The Longhorn football team received some bad news on Tuesday evening at a position that was already depleted by the recent transfer of Darius Terrell:
RT @ESPNHornsNation: Miles Onyegbule tears pec muscle. Out through August. Was to play H back and some receiver. #Hookem #Longhorns
— Wescott Eberts (@SBN_Wescott) April 25, 2012
The younger brother of Maxwell Onyegbule, who put on roughly 60 pounds while at Kansas, the sophomore H-back/receiver was slated to make a permanent-ish move to H-back after he struggled during the spring to stay around 230 pounds.
With limited experience at the position, it was unclear how much of an impact Onyegbule could make there and he may have ended up working mostly as an inside receiver, but he was known as one of the better blocking receivers for Texas as a freshman, so a quick adjustment to H-back was not out of the question.
Unless he somehow recovers at an insanely fast rate, the Arlington product will miss fall practice, but could be back in time for the opener. While that's positive news in regard to possibly being able to play most if not all of the 2012 season, any player making a position change desperately needs those reps in fall practice.
Any incoming freshman could be in line to take them from Oneygbule -- Beaumont West Brook defensive Caleb Bluiett. There have been rumblings ever since his commitment more than a year ago that Bluiett could play some tight end and after seeing him play linebacker in 7-on-7, there's no question that Bluiett has the speed to be an asset at the position. He also showed the ability at the International Bowl to quickly translate the teachings of his coaches to his practice reps, so he could have a steep learning curve at tight end.
Will it happen? It's not yet clear, but it is clear that the Longhorns will be short on numbers at H-back during fall practice, not a good sign for an offense that will likely play a tight end and an H-back on the majority of snaps in 2012.