Final Open Practice

by Horn Brain on Aug 8, 2008 12:52 AM CDT in Football

Thanks to texasfan05 for yesterday's report and RolloTamasi for his take on today's practice.

Pleasantries now dispensed with, nothing could have been more boring than the unit drills (that I could see, defense practices a the end of the big field farthest from the crowd). I got a good look at the some of the offensive linemen drilling early on, from which I could only glean the fact that the young guys are just big ol' teddy bears that want to be loved, while the older guys appear to be capable of tearing their dinner from the thigh of a live water buffalo. That was the boring part.

The exciting part happened when the full teams got together. Instantly I mentally jotted down the starting D and the skill player from the offense. The left side of the O-line was obscured by the massiveness that is our DL, but I managed to get most of them. I'll list the roster by position, starters first, followed by notable backups.

Offense today was: Linemen: RT: Kyle Hix RG: Cedric Dockery C: Chris Hall LG: Big Dude LT: Other Big Dude

The line looked pretty good today. Pass protection for Colt was satisfactory, considering the freaks that were lining up at DE. More on them later. Run blocking looked good, and we opened up some nice holes for both Vondrell and Fozzy.

Receivers: TE: Blaine Irby, Josh Marshall and/or Ian Harris SE: James Kirkendoll, MALCOLM WILLIAMS, I guess Buckner and Webber, but meh. F: Shipley, Phillip Payne, John Chiles Slot: Cosby, Collins, Two really skinny dudes

The receiving corps is not the big disastrous conglomerate of hopeless nobodies you might expect from what you've heard. Cosby and Shipley will continue to give us solid contributions (though I still don't know what everyone's talking about with this "Jordan Shipley is The Truth" crap. He's good. He is not the Great White Hope. He's just good.) Shipley makes great quick cuts after the catch and Cosby has hopefully added the deep ball to his resume. Quan laid out for a perfectly-placed lob from Colt to grab the best catch award and possibly the loudest cheer of the night from the crowd. He had his man (unknown, sorry, it was exciting) beat by about a step.

Apart from the knowns, you've got several candidates for split end, with Montre Webber and Dan Buckner not looking quite as ready as today's starter James Kirkendoll and my projected starting SE, Malcolm Williams. I guess Malcolm just had that extra bit of readiness about him that I picked up on. He had a nice catch and run down the sideline that he ran a great route to receive in the first place. To me, this sounds better than Cap'n Kirk's TD from yesterday, but I'll have to defer to those present. Brandon Collins doesn't look far from filling in for Quan competently, and Phillip Payne looked like a speedy TE out there.

Speaking of TEs, we're going to be just fine there after this year, if my thoughts after tonight are correct. Irby still needs some work before he enters the realm of being compared to Dave Thomas, but Josh Marshall and Ian Harris are well within the realm of being compared to Jermichael Finley. Both had some good catches and runs thereafter, with Josh showing off a little more simply because he had more snaps on second team. The guys are big and they look good, surely one of them will step up.

Backfield: QB: Colt, Chiles RB: Vondrell, Fozzy, Chris O, Cody Johnson (FB)

Don't worry about the QB controversy. Colt is the best QB by a mile. His decisions are quick and usually smart, his arm didn't show a lack of strength (I didn't notice any receivers waiting on balls, and he had the aforementioned beautiful deep toss to Quan for a "TD"), and he showed mobility in the backfield at the appropriate time, less happy feet and more evading real pressure. Chiles is not going to solve your problems in the passing game. Though he may have strung together a few nice comps, he also consistently underthrows anything more than 20 yards or so out. The first pick he threw (to Earl Thomas, madman) would have landed about 6-10 feet in front of his intended receiver, and just looked bad from the beginning. The second pick was just a jump ball he lobbed up to Montre Webber who got manhandled by Curtis Brown and never had a chance at it. He won't be passing us out of any holes any time soon. Chiles also took quite a long time making decisions, as noted by others. Overall, I think he's on track to become a competent passer (all we'll need with those legs) by the time he'll be needed significantly, but don't wait for him this year.

