- Good morning, happy Monday everybody. We are coming to you live to offer you the opportunity to ask us wonderful questions that you may have going on in your brain post Mother's Day. Anything that you've got going, let us know. We are in that period of time where we're just on the cusp of really hitting that June recruiting period and we've got Eric and we've got Ian here. So anything that you may have for our way of questions, this is the time, go ahead and hit us up. We would love to hear about it. But before we do, we did have a question from the board that I really wanted to hit on. And again, this is from our friend, Utah Horn, who is, you know, he's forecasting a little bit. Again, we're in a really good spot here, but it's a legitimate question. We've got some QBs camping soon. So this will go to you, Eric. Who do you prefer? Now there's two on the table. Who do you prefer in terms of our QB take in 26? Well, I don't really have a preference yet. Here's what I would do. You know, Texas is going to need to take a two quarterback class at some point. I don't think it's going to be this class. I could be wrong. They're still looking at Keelan Russell and they have KJ Lacey committed. So it could still end up being a two quarterback class, but they need a two quarterback class either. This cycle or next cycle? I would personally punt it till next cycle. You're going to have Troy Hune and Dia Bell are both going to camp on June 1st. They're both going to look good. Texas has offered both. They both visited Texas likes both. I would say, hey, look, we're going to take a two quarterback class, whichever one you guys want in. Want in, you're in. You got a spot. The first guy that takes it is probably going to be the best one of those two, because it's going to show that he's not shy of competition. It shows that he's fully bought into Sark and his offense and what Texas can do for him. And then I would still make it a two quarterback class, but I'd be willing to take both of them. The numbers dictate that they should. And because Troy Owens showed so much promise throughout spring ball, I don't think that they feel the need to take a two quarterback class in 2025. They can punt it to 2026. How are we feeling? Oh, do you have anything there, Ian? I actually have a take here. Oh, all right. I don't know who the guys are yet. I'm 2026 is too far ahead for me to have watched film. But I would want the guy that's more likely to stay at Texas. OK, because Sark has been unique in that he doesn't really seem to go for the transfer quarterbacks. He'd rather play a guy that he's developed for three years or something and put him out there and have a guy that's like a joystick for him with his playbook. So you want a certain baseline Italian or else you have a guy that sticks around for four or five years that we're going to play free because he's not good enough. So I don't want that. But I don't know. The guy that wants to be the quarterback for Sarkisian, I almost feel like is because the other guy, if it's the other guy is not like that. I don't know if he's going to end up sticking in today's class. That's why you say the first guy in is most likely going to stick. He's going to be the guy that's bought in that wants to be there the most that understands the situation clearly. They're going to have to wait behind Arch. They might have to wait behind no one's. They might have to wait behind Lacey. They're probably not going to have to wait behind all those guys. That's just not how a modern quarterback depth chart works. But yeah, that's where I would take the two quarterback class and then two quarterback class protects you from one of those guys leaving as well. But after your sleeves, it's just manning Owens and probably Lacey that the ideal number is four. Do you feel that it's one of those things that seems a little bit almost outer to one another? I mean, you want to take a two quarterback class to protect yourself from one of them leaving. But by taking a two quarterback class, you might ensure yourself that one of them may leave. Do you feel that it's that way or-- I have a-- yeah, I wrote a tweet a long time ago, the modern quarterback paradox. Because of the new climate, like you said, you have to take more quarterbacks. But you take more quarterbacks. It's more likely that you lose quarterbacks. So that's just the nature of it. But the goal is to keep the best quarterback and lose the secondary quarterback. That goes for every position, keep the best player. And more often than not, they're going to do that. They're going to lose certain players at quarterback. It's just there's a big of demand for it. You saw, you know, Malik Murphy ended up in a good situation. Had he played more, he probably would've ended up at an