As we get closer to Fall practices, I’ll review the team by position, bringing up pros and cons of each group or question marks going into the season. I’ll give my take here and there, but my review is just my perspective and outlook on how I see the team going into the season.
On offense we have a new offensive scheme built around some air raid, spread offense and Malzahn’s offensive principles. Going for it more on 4th down is also an air raid/spread offense mentality.
Position review:
Offense:
QB: Hornsby, Finley, Rogers, Hatter
Going into this fall it would seem there is a 2 headed race for QB (Hornsby/Finley) but many say Rogers performed well so maybe it is not a foregone conclusion. In the end, we need the best playmaker to win the position. Not the best athlete (that runs fast) but the best playmaker that 1) makes good decisions (less turnovers), 2) can read the defense and take what they give him, and 3) execute pass or running plays.
- Malik Hornsby is known for his speed but questions about whether he can throw the ball effectively enough to be a threat in the passing game are yet to be answered. In the passing game, how he progresses in his reads will matter and may be a big part of winning the position. This is what we are waiting to see/find out. If he can, he’d be hard to beat.
- T.J. Finley is a bit opposite of Hornsby, as he’s known for his ability to throw the ball; however, he’s not as accurate which can lead to INTs or incomplete passes. He’s not known for running the ball but has shown ability to move around in the pocket. As he comes in this summer/July, he may be able to do more things even if running the ball is not going to be a strength. Finley brings 1 thing no other QB has, Experience. That does go a long way compared to no one else that has started a game before or those taken snaps in a game. He will need to show the same things as Hornsby to win job… effective passing, can run ball when needed, and not turn the ball over.
- C.J. Rogers was a PWO at Baylor then earned a ship at TXST. He’s really only been here just a year now and seems to have done well for himself. He’s the lone returning QB. Known for a good arm. The unknown is his running ability although some say he’s done well in the new offense.
- P.J. Hatter is known as both a passing and running QB. If any of his workouts from Huth’s twitter will tell you… he can run and is fast. A lefty with a bright future. It may be a little too early for him to compete with this group but he will learn and should be ready in another season or so.
RB: Hill, Pare, Jeter, Good, Berry, Davenport, Mahdi
- Considering the number of RBs returning and a small number of WRs on ship, I would expect to see ways to put a RB either at WR (Mahdi maybe) in the slot or ways to have 2 RB sets to utilize the talent returning. This team has good RBs but do we have a play maker that can take pressure off QB to make all the plays? That is my question.
- Calvin Hill and Lincoln Pare have both shown they can be starting RBs and it will be interesting how they plan to use them. Both have also shown ability to catch the ball out of the backfield so can they use that in this new system? UPDATE: Pare appears to have suffered an ACL injury and will likely have to miss the season.
- Jahmyl Jeter has been suspect his entire career at TXST (sorry, calling it how I see it). A big RB that has had moments but few and far between. It will be interesting to see what he can do with it as 1) his last season to play and 2) how he plays (big and physical or continue to dance in the backfield).
- Damarius Good/Josh Berry I haven’t seen enough of either but I have heard some of you on M&G talk about them showing some potential. Same for Donerio Davenport and Ismail Mahdi. They were brought in by the new coaching staff so both must have the talent wanted for the position.
TE: Fox, Lyons, Godfrey, Simpson
- Since Jake Spavital took over this team, the TE position has been lacking. Lacking in receiving yards, lacking in physicality, lacking, lacking, lacking. Will Kinne find a way to use his TEs more effectively to run or catch balls. They either need to play a bigger part in games than on the sidelines or what is the point (other than special teams blocking).
- How will Kinne and staff use a position they rarely had at UIW? They used backup DEs and RBs last year from what others have mentioned. With some signees brought in with only Lyons still here, it will be interesting to see how they will be used.
- My guess is that Titus Lyons is the only player I’m aware of that is more of a receiving TE (based on last season.) That would lead to me guessing that Caleb Godfrey and Konner Fox may be primarily blocking TEs. Jake Simpson may be able to do both in a few years but that may be a year or 2 away.
OL:
OT: Jones, Strawn, Badusi, Harkey, Scott, Walker
OG: E. Obigbo, Johnson, Hover, DeLeon, Todd,
OC: J. Obigbo, Alexander, Valenzuela, J. Smith?
- The most interesting thing will be how quickly this group can work together and be on the same page. The obvious way would be 2-3 (at minimum) UIW OL win spots so they know each other the most and the other 2 fill in to spots next to them. If not and others beat out most of the UIW guys, I’d expect to see some early growing pains. MUST win in the trenches to have a winning season, PERIOD.
- With so many UIW guys (5) signed and then bringing in another 5 OL (Harkey, Walker, Todd, Alexander, Valenzuela); this OL like most of the roster has a huge amount of turnover. In my opinion, it was definitely needed as returners were backups for the last 2 seasons and rarely started any games.
- At center, these were the players mentioned by Keff during spring practices to be getting some reps at center in J. Smith and J. Obigbo so until Alexander (new to the position) and Valenzuela (just came in the summer) win it… I’m going to wait to assume a new guy will beat out J. Obigbo who has played in the system for a full season at OT or even Jayden Smith. Obviously he was tried out there for a reason, be it his leadership, high football IQ, etc…
- OG has us much bigger physically than before. Not in height (still 6’4/6’5ish) but most are over 300lbs rather than just hitting 300lbs. That should hopefully help open more running lanes.
- OT is bigger physically than previous years as well (over 300lbs than just at 300lbs).