Your running backs will be fine. With Vondrell McGee bowling over Earl Thomas after an 8 yard chunk (Thomas hung on, so yay! Everyone wins! But seriously, flat on his back) between finding nice big lanes to speed through and Fozzy outrunning Aaron Williams all the way to the endzone, I think we'll find someone to cover for Jamaal. Cody Johnson looked really good catch passes, especially when he got a head of steam. The big ol' kid really likes to hit defensive backs, I say let him, it looks fun.

Starting Defense today (and I would venture, your starting 4-3 version of the D) was: Line (From the defense's POV): LE: Henry Melton, EDDIE JONES, SAM ACHO LT: Miller, Ben Alexander RT: Houston (wearing #33, hmmm), Aaron Lewis (an all DE tackle spot... hmmm again) RE: Brian "In your kitchen, making a sandwich" Orakpo

Eddie Jones was constantly threatening our depth at QB, but luckily he paid attention to the black jerseys and saved the University some hospital bills for Mr. Chiles. Sam Acho was all over the field, even following Chiles 15 yards after a scramble to strip the ball for the defense, which promptly congratulated him with a stream of profanities not even suitable for Oscar-winning actors. It really is a lot of fun watching these guys get excited about everything. The offense would cheer the big plays and the defense was happy to rub their faces in each turnover with lots of noise. This DL, if it stays healthy, should bring down lots of noise from DKR this year.

Linebackers: OLB: Muckelroy MLB: Bobino, Norton OLB: Kindle, Keenan Robinson

Standard operating procedure applies here. Bobino beats out Norton, which actually would make sense if you saw Norton try to cover a receiver in a zone. Keenan Robinson has the frame, but needs to add some pounds to contribute effectively from his looks. Kindle is The Truth.

DBs: CB: Deon Beasley (From Freaksville, TX), Curtis Brown LS: Ben Wells, Blake Gideon RS: Earl Thomas, Christian "Stop yelling at me" Scott, Ishie Oduegwu CB: Palmer, Aaron Williams (not in a good way)

The starting four looked solid, with maybe a Gideon/Wells switch to come, judging from the amount of PT Gideon got here. Oduegwu can be a good backup, he likes to hit. Christian Scott got yelled at quite a bit, as did Aaron Williams, who got burned by Quan slipping a tackle as he caught a low pass and generally showed unimpressive stuff. Curtis Brown absolutely manhandled Montre Webber down the sidelines to snag an easy John Chiles prayer for an INT. I'm excited about this group for next year.

So, what do we know now? Well, not much. But I would bet you that the final starting D isn't much different from the one listed above, and the same goes for the starting offense. Switch Williams for Cap'n Kirk and that's my starting offense. I think the offense looks good enough to support the defense and give them some rest this year, and the running game could come in handy at times if GD remembers it. The defense looks to have a threatening pass rush and linebackers that could patrol the nightmares of the likes of Graham Harrell and Chase Daniel, hell, maybe even Sam Bradford. The secondary will be young, but the talent is definitely there for them to erase their mistakes with a few big plays and timely turnovers. Basically, I just saw my first hour or so of live football in about 6 months, and I guarantee you I'm more "JACKED" than any of our players looked to you other practice reporters about this season getting under way. I'm also very sleepy. Goodnight. Maybe I'll talk a little about the triple option from the two-back shotgun formation tomorrow. If I like you.

[Note by Horn Brain, 08/08/08 11:04 PM CDT ] I guess I don't like you guys as much as I thought. Kidding, I just have to move into my new place this weekend, and we haven't dealt with the cable people yet. I should also mention that I have completely failed at estimating how much time I'd have this summer. Sorry to all of you who expected me to go stat-crazy, but my job ended up taking much more out of my day than I expected, and I never really got settled in anywhere moving place to place to avoid having to find an apartment for 2.5 months. Wah, I know, but them's your breakfast. Hopefully I can crank out something more on what I saw at practice tomorrow.

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Nice report

Thanks, HB.

Most exciting thing about this team has to be the ridiculous defensive line, which I think greases every other wheel in the machine. Hiding young safeties is a hell of a lot easier when you’re not leaving ‘em on an island because you think blitzing is your best/only hope to disrupt the QB.

