Evaluating The 2012 Texas Longhorn Recruiting Class: Quarterback, Running Back, Kicker

I never get tired of watching Johnathan Gray run. He might employ the most economical and efficient motion I’ve ever seen in a running back, and I mean that as high praise. He just seems to operate so effortlessly.

And you’ve gotta love the last line on that second video. Hook ’em, baby.

Euclidean and truncheon in the same post? I now down and gaze up at you with wonderment and awe.

Thought y’all signed two QBs?

Mike,

Why are you still here? Shouldn’t you be infecting the Ole Miss board now?

Thanks Scip. A comment and a question.

As the highlight package shows, Euclid (“father of geometry”) is an appropriate reference for Gray given his use of angles to exploit his power and speed. Well played. Good also to include the second clip discussing his personal qualities—maturity, unselfishness, good teammate. This is a Mack Brown kid.

Are you counting Jalen Overstreet as an athlete rather than a QB?

If you’re going to call Overstreet an ATH, I am think you’re selling his QB skills short.

Jalen is the sleeper recruit this year, and I think he buys us time. At least.

I thought that it was interesting that Mack talked about Jalen’s cracked knuckle on his throwing hand that he had last year. Jalen may turn out to be a better thrower than he looked on his senior film.

Scipio - These writeups you’re doing are just fantastic. Thanks for taking the time to do these. It’s much appreciated.

I certainly share what reservations you have about Brewer, and probably have a few more than you. I think a big part of it is just being gun shy about our evaluation of QBs (especially true passers) after the GG fiasco. I suspect the events of the last couple of years have made us jaded to the point that a QB would have to look like the 2nd coming of Dan Marino before there would be more confidence than fears. I guess I’m just in a “prove it” state of mind with Brewer because I’m not going to be convinced until I see it.

I assume the absence of Overstreet from this means that you’re writing these with players slotted where you think they’ll end up in the longterm and not where they start out. I think that makes sense with a lot of guys, but I wonder if it’s premature with Jalen. I think there might be more there with him than a lot of people are giving credit. My reservations about Brewer have me hoping the staff gives him a legitimate shot at QB and keep an open mind. Lest we forget, if RGIII had come here he’d never have gotten a legitimate chance either.

Thanks again for the great work and all the time and effort for our enjoyment.

The Frank Deford dig was much appreciated. “In the hushed tones of a morning, Player X strives to find the right bal…..” Oh shut the fuck up, and move on to Marketplace for god’s sake.

I tend to view kicker’s like QB’s: You take one every year, and let competition work itself out. If a random dude from Anderson or SLC wants to walk on, pledge SAE, and generally enjoy the college experience, bonus. Might turn out to be something useful down the line.

“Gray is a Euclidean Terrorist who blows up angles, lulls tacklers into false security with shoulder and hip set-ups that the camera barely registers, and then explodes into daylight like Andy Dufresne bursting from the sewer pipe in Shawshank.”

Could be the best line you’ve ever written!

Fair analysis of Brewer. In my opinion many of our fans have had unrealistic expectations of what Brewer will deliver both short & long term.

“Gray is a Euclidean Terrorist who blows up angles, lulls tacklers into false security with shoulder and hip set-ups that the camera barely registers, and then explodes into daylight like Andy Dufresne bursting from the sewer pipe in Shawshank.”

slow clap on that one, especially “Euclidean Terrorist who blows up angles.”

please tell me you earn some $$$ in the “real” world writing?

I guess I’m the only one who finds Gray’s highlights boring. They all end the same way; there’s no suspense.

Great runners are defined by their vision. By the time a defender would reach VY, they’d been set up to miss for 4 or 5 steps.

BTW I sat next to Frank DeFord on a cross country flight. I recognized him but pretended I didn’t. The more wine he drank the more I thought I was sitting next to the bullshit professr in “Back to School”. Only the MG was missing.