WR:
Slot: Hawkins, Wilson, Dawn, Jr., Hobert
Outside: Ahmed, Donley, Brown, Ortega-Jones?, Corrales, Shaw
- With only 10 scholarship guys after Jackson left, we are not looking deep enough at WR to play many 4 WR sets regularly unless we use TEs more as the 4th receiving player or find ways to utilize RBs in the slot. There are rumors of the staff adding1 more WR to the team but that hasn’t happened as of yet. Numbers may not matter to you but just 1 injury would mean 2nd/ 3rd string move up and we may not have a ship 3rd option. We are barely deep enough for a 3 deep for 3 WR positions. For a 4th, we are not.
- Considering the Huth scores he posts on twitter; I could easily see Lyons getting a lot of PT as a receiving TE… that would help this receiving unit with being multiple and not having to pull him out to keep going fast.
- We know what we have with Ashtyn Hawkins (Although I wish he would learn to take less hits in games; get achievable yardage, but he has to stay healthy for the long season) and Kole Wilson has shown signs at UIW of being on the cusp of a breakout/solid year. Joey Hobert comes in with FCS accolades, but we’ll see how that translates. Will Chris Dawn Jr. get many reps due to low amount of WRs on ship?
- Outside, we are bigger than I anticipated with 6’4 Beau Corrales, 6’6, Sean Shaw, 6’2 Drew Donley. Charles Brown also returns as one of 3 Bobcat receivers with 2+ receiving touchdowns and 13.5 YPC
- Where does Julian Ortega-Jones play? He may move back to slot where he was effective at times, but we’ll have to see. Shadeed Ahmed seems to be able to play both slot and out wide. We shall see. I’d like to believe Brown will surprise in this offensive scheme.
Defense:
DL:
DT: Coleman, Washington, Webb, Warren, Gold, Rorie, Ratcliffe
DE/Viper: K. Alexander, Landry, Latham, Revels, Wright, Cage, Bell, Martinez
- Like OL, another pivotal position we must win more than not. Last season was the first time since Fran’s DLs with Odiari at DE and Orakpo at LB that we had a group that could 1) pressure the QB and 2) sack them (the years in between, we couldn’t pressure QB much unless it was a blitz). It has been quite a while. Jordan Revels, TT DE Transfer and Ben Bell were able to provide pressure. We need that to continue or the DBs/LBs will struggle like in previous years.
- DTs will be much taller and in some ways bigger to maybe knock some balls down and just put more pressure on QBs with their length.
- DEs will definitely be bigger from Sam Latham at 6’7, Bryce Cage 6’4, and Deven Wright at 6’5. That wingspan should cause problems for QBs throwing balls and hopefully they can create more turnovers.
- Like last season, we need to find play makers here. Who will step up?
LB:
LB: Foster, Jr., Haynes, Williams, Josh Emmanuel, John Emmanuel, Faloona, Holloway, Mourning, Burrows (listed on TXST roster as LB)
- Over the years, Jake went with experienced (transfers) over youthful inexperience. This season I wouldn’t expect much to be different but many of those youthful players are no longer young or lack strength/size so there should be more competition for 2 positions. 9 ships for 2 positions. Talking about competition this fall!
- Would expect returners with experience and their signees to have best chances but if Huth’s twitter stats are to be considered… there have been many of the returning guys on there so it will not be as easy to win these spots.
DBs:
CB: Eaton, Ford-Dement, Edwards, Mills, Hockley, Holton, Blunt, Jr.?
NB/Star: Hayes, Bouldin, Crosby?, (Burrows?)
S: Spears, Atwood, Coleman?, Shelton?, Jackson, Ware, Culp, Hamrick
- Major guesses on who plays CB or S at this time. That is why all the question marks.
- By size, you would think some of the DBs over 195/200lbs may play NB but we’ll have to see. It would seem Faloona (played similar type of position in HS like Hayes did) would make sense at NB but I haven’t heard anything like that. I see how fast Haynes has shown from Huth’s lists so he could possibly play it too and maybe Burrows. We’ll see.
- NB position looks to be a position where a player needs to be physically strong enough to take on blocks but also make tackles in open space.
Special Teams
P: O’Kelley, Nunez
K: James, Shipley
- Seamus O’Kelley should have that position locked down but kicker could still be up in air at this time.
- Kicker will always be important even for a team that goes for it on 4th done a lot more than they will probably kick field goals.
All in all, the star level in recruiting is much higher; however, these transfers weren’t getting the PT they wanted at P5s so they looked elsewhere like every school that takes players from the transfer portal. Like HS signees, some will make an impact, others will fill depth needs and some will simply not work out.
Best case scenario, the offense is able to average 30+ points a game and make it possible to win 6 games to get bowl eligible. As fans of TXST, we want to believe Kinne can do the same as he did at UIW but that was a program that had already been winning and we haven’t been that since the Dennis Franchione days. I’d like to believe it can happen overnight, but with so many new guys, its hard to see it. The best “known” thing that we have going into the season since we don’t have that star player to put a finger on is the coaching staff. Outside of DL coach O’Guinn, everyone else comes from UIW so that consistency is what we have to rely on to get this team in order and make the right decisions to make this a bowl eligible season.
Worst case scenario, the offense and/or defense needs more time to be effective due to so many new pieces. The defense is on the field too long to be effective (we’ve seen this last 2 coaching staffs). We win just the 3-5 games projected and all the recruiting success in portal and HS ranks slow down… fans continue to do what they do as we lose more games than we win.
In the end, we have many question marks going into season with likely the highest star ranking of players we have ever had. So, will more talent than we have ever had (star rankings) and coaching make this team a winner in year 1? We shall see.
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