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As always, we'll give analysis along with the tiered rankings for the Alamo Bowl Game versus Utah, which are derived via a proprietary scoring formula, and based on the following advanced charting statistics (please note the distinctions in how tackles, etc. are counted and why these stats will always differ from the official university stats):
***Please note for 2019: -1 point has been added for any defensive penalty outside of defensive pass interference which is always considered a coverage burn and is not double-counted.***
Defensive Snap Counts and Percentage of Total Defensive Snaps Played (Alamo Bowl)
(FINAL - Regular Season for Comparison)
Defensive Productivity Market-Share Percentages and Snaps per Production Caused Metrics - ALAMO BOWL (snaps per disruption caused is colored coded from blue/best to red/worst)
(FINAL - Regular Season for Comparison)
Skill Player Snap Counts and Percentages of Offensive Snaps (Alamo Bowl)
(FINAL - Regular Season for Comparison)
Tight End Total Snap Counts and Alignment Data (Alamo Bowl)
(FINAL - Regular Season for Comparison)
Deep Dig OL Grading Scale (each snap by each player is graded as its own independent event)
OL Grades (Alamo Bowl - UTAH)
LT Samuel Cosmi - 52 snaps
1/2 sack, 1 QB hit allowed
1 holding penalty
DEEP DIG GRADE: 77.69
LG Parker Braun - 52 snaps
1 pressure allowed
DEEP DIG GRADE: 78.46
C Zach Shackelford - 52 snaps
2 TFL allowed
DEEP DIG GRADE: 76.92
RG Junior Angilau - 52 snaps
1/2 sack, 1 TFL allowed
DEEP DIG GRADE: 77.31
RT Derek Kerstetter - 53 snaps
1 pressure allowed
1 knockdown
DEEP DIG GRADE: 78.02
RT Christian Jones - 7 snaps
RG Denzel Okafor - 7 snaps
C Rafiti Ghirmai - 6 snaps
LG Tope Imade - 7 snaps
LT JP Urquidez - 7 snaps (1 sack allowed)
LT Reese Moore - 2 snaps (1 run-stuff allowed)
OL Grades by Week (2019 including bowl)
OL Snaps per Disruption Allowed (Alamo Bowl)
(FINAL - Regular Season for Comparison)
-------------
With so many moving pieces and parts, it really could have been the most "2019" performance we've seen from the Texas Longhorns to absolutely dismantle and demoralize a team that, until a few weeks prior, was thought of as a legit CFP contender. Talk about a squad who always gives you something different than what you think you're in store for. It would have been nice to be on the "winning" side of this week-to-week variance-coaster more often, but that's not always how things happen when the hallmark of the campaign truly is consistent inconsistency.
So, as we were breaking down the game in this final 2019 addendum to the Deep Dig, we began to think, what is the analysis here even worth? Charting Craig Naivar's tinkered-up version of a relic defense that has already gone the way of the Dodo bird with Chris Ash having assumed Todd Orlando's old office. An offense that Tom Herman has openly vowed displeasure at the idea of ever having to run again. A special teams unit that has now lost its fraudulent "special forces" lieutenant, Derek Warehime, to New Mexico.
The only constants we have on this team are the actual players. Even the head coach Tom Herman should (hopefully, for his sake and that of fans looking to get back to national relevance) be operating as a different sort of leader with one hand now freed from the steering wheel he found himself having to commandeer as the offense, at times, predictably sputtered.
I suppose we can say with confidence that we know Craig Naivar is a damn good coach. The secondary underperformed in 2019, but his safety unit was better than the corners and he also recruited more elite talent to help in stockpiling the position for the future. That was helpful in 2019 as the safety position was one in which an excuse of health could actually be pointed to with Caden Sterns and BJ Foster consistently hurt while Brandon Jones, Demarvion Overshown, Josh Thompson, etc. were no pictures of health, either.
The defensive scheme versus Utah, to put it very simply, was like a mix of Todd Orlando's same old song and dance mixed in with common-sense solutions that any rational fan pointed to all year: more true four-down fronts in obvious run situations. Less zone-blitzing to provide quick-hitting hot reads. More over-the-top help for corners. Less aggression for aggression's sake. Naivar would have likely been a better DC for Texas than Orlando all along if the Alamo Bowl was any reliable indication of his ability to dial up a gameplan, adjust on the fly and then be able to communicate those adjustments to his defense. Still, with new DC Chris Ash's background as a DB coach, who knows if Naivar will even be retained when the dust settles.