even better situation. But that's just the nature of the modern game. Sark has done really well on the mental evaluation of the position so far. Arch didn't leave when a lot of other quarterbacks would have left. You saw Jackson Arnold probably forced Dylan Gabriel out in Oklahoma. And then you've got Owens, who committed following Arch Manning, knowing full well that Arch Manning is going to get a lot of rope for a lot of playing time. And he was going to have to wait. But the way that Sark talks behind the scenes about Owens sounds like he's talking about Manning. Can't tell the difference really. And so the Lacey's going to have to wait. And the next guy's going to have to wait. He's going to have to be mature kids that know that once they do wait, then they're going to be in a very good situation. Probably have a chance to be drafted on the first round. Maybe we want to hire them. So Sark made it transactional. And you're more likely to wait your turn if you know the reward is going to be there for you on the other end. Do you feel-- we have a question here about specifically the defensive tackle position. And I want to talk to you a little bit about this, Ian, because this question also goes into scheme, right? We've talked about a lot about running a R2-4, or what PK likes to run on the base. I mean, are we going to highlight a zero technique even? Or is it-- I know we kind of alter between the three technique and the traditional nodes. But how do you feel about PK employing a zero technique? And if that's the case, what are the characteristics that you're really looking for in that position? You know, barring major changes from Nansen as the new co-coordinator, I don't think a zero technique, or even a big nose in general, is quite-- is important in Texas's scheme as the big three technique who can two gap, but also rush the pass or some. So like Washington, he had like Vida Vay, who was, you know, Eric knows him well. Greg Gaines. And then Tamandri Sweat was ideal. Alex January projects really well there. We'll see about Melvin Hills or Dreyblud. So upward Collins, theoretically, if he played lower, which we may see this year. So I would say you want to look for like the prize guy that Texas desperately wants is the 6'3" plus, 320-pound plus guy who has power, but can also rush the passer when it's second and 10. And he doesn't have to stop the run. So a bit of a clogger, but with a little bit of athleticism. Basically, you know, the most rare and valuable-- Right. --kind of guys. So when that-- Let me show you who those guys are. Yeah, who's on the table for us, Eric? Well, Zion Williams is the guy that fits that. He's about 6'4", 3". He's almost up to 3'40 now. But he can lean up pretty well. First time I saw him in February, it was 3'20", and I had a pretty flat belly saw him a couple weeks ago. This is after some school visits now. He likes to eat. The weight of his heart is through the kitchen table. And so he's gained a lot of weight on some of these visits. But he'll lean up. I asked him, what's he going to do this summer besides football? He said, I'm going to lose weight, which, of course, that's still probably, you know, directionally towards football. But Zion Williams out of Lufkin is a big one. That's going to be Eric. Sorry, I read my name there. That's going to be LSU versus Texas. And then you got, you know, I think you could say DJ Sanders could play there. He's a Belleville kid, maybe more athletic than Zion, but not quite as big, maybe not quite-- doesn't possess quite the anchor versus the run. And they're looking at a state. You know, that a state guy's going to be tough to get. They're like a guy to Georgia. It's going to be tough to pull him. He's from a neighboring city of Athens. Kevin Nguyen, not going to be an easy guy to get. You know, we'll see. The harder-- the more important it is, the more likely Texas is to land so many they need, you know? That's just how it works in IL recruiting. Something we were talking about when I say we-- none of you guys, my dad and I-- about the idea of proportionally how many big men are generally in a recruiting class. That is to say, how many are even available? Because you start looking at, obviously, the statistics of just human beings in general over a certain height. And that percentage drops drastically. So if you were to guess, like you're looking at the available players in each cycle, what percentage of those would even qualify for that position? 