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Morning Coffee Goes Pro

Horns_bullet_mediumTexas Pro Day stocks. The Longhorns held their annual Pro Day for scouts ($) (and Packers GM Ted Thompson) on Wednesday, an important day for players looking to improve on their NFL Combine results (Ryan Palmer) or players who weren't invited to the Combine (Henry Melton).

  • Stock Rising: Henry Melton. The former Texas running back probably worked his way into the top half of the NFL Draft (fourth or fifth round) with his extremely impressive showing at the Texas Pro Day -- perhaps not the most impressive of the group, as Roy Miller and Brian Orakpo both allayed concerns, but Melton was the player who made himself the most money, running a 4.58 40 at 268 pounds (instead of the normal 225) and posting a 36.5-inch vertical. That raw athleticism, combined with his lack of experience at the defensive end position gives Melton a considerable amount of potential. As HenryJames notes, that 40 time makes Melton faster than the OU safeties.
  • Stock Rising: Quan Cosby. Though Cosby stuck with 4.57 40 from the Combine, he did perform extremely well in the passing drills, once regaining his feet to make a catch that IT's Ross Lucksinger compared to the David Thomas catch in the Rose Bowl. With his ability to use his body to shield defenders, his amazing hands, and leaping ability, Cosby won't be kept out of the league by his size, but the lack of upside will probably hurt him, as what you see is what you get with the "elderly" Mart product and former minor league baseball player.
  • Stock Rising: Roy Miller. Height has always been the concerns pro scouts have about Miller, but he did answer the questions he could -- running a 4.8 40 after a 4.98 at the Combine, while still adding 23 pounds since the end of the football season. His strength and first step helped Miller solidified his position in the middle rounds. 
  • Stock Holding: Brian Orakpo. There wasn't much to prove for Rak that he didn't at the NFL Combine, considering his 4.7 40, 11-foot broad jump, and 31 reps at 261 pounds. Orakpo stuck with those numbers, but showed well in position drills and proved the health of his knees, essentially answering all the questions scouts had about him and making him a top-10 lock come April and possibly as high as five, a pick held by the Cleveland Browns, who play a 3-4 defense.
  • Stock Holding: Chris Ogbonnaya. OG ran a predictably mediocre 4.65 at the Combine and stuck with that number and worked at the positions he played at Texas (wide receiver, running back, and fullback). His versatility may land him a chance at the next level in the role he excelled at during his last season at Texas -- third-down specialist. He's probably a free agent pick up.
  • Stock Holding: Rashad Bobino. Everyone's least favorite linebacker (at least after Scott Derry and Robert Killebrew left) ran the slow 40 expected of him -- 4.7, but managed to turn in a remarkable 4.18 shuttle time that would have been second-best among linebackers at the NFL Combine. Adding his kamikaze tendencies and slow straight-line speed to his lack of height essentially eliminates him from NFL consideration, which isn't exactly a surprise. I would be greatly surprised if he latched on with a team even as a free agent. But I guess he bled for the program and stuff, so there's that.
  • Stock Holding: Ryan Palmer. Like Roy Miller, Palmer couldn't answer his biggest question mark -- size. At only 5-8, it doesn't mater much that Palmer ran a 4.53 40, much better than his 4.62 at the Combine, or that he can jump 36.5 inches in the air while standing still -- he's just too small. As the only thing separating him from some serious cash money, Palmer must wake up every morning and curse the cruel fate that dealt him a short deck.
  • Stock Falling: Aaron Lewis. For a player uninvited to the Combine and on the extreme margins of NFL talent, Aaron Lewis needed a strong performance on Wednesday. Due to hip and hamstring injuries, Lewis wasn't able to run a 40, but completed the shuttle in 4.45 seconds. Lewis will have to get healthy and make a strong impression at tryouts after the draft to make an NFL roster.
  • Post-college attendees. Texas players who completed their eligibility in the fall weren't the only participants on Wednesday. Former walk-on and track athlete Joe Davis worked out at wide receiver, perhaps giving himself a shot at landing a free agent opportunity with his 6-5 frame , while Eric Hall and former Texas receiver Myron Hardy worked out as well. Last year former Texas quarterback James Brown was pulled from the crowd to throw to the receivers, but this year it was native Texan and former Iowa quarterback Drew Tate and Austin resident Jeff Blake who did the honors.

