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Inside Texas Football
Wednesday nITe Live (03/20): Texas Football Practice Takeaways, Longhorn Pro Day Notes
Welcome to the inside Texas football YouTube channel powered by inside Texas.com. I'm Joe Cook. It's Wednesday night live. Thank you for watching this video. We got Justin Wells, Drew Kelson and Eric Naleen in the bottom right hand corner here tonight. We got a lot of spring ball to talk about got a little bit of pro day to talk about. But Justin, we'd like to point people to a video we recorded earlier. Of course, we've got always time to take your comments, your questions, but make sure you like the video. Subscribe to the channel helps us bring a lot of daily content your way, including tomorrow. Eric, when you and I will be able to see a little bit more of spring football practice, they're on the 40 acres. Yeah, there was a pleasant surprise that they're going to have a media availability. Of course, that's put me in this little very modest motel room and getting to Texas on my way to Austin. I'm looking forward to it, man. You know, it was a blast seeing the first day. Now I get to, you know, after we see the initial takeaways, now we get to hone in and look at some things I didn't get to get a chance to see on Monday. I focused more on on the defense. The first practice, I'll look at the offense closer tomorrow morning. Justin, you've been on the helping out on the recruiting trail, helping out with team info. These spring practices bring about visitors. There's going to be a lot more this upcoming weekend, but one big one was in town this past Tuesday and even received an offer at an important position for Sarkeesian and company. Yeah, whenever a quarterback gets offered at Texas at this stage of the Stish Sarkeesian era, that's a big deal because there's only a few of those that go out each year. We've seen how judicious he is with his evaluations and his offers at the quarterback position. Dia Bell, six foot three, about 180, 185 pound number two quarterback, according to the on three industry rankings. He's out of American heritage down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was in town for a day and a half. He arrived a day early, hung out a little bit. He was on campus all day yesterday, hung out with the players, hung out with the coaches, got to go through practice. He got the full Texas Longhorn experience and talking to him before and after he was just unbelievably grateful for the offer. He didn't realize Sarkees was so picky with offers. He didn't realize that. He didn't understand that you're the only third kid in that class to even get an offer. It was a big deal. Obviously, the son of former NBA star Raja Bell, so the jeans work out well. He's a talented kid. Go watch his tape. If you get a chance, I put up some stuff at insidetakesis.com. Please go over there and check it out. I mean, this dude does off platform really, really well in addition to all the basics. And so he's a kid that you're going to have to really watch the best part of that conversation yesterday. He told me he will be back in Austin in June. Always big when Stark makes some moves at quarterback. Drew, we've had a lot of different notes. Even Steve Sarkeesian talked to the media yesterday. One of my takeaways was that Stark seems pretty confident in this team. There was a little moment when he usually we've seen him with the offense kind of yell a little bit more than some of the other coaches. I didn't sense that a lot in that viewing window and it seems like he's got a team. He can be really confident about even after just one single practice. Well, I think it was over a year ago now. Stark told me he was like, "My guys look like my guys. They look like my team." Even then, I was like, "Well, Stark, what does that mean? What does that really mean? Your team?" Because we've seen your teams. We've seen you be successful with teams that aren't your teams. So what does that mean? And so I questioned it and then we go into this season and we looked, stopped. We looked well. We can't complain about the way last year's results were. So the way I take that comment is this is just a continuation of how we felt last year. This team is practicing, showing up, studying, and doing everything that's necessary to be great. And they're doing it now while they still have a ton of time to get ready for next year's season. So Stark knew what he wanted last year. He saw it. He spoke to it. And I have to trust him now when he seems like he's right on track for where he wants to be with this team right now this spring. One of the things that I think the Sarkeesian touched on yesterday that we had kind of tracked throughout the course of the offseason. And of course, when you look up and you see 13 guys at pro day 11 who went to the NFL Combine, those are the leaders. Those are the guys who have a voice in the locker room that go a long way. And Eric, I think when we saw practice begin the other day, they do a horn jacks where they just do jumping jacks and spell out horns. And Quinn Ewers was the one that started it off. And of course, quarterback one, returning quarterback one, is going to be someone that the team looks to. But Sarkeesian even admitted on Tuesday that this team may not have at this juncture, like a singular Roshan Johnson type person. But he didn't seem at all disturbed by that. He said, there's a lot of guys both who have been in the program, who know how we like to do things and even new who have leadership can be a group effort. And that's kind of what it sounds like so far based off what we've heard throughout this winter and then here entering the spring. Yeah, every every year, when he started new cycles for the offseason, a lot of guys tend to understand, hey, it's my turn to become a leader. And they kind of naturally step up. They can't depend on guys that departed. And they lost a lot of guys. That means a lot of guys have to step up. But with Quinn, we're just seeing a continue maturation for him. And he is more vocal than he ever has been in the past to the point where you'll hear about him and all becoming a vocal leader for the team. I think he's already starting to assume that role already. It's just a continued maturation for him. The trend line is continuing up to where I think it's probably going to end up in New York City if he stays healthy. But I do think that this is basically it's essentially his team, even if he hasn't necessarily grabbed it by the horns yet. Drew, when you look at positions, especially on defense, when they lose, guys like Tavondre Sweatt, guys like Byron Murphy, of course, Jalen Ford, but they were turned, you know, a lot of guys who have been in this program for a while, like Jadae Barron, even Michael Taff, and then even on the, you know, looking at the defensive line, someone like Alfred Collins and someone a little bit younger, like Ethan Burke, it