Here’s hoping that Gray will turn out like Emmitt Smith and just keep on doing it at every level without any one characteristic that sets him apart. He can be key in the passing game as Emmitt was when necessary for the Cowboys.

Some guys get it naturally. Just a game of tackle the man with the football for running backs and pitch and catch for the receivers and QB’s.

Gray makes it looks so freaking easy you’re left asking why aren’t more backs scoring td’s? Because they can’t.

That’s the first extensive clip of JG that I’ve seen. It was something of a shock to see later in the film that he can actually be tackled from time to time. Mostly, it was like watching Vince Young—he doesn’t look like he’s trying that hard, but somehow nobody can touch him. Kid’s got avoidance radar.
And now from the sublime to the ridiculous: Those are some mighty pretty TD runs, but can he get us a first down when we need it? [Or, put another way, from my earlier (fantasy) life: “That Ursula Andress is all that and more, but can she make a decent cup of coffee?”]

Anyway, kid seems to be on an RGIII plane of head-screwed-on straightness.

Brewer , I assume, is Harsin’s hand-picked QB of choice to run his offense.
I trust Harsin, I trust Applewhite.
I trust that Brewer will be just right. (Clap Clap)

Thanks for the write-up. We’s starvin’ in the off season. When’s the first game again?….(groan).

lurker, this vid of johnathan in a real head-knocker will allay your concerns regarding his play when the going is tough:

Great writeups! I think that being burnt recently by high expectations are tempering our excitement for Brewer and even Gray. However, past events are not a predictor of future performance says Etrade. Gray will be a wildcat/3rd to start, but he could dominate as the number one straight out of the gate. I think people are lulled to sleep by the numbers, but since I majored in Math at UT, they aren’t fazing me. Gray could be the best back out of Texas in 20, 30 years, maybe ever.

I know everyone loves Peterson, myself included. But I think Gray is going to find similar success right away and take less abusive hits. He doesn’t have that kind of speed and he doesn’t run so upright. But man, if I had to design a RB in a lab, it would be Gray. Perfect game and build and attitude and all around skill imo. At first I was just hoping for a suitable replacement for Fozzy, no small task btw, and then I woke up and paid attention. I haven’t been this excited for a recruit since VY. Seriously.

And Brewer could develop into a dominate college player. Yes he is a little raw. Yes he is not dominate physically. But 43 and 5??? That shows me he can play very controlled and within a system. That, with his insane for high school accuracy, is going to pay big time under Harsin. I expect him to be a better Kellen Moore. It’s not fair to compare him to Colt and VY, two QBs that should have won the Heisman. However, he could very well be a finalist for it after all is said and done.

Again this is all conjecture and what ifs, as it always is with recruits. However, the potential is there for both of them. And if either pans out the way I think they could, we would all be very happy. Great day to be a Horn.

Some of you with a ‘wait and see attitude’ must be pretty special indeed. I certainly wish that I was perfect at everything I attempted.

Imagine, a high school kid who busted his butt to recruit kids for us, hand-picked by Harsin to run his offensive scheme, had a not so stellar game in an All-Star game with an elite D-lineman teeing off on him at every opportunity, AND the kid had a sub-par game. Whoa, certainly sounds like a huge red flag to me.

It’s either that or that defenses have a much easier time putting up highlight films with a week of practice. Is the correct answer behind door #1 or door #2?

Sheesh!

It is it still cool to be a glass half-full Longhorn fan based on the results the prior staff? Is reasoning based on results of the prior staff sound or faulty?

Hook ’em!

And while I was writing that treatise, my twitter blew up with 22 comments on Raulerson committing for 2013. The good times keep rolling! He is a BEAST. Another kid that has a great attitude and leadership written all over him.

In an age where depth charts are pored over like the Dead Sea Scrolls by recruits and their parents looking for the optimal situation, Gray watched Brown and Bergeron start as true freshmen and shrugged.

Of course. Lightning loves thunder.

Nick Jordan

He’s got leg and he knows how to use it.