We're telling you, it's a weird column to write.
But the players are the players and Texas returns some good ones. Hell some great ones.
- Sam Cosmi is going to return. As you can see on the week-by-week game log of scoring above that he waned down the stretch and our official stance was that he sort of played himself a little bit out of the initial hype to start the season. As we have noted over and over, we expect to see growth out of Cosmi that could lead to Day 1 and 2 consideration next year, but it was looking to be out of the cards from fairly early on this season to do so as a redshirt sophomore. Shackelford will not return and will be a loss. Still, despite his invitation to the Shrine Game indicating at least a hint of NFL buzz, the overall body of work at Texas does not profile in a way similar to others who have gone on to have NFL careers like Connor Williams, Trey Hopkins or Donald Hawkins.
- We expect the offensive line to start spring will be much different from the OL to start the actual games in the fall. From left to right, Cosmi, Imade, Kerstetter, Angilau, Okafor seems to make a lot of sense to start, but eventually, we suspect Hand will realize that it's not going to happen with Imade. We also have the knowledge that Denzel Okafor, a player who the staff has contended all along they like best at tackle, actually lined up at right guard in the final plays of the bowl win. If Okafor bumps into guard, it opens the door for the Tyler Johnson's or the Christian Jones' of the world to hop in at tackle, representing what would -- at least for one year -- be the clear initial weak link of the group.
- Is it crazy to think Devin Duvernay gets drafted before Collin Johnson?
- Jalen Green, D'Shawn Jamison and Anthony Cook look to be in a battle for the same two corner spots as the calendar turns once again. Can anyone remember whenever CB coach Jason Washington was adamant in needing to start Kobe Boyce over all of the above?
- With the swath of really, really good prospects returning at the safety position and others making their way in, what's going to happen at the nickel? Josh Thompson returns, so does Chris Brown, but freshman Chris Adimora played really well in Brown's absence in the Alamo Bowl where Brown only played the first series. If we pencil in Brown, who was a key contributor early in the season, at the nickel, it means we can't cast off the third wheel in the CB rotation to play there, which many thought could be a good final destination for D'Shawn Jamison. Furthermore, we can't send a guy like BJ Foster down into the role, either, despite playing it a bunch this year, and knowing that doing so would make room for Caden Sterns to operate opposite Demarvion Overshown -- a player who it would be legitimate MALPRACTICE not to involve more next year.
- Joseph Ossai is a monster and the best player on the defense (no, it's not Malcolm Roach as all of the TV analysts parrot via their game-week conversations with Herman), but Ossai misses too many tackles and will need to clean that up next year. He missed 19 tackles in total for the 2019 season when counting the bowl game, which was the clear team lead over second place Brandon Jones (15). If Ash can get Ossai going as a 4-3 hybrid DE/LB/rush-end in 2020 in a way similar to how Charlie Strong's defenses played the "FOX" role, it could truly unlock Ossai as a mega-productive pass rusher. If that happens, though, expect him to leave early alongside your boy Sam Cosmi.
- The whole Malcolm Epps thing kind of fell off a bridge down the stretch. By the end of the season, Marcus Washington was consistently pushing to out-snap him as the No.2 X WR option. In the bowl game, Washington's snap count dwarfed Epps'. We still think Epps may be playing out of position and could represent a better mismatch out of the slot, the only problem is, Jake Smith is one of the highest-upside players on the team and he plays slot himself as do others like Joshua Moore, who, will (hopefully?) be back from indefinite suspension sometime in the relatively near future.
- It's always a sad time of year to turn the page on another Longhorns season. It helps to go out on a good note like the Alamo Bowl victory -- especially in a tough year like 2019 turned out to be. The allure of the unknown is also in the air. A solid new recruiting class with some killer key pieces. An all-new, last-chance staff makeover for Tom Herman. The Senior Bowl, the Combine, the pro days, spring football, satellite camps, the NFL draft, minicamps, OTAs, summer workouts then ... boom ... we'll be right back.
Until then, in the words of a familiar old friend, we say "Good bye, and, good luck."
