Spring Practice Notes | March 15

– CJ Vogel

The pads were on at today’s practice and it was a great sight to see.

DEFENSIVE DEPTH CHART

We finally got a good idea of what the defensive depth chart will look for the Longhorns for the spring.

First Team:

DE: Malcolm Roach

DT: Gerald Wilbon

DE: TaQuon Graham

Rover: Ayodele Adeoye

LB: Jeffrey McCulloch

LB: Joseph Ossai

Nickel: BJ Foster

CB: Jalen Green

CB: Kobe Boyce

S: Caden Sterns

S: Chris Brown

Second Team:

DE: Moro Ojomo

DT: Jamari Chirsholm

DE: Marqez Bimage

Rover: Caleb Johnson

LB: Byron Vaughns

LB: Cort Jaquess (De’Gabriel Floyd)

Nickel: Josh Thompson

CB: Donovan Duvernay

CB: D’Shawn Jamison

S: Montrell Estell

S: Demarvion Overshown

PRACTICE NOTES

– Once again, there were several starters that were out of practice on Friday which is why the current defensive depth chart looks a little funky. Anthony Cook, De’Gabriel Floyd, Brandon Jones and Marqez Bimage (green non-contact jersey) were all guys that were held out of defensive team drills.

– Kitan Crawford, Chris Thompson, Kelee Ringo, Jake Majors, and both Brockermeyer brothers were in attendance today.

OFFENSE

– Quarterback Sam Ehlinger looked crisp Friday. He also assumed the leadership role and was coaching up the younger guys in their throwing mechanics.

– The running backs joined in on the routes-on-air period and the team worked a lot of RPO stuff.

– With injuries to Collin Johnson and Devin Duvernay, there wasn’t a true first team WR group out there today, however there was not a single dropped pass in the time media was allowed at practice.

– WR Brennan Eagles looks a full 230 pounds, yet he is still running like he is 200. S/o Yancy McKnight.

– WR Joshua Moore is going to be real tough to keep off the field. He is a legit receiver and adds a different dimension to the Texas offense with his quickness.

– WR Bru McCoy runs, catches and lines up in an unorthodox manner, but it certainly works.

– We talked about this Monday after the first practice, but RB Kirk Johnson is going to have a role this season for the first time in his Texas career. In person, Kirk may be the most impressive specimen at the position and has the speed and quickness that is certainly desired.

– Early Enrollee WR Jordan Whittington continues to impress coaches with his speed. We’ll see moving if he can actually take over the 2nd team RB reps with pads on running between the tackles.

– The first team offensive line remained unchanged. (Cosmi, Imade, Shackleford, Kerstetter, Okafor)

DEFENSE

– I really liked what I saw out of Malcolm Roach today. He was the first in line for each D-Line sled drill and was showing multiple younger guys proper hand technique during 1-on-1’s with the offensive line.

– DL Rob Cummins stepped out of the sled drills and received attention on his knee. It didn’t look serious at all and was probably just a brace malfunction, as he is returning from a torn ACL.

– DE Moro Ojomo looks to be in real good shape. He’s listed at 285 pounds on the spring roster and has been at the end position so far in the spring. It’ll be interesting moving forward if he is able to showcase the speed needed at the end.

– Early Enrollee LB De’Gabriel Floyd was once again in a green non-contact jersey after team doctors found a herniated disc in his neck. He stood right besides Todd Orlando during drills the linebackers went through during the individual period.

– With no Anthony Cook, Jalen Green took over the other corner spot. Green looks real good, but for the second straight practice, Coach Jason Washington has gotten onto him for staying low in his breaks during the chute drills.

– D’Shawn Jamison took over the 2nd team corner reps with Donovan Duvernay. His permanent spot appears to be back on defense.

– Early Enrollee LB Marcus Tillman looks like a grown man. This LB class was very much needed depth wise, and so far, has looked very impressive size and skill wise.

– Demarvion Overshown and Montrell Estell are both with the second team safeties as Chris Brown was the guy brought up with Brandon Jones recovering from ankle surgery. I imagine at some point this spring, all three safeties will see time in the first team safety spot alongside Caden Sterns.