kind of seems like the leadership on defense is, could be a little bit more advanced than it is on offense, even with a singular figure like Quinn Ewers on that side of the ball. No, what's what's funny and what I appreciate about last year's team is the standard has been set. And everyone has a different story, you know, Byron Murphy, three years dominance out, Fondre Sweatt, five years, you know, Red Charted came back, has elevated himself. Jordan Whittington has been a leader and his, his story is completely different. And so when you have so many different examples of guys who have led on this team, they see what it looks like. They see what work looks like. They see what leadership looks like. And so when those guys leave, the standard or the floor of which you would consider leadership or what the standard looks like amongst the entire team, it just elevates. And so the bar has been set. There's been a proof of concept of what sex success looks like, what leadership looks like. And so it's just easy for these guys to fill in. They know there needs to be a voice and those who are natural at doing so will do so. But it's, it's all the standard has been set. And so it's, while it feels like you're back filling some, some names, I think everybody knows what we have on this roster in defense and tackle. I mean, no, it's not to boundary sweating, bar and murphy. You think those guys are laying down? Do you think those guys are not talking? Do you think they're not leaning? Do you think they're not working? No. They know just like everyone else knows that there's a big gap to feel big shoes to feel Jalen Ford. Same thing. Big gap to feel big shoes to feel. So yes, yes, yes. These guys are stepping up. They're ready to feel those shoes. They're going to feel it vocally. They're going to feel them the way they work, the way they show up for each other. So make no mistake, we have some big names and big bodies and big leaders that have left, but it just motivates the next group of guys to come in and just pick up where they left off. Justin, I think Jalen Ford was probably, I think he may have been the vocal leader of the defense. If you remember, Sart has a system where he'll name four captains for every game. But then at the end of the season, he aims permanent captains. And I'm pretty sure he was a permanent captain in back-to-back years. Anthony Hill's probably going to step into his spot. I mean, he is going to step into his spot, at least on the field. Do you feel like number zero on defense is someone who could be one of the guys who becomes a leading role or leading voice on the defensive side of the ball? I think with it being his second year, he'll assert himself a little bit more. But I think he's going to let his, he'll still be his sophomore year. I feel like he'll still be more of an example on the field top guy. People are going to see how he works. They've seen how he works. They're going to see how he approaches things, which is incredibly mature. And so I think he's going to be a default leader just by that alone. Now, I could see in his junior year him kind of coming out of his shell. You got to understand, Anthony's a little soft-spoken. He is not a loud person at all. And he kind of goes along with the flow on a lot of things. And so I think his, just his personality and his work ethic and what he brings to the field is going to be more of an example than it will be a raw, raw top guy. I'm telling you right now, I think Jadae Baron is going to be one of your more vocal guys. And we know, you know, Eric and I've reported, we know the team views him in a very high sting. This is a guy that other guys watch and pay attention to because Jadae is not just a smart dude on the field. It's incredibly smart off the field. Baron is a total package kind of guy. And he's going to be that way on Sundays for a long time. But Anthony Hill, I think it's just his sophomore year. You know, this is just his second spring. I'm not saying he's not going to jump up and be one of the guys, but just knowing his personality, I think it might take another year before he asserts himself kind of like Jalen Ford did in his second, third year. Because again, Anthony's a little bit more of a soft spoken guy. You know, he's the polar opposite of a Savior on her head or a Trey Weisner, you know, but but he's always going to get people's attention about how hard he plays and about how hard he works. And I think this comment from J.W. Crunch is a good point. There's a there's a six year senior, right? He's played a lot of football and Jalen Ford even spoke today after his pro day performance that, you know, hey, don't forget David Bend is there. And it was in a question specifically about who can pass who can play pass coverage at the linebacker position like Ford could, but he's like, Hey, this is six year guys played a lot of football. He's going to lead as well. So hey, Anthony Hill is not the dominant voice and David Bend is there and David Bend assuredly as as we've seen him be promoted on social media for his hustle for all the different things that the program has highlighted him for. Definitely a guy players will want to gravitate towards Drew. I have a question kind of looking back at your career. What was your first moment of like, okay, it's my time to be a leader. And, you know, you stepping up, maybe not chewing somebody out, but you kind of taking an opportunity to lead from the front, especially on the teams that you were on. What was like that first moment for you? No, it's funny because when you're walking back through or just walking talking about Anthony Hill, I'm like, Anthony Hill, this talent has out, it's just it's moved faster than his leadership development would allow them to. So no, no one comes in, you know, whether it's soft spoken or not, no one comes in as a freshman, ready to lead, not even as a sophomore, ready to lead. They just don't do that. Barry Johnson, he was balling before he was even ready to be a leader. He was just out there playing ball. I mean, your talent can pass up your leadership, your voice, your development in that way. So I don't expect it from Anthony Hill. He still has respect for the game and respects for bending and respect for people around him. So I don't expect him to just overstep kind of the work that comes into earning that leadership, but his play will inform for myself. I definitely didn't feel like I was a leader or had to step up and be a leader until going into my junior year. I mean, freshman, absolutely not. And I started my sophomore year at linebacker, but that's as a guy who was starting surrounded by so much talent, so much experience around me. Tim, you know, Rod Wright, Anchor and us, Aaron Harris, of course, Michael Huff. I mean, go through the list of leaders we had on our team. I didn't have to say a word. I didn't get to say a word. My job was to be where I needed to be. Regardless of the talent