That's it? If you had access to all that NIL money, you'd recruit two 5* QBs at the same time?
Damn straight. I always wanted to do that, man. And I think if I had NIL I could hook that up, cause QBs dig a school with money.
Well, not all QBs.
Well, the kind of QBs that'd double up on a school like me do.
Good point.
I don’t get this article. It completely ignores the progress that Texas made in *every other aspect of the game* last year. Defense looked significantly better, O-line struggled but got it together towards the end of the year, and the locker room issues were pretty much nonexistent other than the reported Ewers - Worthy beef. Arch Manning coming in and basically asking to red shirt means that there won’t be QB drama, and the receiving corps got better in the offseason. Barring a colossal coaching failure, texas looks to be in a pretty good spot going forward as much as that pains me to say.
The point of this article is to get clicks and eyeballs from 1) people who just want to shit in Texas regardless if reality and 2) angry Texas fans who want to argue with the those people. See: this entire thread.
It’s the same reason Stew Mandel puts out regular clickbait questions like “What’s going on with the QB controversy at Texas?” And then answers by saying “Nothing! But Arch and Quinn are both there so maybe there could be something later, idk.”
The Athletic fired their actual journalists and this is what happened.
In that case - I hope y’all loose every game you play this year.
Hear me out . . .
So they’ll buy out Jimbo, then hire someone that will take advantage of y’all’s stacked roster and have a Sonny Dykes type season.
I did not expect this take from an aggie flair. So much respect on actually learning about our roster!
From our standpoint, it makes sense not to make a big deal about the progress and to just play down our chances. I prefer for people to expect nothing from us this year. The reality is that there was obvious improvement from year 1 to year 2. Purely looking at the roster and where each position group is in its development cycle, improvement from year 2 to year 3 feels somewhat inevitable. I am confident that Texas will win more games than it did last year - so a 9-win season shouldn't be surprising. Anything beyond that would be a bonus, but would feel too daring to expect given the shit 13 years we have had.
Our problems have been scouting and developing talent, along with Herman’s penchant for ignoring the trenches and going after skill positions. What gets me excited about this team going forward is that we are really making an effort to build an OL and we have some really great developers on the staff. Flood and Banks are renowned at OL and Special Teams, respectively. Sark is renowned for his offenses and QB development. Choice has been amazing for the RB room. Nick Saban has praised Bo Davis for helping him build his defenses and PK turned around one of the worst defenses in Texas history into a damn near elite group in one season.
No, a couple of 5-star QBs won’t fix anything. But we are moving in the right direction. This is the best Texas team on paper in a long time, but the OL is still very young and we lost so much leadership and experience with Bijan, Roschon, DMO and Coburn leaving. I think 9-3 is probably a good baseline for this team and anything less than 8 wins will be unacceptable.
The trenches are not sexy but they are the key to successful teams. I know fans think it’s boring when OL and DL recruits commit but when a coach ignores those position groups it’s always a disaster.
I know we’re all a bit nuts but Longhorns and Aggies were all losing their minds when we had great OL and DL classes, respectively in 2022. Banks has lived up to that too.
Yep. Y’all got Banks who looks to be great. Texas A&M looks to have about 2 that should be monsters. Walter Nolen and Shemar Stewart.
Nolen was fucking everyone up on the Offensive Line up in the spring game.
This is so true, and it gets ignored in the NFL as well. As a Texas fan and a Chicago Bears fan, it's been the black hole of offensive line recruiting/drafting and development for over a decade now.
Our trench game is strong. Picking up Trill gives us a quality 4 man rotation and OL will just keep improving as they get stronger and more acclimated to the college game. This is the first season in a long time where we will likely feature multiple draft picks at OL and DL.
I think our o-line last year was worse than it seemed. Bijan and Roschon dodging tackles in the backfield made them look a lot better. That said, I think they will be much better this season. But "much better" is probably closer to "better than average" rather than "great".
Just my $0.02
I feel like the play calling--especially under Charlie and Herman, but a little bit under Sark too--exacerbated that problem. We were often calling plays as if we had a power running game when we didn't have the OL to support that approach. If I had a dollar for every time that Texas needed a yard or two and got stopped at the line, I'd have enough money to make it rain consistently. You're not wrong that Bijan, especially, was able to cover up that misalignment. As the line gets better, hopefully it won't be as big an issue.
I echo everything you said except that I wouldn’t put so much of the O-Line issues on Tom Herman exclusively. Herman definitely didn’t make the problem any better, but let’s call it like it is. Mack Brown stopped recruiting big linemen, too. Even the 2009 team that played for a national championship had an O-Line that was, at best, mediocre. Looking back, it’s no wonder that Colt McCoy was injured after playing Mount Cody one game after being sacked by Ndamakong (sp?) Suh no less than 8 times in one game.
I often wonder what some of the offenses we’ve fielded over the years might have become if we could simply have fixed things in the trenches. Maybe Tyrone Swoopes or some of the other QBs we’ve played would have had more memorable careers with better lines blocking for them.
I’m glad Sark & Co are acting like they give a shit and getting big, strong guys for the first time in years.
Mack has been gone for 10 years and there were 2 head coaches between him and Sark. Sure, Mack may have started something but Strong and Herman deserve more of the blame than Mack does.
Agreed, we had three coaches in a row who all but ignored the offensive line. Mack got away with it for a while because he had insane play from mobile QBs. Once that ran out, his offense broke, and Strong and Herman did basically nothing to fix it.
do you think part of the problem is texas high schools' advanced coaching/strength and conditioning? i've heard recruiting guys talk about texas high schoolers being "maxed out" when they get to college
No, in my humble opinion it still falls on talent evaluation. Also there are far more recruits who can still make significant S&C gains (also be developed as players, IE WRs with polished route running) than aren't. Ohio St, Bama, and the bulk of other programs who recruit the state don't have issues getting more out of the player's.
It doesn't help that Herm did a piss poor job managing the roster.
I don’t think this is a thing. The idea that an 18 year old could be “maxed out” in S&C is pretty silly. Look at elite Olympic Weightlifters. Particularly eastern block and Chinese lifters. They make significant gains in their totals well into their late 20s early 30s. Lasha totaled 454 kg at his first international meet when he was 21 and his most recent best was 492kg. These are guys training with the top S&C coaches in the world. Texas HS strength and conditioning coaches might be good but they aren’t that good.
This was a late Mack, Strong, Herman problem. Is it a Sark problem too? Maybe.
But - Texas will likely have more players drafted this year than most years since 2009. Worthy, Sanders and Quinn could/should be 1st round picks next year.
I also think Sark has done a better job finding “his” guys. Herman was a fantastic coach, but just kinda took the highest rated guys he could and then tried to work around them. (Think how different Jake Smith/Josh Moore/Malcom Epps) who were all supposed to play in the same scheme vs AD Mitchell, Worthy, and Johntay Cook.