--PB--

by PB @ BON on Aug 8, 2008 2:23 AM CDT 0 recs

young safeties

another thing that protects the safeties is the fantastic man-coverage we’re using. All the highly touted Big12 QB’s are going to have nightmares trying to fit balls in against Beasley, Thomas and the Browns. I would like to see Curtis Brown replace Ryan Palmer, but nonetheless our coverage will be excellent.

by RolloTamasi on Aug 8, 2008 8:40 AM CDT up 0 recs

The issue:

We have allegedly had an amazing defensive line for as long as i can remember, but other than in 2005 when we had a phenomenal secondary, i don’t remember them ever creating a ton of pressure against good teams since Casey Hampton and Shaun Rogers were the DTs. We all raved about our D-line last year and they were great at stopping the run, but they couldn’t get any pressure on the QB, even with a LB blitzing. And yes, I know all Bobino did was just run into the O-line and get trapped, but shouldn’t his presence at least have given Lokey or Okam a little leverage to get to the QB?

D-Line is an annual disappointment to me, except that one time we had a legitimate secondary that could shut down the first option in the opponent’s passing game.

by billyzane on Aug 8, 2008 9:53 AM CDT up 0 recs

DT's

Houston is a waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better pass rusher than Okam and Lokey. Okam and Lokey were known to take plays off, thats why Okam got drafted so low. Miller is as good as Okam and better than Lokey. Orakpo is healthy this year, and Jones, Acho, and Melton are another year older.

by Longhorns84 on Aug 8, 2008 10:50 AM CDT up 0 recs

it wasn't just okam and lokey

it’s a pattern that goes beyond just individual players. it was rod wright and marcus tubbs and a few others too.

by billyzane on Aug 8, 2008 10:59 AM CDT up 0 recs

previous DT's

We haven’t had tackles with the emphasis on speed like this year. Having one Tubbs, Okam or Lokey is fantastic but multiple 300 lb. tackles is a bit much.
Also, the D-Line will have more time to get to the QB with better coverage this year.

by RolloTamasi on Aug 8, 2008 11:01 AM CDT up 0 recs

It has to be a matter of coaching philosphy

The athletes in question have generally been excellent, and often turned into fairly capable pass rushers in the more difficult pro game.

I couldn’t say whether it was a previous lack of emphasis on pass rush technique, explosive strength training, or a strict responsibility to ensure the gap was plugged over charging upfield (surely it was on occasion, but that can’t account for all of it) . It may have been a simple matter of motivation, in the case of a guy like Okam. In any case, I’m turning the D-line issues back on the coaches.

by learned hand on Aug 8, 2008 11:18 AM CDT up 0 recs

I can't back this up but

I’ve always been of the opinion that Mack doesn’t let the D-line go after the QB immediately. He wants to make sure they stop the run, play contain, then if the opportunity arises, chase down the QB. So despite the speed, talent etc, the D-line’s focus hasn’t been on making sacks. Conservative way to play. Bad? Not necessarily, thats why nobody can run on us. But its also part of the reason everybody throws on us.

by owenh on Aug 8, 2008 4:37 PM CDT up 0 recs

this is a very good observation,

one I’ve long wondered about as well. I believe Texas’ primary defensive concept, whether Mack was masterminding it or one of his (too) many coordinators over the past 5-6 seasons, was a play-it-safe style.
Here’s they way I think he (and, by extension, his defensive coaches) have been thinking: We have a talent edge at most positions against even pretty good teams, so we’ll play a kind of contain, rubberband, defense. Sooner or later, we’ll win one of our personnel mismatches, stuff the ballcarrier, strip the receiver, make a full-tilt hit and force a turnover.
There’s a certain logic to this, if indeed you have those mismatches. Except that - among other things - it means the Horns execute a fairly predictable defensive game plan. Offensive play-callers eat that stuff up.

by edsp on Aug 8, 2008 8:03 PM CDT up 0 recs

DC philosophy

I don’t know that it’s Mack as much as he lets his DC’s dictate the defense’s strategy. Reese, Robinson, Chizik, Akina, and now Muschamp. I forget who mentioned it, but maybe it was Okam that said that Reese allowed the DL to go after them, Robinson had them play contain to funnel the play to the LB’s or S’s make the tackle, Chizik let them go after them but also had containment as his concern, Akina let them go after it along with the LB’s but you could see it coming a mile away, Muschamp? He’s seems to high on attacking.