The Absolute BEST in family and cosmetic dentistry for the Houston-Memorial Area
Now Accepting New Patients --- 281-293-9140
As always, we'll give analysis along with the tiered rankings for the Alamo Bowl Game versus Utah, which are derived via a proprietary scoring formula, and based on the following advanced charting statistics (please note the distinctions in how tackles, etc. are counted and why these stats will always differ from the official university stats):
*** Click Images Below to Enlarge***
***Please note for 2019: -1 point has been added for any defensive penalty outside of defensive pass interference which is always considered a coverage burn and is not double-counted.***
Defensive Snap Counts and Percentage of Total Defensive Snaps Played (Alamo Bowl)
(FINAL - Regular Season for Comparison)
Defensive Productivity Market-Share Percentages and Snaps per Production Caused Metrics - ALAMO BOWL (snaps per disruption caused is colored coded from blue/best to red/worst)
(FINAL - Regular Season for Comparison)
Skill Player Snap Counts and Percentages of Offensive Snaps (Alamo Bowl)
(FINAL - Regular Season for Comparison)
Tight End Total Snap Counts and Alignment Data (Alamo Bowl)
(FINAL - Regular Season for Comparison)
Deep Dig OL Grading Scale (each snap by each player is graded as its own independent event)
OL Grades (Alamo Bowl - UTAH)
LT Samuel Cosmi - 52 snaps
1/2 sack, 1 QB hit allowed
1 holding penalty
DEEP DIG GRADE: 77.69
LG Parker Braun - 52 snaps
1 pressure allowed
DEEP DIG GRADE: 78.46
C Zach Shackelford - 52 snaps
2 TFL allowed
DEEP DIG GRADE: 76.92
RG Junior Angilau - 52 snaps
1/2 sack, 1 TFL allowed
DEEP DIG GRADE: 77.31
RT Derek Kerstetter - 53 snaps
1 pressure allowed
1 knockdown
DEEP DIG GRADE: 78.02
RT Christian Jones - 7 snaps
RG Denzel Okafor - 7 snaps
C Rafiti Ghirmai - 6 snaps
LG Tope Imade - 7 snaps
LT JP Urquidez - 7 snaps (1 sack allowed)
LT Reese Moore - 2 snaps (1 run-stuff allowed)
OL Grades by Week (2019 including bowl)
OL Snaps per Disruption Allowed (Alamo Bowl)
(FINAL - Regular Season for Comparison)
-------------
With so many moving pieces and parts, it really could have been the most "2019" performance we've seen from the Texas Longhorns to absolutely dismantle and demoralize a team that, until a few weeks prior, was thought of as a legit CFP contender. Talk about a squad who always gives you something different than what you think you're in store for. It would have been nice to be on the "winning" side of this week-to-week variance-coaster more often, but that's not always how things happen when the hallmark of the campaign truly is consistent inconsistency.
So, as we were breaking down the game in this final 2019 addendum to the Deep Dig, we began to think, what is the analysis here even worth? Charting Craig Naivar's tinkered-up version of a relic defense that has already gone the way of the Dodo bird with Chris Ash having assumed Todd Orlando's old office. An offense that Tom Herman has openly vowed displeasure at the idea of ever having to run again. A special teams unit that has now lost its fraudulent "special forces" lieutenant, Derek Warehime, to New Mexico.
The only constants we have on this team are the actual players. Even the head coach Tom Herman should (hopefully, for his sake and that of fans looking to get back to national relevance) be operating as a different sort of leader with one hand now freed from the steering wheel he found himself having to commandeer as the offense, at times, predictably sputtered.
I suppose we can say with confidence that we know Craig Naivar is a damn good coach. The secondary underperformed in 2019, but his safety unit was better than the corners and he also recruited more elite talent to help in stockpiling the position for the future. That was helpful in 2019 as the safety position was one in which an excuse of health could actually be pointed to with Caden Sterns and BJ Foster consistently hurt while Brandon Jones, Demarvion Overshown, Josh Thompson, etc. were no pictures of health, either.
The defensive scheme versus Utah, to put it very simply, was like a mix of Todd Orlando's same old song and dance mixed in with common-sense solutions that any rational fan pointed to all year: more true four-down fronts in obvious run situations. Less zone-blitzing to provide quick-hitting hot reads. More over-the-top help for corners. Less aggression for aggression's sake. Naivar would have likely been a better DC for Texas than Orlando all along if the Alamo Bowl was any reliable indication of his ability to dial up a gameplan, adjust on the fly and then be able to communicate those adjustments to his defense. Still, with new DC Chris Ash's background as a DB coach, who knows if Naivar will even be retained when the dust settles.
