Roundtable: NFL Draft, Ron Holland, and is David Pierce on the hotseat?

Let’s start out by congratulating Bijan Robinson on being drafted 8th overall by the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL Draft. It snapped a 17-year streak of 1st rounds where an offensive player from the Texan Longhorns was not selected. How do you like Bijan’s fit in Hotlanta?

Daniel Seahorn (@DanielSeahorn) - I like the fit given that Arthur Smith oversaw the offense in Tennessee that featured a devastating run game led by Derrick Henry. If they take that same approach with Bijan, he’s going to get plenty of touches and unlike Henry, he can be featured as a receiver, which opens up another phase of the game for that offense and Desmond Ridder. Kyle Pitts, Drake London, and Bijan Robinson on Sundays in Atlanta? I think I just found my second team to root for.

Gerald Goodridge (@ghgoodridge) - l don’t think there’s a better fit than the offense that got Derrick Henry 4,500 yards and 35 touchdowns in three seasons. Granted, after two 7-10 seasons the Falcons need to get on the right side of .500 for that coach’s system to stay for the long-term. I think on top of the football side of things, Atlanta is a community that Bijan can get involved in and do all of the off-the-field things that truly made us fall in love with him.

Cameron Parker (@camerondparker) - Atlanta could have a really fun offense next year with Desmond Ridder, Bijan, and Kyle Pitts if Arthur Smith ever figures out that Pitts is on the roster. They led the league last year in rushing attempts and would expect that to happen again this year with Bijan and Tyler Allgeier in the backfield. I’m just happy he’s not in Philadelphia.

Four other Longhorns were selected, with a handful of others either signing an undrafted free agent contract or receiving an invite to mini-camp. Which one are you most excited about?

Daniel Seahorn - It’s between Roschon Johnson and DeMarvion Overshown for me. RoJo is going to get a ton of runs from day one and have a legit chance to be the guy early in his career in Chicago, but how can you not move that landing spot for Overshown? An East Texas kid who grew up just two hours away from Dallas, who also has a young kiddo he is looking after is going to get to stay home to begin his NFL career for the team he probably grew up watching on TV. If that doesn’t hit you right in the feels I don’t know what will.

Gerald Goodridge - It’s probably a toss-up between Roschon Johnson and Snacks Coburn for similar reasons. Roschon Johnson is such an incredible human and young man, so I am so hyped to see him in Chicago, especially with a depth chart that should hopefully set up well for him and another Longhorn in the room with him. I loved seeing Snacks getting drafted, especially by a team that will likely be favorites to win a Super Bowl. After the 2021 season, I didn’t think he was going to be a draftable prospect, so to see him come back, improve his stock, and wind up in a really good situation makes me happy. He’s got an opportunity to be on a similar trajectory as Poona Ford, so I’m definitely going to watch a few more Chiefs games this year.

Cameron Parker - This is completely biased as a Dallas Cowboys fan but DeMarvion Overshown. Dan Quinn loves positionless players and DMO is perfect for what Quinn likes to do with hybrid players. A lot of focus is already on Micah Parsons which will allow Overshown to shine and be used all over the field. My unbiased answer is Keondre Coburn in KC.

Right when it looked like the sky wasn’t falling for Rodney Terry, 5-star forward Ron Holland announced his surprise decision to de-commit from Texas. How does this impact Rodney Terry and the Longhorns for next year?

Daniel - Unfortunately it’s going to have a significant impact in the immediate future for RT. Holland was likely going to log a healthy amount of minutes the moment he arrived on campus and it was imperative to keep him on board after losing their other headliner in the class. It’s still possible to salvage the roster to a degree with some additions from the portal, but the margin for error is much thinner now.

Gerald - It’s definitely not a great look. I am not sure what happened with this recruiting class because a few weeks back they looked solid and Texas was going to be good next year. Texas has added a few pieces in the portal thus far and has Dylan Disu set to come back, but it’s hard to replace a kid like Ron Holland. I think I’m still in wait-and-see mode, but things are definitely shaky.

Cameron - Rodney Terry and Texas will be fine. Look at last year's team and try and pinpoint the players who played the biggest minutes for Texas during their Elite Eight run. What do they all have in common? They came from the transfer portal. RT is using the same recipe for next year by grabbing Max Abmas, Kadin Shedrick, Chendall Weaver, and Ze’Rik Onyema. Holland would’ve been a big part of the team but I don’t think it changes the ceiling of this team. We’re in a new age of basketball recruiting and Terry and his staff have adapted to it. This is the future of college basketball until the CBA deal gets fixed and that’s not happening for another seven years.

After being swept by Oklahoma at home two weeks ago, Texas baseball bounced back with a series win on the road against TCU. After dropping to 37th in the RPI, they’re back up to 30th behind West Virginia and Oklahoma State. For those calling for David Pierce to be on the hot seat, is it an overreaction?

Daniel - Absolutely an overreaction. Considering the amount of attrition the baseball program experience on the roster and the coaching staff in the off-season I was expecting this to be a rebuilding year for David Pierce. The fact that they’ve been as competitive as they have been has impressed me and if they find a way to make it to the postseason Pierce should be applauded all things considered.

Gerald - I honestly don’t understand so much of the anti-David Pierce sentiment, because it never really dies down. I know Omaha is the standard for Texas baseball and David Pierce has been there in three of his six seasons and one of the years he didn’t go was due to the NCAA Tournament not happening. So in reality, he’s appeared in the NCAA Tournament in four of five years and gone to Omaha in three of those. We knew this was going to be a rebuilding year with a young team coming on the heels of a record-setting year. I get the frustration around the relief pitching, especially after changing coaches in the offseason, but I think we need to pump the brakes just a bit on calling for his head.

Cameron - Since Pierce was hired, there’s been five college baseball programs that have reached the College World Series three times. Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi State, Texas Tech…and…yes you guessed it…the Texas Longhorns. I won’t have any of that hot seat talk.

While Colorado has lost 18 players to the transfer portal since their spring game, it’s been relatively quiet for Steve Sarkisian with only four players leaving the program. Is that something or nothing?

Daniel - I think it’s something in a good way. Texas has mainly lost guys who were at the bottom of the roster and likely weren’t going to be contributors in the near future. Colorado is obviously in a much different place with Prime just getting there and their roster being so poor, but I feel like Sark and his staff have done a job of doing a balancing act when it comes to maintaining their roster. Things can change in a hurry these days, but so far they have done really well when it comes to managing turnover this off-season.

Gerald - I think it’s emblematic of something Sark said earlier in the offseason in that it finally feels like his team. He came in during his first offseason and said the roster makeup was off and fully pulled off a transformation of both sides of the line of scrimmage. This offseason they seemingly addressed the skill positions in both recruiting and through their portal additions. The roster is where it needs to be for the coaching staff to feel good.

Cameron - I think it’s something. Even Sark was surprised with the small number of guys entering the portal after spring ball but it shows how bought-in players are and that they want to compete for a starting job. There’s a lot of time between now and week 1 so a lot can change but the depth is the best it’s been in quite some time.