The 2010 Texas Football Opening Depth Chart

I wonder if the deal at corner back just means that both curtis and Aaron can play inside whereas Chykie will only play outside. Looks like Kenny V. will play some Nickel too.

To clarify, Calvin Howell has indeed had concussion issues and just suffered his 3rd one. Its not effort, but hes scared of the ramifications of continuing to get them, so he and the staff are taking it slow.

I knew Okafor was cross-training at DT, but to see him listed as the 2nd team DT behind Tyrell Higgins is just bizarre. I would have thought we’d slide Acho inside full-time before doing this.

Buchanan at tackle is news to me.

Chyke is a little strange to me too. What are the chances we open in a nickel?

Something like acho/robertson/brown/brown/williams/scott/gideon across the back seven?

Thanks for posting, Scip. Incredible to see so many freshman on there. I’m glad for it. Any official word if Wood is a tentatively redshirt now? I missed the presser if that was mentioned.

Real glad to hear Darius White will get reps, I saw on twitter that he’ll play Saturday. I really think he’ll be special in a year or two.

I’m surprised by the Okafor move, didn’t see or hear rumor of that. In any event I don’t second guess decisions made on the defensive side of the ball. They seem to know what they’re doing.

Mack commented that they basically see Wilson as a co-starter at DE. Our defensive line rotations are going to be a blitzkrieg.

I noticed the same thing with the listing of Curtis and Chykie. Interesting.

I can’t remember ever being this encouraged by a depth chart.

Are wookies eligible? Don’t see anything in NCAA rules about requirement to be human. Burnt Orange Wookie to RT.

Hornmatic -
 
Yes. That’s likely it. Or we’re base nickel.
 
bighorn -
 
Didn’t know they’d resurfaced again. Man, we have shitty luck at DT.
 
nordberg -
 
They’re just trying to put the best guys on the field. Okafor is a quality player but the emergence of the freshmen DEs allows you to move him down while keeping Acho/Jones in their preferred spots. I like the move.
 
BOW -
 
Wood will redshirt.
 
Yeah, White and Davis will be huge for us in the very near future. I want White engaged this year, even if snaps are tough to come by.

Someone explain to me why Mathews is listed as the starting TE and Greg Smith is listed as the starting H-Back. This seems backwards.

Longhorn Scott -
 
Very encouraged. This depth chart sends all of the right messages.

Scip,

I would like to hear your take regarding Okafor to DT. Do you think it is really the best position for him? Is his upside Justin Tuck here, or is this simply because of our lack of depth at DT and the play of the freshmen forcing this to happen? Are we forcing a round peg in a square hole? I can’t see Muschamp doing this but I gotta wonder. This kid looked like he was a protypical end to me with his frame and long ass arms. What’s your take?

I agree completely on the rest of your assessments.

nordberg -
 
It has been like that for a while.
 
I think it’s for the running game. Smith is a bigger body lead blocker and the coaches must also like him as a chip/protector guy in the passing game. Matthews also makes you keep your safeties honest because he has the speed to get deep over the middle on a clean release. If he’s lined up in the backfield or at wing, a lot of his receiving threat diminishes unless you split him out, in which case – why not just replace him Mike Davis?

To me Case at backup is a move to redshirt Connor because the staff believes he has the bigger upside. Similar to what they did with Hills/Newton.

How fair is this to Okafor? He’s a prototypical DE at the next level. I don’t see how this benefits him. It’s not like he’s a 4-3 DT and a 3-4 DE like Lamarr. Obviously if it’s what’s best for the team you put your head down and do it, I just wonder what he thinks of this.

Eddie Jones is going to wreck shit this year.

you fogot Cade McCrary will start at snapper for 4 years, unless he gets beat out sometime

Mack said Greg daniels and Taylor Bible will play. That’s fine with Taylor but I sure wish Daniels could shirt and put on weight. I guess he and Tevin Mimms will have he same spot on the bench the next 3 years.

Nordberg- It is backwards I think

Really this things are fluid.

In 4 weeks we’ll have someone arguing that so an so is not redshirting cause Mack said so in his game one depth chart

I’m curious to hear your take on our granitic DE/DT as well.

Other surprises:

-No Tevin Mims on the depth chart
-Buchanan at backup RT
-We have 3 CB’s with CB as their initials. Fate.