DE’s…is Oscar Giles still the DE’s coach? I thought one of the reasons he was brought in was to develop the pass rush from the DE’s. Albeit there have been several significant injuries at DE and until this season we’ve been thin at DE, but I can’t say that I’ve seen much come about since his hiring.

Hook'em

by longhorns1 on Aug 9, 2008 3:56 AM CDT up 0 recs

I seriously doubt Mack dictates defensive scheme to that extent

I think he brings in coordinators, and lets them do their job.

If I had to guess, I’d bet he’s more involved in the offense than the defense.

by Beergut on Aug 9, 2008 8:27 PM CDT up 0 recs

Brown was brought

in as a defense oriented coach. As for him sitting back and let the DC do their thing, ya its possible.

by owenh on Aug 9, 2008 11:36 PM CDT up 0 recs

Sweet

It seems like we have so much talent at every position on Defense, minus DT, that we are gonna be set for a long time.

I’m so freaking psyched for the season!

I heard FAU thinks that they have a chance.

THE WORLD DOES NOT KNOW WHAT’S ABOUT TO HIT THEM.

KINDLE, HOUSTON, ORAKPO, MELTON, JONES, ACHO, MILLER, THOMAS, SCOTT, WELLS, BEASLEY, PALMER, CU BROWN, CH BROWN, WILLIAMS, ROBINSON, BOBINO, MUCKELROY, GIDEON…... and that’s just the defense…...

by texasfan05 on Aug 8, 2008 2:33 AM CDT 0 recs

Florida Atlantic

HAHA, they’re getting excited thinking they have a chance, and I’m already waiting for Chiles snaps.

I should take a break from reading BON…I’m getting so stoked you’d think it was January 2006.

Representing the Longhorn greatness in the cold Northeast.

by DKR-is-home on Aug 8, 2008 2:22 PM CDT up 0 recs

Chykie Brown???

Where was he? Unless I missed it, I can’t find his name mentioned anywhere. Is he healthy?

by Misterserious7 on Aug 8, 2008 7:15 AM CDT 0 recs

Chykie

He is fully healthy. Right now, he’s second team corner behind Ryan Palmer and has been impressive. From what I’ve heard, all the corners are playing bigtime football right now.

Everyone is talking about Sam Acho and how he’s basically living in the offensive backfield. I’m glad to hear he’s doing so well. He was one of the players I was most looking forward to seeing.

I can’t wait to see this defense in a game, even against someone like FAU. If they’re as jacked up as people are saying they are against their own teammates, I can only imagine how they’re going to wreck shop against guys they really don’t like, Sooner and Aggie being #1 and #2 on that list.

by bassale47 on Aug 8, 2008 7:44 AM CDT up 0 recs

Chykie

I had the same question because the original post didn’t include him in the depth chart. From some other reports he is the #3 CB right now, ahead of Curtis Brown and Aaron Williams.

by Horncasting on Aug 8, 2008 9:15 AM CDT up 0 recs

Cody Johnson

How did his weight look? I’ve been every bit as excited about seeing him with the ball as I was able McGee and Whittaker, although now it looks like he’s moved to FB for good. Reports last year had him coming in out of shape, mainly because of an injury he suffered in high school.

I’m hoping we can get something out of him similar to what we got from Ivan Williams when he finally came back from injury his senior year.

by Horncasting on Aug 8, 2008 9:20 AM CDT 0 recs

Johnson

He looks good. Probably a bit heavy but he moved really well. He ran over some guys after a catch and was included in the triple-option series and in the off-set I-Formation packages. With Antwan Cobb hurt, Luke Tiemann less than exceptional, and Derek Lokey graduated I think Cody Johnson could see the field a ton in 08.

by RolloTamasi on Aug 8, 2008 9:29 AM CDT up 0 recs

Thanks!

by Horncasting on Aug 8, 2008 9:55 AM CDT 0 recs

great D, bad O; good O bad D?

Based on the three reports, the line protected Colt and opened holes for the RB’s yet Kindle, Orakpo, and Acho are described as being “always in the backfield,” or “the Truth.”