that I had that earned the right to be on the field with those guys, you still, you know, you let your talent speak, you let the leaders lead. And yeah, you know, later on, I found my voice and they set the standard for what myself and these guys going into our off season going before my junior year, which was going to be pulse first year starting for us. That's when some of the upperclassmen begin to speak up, or at least the guys who are going to be juniors and seniors begin to lead a bit more. Drew, you know, Brian Aragpo as well as anybody. Did you remember the story of him coming out and when his leadership quality started to surface in the fall of that 2008 season? Did he ever tell you about that? Oh, well, I didn't hear it from him. But hell yeah, I heard the story. I mean, I was one of his best friends. I was off campus. I was I was training for pro day. Like, I was I was a completely different place. Yes, I'm hearing about it. But that's the thing. That was going into his record junior year with a record junior. I mean, I was in the same class with he and the person he got into it. So I was gone. They still had two years left on campus. Yeah. And they were both considered vocal people. But you see, you know, some things had to work itself out and still best bus today. That's just the way it had to work out at the time. Must must be a Houston Lamar thing, I guess, if we're looking at it that way. Oh man, crazy things happening there. Eric, there's a there's a storyline that I kind of had forgotten about until I wrote about it today with in helmet communication on April 18th. I think one of the NCAA bureaucracies gets to go over proposals from another NCAA bureaucracy. And one of them proposed rule change allows for in helmet communication, something the NFL's had for quarterback since 94, something they've had for defensive players since 19 or since like 2008. And something that college football is finally entering the 20th century regarding. So start talked about it. It's kind of in the experimental stages. But after kind of looking around and seeing what some well known NFL play collars have done and utilizing that, how do you think it affects Texas? Maybe not so much this spring, but if approved heading into the season. You know, I really liked what Sark said in the press conference. That's what stood out to me the most is, you know, they've asked, you know, is Quinn going to be able to handle, you know, you kind of communicating in his ear? And he said, well, that's something that we both have to figure out. He wasn't putting that on Quinn. He was putting that on themselves to build that rapport. Sark said that one of the dangers is that he could put too much on his plate. And you can see how that would be a temptation, you know, Sark is seeing things he's trying to get as much as he can in such a short period of time is exact words. Well, he didn't want to create paralysis by analysis. And so I think that's a smart way to look at it. But they're going to have to get some reps and build some rapport for seeing, you know, what's best? How does how does Quinn process the best? What's what how much can can Sark put on his plate? Because at some point you really want you usually go out and play naturally. And if he's overthinking things, that's you're going to get the exact opposite result you're looking for. Justin, when it when it comes to things like that, we all know that this comes from the Michigan thing, the Connor stallion thing, at least that's like the big push. But when you look at this being, you know, 30 years of in the NFL, and 16 years on both sides of the NFL, why do you think it took so long for this? Or do you think it was stallions that caused this when you have that big old Detroit hat on like you're a Michigan man yourself? Hey, man, this is my Tom Selick Magnum PI hat. So you just need to understand only real man from the 80s understand. It's okay. Now that's the one question we all had. Why hasn't why did it take 20 years for college football to adapt college football has changed so much. Yet that was the one thing that was behind was something as basic as new technology. And with with the ever growing spread and with with offenses becoming so, you know, vast and so it's just so deep. You know, it just that's my only question why it took so long. The Connor stallions in that whole Michigan or deal get it, you know, fast track, maybe, but Connor stallions wasn't the first person to do that and he's dang she's not gonna be the last. But this is a way to kind of tinker with that a little bit. I'm just, I don't think there's a good answer. If anything, it's NCA's fault. Just remember whenever something's going wrong in college football. Just blame the NCA. It's usually correct anyway. But you have the technology and you waited 20 years before you're going to start using it. Actually, I like that it's this year because this is this is Quinn's, you know, last year. And so he's going to have everything he needs. Arch Manning is going to have a year of working with it before he, you know, really utilize it in the next year, you know, hypothetically. And so I like the timing of it. I just feel like why did it take so long? I just blame the NCA. Drew, when you think about it from the, the defense's perspective, Sart mentioned maybe having it at like a middle linebacker, a guy who doesn't leave the field very often. But he also mentioned maybe having it as maybe having the star wear it. Someone in Jada Behren's, you know, most recent position. And I know in the NFL, like, when I think of a guy wearing it, you think of Bobby Wagner, like someone who an even player, D'Amico Ryan's, like a guy who never leaves the field is on in every person else package. But some teams, I think have safeties where it deep safeties. So just considering what you know about the Texas defense, you know, how it splits between nickel in two, four, five, how it splits between three, four, and especially on the 20, 24 team, when you have Anthony Hill, David, Benda, Jada Behren, even guys like Michael Taft, Eric Williams, Andrew McCuba back there. Who do you think should be the, which position and maybe which player, if you could specify, do you think would be best served on defense having that radio in the helmet? So I have two separate thoughts on this. I hope you don't mind me exploring. One is just a logistical thought. I'd exactly to what you think you're saying here. So one thing Sark was saying today was, you know, even though they're going to have this in helmet communication, they'll still want to signal and call things in and just because, you know, what if the signals or what if the communication goes out and DKR. The same thing will be here. You'll have more than one guy in your roster that is trained that they practice that with. It's going to be multiple safeties. It'll be multiple linebackers. You'll want your corners or your star. And maybe it'll