1. isn’t really a surprise given the young DE talent. #2 isn’t a huge surprise given the Kelley suspension.

To be honest, Connor Wood had been a mild disappointment. I’m certainly not counting on him as the obvious GG heir. But he’s a frosh, so no need to render any final judgments. Second Baptist is probably not the best training ground for picking up a battle-tested hs qb.

The lack of depth at qb is terrifying.

t1climb1 -

It doesn’t matter if it’s the best move for Okafor. It’s the best move for the team.
 
We’re trying to balance these things:
  
1. Acho and Jones are our most explosive pass rushers off of the edge.
2. DT depth is woeful.
3. Okafor is a good all-around DL and he weighs 265 or so.
4. The freshman back-ups are off the charts and demand playing time now.
5. D Johnson at SLB will basically be played as a pass rusher on 80% of downs when he’s in the game
 
They’ve obviously worked Okafor inside for the last week + and he has held up as well as Acho would have. So, if you’re trying to balance all of these other competing interests, it makes sense to move a guy that might be fighting for snaps at DE to a position where he can give you 40 a game.

Anyone know if Howell will play at all against Rice?

UT Wildcatter -
 
I’ve been raving about Daniels for a while now, so we disagree.
 
The Clapper -
 
Connor looks great on paper. My concern with him is that he played against a woeful level of competition, he comes from a wealthy family, and he is Mr Nice Guy. I wonder if he has the necessary edge and desire. Not any one of those things is a big concern, but when you pool them together?
 
bates -
 
We knew going in that our 3rd team DEs would be good, so what’s the surprise? Tevin Mims is a good player at a position stocked with excellent players. And several LBs on the team are excellent natural edge rushers. Ask Alex Okafor what that means.

I thought from the day he faxed his letter of intent that Mims would eventually spin down to tackle. Surprised that hasn’t happened already.

More likely: we’re playing a base nickel. And all three guys start.M

That’s how I interpreted it. Don’t recall seeing an August depth chart with Nickel listed on there before.

Glad to see the increased accountability and trust given to stud frosh and the limited use of OR’s. The ones on there send a message to a starter versus the prior tactic of handing out a biscuit to half the team for trying so dang hard over two-a-days.

I’m noticing everyone is getting hung up on position.
 
That pretty much ignores everything we’ve seen from Muschamp. He’s all about situational personnel groupings. Vaccaro is going to play a lot, the #3 CB is going to play a lot, all our DEs are going to play a lot.
 
And instead of DE, think more broadly in terms of “edge rusher.” That includes DEs and some of our LBs (not to mention a nickelback lined up against the slot).
 
If guys like Acho, Jones, D Johnson and two freshmen are your best pure edge rushers, why on earth wouldn’t Okafor be a multi-purpose tool used to log snaps up and down the DL?
 
D Johnson and Okafor may not technically play the position, but they’re competing for the same minutes/role.

So does all this analysis means I can put a solid 3 figures on Texas to beat the shit out of Rice or not? Thanks to Tim Tebow’s Jesus powers last night, I now have a few coins to play with, and I’m thinking Texas by 200 points at halftime. Too much?

Well, are they?,

I’ll call up Mack and see. Always willing to do what I can for the team.

Good point Scip regarding Muschamp’s situational groupings.

One other thing that I’m excited about this year and I haven’t seen it discussed much, is that this is the 3rd year for a lot of these guys in Muschamp’s system. I expect this year to see even more exotic blitz packages, especially involving EAcho.

Mack switched Matthews and Greg Smith after the spring game. The reason was that Matthews looked so good catching the ball and getting YAC and has the speed to get deep. Mack said that there are a lot more pass receiving opportunities for a TE than an H back in the horns’ O. Obviously, you can also split out Matthews to have another speedy WR without changing personnel. This is a big deal when running the hurry up. The horns will be running a lot of hurry up this season (though they may not be in a hurry when they do so).

Last season, Greg Smith typically was responsible for solo blocking the DE on his side of the field so he wasn’t available as a receiving target. Probably they don’t take that approach with Matthews since he is a bit smaller than Smith. Probably Matthews will chip block the DE and then make himself available as a pass receiver. This gives Gilbert an extra easy target for safety valve passes, a target who is good at getting YAC.