Star-divide

Horns_bullet_mediumD-Money names UT the favorite. Forth Worth Dunbar receiver Darius White, aka D-Money, currently has a27 offers from the best programs in the country, but there is one that stands above the rest ($) -- Texas. An Austin trip with his mom and brothers is in store for the spring game, while White says that his mom is advising him to take his time with the process. Considering the statements White made in the fall sounding like he was a lock to commit early, the trip seems to be about establishing a comfort level with the program for his mother, much like Reggie Wilson's trip last week that culminated in news of commitment shortly thereafter. If White's mother gives her stamp of approval at the spring game, White could be the 22nd commitment in the class, as many BONizens believe.


Horns_bullet_mediumMack Brown speaks. In his first press conference since before Spring Break, Mack Brown spoke about his team and the work left to be done.
  • Brown confirmed that DJ Grant did sprain his ankle, but disagreed with trainer Kenny Boyd's assessment that Grant would not participate in the remainder of spring practice, with Brown calling him day-to-day.
  • After horrible kick coverage last season, Brown says they are working harder on that than they have before.
  • Fozzy Whittaker is quickly developing a reputation as injury-prone and "tweaked" his ankle during the first part of spring practice.
  • In other injury notes, early enrollee defensive end Dominique Jones won't practice this spring, but fellow early enrollee Kenny Vaccaro is participating in individual workouts.
  • The coaches are no longer worried about the weight of 250-pound Cody Johnson, instead focusing on his body fat percentage, with Brown commenting that the staff doesn't want him weak from only eating salads.
  • Perhaps the most interesting news is that Ben Alexander has lost weight and is playing impressively. Of course, that leads to speculation that Alexander has looked good because Kheeston Randall hasn't, but it would greatly help the defensive tackle rotation if Alexander could have a breakout senior season, particularly against a team like Oklahoma State that runs the ball well.
Horns_bullet_mediumMatthews down to two. Good news for Longhorn fans on Wednesday, as offensive lineman Jake Matthews told Burnt Orange Beat that he narrowed his list to two schools ($): Texas and Texas A&M. He's planning on visiting both schools soon, though he hasn't scheduled a visit to Texas as he has with the Aggies, with whom he has a higher level of comfort, partly due to his brother's attendance. Seemingly tired of the process, Matthews says that he will likely commit before having a chance to visit OU or USC, who haven't been completely eliminated, it seems.

Matthews will try to make it down to Texas in an effort to develop a higher level of comfort, likely for a practice or the spring game, which will be an extremely important visit. It doesn't seem like recruits have had problems getting comfortable in Austin or with the Texas coaching staff, so expect Texas to close the gap with the Aggies when Matthews does take his visit.

Horns_bullet_mediumWilson speaks, articulately. There might not be a Texas recruit in the history of the program with as interesting a story as Haltom defensive end Reggie Wilson. On Tuesday, at a news conference held in his school library, Wilson made the official announcement of his commitment to Texas. Wilson's maturity and perspective have always shown through in his previous interviews, but his new conference and appearance on "The Drive" clearly demonstrated how remarkably articulate he is ($) for a young man. Wilson sounded off on a number of topics during his interview, including the impact his trip to campus made on his family:
When we got on the campus my mom and dad and brother fell in love with the campus. And the things they offer in the business school and me telling my dad I wanted to major in business. Them being a top five business school in the country and all those things. My mom and my brothers were like yeah I think this is the right school for you.
For Wilson and his family, the considerations went beyond the campus or facilities -- older brother Winston wanted to know what would happen if Reggie got injured:
A major concern was that if he gets out of here and he's in Austin and playing football and he gets a season ending injury, what happens to his scholarship? That was basically what our concern was. And we were told 'Look if Reggie commits to us now, we guarantee him four years of academic scholarship. It's there. The athletic scholarship is there and it's going to be there. We are not going to take it from him.' So basically that was the biggest concern. My parents were concerned about that and I was concerned about that. So it was a snap of a finger to give them a commitment because they satisfactorily answered all of the questions we had.