be position specific, but you'll definitely want multiple guys at multiple levels of the defense taking ownership and being practicing well-versed on how to communicate and making sure it's all tied in. So there won't be any one position. You'll have to cross train guys. You have to prepare for every situation. So it'll fit regardless of the situation. They'll have to and I appreciate this because it'll give more guys more just agency and voice over leadership and over the defense over communication. I really think it'll take you to that level. However, when I even however, and when I was listening to Sark digging to this today because that's the logistical side of it, it just brought me back to some when I was playing a sophomore linebacker, you know, Chiz had just come in. Chiz was he used to sit in the box. So during games, and I remember specifically my first start at Ohio State, there was something about this because you go to the sideline in between drives. You put on the headset and Chiz is just walking you through the last drive and he's like, hey, Drew, man, you know, that last thing, good job on this. Good job. You look, you saw this plainly be on the lookout for this. They may come back to next drive to bring God in the back feel. You want to be able to look out for that. Remembering trips through this. Remember if we want to cover two in this next drive or, you know, this is where you need to go. You need to push the three. You need to make sure you get depth. He talked you through these things on the sideline. And then, you know, it just felt like you were separated from the stadium. It felt like you were it felt like you were like a soldier, like he's putting a battery in your back and he's like, yo, I'm programming you now go. So this whole thought was just how you have that communication. It was incredibly calm. You have that to tee you up with the coach. Whether it be, I mean, I remember it on the sideline. I can't imagine having a coach just in your ear before the film before the place, like, hey, be on the lookout for this. You got this, go get it. There's something that can juice you up and have you dialed in. And every guy's wired differently, but there's an excitement that comes with being able to connect with your coach in that way, even if it's just at the beginning of a drive on first downs only. However, you decide to do it if you're a player on the field. Yeah, it just brought me back to just being dialed in and being connected with your coach and just helped you be locked into the game plan. One thing I think on offense and defense, you know, when you're looking to the sideline and someone's got the the tenant, the purple shirt is holding up the Tennessee Titan sign. And then he's also doing this, like, you're like, okay, that means, you know, I don't know, trips, right, Zgo H swing or something like that. You know, that's, it's the language of football, but you can hear trips, right, Zgo H swing. Hey, throw it to this guy at step two, like, you can have a coach who has that vision, whether from the box from the field, be able to communicate that finer point, like that safety's been creeping, give a pump fake and go, like, you have that ability on your side. Like, imagine if if Chiz was in in your ear, and he's like, hey, hey, Justin's wick looks right on his third step every time. So if you can beat him, beat the left tackle, then you're going to hit him from the blind side, like that type of thing. I think that's a finer point that will probably increase a little bit of the quality and play, not like to a great level, but it'll probably increase quarterback quality, especially for those who play for good coaches and good play callers in a way that just, you know, the Tennessee Titans sign held up by the purple shirt may not get to that that's kind of an off field topic, but an interesting one nonetheless and one we'll have to track as as April does long. Yeah, if Tennessee Titans were trips, then what was SpongeBob Squarepants? What play call was that what formation? That's a secret, you know that. Just making sure, just making sure you're on task. Hey, I did get to talk to current App State quarterback Charles Wright, who was the signaler, and he took that job seriously. So credit to him. It was a big and very serious job, and especially the stallion stuff, they made a big deal out of it. But let's talk about what we might see tomorrow. Eric, you mentioned how you watch the defense, watch a little bit of Kenny Baker, and how he interacts with the players. Tomorrow, you said you want to check out the offense, and I'm curious what you might be looking for from a number of different positions that both have battles and both in positions that aren't really up for grabs as well. Yeah, wide receiver. I want to watch Isaiah Bond and John Tae Cook the most. Also, you know, Matthew Golden, throw him in there as well. But yeah, I wasn't able to see Bond running as much, caught him out of the corner of my eye. He did have one drop that I saw, not that that happens. What little I saw, of course, he moved well. I want to see John Tae Cook. I'd also like to see both of them returning punts and just see who's the most comfortable. Every time I've watched John Tae Cook return punts, he looks like a natural back there. And then, you know, want to look at the offensive line and just kind of see how their bodies have come along. You know, I got a good look at the defensive players. I want to see see what the offensive guys you had been up to the last couple months. You know, some, I think there's some intrigue at that left guard, see if there's anything to glean there, or it's just, you know, it's Hayden Conner going to hold on to it. I'm not so sure about that. So I want to see Cole Hudson and Neto how they look, but just general observations that sometimes I don't even know what I'm looking for until I get there and see something interesting. And also, I think, don't forget, as much as we've reported in the last six to nine months about, and as much as we've heard about Trevor Goosby, that guy looked like a look really good. And that first day, granted, it's in his underwear, not in the armor. But I think Trevor Goosby is going to be a guy that I'm eager to hear what you see and what you say. Because that's a guy that I felt like we have reported over and over because sources inside the program absolutely love that guy. And he's the one from that 2023 cycle that didn't enroll early. He's the one that was skinny and people couldn't imagine a 16 year old getting 30 or 45 pounds heavier. And Trevor Goosby's got that athleticism. So I'm curious to see what you see on those guys as well. Sounds good. Y'all keep a good eye for him. Yeah, it's all about work ethic with him. He's got ways you got the natural athleticism. We knew that you can see it on the basketball court in the football field. But when he came in the first weeks and everybody said