The way Jordan corrects for the wind in that clip, I expect to see a guy in camo lying on the turf with a scope. Before each kick, Jordan whispers to himself, “I want the pink mist.”

Raulerson! Raulerson! Raulerson!

I love it!! Damn the exclamation points.

Hook ’em!!!

Yeh, thanks for posting Ghost of Roy’s clips of Aledo vs Lake Travis. Gray does some tough running in there and seems to have that forward lean that Benson was noted for.

By the way, I read on one of the paysites that Searels spoke at a luncheon yesterday and was pretty emphatic that people don’t know what they are getting in Jalen Overstreet. He thinks the kid has a big arm and will turn out to be an extremely good quarterback.

If Ash can successfully hold down the fort, we are going to be back in business with the QB pipeline. Brewer and Overstreet will both either get to RS or at least spend a lot of time maturing before being asked to step up to the plate. And all indications are that we have a number of very good QB prospects in the 2013 class - all of which I think will come to Austin with higher ceilings than Brewer.

Should have said “any” of which, seeing as how I would imagine we will only be getting 1 of the QB targets. But I really think Barret, Thomas and Swoopes are all better potential QBs than Brewer. And I like Brewer, but view him much in the same way that Scipio described. He will be a solid distributor, but I don’t think he is going to be a dynamic playmaker.

Getting Raulerson is more than just getting a potential Top 25 national recruit. It’s getting a vocal and physically impressive advocate that’s going to work behind the scenes as a recruiter for your 2013 class.

Jake “Raging Bull” Raulerson?
(fyi, just looked up Lamotta and that guy is still alive, 90yrs old)

UT coach, “Hey guys, you can play with Jake, or against him. What sounds more appealing?”

Just an amazing start to the 2013 class. Raulerson is going to pay huge dividends between now and next signing day.

Great stuff Scipio as usual. Now that the hay is in the barn you guys are the go-to for me on what we really got.

Except for J Gray. I can see that for myself. I think he can help us.

We dont need a creator at QB with HarsinWhite. We will actually have a plan and be willing to adapt on the fly to win games. A lot of people may not be seeing that yet but I think its happening already. Harsin made Kellen Moore into a Heisman finalist so his stock is good with me.

Harsin loves the TE. Doesnt have one. But for some unfortunate injuries at RB, this team wins 10 anyway because he and Applewhite are going to make things happen with what they have while more help comes through the pipeline. Combine that with continued improvement on the OL with coach Searels and I really love the direction we are going.

I am optimistic that McFarland and Grant can both be very effective TEs for us this year.

Those guys are fags.

Does anyone have stats on our “Preferred Walk-on” Punter - Nick Rose?

Avg.Yards=
Avg. Net Yards =
Avg. Hang Time=
Punts inside the 20=

Grey run track?

The video is nice but I’m sure he was tackled occasionaly. I’d like to see some more clips of him fighting for yards like the last few just to see how he takes and delivers hits.

Scip: Any way to compare the “entering UT” Brewer with Colt McCoy at a similar stage?

McCoy was pretty much unknown to the masses when he signed. He came from suspect HS competition, was regarded (in the spring of his first season, when he and Jevon Snead were our only two QBs) as less of an athlete than Snead.

Is is possible/likely/no way to know . . . how much physical upside there is with Brewer?

Thanks for these writeups. Fun, but also information-loaded.

Thanks for the clip, yeh. My “question” was entirely facetious, of course. Nevertheless, the clip you provided shows Gray has some power and can keep his feet with a nose for the hole. With any daylight, of course, he is lethal.

What with the o-line Searels is building, the prospect of competent (or even GOOD) QB play, real downfield threats to account for, and the tenderizing poundings provided by Brown and Bergeron opening things up for Gray, my imagination is running wild, Julianne-Moore-on-all-fours wild.

java -

No one said they wished Texas had signed a different player or even that he was a bad prospect. But it is hard to project great things when watching him play. That’s not trashing the kid. It is being realistic.

hopeful -
 
I have Jalen as an ATH. I was tempted to put him in the QB write-up, but demurred. I love Jalen Overstreet. I’m just not sure he’s the final answer at QB though.

edsp -
 
I don’t have any insight into his growth plates, mitochondria, or any maps of his genes. He grew quite a lot from his junior to senior year and he has two brothers who are 6-4.
 