Howell’s concussions are a big concern and probably the biggest reason Okafor moved to DT. Okafor is at 265 already. Might want to not play Howell except against strong rushing teams.

Mack is losing 2 (and maybe 3) elite CBs after this season. He has to play the kid CBs this season to get them ready for next season.

Whaley’s decision to switch to H back has paid immediate dividends: he is already on the 2 deep as a redshirt freshman

t1climb1-
 
E Acho is best at taking a gap and run blitzing. He’s not a traditional plug and shed MLB. So you’re absolutely right.

^exactly, that’s why Matthews is starting TE. In the Double TE offense (at least the old Gibbs-redskins version) the H-back is more of a blocker and the TE is more of a downfield receiver, though obviously each one does both.

Hopkins, Porter and Ashcraft make a very nice inside O-line group. Throw in Mason Walters and Kelly and suddenly the oline next year looks very good and has way more upside than the starters this year. Acho to MLB is an interesting move. He is a very smart kid and may be the right guy to call an increasingly complex defense. I hope Okafor doesnt want to transfer but he gets off of blocks very well and will be quite adequate at the small tackle spot. Barrett Matthews is an animal and adds a dimension last years team did not have.

Arriviste -
 
Exactly. I think everyone is thrown off by this because the only H-Back most people are familiar with today is in the NFL – Chris Cooley of the Redskins – who is a pass receiving threat.
 
Our H-back is from the Joe Gibbs style, except without the outstanding OL talent, committed schemes, and coaching. Ha.

It’s probably also memories of Frank Wycheck who at least nominally played the H-back role in college and with the Skins. The original H-back in the Gibbs years was Don Warren, who mostly blocked, and who I remember most for being a terrible option in Tecmo Bowl.

Also consider that Okafor has another year in the program over some of the talent at DE. He is very strong at POA and is better suited to interior play.

No surprises on the OL. Hopkins is listed at OG and Buchanan, surprisingly, is listed at OT. That may be reflective of the Paden Kelly suspension and will change post-Rice. Dominic Espinosa is backing up at the other guard spot with Ashcraft. Mild surprise. The coaches will decide whether to shirt him or not as the season progresses.

There’s no trick to it! It’s just a simple trick!

I don’t think Okafor is as technically outstanding as an edge rusher, but is excellent maintaining position against the run. This makes him the best candidate to be a backup DT, and if he adds 15-20 (which I think he can do without giving up too much) he is a real solid 5 tech candidate on the next level. 5 techs are hard to find, and that might make him some money.

Okafor is good against the run, but hasn’t really developed as a pass rusher. If he can add the weight, moving to tackle makes sense for his pro prospects as well.

and The General completely steals my thunder

Muschamp: We want to change the momentum of the game and we want to do that by explosive plays and creating turnovers. http://twitter.com/MBTexasFootball/status/22544926260

Scipio Tex: There are three ways to stop an offense – stone them completely and force a punt, inflict negative plays in the running and passing game and force them out of their regular offense, or turn them over. We’re going to do a lot of the latter two. http://barkingcarnival.fantake.com/2010/08/13/longhorn-football-practice-report-2-full-pads/

Hat tip.

/base nickel sounds good to me.

I’m shocked by Okafor’s move to defensive tackle. I know the coaches used to envision him as an explosive end weighing about 280 when they recruited him so I could see that guy logging some time at DE/DT in Muschamp’s scheme even though his weight isn’t that high yet. In a lot of his snaps last year he did look Acho-adept at holding position in the running game, his first big play as a Longhorn involved shedding a blocker and blowing up an outside run.

Nevertheless I didn’t expect him get supplanted so quickly as edge rusher. It may be that his overall talent and skill makes him like Emmanuel in that he has value at many places but isn’t the pure edge guy that Jeffcoat is.

At any rate this defense is so loaded with athletes and you know that Muschamp is going to use all the speed and versatility to blow everyone up with stunts, negative plays, and reliance on Randall’s classical plugging skills. Again, his 2-gap abilities really help open up the rest of the defense for all these speed shenanigans.

Kinda disappointing to see M. Williams listed as co-starter with a guy who has like 1/7 his natural ability, no?