In the spring game, the D was clearly way ahead of the offense, but now I can’t tell. It sounded like the offense got better on the second day.

Is the offense only making plays against the second and thrid-team guys (like Aaron Williams)? Is the defense dominating only against the second and third-team offense. I know the first teams don’t really match up that often, but you can still tell whether the offense is “in sync.”

Edify me, please!! We’re having September weather here in New York, and I keep dreaming about Fozzy Whittaker taking a screen pass to the House every other night.

by burnt in ny on Aug 8, 2008 9:58 AM CDT 0 recs

Good D

I thought the D came out ahead in the 2nd practice. They get into the backfield quickly and are smothering our receivers.
The running game does look good and featured some of the only victories for the offense. We have a diverse running game and great blocking. We saw some nice yards after catch on short passes but overall the defense was pretty stifling.

by RolloTamasi on Aug 8, 2008 10:07 AM CDT up 0 recs

It was just an overall positive.

Everyone looks pretty good right now. I say the running game looked good because the O-line was getting some holes opened up for our guys, not because our backs were especially impressive, though they were. Without real tackling, you can’t tell whether Fozzy is going to be brought down or if he slipped through a guy. From a pass-perspective, our guys are playing high level football with Colt in there. Colt looks like he’s doing a good job getting rid of the ball, getting some yards and not putting us in a hole where we can’t rely on the running game. Everyone is quick to gripe about Colt only throwing short stuff, but then if he airs it out repeatedly and the inevitable interception occurs, he’s disaster Colt from ‘07, so don’t bother yourself with someone complaining about dinking and dunking. When Colt did take a big shot at the zone, he threw a perfect bomb to Cosby, so it’s not like that’s not a part of the game, it’s just silly to try and throw a TD on every play against this secondary. They may be inexperienced, but that doesn’t slow them down when you leave that ball hanging up there forever. Let someone else try that and we’ll turn them into ‘07 Colt. D Good, O Good. All Good. We’re going to win some games, guys.

by Horn Brain on Aug 8, 2008 10:42 AM CDT up 0 recs

now thats what I like to hear!

by Longhorns84 on Aug 8, 2008 11:03 AM CDT up 0 recs

spring/open practices

I’m sure they aren’t showing all the plays on both sides, and they aren’t even in full pads yet.

by Longhorns84 on Aug 8, 2008 10:59 AM CDT up 0 recs

Remember, they are not in full pads yet

They have only been working out in shoulder pads the last two days, and that puts the offensive line at a disadvantage. Today, they will be in full pads for the first time so everyone can really go all out.

I think there are positives on both sides, but there seem to be a lot more positives on the defensive side. However, considering the conference we play in, that’s a good thing. OU and Missouri have elite offenses. Tech has a gimmick offense but one that is capable of big points. Kansas will probably be able to score a lot of points. We do not want to get into shootouts with those teams. Will Muschamp’s defenses generally hold teams to 18 points or less. If he can accomplish that here in ‘08, Colt McCoy and the rest of the offense can be average and we’ll still win 10 games.

by bassale47 on Aug 8, 2008 11:53 AM CDT up 0 recs

the defense

always has an advantage in practice/scrimmages, because they always have an idea of what plays their teams are going to run.

by Longhorns84 on Aug 8, 2008 4:16 PM CDT up 0 recs

"Everyone is quick to gripe about Colt only throwing short stuff"

Guilty as charged. If I sound negative then sorry. I love the team and I love the kids playing for us, and I was exceedingly excited I got to watch them practice the last couple of days.

HB I agree w/ you that tossing bombs every down is not what Colt should be doing, but I dont think the only two options in the passing game are “throw really short” and “throw really long.” I think there is room for an intermediate passing game, between 5-20 yards, and I dont remember seeing much of that at practice. Which makes me a little nervous, because I dont remember seeing much of it last year either.

Cody Johnson looks like a beast. I couldn’t believe how huge he was close up.

BZ talked about being diappointed by the DLine hype for the last few years, and I agree with that. This years DL, and defense in general, looks like it’s geared towards stopping spread offenses. The linemen are all quick but undersized pass rushers. Other teams might try to run on them, but I think Muck and Kindle (and Norton) are good enough to shut it down. And our rotation of espn150 defensive backs should take away just about anybody’s reciever corps.

