In 2013, the Longhorns lost both Jordan Hicks and Jonathan Gray for the season due to Achilles injuries. Was that a blessing or a curse? If you’re talking about the remainder of games last year, those injuries were a curse. If you’re talking about spring football, they can be a blessing in disguise.
When key players are rehabbing injuries during the Spring, it opens up the depth chart. New faces get a chance to shine as they find practice repetitions that weren’t available to them before a starter was injured. On the other hand, those guys were second on the depth chart for a reason, and they are “taking away” rep’s from the guys that need to be on the field.
So, which one is it – helpful or hurtful? It’s a blessing in disguise – Sean Adams
The bottom line is that we all know what Jordan Hicks and Johnathan Gray can do. We have seen them at their best – the list around the conference of guys that play on par or better than Hicks or Gray is short. Real short.
Young guys, inexperienced guys and much needed depth for the fall are always starving for reps.They will get them now.
Some players will receive reps above their team rank because Hicks and Gray are out. If these reps come against better competition, in greater numbers, and they help players develop at a pace faster than they would have, then the Texas Longhorns are better off this fall. In a few months, Jordan Hicks and Johnathan Gray are back in the fold and the team has players that competed during the spring.
In many ways the value of spring football is much like bowl game practices…the guys that you know you can count on are not the star of the show. A team is trying to figure out what they have to play with those stars. While we would all be crazy to hope for injuries to playmakers like Hicks and Gray, having them healing this spring brings with it the benefit of developing other players.
All of this is a moot point if Hicks and Gray are not 100% and good to go when fall camp starts. With the assumption being that they are healthy, Texas will have better depth at linebacker and running back because of it.
It’s not disguised….it’s a curse – Matt Cotcher
Jordan Hicks and Jonathan Gray were both highly coveted high school football stars. They’ve both lived up to the hype and have been tremendously productive for the Horns. These two upperclassmen should be easing the team’s transition to a new coaching staff, new schemes, new terminology, new alignments…new everything.
Instead, they’re both in The Pit.
Make a list of traits that are needed by the new coaching staff…'”
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[*]On-field leadership
[*]Playmaking talent
[*]Good football instincts
[*]On-field production
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It’s a futile exercise. Almost any characteristic that gets listed is something that both Gray and Hicks should be delivering right now. True enough, it’s possible that they’ll be ready to inject their presence come August, but this particular Spring is crucial.
For the last month, when personalities, plays & priorities have been getting sorted out, the Longhorns have been missing two key pieces of the puzzle. Hopefully, for Coach Strong and company, Hicks and Gray will be ready for Fall camp, come August. I don’t need to acknowledge the NFL’s study on Achilles injuries to know that their absence has hurt the Horns this Spring.