this guy's working really hard. They just knew right there he's going to be good. It's just a matter of when. Yeah. One thing you might notice is that right tackle. And right now, at least when I watched it on Tuesday, it went Cam Williams, Andre Kojo, and Brandon Baker. And we know how good Brandon Baker was as a prospect. But he is just compared and sized to Cam Williams and Andre Kojo. And I don't say this. I don't say this specifically as Williams and Kojo being too big. And I'd like to, Eric, I think that'd be a good thing for you to really focus in on on on Thursday. But like Brandon Baker is not a small person. And Cam Williams and Kojo kind of dwarf him a little bit. It is very impressive that Texas has guys like that in their program who can make five-star athletes look smaller. I'm curious to see what happens at tight end and what you see there. Because when I watched it on on Tuesday, Gunnar Helm was like the constant at the top. And sometimes it'd be someone like Spencer Shannon going first. Sometimes it'd be Amari and I black going first. Sometimes Juan Davis would go first. It felt like Helm was the constant and is probably going to end up being the constant throughout camp. But that tight end to spot is seems like it's going to be pretty open. Not only just in this spring and open ish. I know Amari and I blacks there for a reason. But they're going to be after not going to be trying a lot of stuff. Go ahead Justin after not black. It drops. So not black is definitely going to be in that mix. It'll be it'll be home and not black. I don't know what was going on in day two but or in day one. But it's going to be home and not black. But yeah, I'm curious to see how Spencer Shannon and Will Randall are coming along. You know, sources have said that, you know, they weren't, you know, they were never really guys that they thought like we're going to play immediately. So we're still just, you know, entering their second year. So expectations probably shouldn't be super high for them, which is why they had to go out and get in our black. And listen, if not black gets nine reps on the bench at 225, that means he's going to have a season like Jotavian Sanders. I mean, that's that's the rules. That's that's that's that's the transitive property. That was really surprising. I think Drew could hit nine reps of 225 right now. Drew kind of I used to be able to. And what's funny, I feel like I need it to or else. I mean, with him, he's like, I can survive hitting nine. For me, I need to get 15 or 20 to just blow somebody's I didn't do something. Drew, if you're a Jotavian's agent and you know, he's not going to test well, you know, he's going to look good and route running and catching the ball and if fluidity and all that at the position. But you know, he's not going to do one on the bench or the broad jump or or it's vertical. Why is he going through that after getting a four six nine forty at the combine and also having the cleanest drill when the titans went through the went through their stuff. Like I I would have questioned the agent a little bit on how that all happened today. You know, for me, I hate meddling, if you will, like the whole antics of, you know, oh, let's not let a guy do this. Let's let him do that. At the end of the day, man, you are what you are. Your film speaks. This is one data point. Yes, it could drop you down. Yes, it could hurt you, but you can't hide from this stuff, man. These guys already know this guy can only do nine. It's not a secret. They know his record. You know, so it so I actually appreciate it from the standpoint because I'm with you on why would you let him do it. But it's probably something he can't hide from anyway. They it's not much in these underwear Olympics that these guys can get away with. So if they didn't see it here, they probably would have seen it in other ways. They've seen it on film. People saw him. People saw him run in the open field against Bama. They saw him block pretty regularly. Like, yeah, you know, is it an impressive number? No, not at all. But that's I think he's a player that's going to rely a little bit more on his film. Of course, as as all this team stuff is going on, there are recruiting questions to always take in and Brett Nelson asked from a recruiting perspective. What does the 2025 wide receiver order pecking pecking order look like? Justin, remind me of who number one is because I can never remember. We haven't talked about him at all. Yeah, every time I bring up number one, there's a member on the on three LSU website that really does not like my takes. And I got to tell you, I think he's just another satisfied customer. Yeah, Dacorian Moore. Dude, I had two parents call me about him yesterday. Two parents of players on the team. They want to they were asking about Dacorian Moore six foot about one about 180 185, you know, renowned on the track. He's number one. He's been number one. I would believe since Chris Jackson showed up in Austin. Like there's there's always been an infinity for that guy. You know, that I think it's in two tiers and that's top tier. You've got Dacorian Moore. You've got Jamie French. They absolutely love the former Alabama commit. You've got Caleb Cunningham, who was probably less likely. He's still supposed to come in in early April for a spring practice. But I think he's going to wind up staying in Mississippi, either by Ole Miss or Mississippi State. And then you've got guys like Andrew Marsh, who we saw on Sunday, Eric and I got to see on Sunday. And we just were reassured of what he can do. It'd been so long since I've actually seen him in the camp setting. And just how hard he works and how he attacks the football and just his catch radius and his body control. It's just, it's elite. The guys, if he's not a, you know, say he's not a burner, he's still fast. He's still good enough to get open, catch the ball and hit the end zone. And I think that's important. I think Marcus Harris out of modern days in that conversation, really because Texas has just built a great bond with that guy over the last year. And then Coleak Lockett is another one. I think people need to remember, you know, on threes recruiting rankings to think very highly of that guy. They have him as the number two receiver in the country. I'm not sure I've got him that high up, but after seeing him on Sunday, Eric and I got to see him also, after seeing him on Sunday, he does everything with precision. There's no wasted move, no wasted energy and effort. His body control is elite, his hands are elite, he catches it in the cone. This guy and he's getting confident. This is a kid we met two years ago. He was a freshman and he came up for one of the junior days. And not a lot of people paid attention to him. And I remember that. I remember thinking, nobody's talking to this kid. And he introduced himself and he's always been so polite. So I think that's kind of your top guys. You