My guess is that we will win games with defense more than with offense.

by DogTown on Aug 8, 2008 11:26 AM CDT 0 recs

I think I oversimplified...

Yes, obviously there is more to passing than 5 yards and 50 yards. As Dan Fouts said, Colt is not a “one speed thrower”. Colt had some great completions to the mid-range you mentioned. Specifically, Malcolm William’s awesome work’n’catch’n’run was on about a 10 yard (vertical) completion. I think people don’t notice much of the intermediate stuff because it’s not frustrating (short) or awesome (deep), and usually carries some YAC potential with it, which gets it chalked up to the receiver in the viewer’s mind. If Colt was hitting guys 10 yards out who immediately got drilled, people would think he had a solid intermediate game, but his receivers would probably hate him for not giving them the ball with room to run (and avoid being teed off on by the secondary). In rugby, we call that a hospital pass, and no one likes it. Since we’re throwing the ball backwards, there’s no point in doing it, while in football you get yardage from it, making it worth doing (and sometimes necessary, if the defense is on your ass), but it’s always better to get your receiver the ball in space than in jeopardy.

Side note: When the QBs were warming up with the WRs on deep balls, I tried to notice whenever a receiver had to slow down to make the catch (bad). I would rank the warm ups (no DBs): Harris, McCoy, Chiles. Anyone who complains about Colt’s deep ball does not want Chiles in there. When you add a pass rush and DBs, however, Colt’s your guy. Harris needs more snaps, we’re absolutely wasting him with this 5 snaps in practice crap.

by Horn Brain on Aug 8, 2008 11:47 AM CDT up 0 recs

deep balls

who cares about deep balls? The NFL doesn’t throw many deep balls either. Teams just use the deep ball to catch the defense sleeping. If Texas can steadily move the ball, the deep ball will come.

by Longhorns84 on Aug 8, 2008 2:04 PM CDT up 0 recs

Can someone explain to me...

Why Chiles is so clearly favored over Harris? Watching Chiles pass just during warmups wasn’t exactly awe-inspiring, while Harris had tight, crisp passes. Obviously, he doesn’t perform as well under pressure as Colt, but I had a hard time separating Chiles’ performance from Harris’ when they were scrimmaging. Harris seems to run close to as well as Chiles but is a significantly better passer. I couldn’t really separate their decision making much.

Bottom line to me: From what I’ve seen, Chiles and Harris should be at least be splitting reps. Sure, Chiles’ talent is wasted if he’s not on the field, but Harris seems pretty damn talented himself. I think having Chiles at 2nd team QB rather than 3rd (which would give him more opportunities to be on the field in other roles) wastes both of their talents. Especially with Gilbert coming next season.

by jw4425 on Aug 8, 2008 11:58 AM CDT 0 recs

I've wondered the same thing

I think it’s probably based mostly on potential. Chiles has been horribly inconsistent but the general consensus seems to be that he’s the better athlete of the two and that if you have to choose between two young, inexperienced quarterbacks, you go with the one who has more upside.

But I think last year, it was too obvious that Chiles was not going to pass the ball when he was in the game. And I don’t think you can continuously put in a QB who is not comfortable throwing the ball. At some point, even an average defense will figure it out. So if we get to the first game and it’s clear Chiles cannot consistently make the throws he needs to make, then he better be paying major dividends as a WR/RB or I see no reason not to give Harris a shot.

by bassale47 on Aug 8, 2008 12:32 PM CDT up 0 recs

I agree

That I think potential is why Chiles is 2nd string, but with Gilbert coming next season and having a year to develop behind Colt (who will still be starting in 2009 as well), I still feel we’re wasting time with an incredibly raw product. Chiles wouldn’t be starting at QB until his senior season, which just looks dumb in the long-term to me. There’s a pretty good shot Gilbert will be the top QB by that point, and we will have largely wasted Chiles’ talent for 4 years.

by jw4425 on Aug 8, 2008 3:00 PM CDT up 0 recs

Chiles

will probably have the same role when Gilbert gets here, except he will be dominating the slash position. Gilbert will be the starting QB when Colt is gone.

by Longhorns84 on Aug 8, 2008 4:20 PM CDT up 0 recs

Do you think Gilbert will redshirt?

