– Branson Bragg: Recently, 2019 OC Branson Bragg, Crandall, Tx., posted his top eight on twiiter.

Thankful to be in this position… pic.twitter.com/ypM5VTANig — Branson Bragg (@bransonbragg72) March 26, 2018

The fact that Texas made his top eight comes as no surprise. If you recall, our own Will Baizer and JY provided an in depth look at the Elite Linemans recruitment back in February. Branson Bragg

Shortly after he tweeted out the list, Brandon Drumm from the OU side was able to catch up with him. Brandon asked Branson the reasoning behind including each of the schools on his list. Bragg told him, “Texas is that flagship program. It’s in-state and has the elite coaches that can take my game to the next level. He went on to say, “The university/academic side of it helps too, since the academic prestige is there.”

When Brandon asked about his thoughts on OL Coach Hand, Branson said, “Coach Hand is a super respected guy, and it’s evident when you talk to him that he is also among the best. I would say I am pretty close with him”

We still feel very good about where Texas stands with Branson and we will continue to keep you all updated on Bragg’s recruitment over time. – (Charlie)

– Garett Wilson: As you all know one of the big recent visits that happened was Garrett Wilson making his first trip up to Columbus for an unofficial visit to Ohio State.

It’s well known by now that Garrett grew up in Columbus rooting for the Buckeyes. Both Texas and Oklahoma are clearly in the picture with Wilson. I’ve been wondering however, if Ohio State was going to be a real contender or just a school that Wilson liked when he was young but ultimately was better as a childhood memory than a reality.

I chatted briefly with Wilson this past weekend but plan to have a full conversation with him.

Two takeaways from my initial communication with him.

1. The Ohio State trip met his lofty expectations. Again, I thought there was a chance that it could be a visit that ended up being good but not quite what he imagined. That was not the case. Garrett said it was every bit as good as he had hoped and imagined.

2. Wilson said he will indeed take an official visit to Ohio State. That visit is expected to happen later this spring as Wilson would like to make a decision by early summer.

Bottom line here is, Ohio State did what they needed to do to be a threat in this one.

Again, I hope to have more with Wilson later. – (Super K)

– NaNa Osafo-Mensah: Top 2019 DE/OLB, NaNa Osaf0-Mensah (Nolan Catholic) was originally planning to take an unofficial visit to Texas this past weekend but that did not materialize.

He let me know that he has rescheduled and plans to visit Texas this upcoming weekend. – (Super K)

– Early Spring Thoughts: Texas is a few practices into Spring Practice and I wanted to give some of my early thoughts on the Longhorns offense so far.

– It looks to be Sam Ehlinger’s team so far. He’s more comfortable this year and he knows what he needs to do to win the job. Tom Herman and Tim Beck have been preaching it to him all the time: take care of the football.

– Daniel Young is the guy at RB right now. Toneil Carter is a good change of pace back, IF he can hold onto the football. Also, there is a sense of excitement around what RB Keaontay Ingram can do when he arrives on campus this summer.

– The biggest questions with the WR’s was how would Texas get Collin Johnson and Lil’Jordan Humphrey on the field at the same time, as both we’re lining up at the same position during the first few Spring practice. That question was answered when Tom Herman said Humphrey would line up in the slot when Texas went 12 personnel. At 6’4 220 pounds, Humphrey could become a major mismatch in the slot.

– Jerrod Heard is another guy I’ve heard good things about at WR. We heard the same about Heard last year and it didn’t really translate to production on the field. So we’ll see if the SR WR can make a big impact in his final year in burnt orange.

– Andrew Beck and Reese Leitao are the two TE’s taking most of the reps right now. Cade Brewer is still recovering from his torn ACL suffered late in the 2017 season. There is a lot of excitement about the growth Leitao made during his redshirt year. Though I still expect Beck to be the starter when the year begins, Leitao and Brewer are better receiving options over Beck.

– Right now, most of the OL seems to be set. With Zach Shackelford at C, Patrick Vahe at LG, and Elijah Rodreguez at either RG or RT (he’s starting at RG) right now. But then things get interesting and there could be some mixing and matching that happens once the full pads are on for a while.

– The biggest thing to watch going forward is the situation at left Tackle. Will grad transfer OT Calvin Anderson walk in this summer and win the LT spot? If he does, that would knock Denzel Okafor out of the starting lineup. Then does JUCO transfer Mickey Grandy look like a better option at RG over Elijah Rodregiez? If he does that means we could have a 3-man battle at RT between Rodreguez, Okafor, and Derek Kerstetter. Then you have Patrick Hudson, who could come in and win either starting guard spot but is still recovering from injury.

The bottom line is that there seems to be some better depth along the OL than there was in 2017. Now it’s just up to Herb Hand to pick the best 5 to send out there vs Maryland. – (Andrew)

– Fast Five: Spring practice notes. As usual, we have more notes on the donor site, here are five which we feel you’ll enjoy:

– Kris Boyd seems really relaxed on the field and Jason Washington and he were joking around a bunch through drills. Seems they are trying to relax things.

– There were a few more drops from WRs and missed targets from QBs than you’d like to see. However, it is the 3rd practice in helmets and pads. I expect them to knock off the rust.

– Seems they are working PJ Locke back at NB for right now until they get to Dime. I expect him to work back to safety at Dime.

– They are really cross training guys across the OL. Lots of mixing and matching between the RGs, Cs, LGs, and RTs. Basically everyone was running with 1s and 2s and different positions.

– It seems the practices are less intense than what I remember last year this time. Coaches have backed off on the yelling… except Naivar. High energy is his default setting. – (Will)