10%, maybe? Yeah. Yeah, there's just way more skill players. You know, it's easier to find offensive linemen. They're also going to have a longer time to develop. That's why they stock so many of them on the offensive line. They take a long time to develop. But finding real legit defensive tackles, that's 2%. I mean, Texas, you're luckily in any class with a top 100 recruits in the state are tackled that Texas really wants and prioritizes. That's just not that common. There's maybe-- there's more of this cycle than normal. That's what, four or five, maybe, that they even offered out of 100. It's a low percentage. That's why I always say, in scarcity drives the market, that's why everybody's going crazy in the portal. The NFL goes crazy for them, too. If there's a league beyond the NFL, that league would go crazy for them as well. Are there any concerns-- this is one of the questions that pops up relatively frequently. And we've got our friend, Rooster, here. This is following up from your article on InsideTexas.com, which we invite you to check out. We've got a special going there for two months for $1. That's IT1, if you want to use that promo code. But Eric wrote an article at InsideTexas.com. And we're following up here a little bit. Should we have any concern at DB Recruiting? And I'm going to read the subtext here just a little bit, because one of the key themes that's been coming up has been our position coaches and their ability to recruit. That's a-- whether it's justified or not, that seems to be a common refrain against amongst the fans. And I'd love for you to talk about how that's going right now with that position group. Yeah, yesterday I wrote an article talking about the readers asking for clarity on who was being prioritized at each position. So I went by each position, wrote down who the top priorities are. Today I'm going to actually almost have it finished. I'll have an article of who I think is the most likely class at this point. Still early, it's volume 2. I did one in February that has already changed quite a bit. That's just the nature of it with the staff. Their big board is constantly evolving. They're never satisfied with the evaluation. They keep going through it, and they change it. They're not afraid to move names around. And one thing, a byproduct of covering recruiting as your readers are always trying to get you worried about position groups. And they try this every single year. I'm more worried about this one. I'm worried about that one. I'm not worried about DB. It's the only position group I've worried about the last couple cycles of defensive tackle. And here we are. I'm not worried about defensive backs at all. I don't think there's anything wrong with the big board. Maybe it's a failing on my part of reporting. Dorian Bruce right there, Caleb Chester is right there. Aidan Anding is right there. They're reaching out to Devin Williams now. He's taking an official visit, wrote a big article on him last week. So I think the cornerback big board is perfectly fine. They are just not super, super aggressive to push early. They want to see how it's going to shake out. They want to meet these kids and get to know them as good as possible. Last year, everybody said they should be going after some in bridges. I'm like, no, some is not really a priority at this point. They're going to play the long game on Ward L. Matt, Kobe Black. They did get Santana Wilson relatively early. I don't think there's any reason to be concerned about any position outside of defensive tackle in this recruiting class. Eric, you tell me if you think this is right. Warner back in particular, especially at Texas, seems like a position where the coaching and development matters a little more. Like you'll see like TCU under Gary Patterson would crank out NFL cornerbacks. And they were not recruiting at the top of the food chain within the state. The state has so many amazing skill athletes. Sometimes the five star corners don't even really paint out that well. And then the East Texas kid that played running back and got switched over or whatever ends up being the best. What I'm excited about is I'm looking-- I'm seeing them go after more what I would call true corners, where the only position is corner. A lot of times you like versatility because if that position doesn't work out, then that player still has value to the roster. But when you do that at corner, it's such a hard position to play corner. You've got to be a natural corner and have those feet. I don't have a problem with a corner that's 5'11", 165 pounds coming out of high school. A lot of people want that 6'200". Well, now you question how big he's going to get. Terence Brooks is a big ass corner. Is that going to hurt his ability to play the position? If he's a second late on a ball because he weighs 5 or 10 pounds too much, yeah, that's a possibility. That's a concern. So I like the fact that I'm seeing more true corners being taken. I think Wardell Mack is a true corner. I think Santana Wilson is a true corner. Obviously, Mohammed perfectly fits that stereotype. Dorian