We're telling you, it's a weird column to write.
But the players are the players and Texas returns some good ones. Hell some great ones.
- Sam Cosmi is going to return. As you can see on the week-by-week game log of scoring above that he waned down the stretch and our official stance was that he sort of played himself a little bit out of the initial hype to start the season. As we have noted over and over, we expect to see growth out of Cosmi that could lead to Day 1 and 2 consideration next year, but it was looking to be out of the cards from fairly early on this season to do so as a redshirt sophomore. Shackelford will not return and will be a loss. Still, despite his invitation to the Shrine Game indicating at least a hint of NFL buzz, the overall body of work at Texas does not profile in a way similar to others who have gone on to have NFL careers like Connor Williams, Trey Hopkins or Donald Hawkins.
- We expect the offensive line to start spring will be much different from the OL to start the actual games in the fall. From left to right, Cosmi, Imade, Kerstetter, Angilau, Okafor seems to make a lot of sense to start, but eventually, we suspect Hand will realize that it's not going to happen with Imade. We also have the knowledge that Denzel Okafor, a player who the staff has contended all along they like best at tackle, actually lined up at right guard in the final plays of the bowl win. If Okafor bumps into guard, it opens the door for the Tyler Johnson's or the Christian Jones' of the world to hop in at tackle, representing what would -- at least for one year -- be the clear initial weak link of the group.
- Is it crazy to think Devin Duvernay gets drafted before Collin Johnson?
- Jalen Green, D'Shawn Jamison and Anthony Cook look to be in a battle for the same two corner spots as the calendar turns once again. Can anyone remember whenever CB coach Jason Washington was adamant in needing to start Kobe Boyce over all of the above?
- With the swath of really, really good prospects returning at the safety position and others making their way in, what's going to happen at the nickel? Josh Thompson returns, so does Chris Brown, but freshman Chris Adimora played really well in Brown's absence in the Alamo Bowl where Brown only played the first series. If we pencil in Brown, who was a key contributor early in the season, at the nickel, it means we can't cast off the third wheel in the CB rotation to play there, which many thought could be a good final destination for D'Shawn Jamison. Furthermore, we can't send a guy like BJ Foster down into the role, either, despite playing it a bunch this year, and knowing that doing so would make room for Caden Sterns to operate opposite Demarvion Overshown -- a player who it would be legitimate MALPRACTICE not to involve more next year.
- Joseph Ossai is a monster and the best player on the defense (no, it's not Malcolm Roach as all of the TV analysts parrot via their game-week conversations with Herman), but Ossai misses too many tackles and will need to clean that up next year. He missed 19 tackles in total for the 2019 season when counting the bowl game, which was the clear team lead over second place Brandon Jones (15). If Ash can get Ossai going as a 4-3 hybrid DE/LB/rush-end in 2020 in a way similar to how Charlie Strong's defenses played the "FOX" role, it could truly unlock Ossai as a mega-productive pass rusher. If that happens, though, expect him to leave early alongside your boy Sam Cosmi.
- The whole Malcolm Epps thing kind of fell off a bridge down the stretch. By the end of the season, Marcus Washington was consistently pushing to out-snap him as the No.2 X WR option. In the bowl game, Washington's snap count dwarfed Epps'. We still think Epps may be playing out of position and could represent a better mismatch out of the slot, the only problem is, Jake Smith is one of the highest-upside players on the team and he plays slot himself as do others like Joshua Moore, who, will (hopefully?) be back from indefinite suspension sometime in the relatively near future.
- It's always a sad time of year to turn the page on another Longhorns season. It helps to go out on a good note like the Alamo Bowl victory -- especially in a tough year like 2019 turned out to be. The allure of the unknown is also in the air. A solid new recruiting class with some killer key pieces. An all-new, last-chance staff makeover for Tom Herman. The Senior Bowl, the Combine, the pro days, spring football, satellite camps, the NFL draft, minicamps, OTAs, summer workouts then ... boom ... we'll be right back.
Until then, in the words of a familiar old friend, we say "Good bye, and, good luck."