I think Former Horn Terry Orr played a fair amount of H-Back with the Skins as well.

Buchanon was recruited as an OT and at the time was thought to have the feet/mobility to play the position in college. Maybe he just needed time to develop?

The question I have on Okafor is whether or not he’d still be a DE if we had a surefire 2nd DT. Just from last year he seemed more like Crowder (who probably plays DT for Muschamp) than Orakpo.

We’ve reached the point at DE were 1 or 2 were going to have to spin down to get snaps, or we might be facing a transfer. S. Acho future is now, at DE, so it makes sense they would take the younger player with the ability to put on good weight and move him down. Hence your Okafor at DT. Will he get steam rolled occasionally this season? Sure, but we don’t have any other options, and he’ll learn on the fly, and could be an impact player next season.

I’d be floored if we didn’t move S. Acho inside as well on clear passing downs to give Kheeston a rest and do the “all DE” look.

I can see Reggie/jeffcoat, SAcho, okafor, and e jones on obvious passing downs. With pass rushing ability of the linebackers, it will be the mother of all zone blitzes.

redshirt bonfire

Matthews/Smith – this reflects Smith knowing the playbook better. Matthews missed some time during camp. He already knew the TE position from Spring.

Okafor – this about getting your 11 best on the field. I wouldnt read any more into it.

McCoy/Wood – Wood wanted to redshirt, at least that’s what he said when he signed. For him, separation from GG is good.

My biggest concern, and I’m very hesitant to even mention this, is the temptation for the less scrupulous coaches amongst our conference brethren to illegally chop Randall. He’s so important to our defense in so many different ways.

Wide receiver concerns me as we do not (at least from our perspective) have a go-to guy. We’ve all been hoping that M. Williams was the guy, but the 2008 Tech games seems to have been the high point so far. Maybe Chiles is going to be awesome. Maybe Kirk will catch a ball in traffic. Maybe a freshman (or two) will step up. Or…maybe we’ll actually be able to run the ball and use the TE.

Looking around, it seems that Howell suffered his third concussion in practice recently,and this is the reason for falling to third on the depth chart. I hope this doesn’t become a career ending issue because losing him would be a pretty big loss to the defense, especially when facing OU and NU.

Thank god we’ve got legit linebackers this year, which should help strengthen the middle of the defense.

We’re starting our best 3 athletes at LB

OK, I can die happy now.

If Okafor can keep his pad level down against guards the way he does against tackles and TE’s, then there should be little worry about him as a DE.

I’m intrigued by the TE/H-back/Fullback set of positions, as well as how those groups will interact with the tailback spot. To review:

Tight End (Y) 89 Barrett Matthews | 85 Ahmard Howard
H-Back 83 Greg Smith | 21 Chris Whaley
Fullback 41 Jamison Berryhill OR 30 Ryan Roberson
Tailback 31 Cody Johnson | 28 Fozzy Whittaker OR 23 Tre’ Newton

I’m still trying to conceive of how those pieces will fit together in the scheme both overall and situationally. Does the jumbo package now have a fullback instead of a converted DT?

Apart from scheme, attitude has been great. I was pretty impressed with Berryhill’s effort during practice. I watched him in an Oklahoma drill where he knocked a defender on his back after the OL stood the DL up. He got wrapped up, but stretched it out to cross the line. At the time, I was simply impressed with the fact that I’d seen more effort out of the 2’s and non-starters that I have for the past several years. I think it speaks to the overall morale of the team, and it makes your starters better. As bad ass as Kenny Vaccaro is, I saw Luke Poehlmann demonstrate that he was not impressed on one play, taking Vaccaro off of his feet with a vicious pop. John Chiles, who has been accused of giving up on plays or “sulking”, looks like a guy with a new lease on life. The palpable aggression of this team is very, very pleasing. I am still surprised however, since the staff has traditionally rewarded experience over intensity in many cases. I expected Muschamp’s D to have broken that cycle, but it’s nice to see the Offense name a few “first off the bus” guys with a spot on the depth chart. I really, really like the seemingly pervasive attitude of this whole group, and I think it will make for some really aggressive and fun to watch football.

