– Owen Pappoe: I recently spoke with someone close to 2019 5-Star OLB, Owen Pappoe (Loganville, GA) and was told that Pappoe will take an official visit to Texas on the final weekend of April, April 27th-29th.

I’m told Pappoe plans to announce a decision sometime in early May which is, obviously, almost immediately after his visit to Texas.

There have been rumors swirling about that Pappoe’s destination will ultimately be Auburn but getting him on campus with fellow teammate, Kenyatta Watson, who will also visit that weekend, certainly can’t hurt the Horns.

Am also told that 4-star jumbo wide receiver and teammate, Kenyon Jackson plans also visit Texas along with Pappoe and Watson that same weekend. – (Super K)

– NaNa Osafo-Mensah: As Super K mentioned a few days ago, 2019 OLB/DE NaNa Osafo-Mensah would be narrowing his list significantly.

– I spoke with 2019 OLB/DE, NaNa Osafo-Mensah. He tells me that this Thursday he will be cutting his list down, significantly. Texas will make the cut.

NaNa tells me he still set to commit on May 19th. The next few weeks will be critical. He’ll be at Notre Dame this weekend.

Earlier today, he tweeted out his “Final 2”. As we have previously mentioned, we continue to feel very good about where Texas stands in his recruitment.

NaNa will take an official visit to Notre Dame this weekend and then he will take an official visit to Texas on May 5th. He currently plans on making his commitment announcement on May 19th. You may all want to be around for that one! – (Charlie)

– Team Quick Hitters: Spoke with a couple sources about this week’s practices…

*Am told starting CB, Davante Davis is dinged up right now. In his place, freshman CB Anthony Cook has been taking the first team reps. How is he looking?

*Was told by both sources that Cook looks fantastic. Both sources raved about him. Cook has excellent football strength for a young guy. He does well with his technique within the calls. He’s physical. And I’m told he’s extremely competitive.

*I’m told starting nickel back, Josh Thompson has been dinged up as well. Interestingly, senior walk-on, Jamarquis Durst has been taking some snaps there with the first team. Am told he’s actually a pretty solid player. Maybe not an NFL draft pick but a good player nonetheless.

*Also, asked about the quarterback progression. Cam Risings name came up. Am told he is really improving. Was told “he had some exceptional throws in the most recent practices…getting better and better”. One source noted that Cam could be that big guy who gives Texas more than just a scrambler or a zone read QB…he could give them a true passing game.

*But was also told, it’s too early to tell what will happen and that the real test for these guys will come in the Spring Game.

*Either way, the fact that there is competition should be music to Texas fans’ ears.

*Also, of note, like Ehlinger, it sounds like Rising is a good leader. He’s apparently well liked on the team. I know based on conversations I’ve had in the past with some sources, those intangibles are something Herman and co. care a lot about. – (Super K)

Last weekend Texas hosted some stellar talent including Dylan Wright, David Gbenda, Tyler Johnson and Texas commit, Jordan Whittington.

Alex has updated you on where things stand with Johnson. Will gave you a weekend recap with Gbenda.

I’ve been checking with some sources on where things are behind the scenes. This is what I’m hearing and where things are trending…

*Dylan Wright has visited a number of schools and interestingly, it was the Arkansas trip that he took a while back that he told me really rivaled Texas and Texas A&M. I spoke with a source who tells me that Wright would like to play with his fellow 7v7 teammate (True Buzz Organization), NaNa Osafo-Mensah. So, based on where I’m hearing,Texas landing Mensah would go a long way with Wright.

Trending: Texas

*With Tyler Johnson, I defer to Alex and he has a good relationship with the family. But I believe he agrees that Texas is the team to beat here and Oklahoma is going to need to really make a big impression this weekend in order to slow this one down.

Trending: Texas

*With 2019 linebacker, David Gbenda I’m hearing it’s more a matter of when and not so much if. Source said, David and his family love Texas but his recruitment began a little later than some others so he wants to enjoy the process and see more programs.

Trending: Texas

*I haven’t heard as much behind the scenes on NaNa Osafo-Mensah. This one is a really tight race but that’s a good thing for Texas because just a month or so ago Notre Dame was way out in front. From what I gather from both sources and NaNa himself, if Texas can demonstrate that they have all the advantages Notre Dame has in terms of academics, life after football, etc. then proximity to home could very well win out.