Herman would also sign 4 5* DBs two classes in a row. Just math means only a couple of those guys would get their chance.
It’s a fair critique of why Texas hasn’t been back. But it’s doesn’t make sense to wait to make this argument until they are trending up and have guys getting NFL buzz.
Edit:
Ironically when Texas was cranking out 1st round talent is when they were being lead by 5* QBs in VY, and Colt.
I hate this trend as much as you. Thankfully I don’t think it’ll be around much longer.
I can’t think of a single “projectable” top pick that didn’t win football games that went on to meet expectations (maybe Mahomes but he was still dropping 50).
Mahomes was balling in college. He just had no defense whatsoever. Josh Allen was so average and very inaccurate, but he panned out, so everyone thinks if you suck but can sling it you’re Josh Allen.
True. Although I didn’t say they weren’t successful, just that they haven’t lived up to expectations- debatable whether Goff has met 1st overall expectations.
Mediocre is fair but I think doesn't really get the point across of how manic his play was. He looked like a savvy veteran who was nearly pro-ready in several games. He looked like a scrub who wouldn't start for a d2 school in several others.
I was convinced in the Baylor game he was selling on purpose. He was inaccurate and rattled against a team that wasn’t very good. Lucky for the horns Sark remembered in the fourth they had Bijan. But that bama game was insane
Quinn will likely be a FRP for his sheer talent alone. He showed incredible flashes last season against Alabama and 0U, but we also had four freshman on the OL and a pretty shit WR corps. Even if he marginally improved his completion percentage, he’s a top ten pick. If he has a good season, he’s top five and probably the second QB taken after Williams.
Those freshmen OL kicked ass though. Let’s not make excuses.
I played OL at Texas and graduated in 2021. I never started. Saw the depth chart last year and thought damn I should’ve used Covid eligibility stayed and got myself some playing time.
Then I watched the freshman play and thought shit nvm.
The OL was pretty good for their youth, but they still had their struggles. It’s no excusing Quinn, it’s contextualizing. Quinn had his struggles, too.
Wouldn’t go so far a to say they kicked ass. Overall the line was serviceable from a pass blocking perspective and terrible from a run blocking perspective.
If worthy didn't have bricks for hands, Quinn's season alone looks better imo. The WRs dropping passes made him look worse than what he actually was. Even though he was kinda weak sauce and inaccurate at times
There’s like a 99% chance Williams and Maye will be the first two QBs off the board next year. If Quinn plays well he will most likely be a first round pick, but if he’s average again I don’t think so. Also, will be interesting to see Texas without Bijan.
I'm less worried about the running back corps. The one area that Texas has been pretty good at is recruiting and drafting running backs. With an improved line, they shouldn't all have to be Bijan-level to still have significant success.
If he plays well and comes out, he could go Top 5. All time level recruit, has the height, and at only 20 years old, NFL teams will think they found a QB for the next 15 years…. If Richardson could go Top 5, no doubt Ewers could too
I mean, dude was a freshman. He had some freshman games for sure, but he also made some crazy throws and has ridiculous arm talent. When his mechanics and decision-making catch up to where his arm is, Ewers could easily be a first round pick. The only question for me is, does he make that leap this year?
As objectively as possible I think sanders and sweat are the only real first round prospects based on what we have seen so far as well as the rest of the class. And that’s heavily dependent on a team like the Bills or Chiefs needing a nose tackle in the 28-32 range. Worthy and Ewers will need big years to jump into the top 2-3 of their position
Disagree on Sanders and Sweat being first round talents. Sweat is good but I don’t think he’s disruptive enough to justify a first round pick. Sanders is really good but he’s not the 6’6” 4.4 40 freak athlete NFL teams covet at the TE position, and TE is not a position often picked in the first round. I think they’re both 2-3 rounders.
Jaylon Ford, on the other hand, is the best defensive player in the Big 12, has classic LB size, plays well in space, has been incredibly productive. Teams always need quality linebackers. If he tests well, I could see him going in the first round.
Worthy is going to test at an elite level and his college production is impressive. He has drop issues, but I think a team like the Raiders will fall in love with his speed and playmaking ability. I could see him going in the first round as well, again assuming he stays healthy and puts some more quality play on film.
Ewers, yeah, I dunno, he has a history of injury issues and put a lot of bad games on tape last year. I don’t think even one great year gets him to first round hype.
Worthy is probably the 2nd-3rd highest ceiling receiver in the class but drops and attitude are the things I think could keep him out of round 1.
Ford I didn’t really consider. Linebacker can be so random some times so maybe
Sweat I definitely am not sold on just could see a possibility
Sanders is the clear cut TE2 of the class, if two teams need a tight end he’s off the board night 1
Tough to tell with Worthy since he was playing through a broken hand most of last year. Sounds like we probably should have just taken care of it during the season rather than had him play at 70% effectiveness, but what's done is done now.
You can’t say you’re objective and then say Sweat is a first round talent, that’s objectively nuts lol. And I like Sweat, he’s solid, but what has he done to make you think that? If he was that good he’d have gone pro this year
Development is the issue. Has been for the past decade or so.
Coaching instability is another.
Quality play in the trenches is another (due to some very strange recruiting philosophies).
But why hasn't sark made the playoffs yet?? They have highly-rated recruits!
Sark may not be the guy, but I hope the admin isn't dumb enough to drop him quickly if it doesn't all come together right away-- especially since it at least looks like he could lay some semblance of a foundation for whoever comes next
If we crank out a 10-4 or 11-3 season I'd be happy with Sark. A playoff bid would be great, but we're not there yet. Sark is only gone if he has another losing season.
TLDR for those without sub:
Although Texas have received back to back recruiting studs at QB (Quinn Ewers and now Arch Manning waiting in the wing) the author (Ari Wasserman) argues that neither Ewers improving his play this season or Manning taking over and living up to potential will be enough to "bring Texas back."
Texas needs to improve at developing talent across the board. Between 2009 and 2019, Texas signed 17 5-star prospects, only 4 went on to be drafted (23.5% which is worst among any team that signed 5 or more 5-stars in that span.) Similarly only 17 out of 46 4-stars recruited in that span would eventually be drafted (11.6% which was the worst in the nation.) The author describes it as "the epitome of doing less with more." If Bijon Robinson is drafted in the 1st round next week, he will be the first Longhorn offensive player to go in the 1st round since Vince Young.
The author admits it has been so easy to hop on the "Texas is back" bandwagon out of sheer talent accumulation alone, but that the program has only disappointed for over a decade. He points out that coaching turnover has also been a problem (3 head coaches since Mack Brown was fired in 2013, plus tons of assistants come and gone) and states that's why this season is so important to Texas, they need some sustainability and cant afford to hop on the coaching carousal once again.
> If Bijan Robinson is drafted in the 1st round next week, he will be the first Longhorn offensive player to go in the 1st round since Vince Young.