Some QBs really increase their arm strength as they get older, some really stay about the same. Colt responded incredibly well to the weight room - he got stronger, faster, quicker without any minuses to his core attributes. He was obviously a much more gifted runner and improviser than Brewer at the same stage.
 
Thus my wait and see comment.

Interesting fact. Connor Brewer’s genetic map will lead you to One-Eyed Willie’s lost treasure.

Are you including Daje Johnson in your athlete category? I think he plays RB all the way.

Scipio:

In regards to Nick Jordan, transferring from a tee to kicking off the ground is problematic for most. The angle in which your leg swings changes, different contact point on the ball and your overall kicking motion is disrupted (think muscle memory and a golfer changing his successful swing)…You also have to learn to stay down on the ball more.

I’m Nick he knows this (or has been told by his kicking coach), but he will need to put in considerable work over the summer to counter act the transition to kicking off the ground.

This brings me to the main issue: when you switch from a tee to kicking of the ground, you LOSE THE HEIGHT on your take off from ball contact to line of scrimmage….which is especially important in D1 big boy football when you have 6’4 freaks that have 40’’ verticals on the other end.

Also, please take note that he was kicking off from the 40 on that video with a very strong wind (see American flag) with him. Knock that back 10 years to the 30 (we can’t assume college changes to the 35 like the NFL) and a slight breeze into his face and he’s goal line at best.

That’s just my take from someone who knows a thing or two about kicking.

Oh, first post ever over here, but avid reader…keep it up.

Corrections
*I’m sure Nick knows this (2 paragraph)
*Knock that back 10 yards (4 paragraph)

jmoore - thanks for the learned insight, man.

I take some comfort for the fact that Jordan got a lot of touchbacks in actual game conditions this year, plus this:

made 65 yd FG in 55 degree temps with 0-5 mph tailwind at UC Challenge in the finals of FG competition

But the points you make sound very solid. Wait-and-see I guess.

Did anyone else see that Nick Jordan has more extra points made than extra points attempted according to the link that was posted? Now that’s my kind of kicker!

Java-

It ain’t all based upon the all star game brother. I’m not saying that Conner Brewer is Matt Nordgren or Wood or a bunch of other guys we’ve brought through here that haven’t been great, but I think it’s fair to wonder if he isn’t a product of playing on a really good team, against substandard competition etc etc.

I hope I’m wrong, but I have him pegged as Chance Mock. That’s not all bad, and with Chance Mock under center this year we probably win 10 games etc etc. Hope I’m selling him short.

JGray=Emmitt Smith redux…one guy can’t tackle him in space and they have trouble when there’s no space…

“His All-Star game was a pretty good demonstration of how he deals with unscheduled chaos against high level athletes. "

Scip -

Please explain further. Are you referring to the pass rush he endured at the UA Game ? Like nunya indicates above, I have concerns about Brewer.

It is really difficult to predict with Brewer. Great point that his brothers are both big guys (and so is his dad). A lot of big guys keep growing until they are 19 or even later. Brewer could end up being a chunk bigger after he completes his red shirt year. Brewer will be competing against elite competition in practice so that will help his development. Harsin will coach him up during his redshirt year. Let’s wait and see.

Overstreet may surprise at QB. I doubt he redshirts. He is already a manly man, physically strong enough to play with the big boys. The horns need a running QB to protect Ash, Overstreet is the obvious choice in 2012. Once Overstreet gets on the field as the running package QB (ala Ash in 2011), who knows where it leads? Overstreet may end up kicking ass and taking names.