A concern with Wilson talking about moving back to the Ivory Coast after his football career is that he might leave early for the NFL to have money to send back more quickly. Wilson tried to allay those concerns on Tuesday:

Some players decide to go to the NFL but I'm not one of those people who are going to the NFL [early]. I'm going to go the four years to get my degree. That's the plan I have and I'm not going to change it. You all can look forward to me playing four years of football there.

Finally, Wilson gave insight into the way that Texas coaches deal with blue-chip talent, developing personal relations that may last past the recruiting process, even if the player attends another school:

They're great people, I felt comfortable with them - coach Giles, coach Tolly, every one of them. I feel those are people who are going to be there for me regardless of football, football being there or not. And that's what really drew me closer to them.

Coach Tolly was the main one who got my attention. This is one thing coach Tolly told me, this is the main thing that got my attention, 'If you come to the University or if you don't come here I'll always be your biggest fan.' That really touched me to know that he liked me as a person and not just because I was a top recruit in the state of Texas or the nation, but he liked me as an individual.

Wilson will certainly represent the University of Texas in the best possible way and it will be interesting to hear more interviews with him later, though Mack Brown may well indoctrinate him before anything interesting comes out of his mouth while at Texas.  

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awesome post, so we’re now looking at the possibility of both d white and matthews possibly commiting during the spring game? jake’s gotta look at A&M and their preparation of their players for the NFL and have to pass on them.. things are looking great for the good guys.

by Displaced Longhorn on Mar 26, 2009 8:17 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

I saw an article that listed Lewis as having run the 40, but not a very good one (5.00 or so).

Orakpo’s draft stock “ceiling” isn’t #5…lots of talk about the Chiefs at #3, which would put him at sort of a Derrick Thomas-like Falcon position (hybrid rush OLB and rush end in a hybrid 3-4/4-3 defense).

by burntorangehorn on Mar 26, 2009 8:31 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

While I fully recognize the fact that college football is infinitely superior to the NFL, the Chiefs are by far my favorite NFL team. I almost put my head through the ceiling when KC drafted Derrick Johnson.

by burntorangehorn on Mar 27, 2009 8:37 AM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

Reggie Wilson

I heard that interview on The Drive, and he was very impressive. After the first question I was ready to change the station due to a generic response. I was thinking it would all be stuff I’ve heard before from any recruit. But I stuck with it and it paid off. He’s very bright, and knows he’s fortunate to be in the position he’s in now considering where he comes from. He realizes that playing football very well may be his career, and not just something to do for fun, and he treats it accordingly. Very mature.

by BigTexBD on Mar 26, 2009 8:49 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

That's good news

For a while, I was thinking that Roy Miller had just an outside shot at getting into the draft and Melton had a very slim chance, if any. It looks like both really increased the likelihood they’ll get drafted, getting better pay than they would as UFAs.

by TheElusiveShadow on Mar 26, 2009 9:27 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

Great stuff about Wilson.

Sounds like a cool, grounded kid. Glad he’s a Longhorn.

by ctex80 on Mar 26, 2009 10:05 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

Miller

Is the 23 lbs. he added good weight or bad weight? Either way, a 4.8 is impressive.

In one of the articles they showed him doing drills without his shirt on and he looked much leaner that I thought he would.

by Horncasting on Mar 26, 2009 11:23 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

It looks like good weight.

I saw a picture of him running and he looked fit, but another picture where he’s standing he looks like he has a bit of a gut, but nothing that suggests he put on weight in the midsection since the season. He’s in good condition.

by GhostofBigRoy on Mar 26, 2009 4:57 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

23 lbs in that amount of time (2 months since football ended?) for someone that old/developed who’s already been in the gym for a while (years of off season training) is not what i would call … normal. Body builders do that pretty frequently, but I can’t think of any other group that does.

by UT_BKC on Mar 26, 2009 12:03 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

For a guy like Aaron Maybin, who gained 20+lbs. since looking like a linebacker at the combine, and still looks super-lean, I agree. For a guy who hovers around 300lbs. anyway, it’s a much smaller difference, especially considering that he obviously has a lot of flexibility in terms of body fat—something Maybin does not.