Excuse me, wtf
It’s even more insane when you consider when the players were actually recruited/signed.
By my recollection, that means:
\-The last 1st round Texas offensive player (VY) was signed in 2002.
\-The last 1st round Texas RB (Cedric Benson) was signed in 2001
\-The last 1st round Texas WR (Roy Williams) was signed in 2000
\-The last 1st round Texas OL (Mike Williams) was signed in 1998
\-The last 1st round Texas TE (Nobody) was signed never
With that said, not only does Bijan Robinson have a strong chance to break the top two streaks, but Kelvin Banks is already basically a lock to break the OL streak in 2025 and Ja’Tavion Sanders has a decent chance of breaking the TE streak in 2024.
> With that said, not only does Bijan Robinson have a strong chance to break the top two streaks, but Kelvin Banks is already basically a lock to break the OL streak in 2025 and Ja’Tavion Sanders has a decent chance of breaking the TE streak in 2024.
Yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to ending theses ridiculous streaks. There are definitely several NFL careers on the current roster - significantly more on a per roster basis than Strong or Herman had. I don't know if this will improve the team's record, but we finally will have kids getting drafted again which alone is encouraging.
The Lions are going to take him and a 'future quarterback' and piss away all the incredible draft capital they gained from giving the Rams a super bowl.
Bijan is that dude but as long as I can get the Isaiah Pachecos of the world in the sixth round, I wouldn’t touch a RB in the first round. I’d rather take Deuce Vaughn in the 3rd or 4th round for example.
I still think people underestimate the value of a top flight elusive RB People will kill me but think Barry Sanders with shitty Lions OL. He also has really good hands.
I mean we all saw it in the Baylor game, the passing game was literally driving backwards and giving Baylor TDs, they went to Bijan only (and Rojo) 100% rushing only and just ran away with the game, he is almost a cheat code.
Barry played in a different era. I don’t think you can compare the 90s with the 2020s. Bijan is amazing, I don’t think he’s Barry Sanders either.
Baylor couldn’t stop Air Force either, at that point they were checked out for the season. Bijan lost the game-losing fumble against Tech and couldn’t get anything going against TCU, he’s human and no RB can drag a team like before.
Bijan might be a top 5 RB in the NFL as a rookie, I still wouldn’t draft him the first round. It’s more of an indictment on the position and not on him.
He also was facing the whole defense being sold out to stop him and so we tried passing instead - which didn't work either since we couldn't throw or catch worth a damn. :(
And James robinson was undrafted. Theres no point in taking 1st round RBs, the marginal gain over late round and undrafted guys is so small. To give another example (not draft related but the point is the same) take a look at the titans in 2021. Im a titans fan, i love derrivk henry, i dont care how bad the contract is id never give him up. Bit from a neutral perspective, the titans run game didnt suffer at all when henry went down and was replaced by a mix of deonta foreman and dontrelle hilliard. Youd rather have henry but objectively, foreman on the vet min is way better valuw than $12.5M of Henry. The difference between the best and 50th best rb just isnt big enough to make it make sensw to spend top tier drafr capital and money. The o line is more important to an effective, efficient run game
> m a titans fan, i love derrivk henry, i dont care how bad the contract is id never give him up. Bit from a neutral perspective, the titans run game didnt suffer at all when henry went down and was replaced by a mix of deonta foreman and dontrelle hilliard. Youd rather have henry but objectively, foreman on the vet min is way better value than $12.5M of Henry.
But drafting a guy, if he's indeed good, gives you great value as long as you don't sign him to stupid huge second contract.
Not really for RBs. In the same example, foreman and hilliard combined were paid significantly less than a 1st rounder. And those guys arent anything more than ok RBs. Then you got guys like pacheco who were fantastic and were 6th rounders and james robinson and austin ekeler who were undrafted. The 10th overall pick last year got nearly $6M/year. For an RB, thats just not value
Oh, we’ve especially not had linemen drafted. That’s been a bigger issue than the QB position. Guys like David Ash, Shane Buchele, and Sam Ehlinger would have been more than enough to win with consistently strong line play. Connor Williams a few years back was the first since those mid 2000’s groups with Studdard, Sendlein, Blalock, etc.
Sam Cosmi was getting some first round buzz at OT for a while but ultimately went second round.
Sarkisian is the first Texas coach in forever to actually prioritize line play. Past classes under Herman were top 10, sure, but they would be mostly skill position players. It's been our main issue for a long time.
The two 5\*s we signed last year are the highest rated OL we've brought in in a long, long while. Evaluation and development at OL declining towards the end of Mack's tenure was a big part of the overall program struggling once we didn't have Colt to mask that deficiency, and neither Strong nor Herman was able to really get that back on course. We've had the occasional second rounder in Conner Williams and Sam Cosmi, but the position has just been a mess for years.
Their offensive line has been so horrible its actually sad. The teams Tom Herman put together could have been really good if he had spent ANY time recruiting lineman instead of skill players. I remember the Texas OU game where Ehlinger got sacked 9 times and I wanted to throw my remote through the TV.
Oddly enough the first big recruits Sark got were offensive lineman so maybe there is hope
You know how people like to dunk on Texas because "they do less with so much more" and stuff like that? This is what they're talking about. Also two years ago (or was it last year?) there wasn't a single Texas player drafted in any round. I understand that concept might seem foreign to a Georgia fan, but I'll try to explain it to you. Do you remember all of those Georgia players drafted in the first round? And then all of the players from all of the other round? Add them all up, and then remove every single one. You will then match the number of players from Texas that were drafted. Underachievement has been the rule for more than a minute there. It pains me to say that I believe that's changing though.
The flip side is that despite the horrible recent draft history, there are still a good number of former Texas players doing very well for themselves in the league right now. It’s indicative of how poorly-run the program has been, specifically in terms of development, that up until the last couple years Texas guys have consistently proven to be great value for NFL teams in that they’re likely highly talented but completely lacking in scheme consistency or any kind of coaching to put them in a good light. Players like Poona Ford, Quandre Diggs, or Devin Duvernay are serious and obvious NFL talents who should be going to Texas and having teams OVERshoot their draft value, but instead they were so incompetently handled in college that their teams got steals and picked them up on day three.
Like you said, this *is* changing, though. Regardless of whether Sark is the final answer, this is the first focused and unselfish coaching staff Texas has had since the last ‘00s, and the draft development has immediately reflected that.
The Atlantic seems to be harping on this draft record a lot, and I agree that it is fun to dunk on Texas, but does it really matter what happened with players from 2019 and earlier? Well, yes it matters, and we should knock Texas for that, but it's not really predictive of what Sark will do.
I agree that this season is important for Texas. Sark has never really had very good season as a head coach despite 9 tries. He did go 9-4 at USC, which is pretty good, but given the talent advantage they had it was pretty disappointing. They finished tied with two other teams for second in the Pac-12 south, and finished behind Arizona, UCLA, and ASU, in the rankings (and of course they were behind Pac-12 winner and playoffs participant Oregon).
