Will Baizer
Staff Writer
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2015
- Messages
- 890
I've finally been able to attend a practice. They only give us 15 minutes to check out what's going on.
I used 5 of my minutes stuck in traffic. The 10 others I used to capture some video for y'all and take notes on RB, QB, WR, and CB.
Chris Warren (pulled hamstring) and Zach Shackelford (rolled ankle) are done for the spring due to their injuries.
Toneil Carter and Tristain Houston will not participate in Saturday's scrimage (slight ankle sprains). Should be back Tuesday.
Marcel Southall joins Brandon Hodges to focus on academics and take a break from football.
QB
Shane Buechele appears to be pulling away. As I've been hearing Shane Buechele has really taken on the veteran title despite him only being a sophomore. Tom Herman basically stated that Buechele is ahead in the race for starting QB during the press conference today.
He talked about the poise Shane has shown throughout practice,
"Shane, you can tell, has played 12 college games. There's some seasonedness to him. Practicing against this defense is as hard as it gets for a quarterback in terms of protections, checks, and runs. It feels like they have 15 guys on the field at all times. But you can tell he's got poise back there." Furthermore, those worried about Shane's size will be happy to know that he now sits around 200lbs and it's a good 200.
Sam on the other hand is still getting warmed up to the pace of college ball according to Coach Herman,
"It's still pretty fast for him, but you see glimpses when things are clean. He makes some nice throws and some good decisions."
He's confident with both options, but currently, he's giving the edge to Shane,
"I think you win with either one of them. But Shane, right now, is elevated a little bit because he has a little more experience."
Still a big worry for this team is depth at QB. Currently the team is down to two scholarship QBs, a preferred walk on, and lastly a IWR who's played before. When asked what the coaches will be doing about this Coach Herman simply said, "Keep checking the waiver wire."
RB
Right now RB is dangerously thin. The only scholarship RB running today was Kyle Porter. Chris Warren will be sitting for the rest of the Spring with a pulled Hamstring. Kirk Johnson is still recovering from surgery on his knee. Tom Herman seems a bit unsure right now what to do,
"It makes you a little nervous. I'm glad we signed two. Hopefully on Tuesday we'll triple [the number of scholarship RBs available]."
WR
In the words of Tom Herman, "This is as deep of a WR group as I've ever been around."
It's hard to know who the one's are right now due to the depth. Devin Duvernay and Collin Johnson are for sure #1's. Then it's your pick for #2 with Armanti Foreman, John Burt (he's better), and Dorian Leonard for your OWR. IWR you have Jerrod Heard as #2 and Davion Curtis as #3.
Andrew Beck is your starting/only TE with Aucoin dealing with a shoulder injury/not being very impressive. After this Tom Herman seemed pretty pessemistic about the TE position this year,
"We’ve actually talked about getting into some 10 personnel and 20 personnel, and getting into some formations that don’t include tight end because I don’t feel good with what’s behind Andrew right now... if we played tomorrow, we’d put another running back or wide out in."
DB
Kris Boyd and Holton Hill running with the one's today. I wouldn't read too much into it. Texas plans on using all three of Davante Davis, Holton Hill, and Kris Boyd.
Also no surprise but Bonney is running with the safeties. However, it appears the Brandon Jones has overtaken him and is now taking reps with the 1's.
Lastly, if you paid attention last year, you already know PJ Locke was a boss. Well Locke certainly hasn't taken any steps back. He may be the best defensive player on the field next year according to Malcolm Roach.
DL
Malcolm Roach is playing "see ball, hit ball." Your starting 3 DL so far are Poona, Nelson, and Roach.
After some harsh love for the DL at the beginning of Spring ball, Tom Herman praised them a bit today stating,
"The three guys running with the 1's right now, Poona Ford, Malcolm Roach, and Chris Nelson, you can win with."
Sidenote: Herman didn't know who Chris Daniels was.
OL
Right now OL is becoming a bit of a question mark. With the loss of Shackelford for the time being, the team will probably move McMillon to C. This leaves you with a question mark at both RT and RG. RT seems to be the place Denzel Oakafor is gunning for as Tom Herman gave him some huge props,
"Denzel, he’s got a great shot I think to provide us some depth or be a starter at right tackle. Even though he’s 6'3", he’s got the reach of a 6'8" guy. He’s kind of what you want in an OLineman. He's not too tall, so they get out-leveraged. But they still have the length of a tall guy."
Right now the guys taking the interior line snaps and trying to fill in depth are Terrell Cuney and Alex Anderson,
"We need, especially TC, Terrell, to be a player for us, and Anderson, too. They’ve got to develop. These reps they’re getting in spring are invaluable because threes get very limited reps. If you’re in the two deep, you’re going to get a lot of reps. Again, we’re going to need those guys to solidify the depth at those positions."
LB
Herman was asked how Malik Jefferson is adjusting to his new "Rover" role:
"He likes it. I know that. He is adjusting daily to the expectations of him playing with lower pad level, playing more aggressive, playing more physical, and he wants to. It's a learned habit. It's going to take a while. I've seen it done many times before. Playing with low pad level and playing not tenative, not thinking, just going. The pad level, a lot of that is leg strength, so that will come. Playing aggressively will come when the defense is second nature to you." Unsurprisingly for Malik "...the want to is there."
However, if you were to put Herman's "feet to the fire," and ask him what he's most concerned with it would be LB production. However, he believes they're getting a lot better and have plenty of time.
More Herman Quotes
On Patrick Hudson: "He has a great motor... He need to learn technique and assignment."