can also mention Kelshen Johnson out of Hitchcock. That dude is just blind speed. You can talk about Daelin McCutchen, who just picked up a couple other big offers. I believe Georgia jumped into the mix for Daelin McCutchen a couple days ago out of Lucas Lovejoy. If anything, he's excited because he gets to play with Todd Dodge now. I asked him a couple weeks ago, you know, what's it been like early on with coach Dodge? And he's like old school back to the basics old school. I said, man, if you ever need any help, just watch some of that old South Lake Carol tape from the 2000s, so you can get an idea of what you're going to be doing a lot of. And so to give to Brett, I really do always appreciate you, Brett. Thank you for the change and all that. But right now, I think those are your five or six guys that are really top to bottom in the 2025 order. I think as far as predictions right now in the on 3 RPM, I know I think I have one in for Marcus Harris. And I think that there's a spot for him from his fellow modern day alum and Chris Jackson, the wide receivers coach. Eric, are there any other predictions that we kind of have that we have in for wide receivers or I guess if you if the on three RPM day were tomorrow, would there be any you consider making one for? Um, I would probably go with the core and just to mess with that guy that's always in our inboxes. But I do think he's killing me and he was going to deliver. Is that air is that hotel, internet, the cage, the Cajun mafia got to him. Got him about Air B and B's like on Craigslist. We told him, you know, that's making it's that I'll take Eric's for him. He said, you know, Dikori and more in a fun, humorous way. I've got the guy for him. If Eric were to call me and say, Hey, I need to put in an RPM pick at wide receiver. Who is the most likely in your opinion? I would say go with Saksi, privacy, recalique, locket. I think if he's got two official visits scheduled in June, he's going to hit a bunch of schools Ohio State handful of LSU, handful of other ones in the spring. He's got USC and he's got Texas. He's got Texas on the 21st of the 23rd. If Texas pushes the right buttons, I think lock it's in just like I think Marcus Harris is in just like I think they're in a great position for Andrew Marsh. And just like I think they're in a tremendous position to flip Dikori and more. But that recruitment doesn't really start till November, December. Hey, he's back. We thought the Tigers got to you. I actually answered the question for you. That was a good answer. But I do think Texas is going to get Dikori and more. Locket is probably the safer pick. But you know, Texas tends like I've been pointing out for a long time. He is going to get the guys that they must have. And I think Dikori and Morris viewed as a guy that they must have played a long game. Am I out again? No, we got you. We heard he's a must have and we know what that means when you bring it. So when Eric says it. Thank you, Brett. This is a good question. I like this from our from our guy Chris Bennett. What is this NIL event that Texas One Fund is having at DKR? This on three's Pete Naikos reported today. The news today, I believe, was that Tito's vodka is is one of the title sponsors, which is a big step. That's definitely something that you know, Tito Beveridge had been involved with, you know, the university, obviously an alum, but is hand put his name on a lot of different things. At this point, he is stepping up to the plate is a title sponsor for an NIL fundraiser at DKR put on by the Texas One Fund. And got some big names, Brooks and Dunn, who everybody in the state knows of Ryan Bingham and the Texas gentleman, Academy. I didn't know about Ryan Bingham until Eric started listening to it and telling me about him. Some my family would not be happy if I didn't mention this. Somewhere way up on the family tree, we come from the same branch. So somewhere way up there, I'm related to him, star of Yellowstone, and Academy Award winner, a great country artist. And it's just part of an NIL event that is to raise funds for the Texas One Fund. I saw a lot of Texas A&M people kind of throw in some chirps, like, Oh, we got George Strait at Kyle Field. I know you announced this. This had been on the on the schedule for a little while. The like I said, the brand new info was that Tito's would be the presenting sponsor. And, you know, it's got a little bit of everything. Obviously, Tito's is an Austin based deal. C3 being involved is an Austin based deal shows a little bit of the city. And of course, the One Fund getting involved and using the Campbell Williams field surface for some great country music and supporting University of Texas athletes as well. So that's a little bit of background on what that event is. I think it's a smart move. Hey, there's been some other celebs who have gotten involved. I know Brian Bingham didn't go to UT and I don't know if Brooks are done did I doubt they did or else they don't know it's from Dallas because he used to hang out with with one of my friends. And I mean that guy, I used to think I was a little wild. I'm sure Eric had his phase his stages or whatever. Ronnie Dunn could party like next level. Then again, when you're at that when you're at that top, you know, top of your of your game, you get a little bit more opportunities. But yeah, I think Ronnie Duns from Dallas because he used to hang out with one of my boys all the time. Should be a big event. I've always wanted to name the high school powerhouse. Go ahead. Yeah, who can name the high school power that Ryan Bingham graduated from? He's from Hobbs, Mexico. Oh, I know, but he moved a lot. It's it. Is it CE King? No, it's kind of close to that. Don't get all over in Keondra Coburn. Springs Westfield. That's right. I was putting too far off. Yeah, he moved around. Yeah, he's being in Yellowstone. Is that what Joe was saying earlier? Because I've never watched that. Yeah, he's one of his big characters in it. There's a good movie with Jeff Bridges called Crazy Heart, and he wanted he wanted an Academy award for the song in that. Okay, that's yeah. So we're talking about like 2008, 2009, he started getting on the scene. He's been great forever. A lot of people know from Yellowstone, but his music is amazing. I mean, to me, he's the best musician of the 21st century, whatever one we're in right now. So yeah. Well, I mean, I like all the different genres, but so that is also going to be have a celebrity golf tournament the day before. So it's more of a two day event. Yeah, it's not just a concert. We wrote about this thing a couple weeks ago. It's going to raise a lot of money. I think they're going to raise three, four million dollars off that weekend. I wouldn't be surprised. It's kind of the the table stakes literally and figuratively for that one is going to be a pricey penny to get in, but it's going to go go straight to the one fund. So man, I'd forgotten