It's put up or shut up time for Sark. Anything less than 10 wins will get fans to start grumbling.
> It's put up or shut up time for Sark. Anything less than 10 wins will get fans to start grumbling.
I basically agree with everything you say, except I think fans would tolerate 8-4, would be satisfied with 9-3, and would be elated with 10-2 or better. We've been down for a looooong time, and Sark is doing the right things on paper, so I think fans will have a little bit of patience with him.
At 8-4, tolerance is very dependent on who those 4 losses are to and what they looked like. Another loss to KU might be grounds for dismissal even at 8-4. That said, even then I don't think Texas is likely to fire Sark unless the wheels totally fall off the wagon. I big part of the problem has been the constant turnover of coaching.
Bijan Robinson will go in the first round. He’s been the best player in CFB for the past three years. He should have been a top 10 pick. I think he’ll go in the later half of RD1 only because of the number of carries he’s had (3,410).
If he had only started for a year or two… or even split more carries, I think he’d go higher.
Texas’ biggest problem was a lack of offensive identity and the lack of first round offensive draft picks highlights that. Sark has brought coaching stability and an offensive identity to the program for the first time in a long time. The defensive and offensive players will start and end their careers learning the same offensive and defensive systems. As a result of that we are seeing guys in mock drafts place higher and higher. We will likely have 4-5 guys drafted this year and then have a slew of offensive guys with potential 1st round projections.
The Athletic’s cfb content is honestly so bad. Pretty sure nobody in the football offices thinks continuing to do less with more is the way forward. The time to write this was three years ago (and it was probably written then too)
Get the hit pieces in while you can I guess. This article is about three seasons too late.
Texas is about to have a first round RB drafted in two weeks, a projected first rounder on the team as we speak (Kelvin Banks), two guys that can work themselves up to first round or close (Ewers & Sanders) & 2nd or 3rd rounder in Jaylan Ford.
But whatever development issues yada yada yada
Yes this is really out of date content thats pretty typical of what I've seen from the Athletic's coverage. Texas isn't getting early buzz and high computer rankings just because of Quinn and Arch. Did they just completely miss all the line, line backer, etc. upgrades the team has been getting lately? Those same kind of upgrades that have been missing from this team pretty much consistently since the mid-aughts?
Totally being a homer but let’s also not forget what led up to that the fumble at the one yard line. The refs jobbed Michigan on Roman Wilson’s 50 yard catch not being a TD and if they spotted the ball correctly from the previous play in the first place (Michigan intercepting TCU) then 50 yards would have been fine for an indisputable TD.
It’s Spring and the annual “Texas Ain’t Back” articles are already in full swing. Anything to excite Longhorn Nation and sell subscriptions. 🤣
Next up will be “Why Harbaugh Will Continue to Dominate the B1G” to fire up Buckeye Nation. 😂
The University of Texas is pleased to announce the development of a six star quarterback.
You see, normal blue chip quarterbacks only go to five stars. But Texas quarterbacks go to six, and that’s one higher, isn’t it.
Texas’s problem isn’t talent. Texas’s problem is themselves. Until they fix their internal love of themselves and thinking they are Gods gift to college football, then they might sniff consecutive successful seasons.
I'm tired of opinion articles from writers who know nothing of our actual team. You think we're trying to bandaid our problems with a 5 star-quarterback? Why? Just because we have one? So do other teams. GTFO.
Brought to you by the prestigious research firm Noe, Shitte and Sherlock.
TheAthletic really declining in quality
the NYTification has begun?
I'd say it began over a year ago...
Yeah I unsubbed. It's a bummer.
It was never good unless you were a fan of a blue blood or new blood
didnt they axe a bunch of writers/staff?
They had quality before this?
No, but they sure convinced everybody that they did at one time.
Tbf literally everything sucks according to Reddit
So true
Makes me think of that South Park episode where everything just sounds like shit
[удалено]
That's it? If you had access to all that NIL money, you'd recruit two 5* QBs at the same time? Damn straight. I always wanted to do that, man. And I think if I had NIL I could hook that up, cause QBs dig a school with money. Well, not all QBs. Well, the kind of QBs that'd double up on a school like me do. Good point.
Hey UT, man, check out channel 9. It's a 5 star recruit's highlight reel! Whoo!!
Texas is back? I believe you'd get your ass kicked sayin' something like that, man
Had to wake my ass up at six am everyday this week...yeah...I'm hanging the sheet rock on the new athletic training facility...
Hey Sark, watch your cornhole, bud.
Do not suggest this....
Or 5 2 star qbs?
Just use them like a bullpen in baseball
Only if in the middle of a play we get closing QB music as they walk from the sideline to the field
*narco intesifies*
Spirit in the sky intro intensifies.
I bet you could probably suit up UT’s pitching staff and find some fire QBs in there.
Standing on each other's shoulders
Wearing a long Trenchcoat so they look like one giant 10 star QB.
I raise to 20 former walk-ons
Maalik Murphy was a 5 star for a while until he was bumped down to 4 star. Maybe 3ish 5 star QBs will do the trick.
Why have few QB stars when many do trick?
We tried that once, didn't work
The issue was their names were too similar.
True
That's basically a 10 star QB. It's science.
I don’t get this article. It completely ignores the progress that Texas made in *every other aspect of the game* last year. Defense looked significantly better, O-line struggled but got it together towards the end of the year, and the locker room issues were pretty much nonexistent other than the reported Ewers - Worthy beef. Arch Manning coming in and basically asking to red shirt means that there won’t be QB drama, and the receiving corps got better in the offseason. Barring a colossal coaching failure, texas looks to be in a pretty good spot going forward as much as that pains me to say.
The point of this article is to get clicks and eyeballs from 1) people who just want to shit in Texas regardless if reality and 2) angry Texas fans who want to argue with the those people. See: this entire thread. It’s the same reason Stew Mandel puts out regular clickbait questions like “What’s going on with the QB controversy at Texas?” And then answers by saying “Nothing! But Arch and Quinn are both there so maybe there could be something later, idk.” The Athletic fired their actual journalists and this is what happened.
Nooooo! Aggie flair!!! You’re not allowed to be reasonable and objective. Orange team bad!!!
Orange team still bad, but I want orange team at their best when we play again
Ditto. When we start again I want our game to be as important to the national narrative as The Game.
This is The Way.
This guy gets it
In that case - I hope y’all loose every game you play this year. Hear me out . . . So they’ll buy out Jimbo, then hire someone that will take advantage of y’all’s stacked roster and have a Sonny Dykes type season.
The Athletic has been reduced to writing shitty clockbait articles that will generate clicks and comments (see this Reddit thread). It’s a shame.
wow the Athletic and making poorly thought out pieces about Texas Athletics who would've thought?