On progress: "They're trying... The one thing I've been very happy with is there is little defiance."
I used 5 of my minutes stuck in traffic. The 10 others I used to capture some video for y'all and take notes on RB, QB, WR, and CB.
Chris Warren (pulled hamstring) and Zach Shackelford (rolled ankle) are done for the spring due to their injuries.
Toneil Carter and Tristain Houston will not participate in Saturday's scrimage (slight ankle sprains). Should be back Tuesday.
Marcel Southall joins Brandon Hodges to focus on academics and take a break from football.
QB
Shane Buechele appears to be pulling away. As I've been hearing Shane Buechele has really taken on the veteran title despite him only being a sophomore. Tom Herman basically stated that Buechele is ahead in the race for starting QB during the press conference today.
He talked about the poise Shane has shown throughout practice,
"Shane, you can tell, has played 12 college games. There's some seasonedness to him. Practicing against this defense is as hard as it gets for a quarterback in terms of protections, checks, and runs. It feels like they have 15 guys on the field at all times. But you can tell he's got poise back there." Furthermore, those worried about Shane's size will be happy to know that he now sits around 200lbs and it's a good 200.
Sam on the other hand is still getting warmed up to the pace of college ball according to Coach Herman,
"It's still pretty fast for him, but you see glimpses when things are clean. He makes some nice throws and some good decisions."
He's confident with both options, but currently, he's giving the edge to Shane,
"I think you win with either one of them. But Shane, right now, is elevated a little bit because he has a little more experience."
Still a big worry for this team is depth at QB. Currently the team is down to two scholarship QBs, a preferred walk on, and lastly a IWR who's played before. When asked what the coaches will be doing about this Coach Herman simply said, "Keep checking the waiver wire."
RB
Right now RB is dangerously thin. The only scholarship RB running today was Kyle Porter. Chris Warren will be sitting for the rest of the Spring with a pulled Hamstring. Kirk Johnson is still recovering from surgery on his knee. Tom Herman seems a bit unsure right now what to do,
"It makes you a little nervous. I'm glad we signed two. Hopefully on Tuesday we'll triple [the number of scholarship RBs available]."
WR
In the words of Tom Herman, "This is as deep of a WR group as I've ever been around."
It's hard to know who the one's are right now due to the depth. Devin Duvernay and Collin Johnson are for sure #1's. Then it's your pick for #2 with Armanti Foreman, John Burt (he's better), and Dorian Leonard for your OWR. IWR you have Jerrod Heard as #2 and Davion Curtis as #3.
Andrew Beck is your starting/only TE with Aucoin dealing with a shoulder injury/not being very impressive. After this Tom Herman seemed pretty pessemistic about the TE position this year,
"We’ve actually talked about getting into some 10 personnel and 20 personnel, and getting into some formations that don’t include tight end because I don’t feel good with what’s behind Andrew right now... if we played tomorrow, we’d put another running back or wide out in."
DB
Kris Boyd and Holton Hill running with the one's today. I wouldn't read too much into it. Texas plans on using all three of Davante Davis, Holton Hill, and Kris Boyd.
Also no surprise but Bonney is running with the safeties. However, it appears the Brandon Jones has overtaken him and is now taking reps with the 1's.
Lastly, if you paid attention last year, you already know PJ Locke was a boss. Well Locke certainly hasn't taken any steps back. He may be the best defensive player on the field next year according to Malcolm Roach.
DL
Malcolm Roach is playing "see ball, hit ball." Your starting 3 DL so far are Poona, Nelson, and Roach.
After some harsh love for the DL at the beginning of Spring ball, Tom Herman praised them a bit today stating,
"The three guys running with the 1's right now, Poona Ford, Malcolm Roach, and Chris Nelson, you can win with."
Sidenote: Herman didn't know who Chris Daniels was.
OL
Right now OL is becoming a bit of a question mark. With the loss of Shackelford for the time being, the team will probably move McMillon to C. This leaves you with a question mark at both RT and RG. RT seems to be the place Denzel Oakafor is gunning for as Tom Herman gave him some huge props,
"Denzel, he’s got a great shot I think to provide us some depth or be a starter at right tackle. Even though he’s 6'3", he’s got the reach of a 6'8" guy. He’s kind of what you want in an OLineman. He's not too tall, so they get out-leveraged. But they still have the length of a tall guy."
Right now the guys taking the interior line snaps and trying to fill in depth are Terrell Cuney and Alex Anderson,
"We need, especially TC, Terrell, to be a player for us, and Anderson, too. They’ve got to develop. These reps they’re getting in spring are invaluable because threes get very limited reps. If you’re in the two deep, you’re going to get a lot of reps. Again, we’re going to need those guys to solidify the depth at those positions."
LB
Herman was asked how Malik Jefferson is adjusting to his new "Rover" role:
"He likes it. I know that. He is adjusting daily to the expectations of him playing with lower pad level, playing more aggressive, playing more physical, and he wants to. It's a learned habit. It's going to take a while. I've seen it done many times before. Playing with low pad level and playing not tenative, not thinking, just going. The pad level, a lot of that is leg strength, so that will come. Playing aggressively will come when the defense is second nature to you." Unsurprisingly for Malik "...the want to is there."
However, if you were to put Herman's "feet to the fire," and ask him what he's most concerned with it would be LB production. However, he believes they're getting a lot better and have plenty of time.
More Herman Quotes
On Patrick Hudson: "He has a great motor... He need to learn technique and assignment."
On progress: "They're trying... The one thing I've been very happy with is there is little defiance."
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