively, Anthony Hill played really well in the scrimmage. I already touched on Jelani MacDonald, Jaylon Guilbeau. Colin Simmons definitely showed up in the scrimmage Saturday. I'm probably leaving some guys out but those ones are the first ones that pop in my head.”
Here are the players who have stood out.
--- Sarkisian said his younger defensive linemen are at different stages. Sarkisian said Aaron Bryant has shown the most progress and continues to improve. He has seen flashes from Jaray Bledsoe and “now we’re fighting for that consistency.” In addition, Sarkisian said they are seeing flashes from Sydir Mitchell and are looking for consistency from him, too.
--- Sarkisian was asked which players in the secondary have stood out and Manny Muhammad was the first player he mentioned. According to Sarkisian, Muhammad is playing confidently and has a much better understanding of the scheme.
In addition, Sarkisian said, “Jelani McDonald has made really some tremendous strides at safety. He's very rangy. He's very physical. He's a good tackler. I think the instincts, thinking about in high school, him basically playing quarterback the majority of the time, that football IQ is translating over to the defensive side of the ball. He's seeing things unfold. It’s enabled him to react well. We got a glimpse of that from him last year on special teams, and now it's carrying over to defense.”
--- Sarkisian said Jaylon Guilbeau is having a tremendous spring at the Star position.
“He’s back,” Sarkisian said.
--- In addition, Sarkisian said the goal is to get the best five defensive backs on the field. He said Jahdae Barron and Guilbeau can play multiple positions. In addition, Andrew Mukuba can play safety and nickel, according to Sarkisian.
--- I asked Sarkisian about the transfer portal and incumbent players.
“I would say that the two guys, obviously, Isaiah Bond, Matt Golden. Isaiah, you definitely see the flashes. You see the big play ability. He had another couple of big plays today. You see the speed element that he provides. There's still nuances schematically that sometimes can jam him up a little bit, but he's a little bit more familiar just because of the time at Alabama and some of the carryover systematically, but you see it there. Matt Golden was a little bit slowed early on because of a previous injury that he came into us with from Houston, so we had to kind of pace him back into play. But I thought the last couple of days we're starting to get the real version of Matt Golden. He's got very strong hands. He's a smart player, he’s sudden, we see the return ability, so we feel very comfortable in those two.
“I would say at the receiver spot, the one guy that really jumps out is Ryan Wingo. From a true freshman perspective, when he's out there, it doesn't feel like a true freshman. He plays fast. He makes plays on the ball. He's not right all the time. I don't expect him to be right all the time. But he's making some full-speed mistakes. And he looks very comfortable right now as a guy who should still be in high school out there playing with all our guys.”
--- Sarkisian was asked to name the players who stood out during Saturday’s scrimmage.
“Offensive side of the ball, Tre Weisner and Jaydon Blue both had very good scrimmages,” Sarkisian said. “Played hard, played well. I'd say on the offensive line, Kelvin (Banks), Jake Majors, I thought had really good scrimmages. I'd say defensively, Anthony Hill played really well in the scrimmage. I already touched on Jelani MacDonald, Jaylon Guilbeau. Colin Simmons definitely showed up in the scrimmage Saturday. I'm probably leaving some guys out but those ones are the first ones that pop in my head.”
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