I’m going to go out on a limb here a bit and say this one is…

Trending: Texas but I’d say it’s day to day and this Notre Dame visit coming up will likely shift the trend back in Notre Dame’s direction at least until Texas gets him back on campus. – (Super K)

Spring Practice Notes | April 12th Practice

1s…

QB: Sam Ehlinger

RB: Daniel Young

X: Collin Johnson

Y: Lil’Jordan Humphrey

Z: Devin Duvernay

TE: Andrew Beck

OL: Denzel Okafor – Patrick Vahe – Zach Shackelford – Elijah Rodriguez – Derek Kerstetter

DL: Breckyn Hager – Taquon Graham – Charles Omenihu

BLB: Jeffrey McCulloch

RLB: Malcolm Roach

MLB: Anthony Wheeler

SS: Josh Thompson, John Bonney

CB: Kris Boyd, Davante Davis

BS: Caden Sterns

FS: Brandon Jones

2s / 3s…

QB: Shane Buechele/Casey Thompson/Cam Rising

RB: Toneil Carter/Kyle Porter

X: Brennan Eagles

Y: Jerrod Heard / Jordan Pouncey

Z: John Burt/Davion Curtis

TE: Reese Leitao

OL: Samuel Cosmi – Walk-On – Elijah Rodriguez – Tope Imade – JP Urquidez

DL: Marquez Bimage – Gerald Wilbon – Jamari Chisholm/ D’Andre Christmas

BLB: Jeffrey McCulloch / Kyle Hrncir (what a last name)

RLB: Ayodele Adeoye

MLB: Jeffrey McCulloch / Demarco Boyd

SS: Chris Brown, Jamarquist Durst

CB: Anthony Cook, Kobe Boyce / Eric Cuffee, Donovan Duvernay

BS: walk-on

FS: BJ Foster

NOTES

Injuries:

– RB Tristian Houston

– RB Kirk Johnson

– RB Cameron Townsend

– WR Jordan Pouncey

– TE Cade Brewer

– OG Mikey Grandy

– OG Patrick Hudson

– DT Chris Nelson (Green Jersey)

– DE Andrew Fitzgerald

– LB Gary Johnson

– LB Edwin Freeman

– DB Montrell Estell

– DB PJ Locke

Take Aways:

– Today the team practiced in shorts. Anthony Wheeler told us Tom Herman said they deserved this day after this week of practice.

– Patrick Hudson and Kyle Porter are back but we’re doing individual drills. Slowly working them back in.

– So as you can see up top, Lil’Jordan Humphrey has been moved to the slot. When this staff says they want to get all of their talent on the field at once they find ways to do it again and again. Collin Johnson has too much potential to take off the field and Lil’Jordan Humphrey is a beast. Now you have some shakey depth at slot and X-WR instead of good depth at X and no depth at slot.

– We got a taste of just how “vocal” Herb Hand really is, as the media watched mouth agape while he cursed out the scout team defense (made up of back-ups and walk-ons) for not running the blitz scheme with enough effort.

– Toneil Carter and Daniel Young split reps with the 1s. Both have some big run ability. I imagine there is a lot of give and take between the offense and defense in the run game.

– PJ Locke is out with the stinger he sustained during practice last weekend. In his place in the Lightning package is freshman Caden Sterns who seems to be settling in well to his new spot.

– Breckyn Hager split a few double teams during OL vs DL drills. He’s going to be good.

– Jordan Pouncey is back on field with an ankle brace.

– Shane Buechele and Sam Ehlinger were splitting reps with the 1s. Same old story. Sam runs the offense better, but has a tendency to miss his targets. He’s still too erratic with his passes to make the plays I know he wants to. Shane is deadly accurate on most throws, but he doesn’t run the offense with quite the same effectiveness.

– I’ll be interested in seeing the freshmen QBs during the Spring Game because while they look good in practice against nobody, I don’t think they’ll shine quite as bright when bullet fly. Casey Thompson has some ability to escape a pocket though.

– There is a lot of motion in this offense. Looks like Herb Hand has gotten ahold of the playbook.

– Joshua Rowland ended practice by nailing a 35-40 yard field goal. – (Will)