Lets see Gilbert gets here available to play in 09-10, probably redshirts. Chiles will be a junior, Colt a senior (starting). 2010-11, Colt’s gone, Chiles is a senior, Harris a senior, Gilbert is a redshirt freshman. I doubt Chiles (or Harris for that matter) wouldn’t get the nod over a redshirt freshman. Chiles or Harris will start, Gilbert might be #2, but I doubt he’ll step on campus and just take over.

It is a shame to see there will only be a year between the McCoy and Gilbert eras for chiles. But who knows. We speculating about years from now.

by owenh on Aug 8, 2008 4:50 PM CDT up 0 recs

Chiles

might not even be a QB when Gilbert gets here. I think it depends on the success of the slash role. I think Gilbert might play next year to get some snaps, so we don’t have a freshman qb starting again (if Chiles the qb doesn’t work out).

by Longhorns84 on Aug 8, 2008 5:31 PM CDT up 0 recs

Hypothethical

Any chance that the rumor was actually true and was thwarted because Mac promised to keep him at QB instead of a WR/RB?

by JMCG on Aug 8, 2008 1:41 PM CDT up 0 recs

On one of the news shows last night

they had Chiles saying he wants to be considered a QB. He’d do the other, but he ultimately wants to be the QB. And that sounded a little hollow to me after watching yesterday’s practice.

by whills on Aug 8, 2008 11:17 PM CDT up 0 recs

Chiles

can play QB, RB, and WR. Chiles is more athletic, and talented. They might be close as far as throwing the football, but Chiles is ahead on everything else. Mack obviously likes Chiles more, so the Harris lovers might as well drop it!

by Longhorns84 on Aug 8, 2008 2:06 PM CDT up 0 recs

Kinda...

Except I don’t think they’re close on throwing. I think Harris is clearly the better passer, and that they’re pretty close athletically. Harris has made some great plays with his feet in practices and the spring games, IMO.

by jw4425 on Aug 8, 2008 2:10 PM CDT up 0 recs

against..

2nd and 3rd teams..According to the observations, Chiles looked better on the 1st day, and Harris looked better on the second day. In the end, Chiles is a way better athlete.

by Longhorns84 on Aug 8, 2008 4:23 PM CDT up 0 recs

way better athlete?

I think Harris’ athleticism is sold short by a lot of people. Chiles might have an edge, but Harris is pretty damn impressive.

by jw4425 on Aug 8, 2008 4:51 PM CDT up 0 recs

Well you have to be decisive

They need to choose “their guy”. There’s not a whole lot of seperation between the two, and while Chiles isn’t clearly better, Sherrod isn’t making a great case for himself either. By the way Mack emphasizes Chiles position as #2, it seems some promises have been made behind the scenes. Regardless I give the edge to Chiles. But I’d like to see what Sherrod is capable of.

btw Anyone else think Chiles looks stocky?

by owenh on Aug 8, 2008 5:01 PM CDT up 0 recs

Chiles is stocky

and is still one of the faster people on the team!

by Longhorns84 on Aug 9, 2008 12:13 AM CDT up 0 recs

yeah..waaay better

I don’t think Harris could play at Texas as a WR or a RB. Chiles can pretty much do whatever he wants. Harris is a good athlete, or else he wouldn’t be playin at Texas.

by Longhorns84 on Aug 9, 2008 12:11 AM CDT up 0 recs

dunno

it seems he may be a bit more athletic, but i don’t see that he’s more talented.

by crocodile235 on Aug 8, 2008 2:14 PM CDT up 0 recs

its hard to tell

because all he’s really played is QB so far. Lets wait and see what happens this year.

by Longhorns84 on Aug 8, 2008 4:24 PM CDT up 0 recs

He does look more athletic

but I don’t see that much of an edge.

After who is more athletic, there are two more questions which should be asked:

Who is the better football player?

Who is the better QB?

That’s three different questions altogether.

And while Chiles might be more athletic on first glance, the second question might be a draw but the third doesn’t necessarily follow the first two.