by burntorangehorn on Mar 26, 2009 12:29 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

actually i'm 25, from january to feb i put on 20 lbs just by a regular gym routine

they lift during the season, but they also have school and games to play
once the season is over it’s solely training
these are people that are working towards a pay check
sun up to sun down for two months has been spent trying to get a job
23 lbs is not unreasonable

by abcdmetrius on Mar 26, 2009 7:54 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

Yeah, but you haven’t been playing football for the last 8 years and lifting with a highly paid S/C coach for the last 4. I know what it’s like to put in 4+ hours a day in the gym or on the field. 23 lbs in 2 months is pretty crazy for anyone who has been in a program like UT’s for 4 years.

by UT_BKC on Mar 27, 2009 5:18 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

Guys like Miller often lose weight during the season. He plays a lot of reps every game, and in-season conditioning can make a guy shed weight. Happens to lots of guys. Happened to Everette Brown.

by burntorangehorn on Mar 27, 2009 6:44 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

As noted by Doc Saturday, the guy's on a 4,800 calorie diet

He’s also not exactly Lance Armstrong when it comes to cardio work. Of that 23 lbs, a not insubstantial portion is queso. But he can still run a 4.8 and is one of the strongest players in the draft, so I’m guessing that won’t hurt his draft stock

proud to swim home

by learned hand on Mar 27, 2009 6:58 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

Exactly. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having a lot of extra weight if a guy can still perform. Look at guys like Casey Hampton and Tony Siragusa.

by burntorangehorn on Mar 28, 2009 5:41 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

No word on Dockery?

Seems like he’s had a strange career, almost Bill Walker-esque. If he was able to leave after his sophomore season, he’d be tossed around the draft mix based on major potential. Two seasons with Texas later, and he’s apparently just an average college guard. Weird.

by jc25 on Mar 26, 2009 1:20 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

Sorry about that.

He ran a 5.3 and the scouts didn’t pay him a lot of attention during his drills, as they were watching the defensive ends practice. Too bad for Dockery, but I don’t see him being drafted and he’s probably a long shot to land on a roster. Not sure what happened with him.

by GhostofBigRoy on Mar 26, 2009 4:59 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

Miller

a 300+ pound guy isn’t out of shape if he runs a 4.8 40….If he is, then I’m sure a lot of 300+ pounders would want to be out of shape.

by Longhorns84 on Mar 26, 2009 2:58 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

Yeah, he’s not exactly trim, but the guy is very strong and moves very well at that weight. I thought he was in line for a late-round pick (maybe 4th-6th), but he could move up into the third or fourth.

I’m glad for Melton. He changed positions, so it was kind of hard for him to make himself known soon enough to gain a reputation as a good power end, but these kinds of workouts let guys like Henry show what they can do. On potential alone he’s probably draftable, but I think these kinds of workouts probably bumped him up a round or two from where I thought he’d go.

by burntorangehorn on Mar 26, 2009 3:27 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

I'm not sure where...

….you got your numbers for Henry Melton, but they’re not accurate.

NFL.com, AA-S and Barking Carnival all report the following: "Texas defensive end Brian Orakpo ran a 4.70 at the combine, and teammate Henry Melton ran a 4.64 and 4.66 today at Texas’ pro day workout. Melton also had a 34 1/2″ vertical. "

--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---

by HornChamps on Mar 26, 2009 4:19 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

With 3 sources reporting ......

……numbers invalidating those from young green-pea RossL. of Inside Texas, perhaps using those from nfl.com would be a more accurate means of reporting.

--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---

by HornChamps on Mar 30, 2009 9:48 AM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

OMG! I'm happy to .......

……have Reggie Wilson’s commitment, but good gosh! How naive of him to fall for Tollison’s line. If I’ve heard one recruit repeat that exact same line, I’ve heard it from at least 50! All around the country, there are staffs using the same line year after year.
=============
Coach Tolly was the main one who got my attention. This is one thing coach Tolly told me, this is the main thing that got my attention, ‘If you come to the University or if you don’t come here I’ll always be your biggest fan.’
=============

Good thing we got to him early, as he’d have certainly heard repeats from at least 10 other staffs around the country.

--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---

by HornChamps on Mar 26, 2009 4:50 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

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