Baron Posted January 1, 2024 Posted January 1, 2024 Place all your prognostications, wishful thinking, and general Texas commentary here.
JustAFan11 Posted January 2, 2024 Posted January 2, 2024 Incredibly fun season for the Horns in year 3 under Sark. I thought the conference championship would be the crown jewel but they earned their way into the playoffs and had a chance to play for the natty. Disappointing final game. The secondary losing jump balls didn’t bother me much because I expected their offense to make plays. I thought the defense did enough to win the game. They had a turnover on downs in the redzone and recovered the muffed punt. After half they gave up the opening touchdown but forced 2 punts and 3 field goals. Two of those came on short fields. The offense was the biggest issue in this game. Obviously the 2 fumbles to start the 2nd half were the difference in the game. The Baxter fumble was on our side of the field and led to points for them, the Blue fumble took at least 3 off the board for Texas. I was surprised by the lack of execution in the passing game, the running game was great but penalties hurt just as bad as the turnovers and forced Texas out of really being able to run it all night. I think the biggest thing we saw last night was QB experience and overall team maturity in a high pressure matchup. Washington had nine 6th-year starters and they made less mistakes than Texas. While I’m positive Washington could’ve been called for more penalties than what they were, they didn’t have empty drives and rarely went 3&out on offense. Sark and Texas jumped ahead of schedule this year imo and have recruited well for the future. Should be a fun offseason with a few portal needs, a lot of guys deciding on leaving or coming back and jumping into the SEC. 1
ETXfan16 Posted January 2, 2024 Posted January 2, 2024 I expect Quinn to return. Will most likely return the entire offensive line, Baxter and Blue. We will see some fresh faces at receiver but a lot of talent there. Sark has seen the liability in the secondary and has recruited well and used the portal. My only concern is development at this point. Taaffe, Catalon, and Thompson just did not have the speed. I feel like Williams improved and I’m excited to watch his growth. There’s a lot to be optimistic about heading into 2024. 1
JustAFan11 Posted January 2, 2024 Posted January 2, 2024 7 minutes ago, ETXfan16 said: I expect Quinn to return. Will most likely return the entire offensive line, Baxter and Blue. We will see some fresh faces at receiver but a lot of talent there. Sark has seen the liability in the secondary and has recruited well and used the portal. My only concern is development at this point. Taaffe, Catalon, and Thompson just did not have the speed. I feel like Williams improved and I’m excited to watch his growth. There’s a lot to be optimistic about heading into 2024. Yes, the secondary has some great pieces coming in and some solid returnees. I do wonder if a secondary coaching change may be coming. We all knew the secondary would be suspect this year and then it was worse than we thought and 2 freshmen became starters. Obviously linebacker is getting a new coach but I wouldn’t be opposed to at least move Joseph to safeties coach and bringing on someone to coach corners. I know Gideon is an alum but I think he’s the weakest recruiter on the staff and I think we could upgrade coaching. 1
Lobo97 Posted January 2, 2024 Posted January 2, 2024 It was a great season. I think very few people expected Texas in the CFP this season. Say what you want about Sark, but he's done a phenomenal job turning the program around. From 5-7 in year 1, to B12 Champs and CFP in year 3. There's a lot of talent coming back next year. The biggest losses will be WR and DL. However, both of those groups have talent stepping in. I expect Quinn to return, and I think he should. He's improved a lot over the last two seasons, but still has things to work on. Texas will enter next season as one of the top ranked teams in the country, and a favorite in both the SEC, and CFP. Anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional. 1
ANTI Posted January 2, 2024 Posted January 2, 2024 On 1/2/2024 at 10:04 AM, ETXfan16 said: I expect Quinn to return. Will most likely return the entire offensive line, Baxter and Blue. We will see some fresh faces at receiver but a lot of talent there. Sark has seen the liability in the secondary and has recruited well and used the portal. My only concern is development at this point. Taaffe, Catalon, and Thompson just did not have the speed. I feel like Williams improved and I’m excited to watch his growth. There’s a lot to be optimistic about heading into 2024. Man my goodness. I held my tongue all year but any NFL team that gives Thompson a shot is setting themselves up for failure. Awful coverage safety throughout his career at Texas, run support....meh. He just didn't make much memorable plays. Looking forward to seeing the program with 100% Sark players. Also hope to see Blue in the portal. Honestly, that's what he should explore anyway. Baxter will be back, Brooks returns from injury and the two incoming freshmen RBs will probably jump him. RB room will be too deep for Blue.