In the Big 12, there are games where you have to score a lot of points to win. In those games, settling for a field goal instead of a TD can be a problem. We know that Mack often goes for the 1st down on 4th and short in those types of games rather than settling for the field goal or punting on the plus side of the field. Overstreet can be a huge weapon in that context. He runs with power inside to pick up the short yardage but can throw long if the D sells out to stop the run. Overstreet is a wild horn QB who actually throws well. This will be a strong incentive for safeties to stay back (which will make it much easier to pick up the first down via the run). Overstreet fills an important (if relatively small) offensive niche. I’ll be surprised if Harsin does not construct and deploy a package to exploit the Overstreet skill set.

Regarding the Nick Rose question, the only data I could find via the google was from hxttp://kohlskicking.com/recruiting/national-rating-system/kickers/2012. No stats but this comment:
Nick blew us away at the Texas Showcase Camp in April of 2011, runs a 4.4 40 yard dash, hits huge KO’s 4.2-4.3 hang-times, made 8 FG in windy tough conditions, little raw on his FG approach, new to kicking, D1 scholarship kicker, huge talent, hits a great ball off the ground, focused on reaching his potential, has top 5 leg in the nation, FG were solid at the National Scholarship Camp in July of 2011, should do well at new hs (Highland Park, TX).

java,
“Some of you with a ‘wait and see attitude’ must be pretty special indeed. I certainly wish that I was perfect at everything I attempted.
…
It’s either that or that defenses have a much easier time putting up highlight films with a week of practice. Is the correct answer behind door #1 or door #2?

Sheesh!

It is it still cool to be a glass half-full Longhorn fan based on the results the prior staff? Is reasoning based on results of the prior staff sound or faulty?"

Scipio said,
“I’m in wait-and-see mode on Brewer and I don’t mean that in a denigrative sense at all. I think he’s a project despite his seeming polish.”

Scipio has a wait and see attitude and he is pretty special. What is wrong with wait and see?

Wait and see approach… meh, I would rather whole-heartedly get behind an incoming freshman QB that I have never seen play and designate him as the messiah for the program. Especially because I will assume that he has run the exact same system in high school than Bryan Harsin and Major Applewhite run at Texas.

I don’t see how anything can go wrong with this approach.

kafka, i think some of these guys are honors graduates of the kirk bohls school of contrarian journalism.

Brewer. The tape maybe vs less than stellar competition, but he throws a lot of balls in stride. Tape suggest he maybe hte most accurate passer on campus next yr. Will take time to see how he handles bid time competition. All-star game was hard. Brady would have issues given he pass rush he saw, so I think it is a little unfair to give that any major consideration.

Gray. He looks great. Only knock is that he doesnt transfer the ball while running. He is going to have to correct that to avoid fumble issues. It was the only thing I could find wrong. Curtis Martin is a great call. Just smooth, no wasted motion. I think Gray is a little faster though.

Great writeup, Scip. While Gray is a study in Euclidean geometry, I think Overstreet is a study in simple math. For Brewer to get the benefit of a needed redshirt, and for the team to establish any kind of QB depth behind Ash (besides Case), then Overstreet will need to get real snaps this Fall. Establishing Jalen as the Wildcat QB will allow him to get his feet wet (and build some confidence) with a limited package of plays, just as David did to start the season in 2011.

While I like the idea of Gray as a Wildcat QB, Gray is going to get plenty of carries (and receptions) anyway. Given the QB position’s lack of depth, giving Jalen the starting Wildcat role is the only way to build QB depth and get more play makers onto the field. The worst case scenario that would make me puke is to see Jonathan get injured running the Wildcat (a la Fozzy last year)… we would lose a great running back AND our effectiveness in the Wildcat. For these reasons, Harsin needs to give Overstreet first crack at the Wildcat.

Euclidian Terrorist…

Gray’s numbers are ridiculous. How many carries did he get per game?

