In this edition of “Four Downs” I’m looking at how impressive the 2016 recruiting class is as Texas keeps adding players, why a projected backup quarterback needs to have a key role on offensive, how important it is that the Longhorns will have all available bodies at defensive tackle come August and the impact of Skip Johnson’s departure on the baseball program.

First Down: Strong keeps building a championship-caliber roster

Duvernay's addition to the roster the latest sign that Strong is stockpiling some serious talent on the Forty Acres.

I loved the 2016 recruiting class when it was announced on signing day. Not to mention that was before we knew Shane Buechele would end spring practice looking like the best option at quarterback, Zach Shackelford would emerge as the team’s starting center and Collin Johnson would generate the most buzz of nearly any player this spring.

Now that the Longhorns have added another quality offensive lineman (Copperas Cove’s JP Urquidez) and a difference-making wide receiver who could be the missing piece to making Sterlin Gilbert’s offense go (Sachse wide receiver Devin Duvernay), the group looks even better. Better to the extent that when the question is posed as to which group has more upside -- the 2015 class or the 2016 haul -- I’m leaning toward Charlie Strong’s most recent crop of signees.

With Buechele and Shackelford the Longhorns have a chance to have a pair of four-year starters at two of the most important positions on the field. Additionally, running back Kyle Porter, offensive lineman Denzel Okafor, defensive end Andrew Fitzgerald, defensive tackle Jordan Elliott, defensive tackle Chris Daniels, linebacker Jeffrey McCulloch and safety Brandon Jones have already drawn rave reviews for what they’ve done in offseason workouts. There are members of this freshman class the staff feels are already better than what they’re bringing back at certain positions.

What Duvernay can do as a slot receiver makes him a big-time player who is tailormade to thrive in that position. The ability to use Armanti Foreman freely and take pressure off of John Burt and Collin Johnson makes Duvernay the kind of special weapon the Longhorns didn’t have before his arrival.

Urquidez will join Okafor, Jean Delance and Tope Imade in giving the Longhorns quality youth and depth at a position of need. I don’t know if I’d put it in stone that all four will be in the two-deep for the Notre Dame game, but I’m definitely keeping a chisel handy because the depth without the newcomers isn’t good enough for the Longhorns to maintain a level of offensive consistency if injuries occur.

Strong did what any coach worth their salt attempting to build a championship program should; he followed up a tremendous recruiting class with one that’s arguably better. That’s what Mack Brown did early in his tenure, and he had a roster capable of competing with anybody in the country in a few years into his tenure.

Strong is on his way to having that type of roster in relatively short order if he keeps attack the recruiting trail the way he has during his first two full cycles on the job.

Second Down: Swoopes needs to have a role

Swoopes' ability to move the ball via his short-yardage package makes him a valuable part of the offense.

Strong played coy last week when he met with the media regarding the quarterback position. He didn’t declare a starter and didn’t give a clear timeframe on when he’d like to have his pick, even though all signs point to Shane Buechele as being the guy.

He did, however, talk about what he expects from Tyrone Swoopes as a senior.

“He's going into his senior year, so you expect more from guys and that guys will step up,” Strong said. “It's still summer, but when a guy goes into his senior year, you're going to expect more from him.”

I don’t agree with Strong on this one. If Texas gets the same performance out of Swoopes in 2016 that he gave last year it will be more than enough proof of Swoopes making a worthwhile contribution to the cause.

I don’t think Swoopes should be the starting quarterback, nor do I think he’ll win the gig. But his role in the “18 Wheeler” package, which needs to remains a part of the offense, is one of the best things the Longhorns have going. The emergence of Chris Warren at running back late last season means that the Longhorns can have a short-yardage package featuring the 254-pound Swoopes, the 244-pound Warren and the 238-pound D’Onta Foreman, with Swoopes getting the snap from behind center allowing the threat of the pass on any given down. Good luck to opponent’s trying to slow that thing down with any level of consistency.

The inability of Swoopes to live up to the ridiculous and unrealistic comparisons to Vince Young that were made during his recruitment shouldn’t define him as a player. What should define the former U.S. Army All-American is that he’s a better version of what Blake Bell was at Oklahoma in a similar package, a set that is going be responsible for the Longhorns winning a game or two along the way.

Even if he’s not the team’s starting quarterback, he’s still a proven commodity on a roster shot on those at the moment due to youth.

Third Down: Southall’s arrival increases odds of hitting it big inside

Texas needs Southall on campus to be able to get the most out of a talented group of freshmen defensive tackles.

Duncanville defensive tackle Marcel Southall told Horns247 over the weekend that he’s been cleared to enroll for the start of the second summer session on July 11. That means the Longhorns will have all five true freshmen defensive tackles (Southall, Daniels, Elliott, D’Andre Christmas-Giles and Gerald Wilbon) available for the home stretch of summer conditioning and the start of preseason practice in August.

All five won’t be All-American players by the time they get ready to leave Texas. That’s not important, though. What’s important is that with five big, athletic tackles who have upside, the chance of the Longhorns having two or three of them emerge as legitimate, first-team All-Big 12 caliber players.

The other side of the coin is I said something similar about the 2013 offensive line class, a group that was supposed to reinvent the culture in the trenches.

It didn’t work out at Texas for Desmond Harrison or Rami Hammad, both of whom left the program without ever starting a game. Darius James and Jake Raulerson started multiple games in 2014, but they’re both now on depth charts of Southeastern Conference programs Auburn and Arkansas, respectively. Texas should have had a couple of bonafide front-line studs emerge from that group but Kent Perkins, a senior and a multiple-year starter, is the only member of the group still in the program.

Strong, a defensive line coach during his days as an assistant coach, and Brick Haley recruited these guys and while it’s not necessarily fair to expect them to get impressive contributions from true freshmen, the group newcomers is where a war daddy will emerge from if there’s one on the roster. The staff is going to have get to work immediately to get this group ready and the players are going to have to have the right approach, otherwise this group could be another highly-touted position group that doesn’t produce near what was once expected.

Fourth Down: Johnson’s presence will be tough to replace

Johnson recruited well and developed top-notch arms in his role at Texas.

The Texas baseball program is officially going to get a complete overhaul. At least it should now that pitching coach Skip Johnson has been hired for the same job at Oklahoma, a move that signals the next regime will have little to no carryover from the Augie Garrido era.

Johnson and Tommy Nicholson (and Tommy Harmon before him) shared the recruiting responsibilities, and whatever talent the next head coach inherits he’ll have Johnson to thank for it. One of the top pitching coaches in the country, Johnson consistently churned out elite staffs and did so without necessarily having a plethora of elite talent to work with. Johnson developed his arms, arms that were the biggest reason for whatever success the Longhorns have had in recent years.

It’s going to be strange to not seeing Garrido in the dugout, but since he took over his current role prior to the 2007 season Johnson has become just as much of a fixture at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. He recruited a pitching staff that, while it was young in 2016, should be one of the better groups in the Big 12 if Blake Wellman, Nolan Kingham, Beau Ridgeway and Chase Shugart reach their potential.

How those young hurlers perform going forward will be the legacy Johnson leaves behind. Judging by his track record and the raw stuff those young arms showed this past season, it’s likely that Johnson will be viewed in a positive light once the last group of recruits he got to campus exits the program.