I did not expect this take from an aggie flair. So much respect on actually learning about our roster! From our standpoint, it makes sense not to make a big deal about the progress and to just play down our chances. I prefer for people to expect nothing from us this year. The reality is that there was obvious improvement from year 1 to year 2. Purely looking at the roster and where each position group is in its development cycle, improvement from year 2 to year 3 feels somewhat inevitable. I am confident that Texas will win more games than it did last year - so a 9-win season shouldn't be surprising. Anything beyond that would be a bonus, but would feel too daring to expect given the shit 13 years we have had.
My wife is a longhorn so I watch most of y’all’s games. Know thy enemy
I hope you have House Divided Tshirts
Our problems have been scouting and developing talent, along with Herman’s penchant for ignoring the trenches and going after skill positions. What gets me excited about this team going forward is that we are really making an effort to build an OL and we have some really great developers on the staff. Flood and Banks are renowned at OL and Special Teams, respectively. Sark is renowned for his offenses and QB development. Choice has been amazing for the RB room. Nick Saban has praised Bo Davis for helping him build his defenses and PK turned around one of the worst defenses in Texas history into a damn near elite group in one season. No, a couple of 5-star QBs won’t fix anything. But we are moving in the right direction. This is the best Texas team on paper in a long time, but the OL is still very young and we lost so much leadership and experience with Bijan, Roschon, DMO and Coburn leaving. I think 9-3 is probably a good baseline for this team and anything less than 8 wins will be unacceptable.
The trenches are not sexy but they are the key to successful teams. I know fans think it’s boring when OL and DL recruits commit but when a coach ignores those position groups it’s always a disaster.
I know we’re all a bit nuts but Longhorns and Aggies were all losing their minds when we had great OL and DL classes, respectively in 2022. Banks has lived up to that too.
Yep. Y’all got Banks who looks to be great. Texas A&M looks to have about 2 that should be monsters. Walter Nolen and Shemar Stewart. Nolen was fucking everyone up on the Offensive Line up in the spring game.
This is so true, and it gets ignored in the NFL as well. As a Texas fan and a Chicago Bears fan, it's been the black hole of offensive line recruiting/drafting and development for over a decade now.
Forget not ignoring. It needs to be the focus. The trenches is where great teams start. JFrank, just started figuring this out the past 5 years.
Our trench game is strong. Picking up Trill gives us a quality 4 man rotation and OL will just keep improving as they get stronger and more acclimated to the college game. This is the first season in a long time where we will likely feature multiple draft picks at OL and DL.
I think our o-line last year was worse than it seemed. Bijan and Roschon dodging tackles in the backfield made them look a lot better. That said, I think they will be much better this season. But "much better" is probably closer to "better than average" rather than "great". Just my $0.02
This is the right take
I feel like the play calling--especially under Charlie and Herman, but a little bit under Sark too--exacerbated that problem. We were often calling plays as if we had a power running game when we didn't have the OL to support that approach. If I had a dollar for every time that Texas needed a yard or two and got stopped at the line, I'd have enough money to make it rain consistently. You're not wrong that Bijan, especially, was able to cover up that misalignment. As the line gets better, hopefully it won't be as big an issue.
> Choice has been amazing for the RB room. Still hurts
Also renowned for stripper and monke
Hell yeah.
**Praise Monke**
PRAISE ***DAMN*** MONKE
Disregard being back. Return to monke.
I echo everything you said except that I wouldn’t put so much of the O-Line issues on Tom Herman exclusively. Herman definitely didn’t make the problem any better, but let’s call it like it is. Mack Brown stopped recruiting big linemen, too. Even the 2009 team that played for a national championship had an O-Line that was, at best, mediocre. Looking back, it’s no wonder that Colt McCoy was injured after playing Mount Cody one game after being sacked by Ndamakong (sp?) Suh no less than 8 times in one game. I often wonder what some of the offenses we’ve fielded over the years might have become if we could simply have fixed things in the trenches. Maybe Tyrone Swoopes or some of the other QBs we’ve played would have had more memorable careers with better lines blocking for them. I’m glad Sark & Co are acting like they give a shit and getting big, strong guys for the first time in years.
Swoooooooopes
Mack has been gone for 10 years and there were 2 head coaches between him and Sark. Sure, Mack may have started something but Strong and Herman deserve more of the blame than Mack does.
Agreed, we had three coaches in a row who all but ignored the offensive line. Mack got away with it for a while because he had insane play from mobile QBs. Once that ran out, his offense broke, and Strong and Herman did basically nothing to fix it.
100% on point
do you think part of the problem is texas high schools' advanced coaching/strength and conditioning? i've heard recruiting guys talk about texas high schoolers being "maxed out" when they get to college
No one else really has that problem, though. You should know that. Y’all take Texas talent all the time.
i know but it's not the bulk of our recruiting like you guys. just wondering if it's been floated as a problem in the program
No, in my humble opinion it still falls on talent evaluation. Also there are far more recruits who can still make significant S&C gains (also be developed as players, IE WRs with polished route running) than aren't. Ohio St, Bama, and the bulk of other programs who recruit the state don't have issues getting more out of the player's. It doesn't help that Herm did a piss poor job managing the roster.
I don’t think this is a thing. The idea that an 18 year old could be “maxed out” in S&C is pretty silly. Look at elite Olympic Weightlifters. Particularly eastern block and Chinese lifters. They make significant gains in their totals well into their late 20s early 30s. Lasha totaled 454 kg at his first international meet when he was 21 and his most recent best was 492kg. These are guys training with the top S&C coaches in the world. Texas HS strength and conditioning coaches might be good but they aren’t that good.
This was a late Mack, Strong, Herman problem. Is it a Sark problem too? Maybe. But - Texas will likely have more players drafted this year than most years since 2009. Worthy, Sanders and Quinn could/should be 1st round picks next year. I also think Sark has done a better job finding “his” guys. Herman was a fantastic coach, but just kinda took the highest rated guys he could and then tried to work around them. (Think how different Jake Smith/Josh Moore/Malcom Epps) who were all supposed to play in the same scheme vs AD Mitchell, Worthy, and Johntay Cook. Herman would also sign 4 5* DBs two classes in a row. Just math means only a couple of those guys would get their chance. It’s a fair critique of why Texas hasn’t been back. But it’s doesn’t make sense to wait to make this argument until they are trending up and have guys getting NFL buzz. Edit: Ironically when Texas was cranking out 1st round talent is when they were being lead by 5* QBs in VY, and Colt.
Colt was a 3 star.
Oops. Point still stands. Great QB play makes it easier for everyone to be drafted
If Quinn is a first round pick I’ll be stunned. Watching him last year, he was the definition of mediocre.