I definitely think we need more than one dynamic option at the Wildcat. It was a shame that we didn’t have a credible answer after Fozzy’s injury. Hopefully with Overstreet and Gray we will have two capable ’catters. Long term I hope we keep a couple guys in the fold that can predominantly fill the Wildstarter and Wildunderstudy roles so that we always have the capability of running this part of the offense effectively, even if the wrinkles are player-dependent.

2 predictions:
1. By this time next year, Jonathan Gray will have us what was the name of that freshman back in 2011?
2. We will be disappointed at first, but Brewer beats out Ash.

Phenomenal- Gray, this year, had 3,891 yards on 346 carries in 16 games. If my math is correct that is about 21.5 carries a game. He had 65 TDs.

Thanks ‘69. 3,891 yards in one season….. sure, that sounds like a lot, but it’s not even two and a half miles. I can run that pretty easily.

The thing that strikes me most about Johnathan Gray is his ability to see patterns develop and predict what the defenders are going to do. It’s another level of vision beyond seeing a hole. He creates a mental map of where players are going be on the field in the next five yards and then takes the path through the space that will be there in one second.

It makes me think of driving down I10 in Houston when you are trying to maintain a speed of ~80 mph. You have to watch the other drivers and have an ability to predict what they’re likely to do in order to find the lane or gap between slower moving cars that you need to squeeze through to get past the person clogging up the left hand lane, lest become trapped behind the semi that is going to move over a lane or the soccer mom on the cell phone who is going to mindlessly and pointlessly change lanes without signaling. Some people are able to recognize developing patterns and make spatial predictions based on them, and some are woefully doomed to get trapped by the soccer mom.

I saw Nick Jordan when my son’s team played Coppell last season early in the year. I had been told Nick had accepted a UT scholarship, so I paid a little extra attention to him. My uneducated take: he’s got a big leg and was accurate as shit. He kicked off at least 5-6 times in the game, and they all went through the endzone in both directions. He got a thumbs up from me after that game, anyway.

My dad is 6’ 3", my brother is 6’3", and I was only about 5’8" going into my junior year.

6’3" leaving my senior year and 6’5" after my freshman year at UT.

I think Connor’s family tree means he will continue to grow for a little while. Unless he is smoking a couple packs a day and not sleeping.

Unfortunately, I have Brewer pegged as a Winston man.

Very cool that Mack puts so much emphasis on getting athletic kickers and punters, it is like adding an extra defender on special teams.

“I can run that pretty easily”.
Yeah, you wonder why they bothered to give the kid a scholarship.

burntorangejuice -
 
Great analogy. I think they call that spatial-kinesthetic anticipation, but I like to call it “he just sees shit.”

Not sure why some people are so defensive about the fact that some of us have to see something from Brewer before we’re going to be sold. Given our recent history with can’t miss prospects and the fact that one of the main people involved in GG’s evaluation (Mack) was involved with Brewer.

And as for the comments about confidence in Brewer because he is Harsin’s hand picked guy, I’m not so sure. My recollection is that there was already a lot of talk about Brewer being the QB we would go after even prior to and in the midst of the coach hirings. If I remember right Harsin hired into a situation where Brewer already seemed to be the main target. I’m sure Harsin still had some say in the matter, but I question whether he would have felt he had the authority to walk in and move the QB evaluation in a different direction. If anything, I feel more certain about Overstreet with regard to the amount of input Harsin had.

For those who think I’m full of it with regard to Brewer being targeted long before Harsin, here’s a Recruitocosm link to October 2010 that already identifies Brewer as our likely target. (Replace the x’s with t’s) There were other pre-Harsin articles there also that talked about targeting Brewer.

hxxp://recruitocosm.fantake.com/2010/10/13/texas-recruiting-who-gets-early-offers-for-2012/

I think Harsin was also talking to Brewer while he was at BSU if I am not mistaken, hence people’s conclusion that he was handpicked by him.

I wish the kid well and hope he turns out to be a stud… I just don’t understand how some people are willing to place such high expectations and hope into a kid that they have never seen, that played crummy high school competition, and had so-so at best performances the couple of times he has played strong competition.