I’ve seen little in either two years of practices and spring games as well as regular games to determine that much difference. The only thing I see is that Chiles can be great runner in space with an edge on Sherrod and many other Horn runners. But when you add in the other skills sets, I don’t see an edge. Didn’t see it last night, either.

by whills on Aug 8, 2008 11:26 PM CDT up 0 recs

I agree,

but that little edge is what puts him in front. Chiles may never start as a QB, but will play A LOT of downs in his college career at several positions.

by Longhorns84 on Aug 9, 2008 12:15 AM CDT up 0 recs

Future setup

I’ve been wondering the same thing. Everyone seems to point that Harris is the better passer. It may be that the coaches are trying to develop Chiles as the slasher. Even after Colt graduates after 2009 season, that would leave Chiles in the slasher position and Harris the QB with redshirt sophomore Gilbert taking significant snaps to get some experience and take over the 2011 season as a redshirt junior. This also gives all the QB’s a chance to play, develop, and stay relatively happy while maximizing eligibility. Part of the problem may be in getting Chiles to buy into the slasher role and give up QB. Unless he shows better passing skills, his future in the NFL won’t be QB.

Hook'em

by longhorns1 on Aug 9, 2008 4:30 AM CDT up 0 recs

Can't count

I meant Harris as starting QB with redshirt freshman Gilbert taking significant back snaps during the 2010 season and taking over in the 2011 season as a redshirt sophomore, hence still having 3 years of eligibility as a starting QB.

Hook'em

by longhorns1 on Aug 9, 2008 4:42 AM CDT up 0 recs

Gilbert

will start either as a RS freshman, or a soph. He has better passing ability than Chiles or Harris right now, and he’s still in high school. I think they are going to want a QB to pick up right where Colt left off.

by Longhorns84 on Aug 9, 2008 12:22 PM CDT up 0 recs

My thoughts

Here are my observations of the two practices:

For the first 15-20 minutes they played a generic rap beat over the sound system that included choice AI quotes. Greatness. Did anyone else notice this?
Kirkendoll seems to be the #3 receiver followed closely by Williams and Collins.
Chiles took ~20 snaps at WR, however, none of his routes were more than 5 yards downfield. He also, motioned into the backfield a few times.
Quan and Shipley were the only players fielding punts.
The punters suck. Including the two on scholarship.
Buckner still seems, to me, like he is getting used to his body. No doubt he is athletic, just some moves seem awkward. He also has a tendency to turn towards the ball on almost every throw instead of catching it over his shoulder and running through it.
Watching #4 (A. Williams) defend #4 (Buckner) is going to be fun over the next 4 years.
Payne is one of the most athletic receivers, behind Williams, but has the worst hands of the WRs.
They ran something similar to this. Basically a two-back set with a zone read option goin one way and an option pitch going the other way. I noticed Chiles and Williams motion into the backfield to to be the pitch receiver for this play.
I did notice Orakpo with the first team and Acho with the second line up without their hand on the ground. I don’t know if this reflects a 3-4 as I didn’t see either of them drop into coverage once.
The starting safeties were Wells and Thomas. When they went to nickel, Scott took Thomas’ spot at safety and Thomas moved down to be the third CB. Hopefully this says something of his coverage skills.

Keep in mind We talkin’ bout practice.

TX HOCKEY: Are you a current player?

www.texasicehockey.com

by Navin R. Johnson on Aug 8, 2008 12:37 PM CDT 0 recs

That second reference site was very interesting.

ChrisApplewhite’s plays had some merit. Thanks for that.

The stand up DEs might be for teams with mammoth offensive lines, like Texas Tech, who are so large they won’t do many outside screens because they aren’t too mobile. (Tech projection across the front: 6-6, 329; 6-7, 374; 6-3, 287; 6-6, 335; 6-7, 314.) If they’re down and set, a stand-up DE is a little less visible, esp. if an LB comes up close to the LOS.

So the DEs can keep their eye on the QB a little easier and move a little quicker in any direction in lieu of directly engaging the OL. I just got the feeling this was an adaptation for spread teams and could cause a little confusion.

by whills on Aug 9, 2008 1:10 PM CDT up 0 recs