Brew, now I just saw him the other day. That is a big old kid, is can he stay at corner? I don't know, give him a chance. Let's see if he can hold it there. But so to roaster says to your point, we were very successful late last year in recruiting. Well, they were able to be successful late last year because they were patient. That was part of the approach. They didn't reach. They kept room open for a guy like Kobe Black, who they knew that they were going to get probably four or five months in advance. We knew they were going to get him four or five months in advance. Wardell Mack, once you saw Florida getting beat up by Utah, I think that was the first game of the season. I knew they were getting Wardell Mack. I should have put an RPM right then and there. And then Santana Wilson was a very underrated player who I think is a true corner. Another one that's a little bit on the slender side. Great genes, explosive, true player. I think cornerback recruiting is perfectly fine. I would not get down with the people that are worried about it. Just let it play out. I don't know what the staff has to do to prove themselves as far as their recruiting approach. They're going to be patient. And then they're going to be successful. We could probably spend 10 minutes naming four and five star cornerback recruits that Texas got, where it was like, this guy has NFL size, blah, blah, blah. And then we'll tell you that they ended up at safety before they graduated. Right, yeah. I want to go ahead. Sorry, go ahead, Ian. That was it. I want to address this idea and we can just-- I want to talk about it more on a global sense. Ryan's bringing-- and this was baked into every-- seems to me secondary question we have is our position coaches. And Ryan is saying the quiet part out loud. I have a hard time seeing Sark, who has been incredibly loyal to his staff, and especially a staff that has developed over a period of time, just cutting bait after one season. I don't know. I don't see any of these coaches really on the hot seat. Moving forward, namely because of their abilities, or at least what they've been putting on the field. And then second, Sark, what are your thoughts on this, guys? I'll start with you, Ian. I think if Texas went to the playoff again, or whatever, if Texas misses their goals for this next season because they can't cover top teams, then I would assume that he is, in fact, in danger. Because last year, it was an issue all season long. It's the primary reason they lost to Washington, and unless you want to say, freshman running back fumbles. Which you could say that. You definitely could say the offense. Shooting itself in the foot, Sark's out of the ball, shooting itself in the foot, and coming out flat, penalties, playing very poor football. I mean, that's everybody as much of it as the NFL connection, doing NFL things. But it was the thing against Oklahoma. It was the reason that Kansas State and Houston were near misses. And then the NFL numbers at cornerback have not been good yet for Texas with the new staff. So I don't know, I mean, I don't have a window into what Sark is thinking right now. But to me, if Texas had another season where the secondary was a disappointment, I wouldn't be shocked if he made changes. Eric. - Yeah, you'd have to see how the season plays out. I think you're only one season away from being on the hot seat in this profession, no matter what. We've seen a lot of coaches go from sitting in the catbird seat to being out on their tail out of a job. I was just thinking about this the other day, look how much everybody wanted Graham Harrell as offense coordinator at Texas. People were almost dying for that guy. (laughs) Where's Virginia now? He's supposed to be the next rising star head coach. It just happens all the time. - How are you? - Yeah, I need to know how the season goes. He recruits very well. We haven't seen the NFL pipeline open up yet, but I mean, Ryan Washes got drafted. DeShawn Jameson played his best football by far in his one year with the staff. Malik Muhammad is gonna be drafted in the second, third round, maybe even the first, depending on how he tests, and the recruiting at a high level. So there's a bit of a lag in the NFL talent pipeline, but it's clearly there. It's on its way. Coordination is the bigger issue. I don't think the teaching technique to corners is an issue, I think maybe the coordination between the back end and the front end is something to be concerned about. Does that fall on PK more than it falls on Ontario Joseph and Blake Gideon? And I don't know, Sark will know that. I don't know that for sure. But I do know it was always kind of a curious thing where Sark hired the defensive back coaches before he hired the defensive coordinator. I mean, that was, you