- SCIPIO’S THOUGHTS | SPRING GAME wide on 3rd and 9 anymore.
DEFENSE If you thought the offense struggled, imagine if the defensive front 7 hadn’t been split up by the Spring game draft format. Roach, Omenihu and Hager sharing the same pass rushing space is a daunting proposition for a lot of offenses. Particularly when all three can credibly line up at multiple positions and come in unexpected ways. Overall, the defense dominated in stretches, featuring a withering pass rush and a good display of depth and tackling from the secondary.
DEFENSIVE LINE When Breckyn Hager was being evaled as a recruit,
Zach Shackelford
I thought his best realization would be 50+ pounds Denzel Okafor can’t play tackle for us, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a future at guard. Urquidez just isn’t ready. Cosmi is promising but not quite ready for prime time. Shackleford needs to have a good 3+ months in the weight room and regain the lower body strength his injuries have cost him, but the problems outside suggest that we’re not moving a viable tackle like Kerstetter inside to seek improvement at center.
how it played out. Hager’s offseason weight and strength gains (he looks somewhere between 260-270 now) have allowed him to add a potent bull rush to his gap-taking arsenal. He’s going to be a handful. Speaking of handfuls, Charles Omenihu looked good playing a more conventional DE outside of the tackles and he’s using his
There’s still time for this unit to improve substantially in the weight room and in Fall Camp, but Texas clearly needs upgraded play outside and depth development across the board. Calvin Anderson will be a welcome addition.
hands and length well. He’s made the realization that his wingspan allows him first contact and first shot at hand placement and he gets to lead the dance if he does both of them correctly. We’ll still need him to hunker down and disrupt against the run as a 5 technique and that’s what the NFL expects too. Jamari Chisholm has completely remade his body while gaining
TIGHT END
good weight and he showed better activity level than last year. I did
Reese Leitao didn’t look out of place out there. He’s sort of a happy medium between Beck and Brewer. It was good to see Beck back and I think the game offered a realistic assessment of his true impact for the Texas fans who fancy him as Tony Gonzalez. We’re certainly improved at this position from last year, but that’s a relative statement. At least I don’t have to see Kendall Moore split out in five
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north of his HS playing weight with a hand on the ground. That’s
a double take when I saw him run out. Wilbon was a little sluggish as a pass rusher and needs to work on get off and not giving up the advantages of his frame with high pad level. Get him some Roy Miller and Poona Ford tape post-haste. I liked what I saw from Graham at nose tackle and he’s certainly
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