I think that whoever said that Texas D will look like a full time fire drill this season summed it up nicely. I don’t know if Texas football as a whole will appear that way, but I do get the feeling we’re somehow doing a better job of allowing natural aggression to focus comprehension instead of worrying how it might cloud it.

as a DT, rather.

you fogot Cade McCrary will start at snapper for 4 years, unless he gets beat out sometime

It shows Cade McCrary as the holder on FGs and PATs, and Greg Smith as the deep snapper on same.

Zumberge is the deep snapper on punts.

“you fogot Cade McCrary will start at snapper for 4 years”

We may disagree but we should never resort to name calling..

Is Sally knitting Chris Jones a teensy-weensy red shirt? Coulda swore I saw that dude taking pot shots at a Blackhawk..

Some need to relax on Okafor’s “move to DT.” Remember we are playing an inferior spread team with the newly released depth chart. This is not a team that will look to challenge Texas with their abilty to control the point of attack. Hence, the role Okafor plays best will be minimized by the strengths of the opponent.

If we see Okafor listed as the #2 DT when we face UCLA, OU, are the ‘Huskers, then there is more to this than simply putting your best DLs on the field. However, I doubt we’ll see that come to pass.

Happy overall.

I do think the decision to deploy Captain Kirk was a mistake and won’t last. I don’t care how seductive he was in practice; in the real game, he will baste his fingers with liquid butter and drop every perfectly-floated Gilbert ball he possibly can.

This year will be Malcolm’s time in the sun.

Whaley — seeing that name annoys me. It’s just too… apt. Much work needed to redeem himself. I guess he could sit in the end zone and tilt the field, thus making literal the Texas downhill running game.

Really, really looking forward to seeing the Munroe/Goodwin combination on kickoffs. Can’t imagine any FBS team can match them.

Also very curious if Chiles will pan out in accordance with his newfound conditioning.

You want to play on Sunday, JC? This is it. Put on your gameface and be the messiah your initials suggest.

So regarding our lack of depth at qb and my lack of knowledge when it comes to our OL:

Who is going to rip opposing cheap shot artists heads off and spit down their throat a la Sendlein? Cause you know Garrett has a huge target on his back. I think it was last season around when we played Neb that someone pointed out on here none of our OL seemed to have that mean streak. I was wondering if that had changed.

I’m curious though, if adding some weight might also allow Okafor to play as an end in a 3-4 scheme at the next level. Might have to add a little more weight though. Those guys typically check in pretty heavy.

It’s not Whaley’s fault that he grew out of the position. It was more about genetics than laziness.

Muschamp’s influence is increasingly apparent in terms of fluidity WRT nominal positions, intensity/aggression over seniority, and putting the best players on the field. Agree with Scip and Longhorn Scott that this is very good.

I am mildly surprised/interested to see how Dravanti Johnson plays at the Buck!

Very pleased to see Mason Walter’s starting. Somebody said he plays like someone on the defense stole from him.

I know Frank Wycheck and Greg Smith is no Frank Wycheck. Wycheck was athletic, had good wheels and great hands. Twice he caught 70 balls in the league and had eight seasons with 40 or more catches. He played over 10 years total. He also had a few things in common with Brian Cushing, so let’s not get carried away with the Greg Smith comparisons.

He didn’t compare him to Frank Wycheck. He was, in fact, mentioning Wycheck as an example of a false comparison.

With our depth isses at DT & QB, abd our desire to play youth, especially the DBs, we need to take early & solid leads. No slow starts.

With early leads we can unleash the DEs, save the DTs, plus get experience for 2nd QB and younger DBs. Maybe even work on our running game, snicker snicker.

Anyone else surprised to notice that E. Acho has only 2 career starts?

Fullback 41 Jamison Berryhill
H-Back 83 Greg Smith
Tight End (Y) 89 Barrett Matthews

One can only hope that Greg Davis is spending days thinking about how to fully utilize these 3 playmakers in his double-eagle-flex-h-back/TE-full-of-burnt-orange scheme.

“Who is going to rip opposing cheap shot artists heads off and spit down their throat a la Sendlein? "

Reports are that Mason Walters has that nasty streak.

Interesting that with all the angst and discussion over Okafor moving inside for this game there is one comment that I must have missed that I was almost certain someone would have said by now. With the influx of the younger players and shifting around I can not recall a Mack Brown defense ever having this much speed and athleticism spread across the two deep.

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