that that spring Westfield tidbit. That's that's always a classic one. And then there's a lot of celebrities that've come out of that school if I remember correctly. Hey, he and Ed Olger have riding horses in common. Yeah, at all Buffalo. There's North side. He's together along the bike. I'll never forget Ed Oliver committing and signing with Houston. And it's like they're getting a five star. The number one defensive lineman in the country is staying in Houston. And people thought, Oh, you're going to make this horrible mistake. You're going to you shouldn't have done that. Ed's like, no, I'm good. I think his older brother already played the program was already in the Houston program too. But Ed was so confident. Joe. I mean, Eric and I got to cover Ed quite extensively in high school and on the camp scene because Ed would do crazy stuff in these camps that you're just like, how are you doing that? That big, that fast, that strong, super confident, super confident guy and not surprised he's having so much success in NFL. Well, you know, you know, just you know, there's everyone tells these kids, you have to go to a Texas, you have to go to an Auburn, you have to go to, you have to go to a school to get to where you want to go. Not true. And since freshman year just, I mean, all the way from the moment he stepped on campus at the moment he left, he was dominant. He was a successful. So, you know how important he was to Houston? Yeah. Major Applewhite lost his job because he wouldn't let Ann Oliver wear a hoodie on the sideline. That that's one of my favorite. That's how big Oliver was for Coogerville, Coogerville. That's one of my favorite, like, just college football stories is the fact that it was the hoodie a little bit, but it was also just getting trounced by either Army or Navy in the bowl game. That had a little bit to do with our guy Major getting fired. But hey, good for him. He's back on the he's a program is back under his control of Alabama, taking over for Kane Womack was an offensive line, offensive coordinator there and did a lot of good stuff. So he's back in the head coach's chair and I think he'll that's a good job. And I think in the Sun Belt one where you can win games at as Kane Womack proved. So, Drew Justin, any parting shots before we get ready to go and see some more spring practice tomorrow? Oh man. I just can't get over. You know, I was watching clips of pro day today and it just brought me back to, you know, when I was going through that process and it's funny how you can watch these guys run around and it looked so fun watching them. It's like, man, I don't remember being fun. You know, one thing I appreciate about these guys now and having coach, having Sark as a coach is I do think they're in the moment. I do think they think about life beyond football. Do you think they're prepared for life a bit more than we were beyond football? Because they're they have entities and businesses and all these different things, but it's funny. I just it just brought me back to my pro day and I just remembered not being stressed, but it just it was this was a this was a business day. It was a business work day. So just funny watching those guys out there. You know, you talk about tavian sanders, you talk about Ryan Watts, you talk about guys who, you know, some guys it's pro day won't hurt or help them. It just it is what it is. But there's some guys out there fighting for their lives. So, good luck to those guys and to their future and their paths. It's this is a crazy and weird transition for these guys. So, you know, keeping me your thoughts and prayers and all the other stuff. But I'm serious, man. This is a very, very stressful, fun, exciting time for these guys going through pro day. So I wish them all the best. It's one of those things Justin and I talked about on our video about pro day a little bit earlier on this channel. I think one of the guys here that most embodies a little bit what you're talking about is jet bush who carved out a great role for himself at Texas, you know, went from being misused as a defensive end to finding a proper role as an outside linebacker. And, you know, he was pretty honest today. He understands that the draft may not be his path. And a best case scenario for him is is undrafted free agent. That's almost as stressful as if not maybe even more so in a certain respect to someone kind of like Tavondre Sweat who is kind of on the fringe of that first or second round. He doesn't know what his path is going to be. The good news for him is that there's more football these days. There's that United Football League that's a combo between the USFL and the XFL that I think probably starts up in a couple of weeks. There's still the Canadian League. I know that there's if you really love the game enough and love playing it enough, there's opportunities over in Europe and elsewhere in the world to where you can play it. So it's not just, you know, showing off for the 32 NFL teams at pro days, although that's who the main focus is for the most part. You can show off for some other scouts for Canadian scouts for, you know, somebody knows somebody from another front office. And that's what I think jet Bush was able to do pretty well today. And then Drew also, like you said, these guys have been training a ton mostly for these drills. You know, there is football movement, I feel like, but Xavier Worley wasn't, you know, always running routes. He was trying to figure out how to run the 40. Like every step of that thing is down through a tee. So he was training to run the 40. And I think that's why you saw his weight up a little bit. I think he was up to like 170 after wet checking in at the calm on at 165. They measured today. So I think he was, he was, I mean, that's what he hasn't. Xavier Worley, there's no way he's 165. That's what they the NFL scale said he was in Indianapolis. So I got one party shop for you, Joe, you, what is tomorrow? Thursday, March 2020 tomorrow. The horns play basketball. It's the start of the tournament, the real start of the tournament. There is not a more fun two day, first two days of anything than tomorrow and Friday. We haven't talked about it one time. And I got to tell you, I watched, I didn't even realize the playing games were on last night until somebody was tweeting about them. So I turned on Colorado State and Virginia just for the hell of it. And Paul and Ian and I talked about this on the deep dive. You're going to see that in the morning. It's a great show, almost award winning like Joe or not. And I got to tell you, Virginia had 16 points with 15 minutes left in the game. And I was blown away at how bad Virginia basketball is. So I went digging. You want to hear something crazy? Virginia, since 2018, they have won six games in the NCAA tournament. They've won six since 2018, all in the 2019 season. They haven't won a game in the tournament before or since. That's six, six