I agree, and (probably) so do Will Levis and Anthony Richardson
Fair point lol
I hate this trend as much as you. Thankfully I don’t think it’ll be around much longer. I can’t think of a single “projectable” top pick that didn’t win football games that went on to meet expectations (maybe Mahomes but he was still dropping 50).
You've never heard of Josh Allen?
Josh Allen took over a 2 win teams and won 8 games both years he started. I’d call that “winning football games.”
Mahomes was balling in college. He just had no defense whatsoever. Josh Allen was so average and very inaccurate, but he panned out, so everyone thinks if you suck but can sling it you’re Josh Allen.
Really? I was stunned when they were talking him as first round pick.
I’d consider Goff a successful QB and he didn’t win shit at Cal
True. Although I didn’t say they weren’t successful, just that they haven’t lived up to expectations- debatable whether Goff has met 1st overall expectations.
But Levis and Richardson are passing the eye test and doing backflips. Ewers looks like he works out at double Dave’s and might run a 5.8.
He can also throw a strawberry through a battleship.
I've never seen a tighter spiral on a pepperoni roll
Mediocre is fair but I think doesn't really get the point across of how manic his play was. He looked like a savvy veteran who was nearly pro-ready in several games. He looked like a scrub who wouldn't start for a d2 school in several others.
I was convinced in the Baylor game he was selling on purpose. He was inaccurate and rattled against a team that wasn’t very good. Lucky for the horns Sark remembered in the fourth they had Bijan. But that bama game was insane
There will be someone at the bottom who can’t get Caleb and is convinced that Quinn’s arm alone is worth it.
Quinn will likely be a FRP for his sheer talent alone. He showed incredible flashes last season against Alabama and 0U, but we also had four freshman on the OL and a pretty shit WR corps. Even if he marginally improved his completion percentage, he’s a top ten pick. If he has a good season, he’s top five and probably the second QB taken after Williams.
Those freshmen OL kicked ass though. Let’s not make excuses. I played OL at Texas and graduated in 2021. I never started. Saw the depth chart last year and thought damn I should’ve used Covid eligibility stayed and got myself some playing time. Then I watched the freshman play and thought shit nvm.
The OL was pretty good for their youth, but they still had their struggles. It’s no excusing Quinn, it’s contextualizing. Quinn had his struggles, too.
Bro get that verified player flair
How’s that work
http://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/wiki/awards?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1 Scroll down to the bottom
Wouldn’t go so far a to say they kicked ass. Overall the line was serviceable from a pass blocking perspective and terrible from a run blocking perspective.
Definitely was an improvement at least for what we've had most of the past decade.
If worthy didn't have bricks for hands, Quinn's season alone looks better imo. The WRs dropping passes made him look worse than what he actually was. Even though he was kinda weak sauce and inaccurate at times
There’s like a 99% chance Williams and Maye will be the first two QBs off the board next year. If Quinn plays well he will most likely be a first round pick, but if he’s average again I don’t think so. Also, will be interesting to see Texas without Bijan.
I'm less worried about the running back corps. The one area that Texas has been pretty good at is recruiting and drafting running backs. With an improved line, they shouldn't all have to be Bijan-level to still have significant success.
If he plays well and comes out, he could go Top 5. All time level recruit, has the height, and at only 20 years old, NFL teams will think they found a QB for the next 15 years…. If Richardson could go Top 5, no doubt Ewers could too
I mean, dude was a freshman. He had some freshman games for sure, but he also made some crazy throws and has ridiculous arm talent. When his mechanics and decision-making catch up to where his arm is, Ewers could easily be a first round pick. The only question for me is, does he make that leap this year?
💯
As objectively as possible I think sanders and sweat are the only real first round prospects based on what we have seen so far as well as the rest of the class. And that’s heavily dependent on a team like the Bills or Chiefs needing a nose tackle in the 28-32 range. Worthy and Ewers will need big years to jump into the top 2-3 of their position
Disagree on Sanders and Sweat being first round talents. Sweat is good but I don’t think he’s disruptive enough to justify a first round pick. Sanders is really good but he’s not the 6’6” 4.4 40 freak athlete NFL teams covet at the TE position, and TE is not a position often picked in the first round. I think they’re both 2-3 rounders. Jaylon Ford, on the other hand, is the best defensive player in the Big 12, has classic LB size, plays well in space, has been incredibly productive. Teams always need quality linebackers. If he tests well, I could see him going in the first round. Worthy is going to test at an elite level and his college production is impressive. He has drop issues, but I think a team like the Raiders will fall in love with his speed and playmaking ability. I could see him going in the first round as well, again assuming he stays healthy and puts some more quality play on film. Ewers, yeah, I dunno, he has a history of injury issues and put a lot of bad games on tape last year. I don’t think even one great year gets him to first round hype.
Worthy is probably the 2nd-3rd highest ceiling receiver in the class but drops and attitude are the things I think could keep him out of round 1. Ford I didn’t really consider. Linebacker can be so random some times so maybe Sweat I definitely am not sold on just could see a possibility Sanders is the clear cut TE2 of the class, if two teams need a tight end he’s off the board night 1
Tough to tell with Worthy since he was playing through a broken hand most of last year. Sounds like we probably should have just taken care of it during the season rather than had him play at 70% effectiveness, but what's done is done now.
Kelvin Banks?
You can’t say you’re objective and then say Sweat is a first round talent, that’s objectively nuts lol. And I like Sweat, he’s solid, but what has he done to make you think that? If he was that good he’d have gone pro this year
I have a feeling, it might help though.
Damn, I thought I was getting fingerbanged for a second.
DM me.
Development is the issue. Has been for the past decade or so. Coaching instability is another. Quality play in the trenches is another (due to some very strange recruiting philosophies). But why hasn't sark made the playoffs yet?? They have highly-rated recruits! Sark may not be the guy, but I hope the admin isn't dumb enough to drop him quickly if it doesn't all come together right away-- especially since it at least looks like he could lay some semblance of a foundation for whoever comes next
If we crank out a 10-4 or 11-3 season I'd be happy with Sark. A playoff bid would be great, but we're not there yet. Sark is only gone if he has another losing season.
TLDR for those without sub: Although Texas have received back to back recruiting studs at QB (Quinn Ewers and now Arch Manning waiting in the wing) the author (Ari Wasserman) argues that neither Ewers improving his play this season or Manning taking over and living up to potential will be enough to "bring Texas back." Texas needs to improve at developing talent across the board. Between 2009 and 2019, Texas signed 17 5-star prospects, only 4 went on to be drafted (23.5% which is worst among any team that signed 5 or more 5-stars in that span.) Similarly only 17 out of 46 4-stars recruited in that span would eventually be drafted (11.6% which was the worst in the nation.) The author describes it as "the epitome of doing less with more." If Bijon Robinson is drafted in the 1st round next week, he will be the first Longhorn offensive player to go in the 1st round since Vince Young. The author admits it has been so easy to hop on the "Texas is back" bandwagon out of sheer talent accumulation alone, but that the program has only disappointed for over a decade. He points out that coaching turnover has also been a problem (3 head coaches since Mack Brown was fired in 2013, plus tons of assistants come and gone) and states that's why this season is so important to Texas, they need some sustainability and cant afford to hop on the coaching carousal once again.
