By Josh Austin, Recruiting Writer
Speed has become a huge part of Mack Brown's Longhorn teams. Both the offensive and defensive schemes rely heavily on pure speed. We have seen many burners come through Austin, and incoming recruit Deon Beasley fits that mold. The 5'10" "Athlete from Orange" will be wearing Burnt Orange next season.
If you would have looked at recruiting profiles 10 years ago, you wouldn't have seen a position listing for athlete. We used to try to shoehorn these guys into a traditional football position. Today's game has evolved to the point we see these players making plays from all over the field. Like Quan Cosby last year, Beasley comes in looking to get some snaps in a very talented offense. In fact. Cosby and Beasley are similar in build. Beasley goes 5'10", 160. Yes...160 lbs. Like every other recruit, give him time with Mad-Dog. He could be 180 by the summer. The most important number is his 40 speed...a nice round 4.4.
At Orange HS, Beasley mostly lined up as a WR, splitting time as a flanker and slot receiver. Ideally, Beasley is a Ted Ginn type player. He may only catch 2 or 3 passes, but he might return 3 or 4 kicks and get a couple of carries. With the loss of Jerrell "He My Baby Daddy" Wilkerson, Beasley could get a chance to contribute early by returning kicks. The rest is really up to him. Mack is not afraid to play freshmen who make plays in practice. If Beasley can contribute on the practice field, his odds of getting snaps with the first team offense increases. Obviously, Texas is very deep at WR, so Beasley could be a redshirt. Those who saw the Army All-American game immediately saw the connection between Beasley and QB Jevan Snead. The more reps these guys get together, the better that connection will get. This could be a big play combo for the Horns for the next few years.
--JA--