With the signings of Devin and Donovan Duvernay, along with JP Urquidez and Patrick Hudson, Charlie Strong has turned his 2016 class from a very good one into one of the very best.
The Longhorns had two gaping holes on offense coming out of spring training, as they were lacking a true speedster at slot receiver, and offensive line depth. Devin Duvernay will almost certainly slide right in to that slot position, coming into a growing cadre of receivers. Sterlin Gilbert’s offense will feature a lot of four wide sets, allowing for plenty of time and space for Duvernay to showcase his skillset in the revamped Texas offense. Sophomore John Burt and incoming Freshman Collin Johnson are going to lead the pack of wide-outs, along with Duvernay, Junior Armanti Foreman, Sophomore DeAndre McNeal, and Freshmen LJ Humphrey. Donovan Duvernay will be in the mix as well.
One of the many problems on the offensive side of the ball last year was the lack of depth on the offensive line. With Dominic Espinosa going down for the year, along with the sheer lack of experience, Texas made it a point in the 2016 cycle to address that depth. The commitment of Tope Imade and the flipping of Zach Shackelford from Kansas State provided the Longhorns two lineman ready to come in and help the depleted line out right away. Picking up Hudson and Urquidez from Baylor will prove to be even bigger, as the Longhorns staff believes that both of these players have the capacity to come in and play any spot on the line right away. Expect to see Hudson starting in either the right tackle or left guard spot against Notre Dame, and Urquidez may follow soon thereafter. With Imade and Shackelford’s experience inside, offensive line coach Sterlin Gilbert and Charlie Strong have their fair share of options, something that hasn’t been said about the Texas roster since Strong’s arrival.
This recruiting class was a huge one for Strong and the Longhorns, and the four Baylor pickups are going to help immensely in bringing back an offense that hasn’t looked like a Texas offense since the days of Colt McCoy. The season is approaching fast, and only time will tell how these pieces fit into the puzzle, but one thing’s for certain: Charlie Strong has a good problem on his hands. The hand Strong was dealt when he took over at the helm of the Texas program was not a good one; Mack Brown’s last two recruiting classes were not great, and the roster was full of players with on and off the field problems, making it challenging for Strong. In his first two full recruiting cycles as Texas head coach, Strong has brought in 50 or so players, who all have the ability to make an impact on the college level. Recruiting is not necessarily about getting the best players, rather the right ones. It seems through two plus years, Strong has finally assembled a roster that will compete in the Big 12 in 2016, and could be ready for national contention in 2017.
With all of the 2015 defensive backs and linebackers having two years of experience under their belt, combined with the arsenal of defensive lineman brought in this February, the Texas defense has a chance to be very good, if not elite in 2017. Strong has the team on the right path on paper, but all that goes out the window on September 4th at Darrell K. Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium.