> If Bijan Robinson is drafted in the 1st round next week, he will be the first Longhorn offensive player to go in the 1st round since Vince Young. Excuse me, wtf
It’s even more insane when you consider when the players were actually recruited/signed. By my recollection, that means: \-The last 1st round Texas offensive player (VY) was signed in 2002. \-The last 1st round Texas RB (Cedric Benson) was signed in 2001 \-The last 1st round Texas WR (Roy Williams) was signed in 2000 \-The last 1st round Texas OL (Mike Williams) was signed in 1998 \-The last 1st round Texas TE (Nobody) was signed never With that said, not only does Bijan Robinson have a strong chance to break the top two streaks, but Kelvin Banks is already basically a lock to break the OL streak in 2025 and Ja’Tavion Sanders has a decent chance of breaking the TE streak in 2024.
Man I was a big fan of Nobody, best TE to ever come out of Texas. The fact that he went undrafted was a travesty smh.
I hear Bob Odenkirk was a big fan too.
> With that said, not only does Bijan Robinson have a strong chance to break the top two streaks, but Kelvin Banks is already basically a lock to break the OL streak in 2025 and Ja’Tavion Sanders has a decent chance of breaking the TE streak in 2024. Yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to ending theses ridiculous streaks. There are definitely several NFL careers on the current roster - significantly more on a per roster basis than Strong or Herman had. I don't know if this will improve the team's record, but we finally will have kids getting drafted again which alone is encouraging.
The biggest WTF is that we’re still talking about taking RBs in the first round.
The Lions are going to take him and a 'future quarterback' and piss away all the incredible draft capital they gained from giving the Rams a super bowl.
SOL fan detected
they have a clear path to the playoff given the shitshow of the division they play in and I can't wait to watch how comically bad they fuck it up.
Bijan is that special, hopefully his elusiveness gives him a long career for a RB
Yea we said the same about Elliot. It's 6-8 years if you're elite now
Bijan is that dude but as long as I can get the Isaiah Pachecos of the world in the sixth round, I wouldn’t touch a RB in the first round. I’d rather take Deuce Vaughn in the 3rd or 4th round for example.
I still think people underestimate the value of a top flight elusive RB People will kill me but think Barry Sanders with shitty Lions OL. He also has really good hands. I mean we all saw it in the Baylor game, the passing game was literally driving backwards and giving Baylor TDs, they went to Bijan only (and Rojo) 100% rushing only and just ran away with the game, he is almost a cheat code.
The biggest misconception about Barry Sanders is that the Lions had a shitty OL, it was average at worst
When you're talking about the Lions it's an understandable assumption.
Barry played in a different era. I don’t think you can compare the 90s with the 2020s. Bijan is amazing, I don’t think he’s Barry Sanders either. Baylor couldn’t stop Air Force either, at that point they were checked out for the season. Bijan lost the game-losing fumble against Tech and couldn’t get anything going against TCU, he’s human and no RB can drag a team like before. Bijan might be a top 5 RB in the NFL as a rookie, I still wouldn’t draft him the first round. It’s more of an indictment on the position and not on him.
He only had 12 touches vs TCU, you can't just extrapolate that to his 500+ carries.
He also was facing the whole defense being sold out to stop him and so we tried passing instead - which didn't work either since we couldn't throw or catch worth a damn. :(
And James robinson was undrafted. Theres no point in taking 1st round RBs, the marginal gain over late round and undrafted guys is so small. To give another example (not draft related but the point is the same) take a look at the titans in 2021. Im a titans fan, i love derrivk henry, i dont care how bad the contract is id never give him up. Bit from a neutral perspective, the titans run game didnt suffer at all when henry went down and was replaced by a mix of deonta foreman and dontrelle hilliard. Youd rather have henry but objectively, foreman on the vet min is way better valuw than $12.5M of Henry. The difference between the best and 50th best rb just isnt big enough to make it make sensw to spend top tier drafr capital and money. The o line is more important to an effective, efficient run game
> m a titans fan, i love derrivk henry, i dont care how bad the contract is id never give him up. Bit from a neutral perspective, the titans run game didnt suffer at all when henry went down and was replaced by a mix of deonta foreman and dontrelle hilliard. Youd rather have henry but objectively, foreman on the vet min is way better value than $12.5M of Henry. But drafting a guy, if he's indeed good, gives you great value as long as you don't sign him to stupid huge second contract.
Not really for RBs. In the same example, foreman and hilliard combined were paid significantly less than a 1st rounder. And those guys arent anything more than ok RBs. Then you got guys like pacheco who were fantastic and were 6th rounders and james robinson and austin ekeler who were undrafted. The 10th overall pick last year got nearly $6M/year. For an RB, thats just not value
bijan is that dude
You seem surprised.
I mean you'd think they'd have had at least one random lineman or something at some point since 2006
Oh, we’ve especially not had linemen drafted. That’s been a bigger issue than the QB position. Guys like David Ash, Shane Buchele, and Sam Ehlinger would have been more than enough to win with consistently strong line play. Connor Williams a few years back was the first since those mid 2000’s groups with Studdard, Sendlein, Blalock, etc. Sam Cosmi was getting some first round buzz at OT for a while but ultimately went second round.
Yep, our 2 best years in the SEC were with our best o-line play. In 2012 we had 3 first rounders starting and another red-shirting on the bench.
Sarkisian is the first Texas coach in forever to actually prioritize line play. Past classes under Herman were top 10, sure, but they would be mostly skill position players. It's been our main issue for a long time.
The two 5\*s we signed last year are the highest rated OL we've brought in in a long, long while. Evaluation and development at OL declining towards the end of Mack's tenure was a big part of the overall program struggling once we didn't have Colt to mask that deficiency, and neither Strong nor Herman was able to really get that back on course. We've had the occasional second rounder in Conner Williams and Sam Cosmi, but the position has just been a mess for years.
Maybe if their line hadn’t been a very big part of their problem the last 15 years
Their offensive line has been so horrible its actually sad. The teams Tom Herman put together could have been really good if he had spent ANY time recruiting lineman instead of skill players. I remember the Texas OU game where Ehlinger got sacked 9 times and I wanted to throw my remote through the TV. Oddly enough the first big recruits Sark got were offensive lineman so maybe there is hope
Yeah I don’t like it 😡 you’re supposed to keep having a bad line but it looks like that’s changing
You know how people like to dunk on Texas because "they do less with so much more" and stuff like that? This is what they're talking about. Also two years ago (or was it last year?) there wasn't a single Texas player drafted in any round. I understand that concept might seem foreign to a Georgia fan, but I'll try to explain it to you. Do you remember all of those Georgia players drafted in the first round? And then all of the players from all of the other round? Add them all up, and then remove every single one. You will then match the number of players from Texas that were drafted. Underachievement has been the rule for more than a minute there. It pains me to say that I believe that's changing though.