Lobo97 Posted January 2, 2024 Posted January 2, 2024 5 minutes ago, ANTI said: Also hope to see Blue in the portal. Honestly, that's what he should explore anyway. Baxter will be back, Brooks returns from injury and the two incoming freshmen RBs will probably jump him. RB room will be too deep for Blue. My initial thought with Brooks, was with the injury he’d return. With how deep the RB room will be, I now think he goes to the draft.
Red90fly Posted January 2, 2024 Posted January 2, 2024 Nobody should want Blue to transfer. He's the biggest homerun threat in the RB room and it showed when he was in. One fumble in a playoff game shouldn't warrant "hope he portals out". 5
ANTI Posted January 2, 2024 Posted January 2, 2024 (edited) Blue is not the biggest homerun threat in the backfield and has shown red flags since he stepped on campus. Actually, since before he stepped on campus. What are yall watching? On 1/2/2024 at 11:45 AM, Lobo97 said: My initial thought with Brooks, was with the injury he’d return. With how deep the RB room will be, I now think he goes to the draft. He should give it a go another year. Needs to up his stock and work out some kinks similar to Ewers. Both can afford to stay another year without compromising younger talent. Edited January 2, 2024 by ANTI
JustAFan11 Posted January 2, 2024 Posted January 2, 2024 54 minutes ago, ANTI said: He should give it a go another year. Needs to up his stock and work out some kinks similar to Ewers. Both can afford to stay another year without compromising younger talent. Brooks torn his ACL in November that’s a year long recovery for most athletes. Even if he decided to come back, which I don’t think he should, he wouldn’t be ready until the second half of the season and buried on the depth chart. 59 minutes ago, ANTI said: Blue is not the biggest homerun threat in the backfield and has shown red flags since he stepped on campus. Actually, since before he stepped on campus. What are yall watching? Blue is by far the fastest RB and biggest homerun threat. He and Worthy recorded 2 of the top 10 fastest times as a ball carrier in the country during the regular season. 2
thegreatbambino Posted January 2, 2024 Posted January 2, 2024 This season exceeded my expectations, they were there until the end with a chance to win. QB, RB, and OL should all be solid next year. WR will be all new unless Mitchell decides to come back. TE with Helm is okay, but they may look to add a transfer here. DL wise you lose 2 really good guys in the middle that will be hard to replace. You have some rotational guys who will need to step up into a bigger role. Hopefully the pass rush will be better to cover that loss in experience. Transfer from UTSA should help there. LB you will lose Ford, but return Hill and Gbenda. Hill should improve with another year under his belt and they are high on the Lefau kid from Hawaii. Might need another transfer here. Secondary, this is the big one. Corners were young, so I look for them to improve, but safety play was atrocious. Taffe is solid as a back up, first guy off the bench type. Williams should improve and the Clemson transfer should fill in for Barron, may need another transfer here or you’ll be rolling out some young guys. Honestly no starting position is safe here, all up for grabs. ST, Auburn will be back which is a plus 1
Lobo97 Posted January 2, 2024 Posted January 2, 2024 38 minutes ago, thegreatbambino said: This season exceeded my expectations, they were there until the end with a chance to win. QB, RB, and OL should all be solid next year. WR will be all new unless Mitchell decides to come back. TE with Helm is okay, but they may look to add a transfer here. DL wise you lose 2 really good guys in the middle that will be hard to replace. You have some rotational guys who will need to step up into a bigger role. Hopefully the pass rush will be better to cover that loss in experience. Transfer from UTSA should help there. LB you will lose Ford, but return Hill and Gbenda. Hill should improve with another year under his belt and they are high on the Lefau kid from Hawaii. Might need another transfer here. Secondary, this is the big one. Corners were young, so I look for them to improve, but safety play was atrocious. Taffe is solid as a back up, first guy off the bench type. Williams should improve and the Clemson transfer should fill in for Barron, may need another transfer here or you’ll be rolling out some young guys. Honestly no starting position is safe here, all up for grabs. ST, Auburn will be back which is a plus Ryan Watts was a Sr, and the biggest liability on the team. I thought the entire secondary was the weak link of the team all season, but Sark is also doing alot to improve that through the portal and recruiting. 2
