“Michael always says,†Dwight Schrute tells the camera in season three of The Office, “K-I-S-S, keep it simple, stupid. Great advice, hurts my feelings every time.â€
I thought about that quote a lot last year while watching Texas play defense last season. While Manny Diaz was trying to win every down before the ball was snapped, he often overlooked the simplest principle in any sport – if your players are better than the other guy’s players, line them up and play ball.
That’s not to say the talent on the 2012 Texas defense was anything close to vintage, though. The unit was littered with inexperience and personnel that can best be described as square pegs asked to fit into hexagon-shaped holes. Most of those pegs are back, and we’re throwing the whole board out and giving them some brand new holes to work with.
The purpose of this exercise is to put the best 11 players on to the field regardless of position, so, for as long as it takes you to read this article, at least, Texas now runs a 3-4 defense. Our depth chart:
Inside Linebacker
1. Jordan Hicks
1. Peter Jinkens
2. Kendall Thompson
2. DeMarco Cobbs
The number of true sideline-to-sideline playmakers on the Longhorns’ defense numbered at precisely two last season, so we’re dropping formality and playing two traditional linebackers here.
Outside Linebacker
1. Jackson Jeffcoat
1. Tevin Jackson
2. Shiro Davis
2. Reggie Wilson
Like the position above it, depth isn’t as strong as you’d like at outside linebacker, but you can absolutely go to war with the two guys on the top line of the depth chart. Bryce Cottrell and/or Caleb Bluiett also deserve mention here.
Defensive End
1. Cedric Reed
1. Ashton Dorsey
2. Hassan Ridgeway
2. Chris Whaley
Nose Guard
1. Desmond Jackson
2. Malcom Brown
Our astute readers will notice that neither of the Steve Edmond/Dalton Santos tandem have made our depth chart.  That isn’t an accident.
Cornerback
1. Carrington Byndom
1. Sheroid Evans
2. Antuwan Davis
2. Duke Thomas
Safety
1. Quandre Diggs
1. Mykelle Thompson
2. Adrian Phillips
2. Josh Turner
All things equal, I’d like to have Diggs closer to the line of scrimmage. But the anti-tackling we saw from the safety position means Duane Akina’s surest hitter moves positions and, thus, Josh Stewart is no longer bouncing off both safeties in his route to the end zone. When Big 12 opponents inevitably go four-wide, Phillips is the first man off the bench.
Kick Returner
1. Daje Johnson
2. Duke Thomas
3. Sheroid Evans
Johnson and Thomas will be the team’s top unit, and Evans is the first man off the bench in the event of injury or fatigue.
Punt Returner
1. Daje Johnson
2. Quandre Diggs
Can you tell I really really want the ball in Johnson’s hands yet?
Kicker
Anthony Fera
Punter
William Russ
Truth be told, I have no idea if Russ is actually UT’s best punter or not. I just love the name Will Russ.
After leading the Big 12 in total defense for four straight seasons, the Longhorns fell all the way to fifth last season, while ranking eighth, seventh and sixth in rush defense, pass efficiency defense and scoring defense. I’m not expecting Texas to jump back to the top of the league, especially as long as Gary Patterson is still in coaching, but modest improvement is once again the name of the game here. If Diaz can drop Texas’ yards per play number by half a yard per snap, Texas will move from a shameful 87th to an acceptable 55th nationally, and from seventh to fourth in the conference.
Most importantly, though, if Texas can improve a Big 12 worst red zone defense (which allowed 53 scores in 58 trips) by one score per game – let’s say the number moves down to 36-for-45 – you’ve again got a top four defense in the Big 12.
Combine that with an offense that will certainly rank inside the nation’s top 20, and you’ve got a team with no excuse whatsoever to win anything less than 10 games.
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