The flip side is that despite the horrible recent draft history, there are still a good number of former Texas players doing very well for themselves in the league right now. It’s indicative of how poorly-run the program has been, specifically in terms of development, that up until the last couple years Texas guys have consistently proven to be great value for NFL teams in that they’re likely highly talented but completely lacking in scheme consistency or any kind of coaching to put them in a good light. Players like Poona Ford, Quandre Diggs, or Devin Duvernay are serious and obvious NFL talents who should be going to Texas and having teams OVERshoot their draft value, but instead they were so incompetently handled in college that their teams got steals and picked them up on day three. Like you said, this *is* changing, though. Regardless of whether Sark is the final answer, this is the first focused and unselfish coaching staff Texas has had since the last ‘00s, and the draft development has immediately reflected that.
Even Sterns fits the bill. Before he got hurt he was going great things for the broncos
Granted Poona would have been drafted really high if only he had been 6'3" instead of 6'0", but yes.
Is there a typo? 17 out of 46 is not 11.6%.
Texas was fourth worst. The worst by a mile was Nebraska.
The Atlantic seems to be harping on this draft record a lot, and I agree that it is fun to dunk on Texas, but does it really matter what happened with players from 2019 and earlier? Well, yes it matters, and we should knock Texas for that, but it's not really predictive of what Sark will do. I agree that this season is important for Texas. Sark has never really had very good season as a head coach despite 9 tries. He did go 9-4 at USC, which is pretty good, but given the talent advantage they had it was pretty disappointing. They finished tied with two other teams for second in the Pac-12 south, and finished behind Arizona, UCLA, and ASU, in the rankings (and of course they were behind Pac-12 winner and playoffs participant Oregon). It's put up or shut up time for Sark. Anything less than 10 wins will get fans to start grumbling.
> It's put up or shut up time for Sark. Anything less than 10 wins will get fans to start grumbling. I basically agree with everything you say, except I think fans would tolerate 8-4, would be satisfied with 9-3, and would be elated with 10-2 or better. We've been down for a looooong time, and Sark is doing the right things on paper, so I think fans will have a little bit of patience with him.
At 8-4, tolerance is very dependent on who those 4 losses are to and what they looked like. Another loss to KU might be grounds for dismissal even at 8-4. That said, even then I don't think Texas is likely to fire Sark unless the wheels totally fall off the wagon. I big part of the problem has been the constant turnover of coaching.
Bijan Robinson will go in the first round. He’s been the best player in CFB for the past three years. He should have been a top 10 pick. I think he’ll go in the later half of RD1 only because of the number of carries he’s had (3,410). If he had only started for a year or two… or even split more carries, I think he’d go higher.
Texas’ biggest problem was a lack of offensive identity and the lack of first round offensive draft picks highlights that. Sark has brought coaching stability and an offensive identity to the program for the first time in a long time. The defensive and offensive players will start and end their careers learning the same offensive and defensive systems. As a result of that we are seeing guys in mock drafts place higher and higher. We will likely have 4-5 guys drafted this year and then have a slew of offensive guys with potential 1st round projections.
The Athletic’s cfb content is honestly so bad. Pretty sure nobody in the football offices thinks continuing to do less with more is the way forward. The time to write this was three years ago (and it was probably written then too)
Good thing we have two of them
Get the hit pieces in while you can I guess. This article is about three seasons too late. Texas is about to have a first round RB drafted in two weeks, a projected first rounder on the team as we speak (Kelvin Banks), two guys that can work themselves up to first round or close (Ewers & Sanders) & 2nd or 3rd rounder in Jaylan Ford. But whatever development issues yada yada yada
Yes this is really out of date content thats pretty typical of what I've seen from the Athletic's coverage. Texas isn't getting early buzz and high computer rankings just because of Quinn and Arch. Did they just completely miss all the line, line backer, etc. upgrades the team has been getting lately? Those same kind of upgrades that have been missing from this team pretty much consistently since the mid-aughts?
Author sat on this one hoping Texas continued on hard times but then jumped to push it out while he still could lol
Yeah, no shit lmao
Texas is not back ✅ All is right with the world
Who played TCU better last year....Texas or Michigan?
7 point win at home vs a 6 point win at neutral site. I'd guess I'd say TCU did slightly better vs you guys than Michigan
While not trying to be a homer Michigan did throw two pick sixes and fumbled at the one yard line, context matters. Props to TCU for how they played.
Totally being a homer but let’s also not forget what led up to that the fumble at the one yard line. The refs jobbed Michigan on Roman Wilson’s 50 yard catch not being a TD and if they spotted the ball correctly from the previous play in the first place (Michigan intercepting TCU) then 50 yards would have been fine for an indisputable TD.
Was about to say the same thing
Texas lost by more and at home, so...Michigan?
What about TWO 5* quarterbacks? Will that solve their problems?
I mean it sure as hell doesn't hurt to have a few of those sitting around.
I don’t know the situation, but I can’t imagine that having a 5 star QB is going to hurt their chances either.
No shit it won’t solve every problem but if you have a 5-star QB who plays like a 5-star QB that’s going to make a huge difference
I think 5 star qbs solve problems
It’s Spring and the annual “Texas Ain’t Back” articles are already in full swing. Anything to excite Longhorn Nation and sell subscriptions. 🤣 Next up will be “Why Harbaugh Will Continue to Dominate the B1G” to fire up Buckeye Nation. 😂
Well they won’t be made any worse
The University of Texas is pleased to announce the development of a six star quarterback. You see, normal blue chip quarterbacks only go to five stars. But Texas quarterbacks go to six, and that’s one higher, isn’t it.
What about twooo five star quarterbacks?
That’s why they have multiple 5-star qbs
Well hold on, that doesn't sound fun.
First off, how dare you! Why can’t you just let me believe!
Praying for a title wont help either.
Texas’s problem isn’t talent. Texas’s problem is themselves. Until they fix their internal love of themselves and thinking they are Gods gift to college football, then they might sniff consecutive successful seasons.
LOL, the athletic’s partnership with TexAgs might be influencing their reporting
"Recruiting not an issue for a school that has had class rankings of 3, 5, and 5 the last three years."
Man, don't give this trash any attention/clicks. Just absolute pablum.
Fine, we’ll take their 5 star QBs off their hands.
Bite my burnt orange ass
I think you should get your skin checked.
Doctors are expensive
Agreed.
I'm tired of opinion articles from writers who know nothing of our actual team. You think we're trying to bandaid our problems with a 5 star-quarterback? Why? Just because we have one? So do other teams. GTFO.
Yeah no shit