ONE-ON-ONE NOTES

The offensive and defensive lines partook in some one-on-one drills at the end of the media time. Though it didn’t look like the normal pass rushing battles that highlight many HS camps. There weren’t many pass-rushing moves made throughout the process and it looked like offensive linemen were instructed to drive their man down the line as if it was a zone blocking scheme.

– Zach Shackleford easily beat Moro Ojomo in his drill.

– Reese Moore struggled in a couple of his reps. Malcolm Roach gave him the business and easily whipped him.

– Denzel Okafor looked good in his two reps I saw. He did a real good job of using his feet to move laterally.

– Speaking of Roach, in the limited reps I saw, he was not stopped once.

Recruits on Campus

– Will Baizer

As we stated in the Spring Practice thread on the Donor Board, 2020 CB Kitan Crawford, 2020 FS Chris Thompson, 2020 CB Kelee Ringo, 2021 OC James Brockermeyer, and 2021 OT Tommy Brockermeyer attended the practice last week.

There were more visitors on campus this past weekend.

2020 QB Ja’Quiden Jackson

2021 LB Kendrick Blackshire

2020 RB Jaden Hullaby

The Latest | 2020 CB Kitan Crawford

– Super K

Talent and Background

By now I’m sure many of you are familiar with 2020 CB, Kitan Crawford (Tyler). He’s a prospect who Darius, Will and I were able to see live at the UA camp in Dallas. We all came away impressed.

I hadn’t even seen Kitan’s high school film at that point. But watching his ability to mirror receivers, his eye discipline, his controlled physicality and just how all around smooth he was in and out of transitions coupled with obvious speed, size and strength really intrigued me.

I went home and watched his film. I came away thinking, this is one of the best defensive backs in the state and would at least have an argument for that top spot. He’s that good in my mind.

Crawford is a 100m and 200m sprinter, as well. Track runs in his family. He tells me his aunt ran track for Baylor. Crawford also says he has some familial relations to former Texas Tech quarterback and current NFL quarterback, Pat Mahomes.

I’d say that’s pretty good pedigree.

As you can see on film, Crawford is a two-way player. He’s a talented running back and defensive back. Like most athletic kids, when he starting playing ball in little league, he was a running back. And despite his apparent comfort with the defensive back position, Crawford only recently transitioned to that position.

“I started playing DB my junior year. So, last year was my first year playing DB. The coaches, they saw something in me and tried to put me on defense and it ended up working”.

When we saw Crawford at the UA camp, his technique did not look that of a person who has been playing for such a short period of time. He appeared advanced in his recognition and technique. He credits his high school coaches at John Tyler for spending the time to get him up to speed.

“My coaching came from my high school coach, coach Moore… every day we stay after school working on my skills, my eyes, working on everything to get me right. So, it mainly came from my coach, coach Moore”.

Recruiting

Crawford’s recruitment really started fairly recently. On a junior day visit to Waco, Baylor became his first P5 offer. Shortly thereafter he attended a Texas junior day and came away with an offer from Herman and company.

Crawford says that coach Washington came by the school a couple of weeks before the offer to see Kitan and gave him an indication at that time that Texas was very interested.

Since that offer, Crawford has now visited Texas twice with the most recent visit being just this past Friday.

Crawford says that Texas, Baylor, and Arkansas are among the schools currently recruiting him the hardest. Despite all the defensive back talent in the state and around the country this year, Texas seems to have made Kitan a priority.

As mentioned above, Crawford took a return visit to Texas just this past Friday.

“I went down there to watch a practice. It was nice. I met the head coach and talked to the head coach and got to really see how things are right now and how they are building the program. For me seeing that process was a highlight”.

And Texas would love to have Crawford in the boat soon, if possible.

“They let me know that they offered seven DBs and he’s only taking two so they would want me to commit towards the spring or by the beginning of my senior year. He was just suggesting that”.

Right now, Crawford says he’d like to be done with his recruitment going into his senior season. He doesn’t have a date set for an announcement so I imagine one could come anytime between now and late summer.

Because Kitan’s recruitment started a bit later, he’s still fielding offers. Schools like FSU, Kansas, Oklahoma, and others are in touch with him but offers have not been made just yet.

It sounds like Crawford would like to get his offer list settled and then begin to narrow things down but it’s clear the Longhorns and Baylor will remain in this fight till the end.

And make no mistake, even though Crawford isn’t from one of the big TX metro areas, he’s as talented as anyone and worth fighting for.