thegreatbambino Posted January 2, 2024 Posted January 2, 2024 34 minutes ago, Lobo97 said: Ryan Watts was a Sr, and the biggest liability on the team. I thought the entire secondary was the weak link of the team all season, but Sark is also doing alot to improve that through the portal and recruiting. Watts could comeback, he has a Covid year. Not sure he will
ANTI Posted January 2, 2024 Posted January 2, 2024 1 hour ago, JustAFan11 said: Blue is by far the fastest RB and biggest homerun threat. Man I get it....people started falling in love with Blue after the Tech game but uh, did Keilan Robinson die or something? He was the fastest RB on the roster. Blue was 2nd but his game is heavily dependent on quickness and elusiveness. Very gifted in both areas. Speed also doesn't automatically mean you're the biggest homerun threat out there. Shoot alot of times, fast RBs don't allow enough time for holes to develop. That was Robinson's problem, although he did lead the team in YPC. Brooks was the most gifted runner on the team this year. It's not the 'funnest' style of running to watch but it got the job done. Baxter has the highest ceiling. RB1 next season if Brooks leaves.
trueblue82 Posted January 3, 2024 Posted January 3, 2024 Congrats to the Longhorn fans on a great season. The SEC is going to be fun to watch next year. 3
JustAFan11 Posted January 3, 2024 Posted January 3, 2024 On 1/2/2024 at 4:55 PM, ANTI said: Man I get it....people started falling in love with Blue after the Tech game but uh, did Keilan Robinson die or something? He was the fastest RB on the roster. Blue was 2nd but his game is heavily dependent on quickness and elusiveness. Very gifted in both areas. Speed also doesn't automatically mean you're the biggest homerun threat out there. Shoot alot of times, fast RBs don't allow enough time for holes to develop. That was Robinson's problem, although he did lead the team in YPC. Brooks was the most gifted runner on the team this year. It's not the 'funnest' style of running to watch but it got the job done. Baxter has the highest ceiling. RB1 next season if Brooks leaves. Robinson broke his hand in bowl practices and had it all wrapped up in a cast last night. He probably would’ve been used more last night had he been able to protect the ball. I love Brooks but I think if he gets a mid round grade he should go and get paid to rehab. The running back room will be stacked next year. . . . Unsurprisingly Xavier Worthy declared for the draft today. IT is reporting that Alfred Collins is expected to return for another year. This would be huge for the dline next season. 1
Red90fly Posted January 3, 2024 Posted January 3, 2024 34 minutes ago, JustAFan11 said: IT is reporting that Alfred Collins is expected to return for another year. This would be huge for the dline next season. I hope the Minnesota transfer stays to. The DL haul for the 24' class is way underrated IMO. January is a monster snd the other two had excellent Sr years in HS. If you ever read the Tigerdroppings recruiting thread, many people on it who have seen him wish LSU would have made a push and tried to take Hills. I'm hoping to see Sydir Mitchell take a big leap this offseason and next year. Hope we can hang on to the Florida DT for the 25' class, that guys film is unreal. 1
thegreatbambino Posted January 3, 2024 Posted January 3, 2024 That’s big getting Collins to stay, seems like things started to click for him this year. 1
Baron Posted January 4, 2024 Author Posted January 4, 2024 On 1/2/2024 at 11:40 AM, ANTI said: Also hope to see Blue in the portal. Honestly, that's what he should explore anyway. Baxter will be back, Brooks returns from injury and the two incoming freshmen RBs will probably jump him. RB room will be too deep for Blue. Honestly this is an ridiculous statement. Blue averaged 6.1 ypc, during the season. Over a yard more than Baxter at 4.8. Brooks will go into the draft. Unfortunately he will have to take a hit on his draft status or wait another without any significant new video on him. He won't be available to go until November next year. On 1/2/2024 at 4:02 PM, Lobo97 said: Ryan Watts was a Sr, and the biggest liability on the team. I thought the entire secondary was the weak link of the team all season, but Sark is also doing alot to improve that through the portal and recruiting. I don't think the secondary was that much of a weak link talent wise other than Jerrin Thompson (lots of bad angles and late reads). I thought the scheme was much more detrimental to the pass defense. Did anyone see any press coverage late in the season? I asked on another board, did we ever blitz or send more than four after Alabama?