years. That's insane. Colorado State looks good. Texas better, better, better be ready. They need to run. Colorado State is precise. They're deliberate. They've got good guard play. They're not athletic. Texas needs to get out and go. I think that's their best opportunity to win that game. I want to see a match with Rick Barnes in around the 32. I want to see the battle of the two UTs, the two future SEC programs. I just think there's a, there's so much goodness there. I think there's some content there. And I think there's some good basketball to be had. But tomorrow, man, it starts. The NCAA tournament starts. I think the first game usually kicks off at like 11 a.m. So as soon as you press post on your part of your practice report, I'm going to be sitting in there getting ready to watch games, man. I still get into it. I still love it. I know Texas isn't the same team they were last year. This team is not going to elite elite eight again. We all know that. But let's see what Rodney Terry can do. Let's see if you can get to get to the round of 32 or sweet 16. If they get one win, I'm going to be considered, it's going to be considered a success in my opinion. Oh, no, man. You don't like Terry, which I get. I have no problem with Terry. It's this Pacific team that just freaks me out. Colorado State runs plays, man. Yes. They run an offense. Yes. They have a game plan. They come in with a game plan. They're not doing just ISO there. They have an actual well coached team. Virginia has nothing else. Virginia can do well. Let's play defense. They play this pack line defense. They force and Colorado State didn't blink. No, so I don't know. I have no problem with RT. It's this roster. And I just always felt like in this environment, we chose to come into the season with this roster. And it's just been up and down. So it is what it is. I'm excited. I'm excited for the guys. They have their up and down nights. Hopefully they just come prepared well coached and they're ready to go fight because Colorado State looked sharp last night. And then I haven't. I've seen them play this year randomly. And they haven't looked as sharp as they looked last night. They look like at the right time. And don't forget to there seems to be a trend in my opinion. One of these play in teams gets hot. I feel like every year. I want to say it was maybe UCLA two years ago. I want to say maybe San Diego State last year. I can't remember exactly where they were. But usually one of those play in teams, they get hot and they wind up in a sweet 16 or an elite eight just because they're clicking at the right time. And if you look at Texas history as the seven seed over like the last 10 years. It's dreadful. It ain't great. It's a it's a it's a great guard matchup with Max Acemus and Isaiah Stevens. They I think I saw Acemus say today they were in the same district. So I mean, Stiles Jesuit and Allen were were in the same district at a certain point, which. Yeah, that's its own thing. But you know, question for us to get out on who's going to win it. Who's going to win it? How much else predictions? Who's going to win it? One thing on what Drew said, I agree with you completely. Rodney Terry, you know, he is a capable on court coach. But these teams shortfalls and pitfalls, they were established in May and June and July. They weren't established. That's why, you know, it's just pick and roll, pick and roll, pick and roll because who else do you trust to score? And that's, you know, he has no one else to look to but himself when making the roster as far as that. But who wins it all? I think you can over you of H. I don't see anybody really being able to threaten them. I think Tennessee does reach the final four. But I've got Yukon over you of H. You drew? What do you got? Listen, you of H. I mean, that's that's all I'm rolling with. And I don't know if that's my heart or my head, but these guys are grimy. They can grind. They can win in different ways. I'm not going to lie, watching Iowa State U of H the other day, I was like, damn, that, that was a curve ball. And it wasn't it wasn't so much about U of H not being U of H. I still trust U of H, but Iowa State, they just look like they were ready. And I've seen U of H win and beat and dominate teams in games where they could have just mailed it in. So I still expect U of H to be that team. But I tell you what, Iowa State, yeah, it'll be different. Yeah, I'm with you. I don't see how Yukon and U of H don't end up there just based on usually you can see teams let down throughout the season to show how they can be vulnerable. But these two teams have just been dominant. Give me Houston. Give me Houston. But give me Houston. I want to see I'm picking Houston. I'm using my head and my heart because I have a lot of family that went to Houston. I have a nephew that runs track at Houston. So I'm picking Houston and I even went a little bit further. I didn't do a bracket this year, first time in a long time, because I actually think Houston has a legit chance. And I know if I put it down on paper, it's not going to happen. So no brackets for the cougars. I got I got UH winning it. Five slam a jamma in 2024. Five five defense jamma. That's just give me shoot me up with some Jamal shed, man. That dude who microwave he's like Vinny Johnson from the Pistons in the 80s. Yeah, that's one more thing as Tommy says, can't forget Vic Shafer and the women number one seed play in Drexel this Friday. Got a couple of home games. So good looking out for the Longhorns in both March madnesses should be a lot of fun. And I'm glad none of us trust Purdue. I don't think I know they're a good team, but I don't think they're a great team. They do have a great player though. So kind of when back to back player the years and they don't get out of the first or second round. That's what's going to happen. That's going to be the question with Purdue and Matt painter. That painter can't escape any of the questions. So thank you for watching this video. Make sure you like the video. Subscribe to the channel. We'll have a lot more tomorrow morning even coming out of Texas second spring practice. Eric and I will have some takeaways. Should be a lot of fun. We have a lot going on this week on this channel. So no better time to subscribe to it. No better time to subscribe to inside Texas as well. March madness promo. You can get one month of access for one dollar. And if that means if you sign up right now, you'll get all the way until the end of the spring game, I think. So all through spring practice, all through a bunch of, you know, important practices. And you're going to want to stick around for when official visit season fires up. And before too long, it'll be pre-season. So Drew Justin, thank you so much. Thank you to Eric Malene's internet in central Texas. We'll see you tomorrow. We'll see you next time on the inside Texas football YouTube channel. Powered by insidetexas.com.