Brewer could be good, Who knows yet. In high school he threw to a spot, he depends on his receivers to break out, they did that well. He had a good OL and played clean. The competition was below average and his school is known as a school that recruits and has lots of high quality transfers come to play there. How well would Case McCoy look playing for that team against that competition? Similar i suspect. Forget that, how good would Overstreet have looked there?. Put Brewer at Overstreets little 2a school, uh no.Overstreet played some of this season with a bummed finger on his throwing hand. That said, I think David Ash is going to make such a leap this year it will be a moot point for the next 3 years.

55f100tx,

Yeah, in 2012 Ash starts, Case is backup, Overstreet is the running package QB and Brewer redshirts. The battle for starting QB may get more interesting by the 2013 season but, by then, Ash should be a very experienced and improved QB and will be hard to dislodge as the QB. Having said that, QB is a tough position to predict. Who thought that Colt would be such a mega star or that Gilbert would be a bust?

Kafta Your right Qb play is hard to predict.

Yeah, in 2012 Ash starts, Case is backup, Overstreet is the running package QB and Brewer redshirts.

Kafka - That’s pretty much how I’m hoping it works out.

I like Brewer a lot but he does need to redshirt. He has good mechanics and plays the position well. I think his biggest upside is his accuracy and his ability to read a defense. I look forward to seeing what he can develop into. Hopefully he grows a little more and responds to Wylie’s system.

Overstreet is multiple. I like him getting into the QB rotation to allow Brewer time to develop. I, along with many others, believe he ends up at LB though. I’ll be interested to see how he grows as well.

Gray shows serious maturity. He knows what his body can handle and made his choice partly because of that. I just hope he can stay healthy. Maybe he adds some muscle weight and that helps him out in the injury department. He has a chance to be a very special player.

I’d like to see both Gray and Daje in the Ramonce role, i.e. the guy in space who catches short passes and gets lots of YAC, gets dump passes and screen passes from the QB, can shift into the backfield as a TB, and can be a jet sweeper). Brown and Bergeron can stay at TB so that there are two explosive guys on the field all the time (i.e. either Brown or Bergeron at TB and either Daje or Gray at jet back).

If the horns put much more emphasis this season on getting short passes to all these excellent runners and letting them get some yac, it will make Ash’s job much easier.

…not even two and a half miles. I can run that pretty easily.

Hell, so can I, given four months and sixteen sessions to do it.

…the transition from kicking off of a tee and the turf is always a bit of a crapshoot…

But the issue is FG, not KO. KO are still from a tee, BOMK and if not changed this year (2-year cycle, yeah?). On the other hand, I thought the Texas HS rules were the same - didn’t notice a tee on the two FG tried by the Biting Fucks, so… fine, they’re using a tee and Jordan’ll have a transition to master.

Granted, it’s 10 yards further away on KO, so instead of through the EZ every time, it’ll be INTO the EZ every time, and I’m comfortable with that, aren’t we all?

If Brewer really is a Harsin hand picked recruit to run his offense, then as soon as he steps on campus Harsin is going to be developing him.

I’m in the Ash camp as well. Can’t help but believe he’ll be ready to go with an improved O’line and some off season snaps with his receivers. Ash would have greatly benefitted from a redshirt, but he should be ready to perfom with 6 more lbs on him, and the ability to real time on his reads.

Brewer needs a shirt. No way he is ready for live bullets. His best chance for success at the college level is to learn the offense, finish growing, get stronger, and let the game slow down. I like Aaron Rodgers quote about why he has been so effective… He knows the offense so well when he goes to the line of scrimmage he is focused on the defense & what they are doing. He doesn’t have to think about the where his guys are going to be, he can focus on the D.

I like that Ash was thrown to the fire, and wasn’t broken. I thought he finished on a strong note. His misses were good misses. No WTF passes. His confidence will only grow as his timing & knowledge of the O improves.