thegreatbambino Posted January 4, 2024 Posted January 4, 2024 (edited) 23 minutes ago, Baron said: I don't think the secondary was that much of a weak link talent wise other than Jerrin Thompson (lots of bad angles and late reads). I thought the scheme was much more detrimental to the pass defense. Did anyone see any press coverage late in the season? I asked on another board, did we ever blitz or send more than four after Alabama? I was wondering from someone who has more knowledge than me about the secondary. Was it personnel/players, coaching, scheme? I think I saw somewhere that the reason Texas played off was because they lacked speed at safety. It seemed like the players were in position to make plays, but didn’t play the ball very well. Edited January 4, 2024 by thegreatbambino
KirtFalcon Posted January 4, 2024 Posted January 4, 2024 1 hour ago, thegreatbambino said: I was wondering from someone who has more knowledge than me about the secondary. Was it personnel/players, coaching, scheme? I think I saw somewhere that the reason Texas played off was because they lacked speed at safety. It seemed like the players were in position to make plays, but didn’t play the ball very well. I don't know if the Washington receivers were that good, or the Texas DBs not so good .... Watts was chasing the guys he covered all night long .... sometimes he was in position but a great throw and catch resulted ....
ANTI Posted January 4, 2024 Posted January 4, 2024 3 hours ago, Baron said: Honestly this is an ridiculous statement. Blue averaged 6.1 ypc, during the season. Over a yard more than Baxter at 4.8. Brooks will go into the draft. Unfortunately he will have to take a hit on his draft status or wait another without any significant new video on him. He won't be available to go until November next year. Brooks averaged over 6 YPC and had what, double the amount of carries that Blue had? Not much of it was empty calories either. Robinson led the team in YPC. Baxter did more as a true freshman than any back since, Jamaal Charles? It's not hard to see the trajectory he is on...future 1st/2nd rounder. Blue is a situational back, not a bell cow. There are levels to this.
HearEmaGrowlin Posted January 4, 2024 Posted January 4, 2024 On 1/2/2024 at 8:57 PM, JustAFan11 said: Unsurprisingly Xavier Worthy declared for the draft today. I like Worthy, but then he also frustrates you from time to time, because he refuses to fight for the ball and refuses to hustle to get to a pass he thinks is out of reach.
Hookemhorns88 Posted January 4, 2024 Posted January 4, 2024 8 hours ago, ANTI said: Brooks averaged over 6 YPC and had what, double the amount of carries that Blue had? Not much of it was empty calories either. Robinson led the team in YPC. Baxter did more as a true freshman than any back since, Jamaal Charles? It's not hard to see the trajectory he is on...future 1st/2nd rounder. Blue is a situational back, not a bell cow. There are levels to this. For me, the jury is still out on Baxter. Certainly the potential is there and there are flashes where he runs hard. He did get better with his determination as the year went on but I am a bit concerned with his overall "toughness". I am not sure what his pain management level is. I noticed during the UW game, when he pulled up lame late in the game on the far sideline, one of the coaches was really into his ear as they walked back across the field. From the looks of the expression from the coach he was telling Baxter to "suck it up". 1
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