I want to believe Ash will be better too. Partly because we need him to excell so Brewer has time to ’shirt and develop. I think Ash will make strides this season. Brewer will get a good 2 years of starting time at the least. By then, I think he will be a good one.

kemit-

Brewer is already on campus. Early enrollee

I’m cautiously optimistic about Ash also. My concern isn’t so much needing someone else to play this year because Ash falters, but rather who do we play if Ash gets injured. I’d feel good about our options if we’d gotten Bo Wallace. Not having done that I’ll be cringing with every hit Ash takes next year.

Nunna, I’ll buy summa that. I thought Wallace was a player we needed, for two reasons: 1, to provide a potential backup - hell, starter, if he could manage that, maybe change-of-pace role; and 2, to entice DGB. Obviously, not what the coaches wanted to do - never a doubt to my mind that Wallace was ours for the offering, and it’ll be interesting to watch him develop. But we’ll never know for sure whether a Wallace take woulda turned DGB’s head this direction. Well, no use cryin’ over spilt water over the bridge. Onward and upward, through the frogs.

Left out - backup, on accounta McCoy Minor doesn’t look like he’s able, and we really really really need to RS Brewer.

Imo.

Tex Long - Agree completely.

Nothing is a done deal until the letter of intent is received on national signing day.

Buddy, a signed contract ain’t a TEN until the check clears. Translates in this case to enrollment.

I like that Ash was thrown to the fire, and wasn’t broken.

I’m not happy that it went down as it did, Ash being thrown into the fire and all… but I agree that it appears that he did not break and appeared to progress at end season. It had to be a trial for him to get over the Mizzou and KSU debacles and sit through the Last Agy Game Evarnd the Baylor Buttfucking. I wasn’t so sure he might not go Jevan Snead on us after having McCoy Minor stuffed up his ass by Mack, but he did acquit himself well in the CaliBowl. Major props to HarsinWhite for sticking with Ash, when Mack apparently wanted to insert MM after the half in that final contest.

Ash had me nodding and going “This is not bad, not bad at all” once he put the first twenty minutes behind him. Wasn’t the “Oh, HELL yes!” of watching Vince do what it taook to win in the Roses Bowls, but given the previous 25 games, it was enough to make me feel a bit better.

Where last year the ceiling looked like nine wins while my expectation was for seven, this year - right this very instant, at least - I can see nine as an expectation, with higher numbers possible. Of course, we still have to get through Spring without damaging too many backs and receivers, but right now, it does look promising.

How come Gray comes off the field holding his shoulder every time he takes a hit there?

He dislocates his shoulder before every play to squeeze through holes and then he snaps it back into place. Like Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon.

Oh cool, I thought he was just a vagina.

Gray reminds me a great deal of Tony Dorsett. Seems to have really good vision to set up defenders and when he chooses to accelerate he does in such an easy and smooth fashion defenders seem to misjudge how quickly he is moving and get let grabbing air.

I agree on using him catching the ball, but I really think Texas is doing their offense a disservice by not putting him back 7-8 yards and letting him just do what he does best.

It will be very, very interesting to see how the carries get split the next few years with Brown, Joe, and Gray.

Davey,

I see your point.

My reasons to put Gray at jet back:

• he gets to operate much more in space instead of pounding between the tackles
• he absorbs much less punishment so he can carry the ball more and be injured less
• the horns already have two good to excellent power backs in Bergeron and Brown who can run inside for Texas, preserving the Texas inside power running game is critical and really helps the Texas long passing game and outside running
• replacing a WR with Gray will be a huge boost to the Texas short passing game, OL, and QB
• having 2 bona fide RBs on the field (eg: Brown and Gray) makes it very difficult to defend the Texas running game while still preserving the passing game (with Gray at jet back)
• takes advantage of Gray’s multiple talents thus making the offense more multiple
• Gray can still shift from jet back to TB and use Bergeron (for example) as a blocker on that play instead of as a TB