know, we talked about that a lot when Sark was first hired and made those hires. So, you know, maybe there's some still stuff that they're working through from those in that initial decision. But I don't know, it's not my job to put coaches on the hot seat. I know Texas fans are not worried about a recruiting class that's gonna finish top five. They're worried about coaching on a top five team. Somebody's got to be on the hot seat. We'll see how it plays out. - I know you talked about Wardell and we don't need to go into it too deep. But Mr. Williams is asking where you see him ending up, just based on measurables. Do you see him finishing his career as a field CB or where do you see him moving along? And so we'll start with Eric but I'd love to hear your thoughts on this as well, Ian. - Well, you know, I've asked a lot of people about Kobe Black and, you know, they still think maybe Nickle might be in his future or safety. I could see a rotation where, you know, Kobe goes to Nickle and Wardell goes to boundary corner back eventually to replace Malik Muhammad. So I think he's gonna stick it corner. Honestly, he doesn't have the biggest frame and durability is a bit of a concern at Nickle. You're just in the mix a lot more. Have to be more physical. It takes its toll. We've seen that with Jadae Baron. I think long-term Wardell's probably gonna end up at boundary corner. Ian, do you have any thoughts? - I would say the same. His great length is what I'm recalling from my notes on him out of high school is fast, long arms. It's not really like your Nickle is either gonna be insanely quick and or like one of your higher IQ guys. And it's like almost a good place sometimes to stick a guy that's like a really good all around defensive back, but maybe not like a lockdown coverage guy. Max seems like someone that you wanna develop to just erase people outside and tell you're absolutely sure you can't. - Ian, you are known throughout many communities as one being a Longhorn legend. And I think the other fan base that loves you most is probably our friends north of the Red River. And Brett has a, he's got a super chat for us. Thank you, Brett. You're always supporting us, especially when Ian is here. And I really do appreciate that. If you have a super chat that you'd like to throw in, we will guarantee you that we will ask that question regardless of the legitimacy of it. So Ian, looking at OU's schedule, you see them going seven and five. Now off camera, you told me you didn't think they'd win a game. (laughs) - I think a lifetime Longhorn is probably better than a Longhorn legend. I don't think I did anything while I was on the 40 acres that anyone really remembers. So Oklahoma, their non-conference is Houston, Tulane, Maine, and the fourth one is Temple. So they have a pretty hard floor of like, honestly, probably six games. Every single team that they play in the SEC is good. They didn't get, they got a really tough draw from the SEC's, year one. But even if they go, so they play eight games, even if they go two and six in the SEC, they're at six and six. So seven, five is probably a pretty good guess. I think eight and four would be a really good year for them and indicative of a very positive 2025 coming around the next year. I'm not one for being bullish on Oklahoma. So I think probably, I'll stay six and six. - Oh, okay. - I think that's generous. - They're finished, they're finished as brutal. - Let me bring it up real quick. - It sucks. Let's just be hard. - It's gonna be, yeah, it's gonna be a lot. I mean, if Texas is playing well, you're gonna wanna watch a lot of Oklahoma football as well. They're finished, hold on, let me bring it up here real quick. They finished with At Ole Miss, then they get Maine at home. I didn't know, apparently Maine's gonna put down the hockey sticks long enough to play football. Then they're at Missouri, Missouri's gonna be good. Then they get Alabama, but it's at home at least, I guess. And then they're at LSU. So they're at Missouri, at LSU. (laughs) - It's just, there's just no two ways about it. I mean, it is, it's not a welcome mat. I mean, let's be really fair here. That's a brutal schedule. - Jackson Arnold's gonna be a little more battle tested by the time that portion of the schedule rolls around, but man, that's a tough one. - Or he'll be out with an injury. - Yeah, age four I think is an exceptional season. OU fans won't buy it, they won't wanna hear anything about it, but eight and four, you know, we're known as haters, but here we are giving them cover. (laughs) We really are. I mean, not in an unenviable position to be in, certainly, especially going into the league. - Here's the thing about Jackson Arnold too, is he's got a lot of that, like, he ran a lot at Geyer, right? Didn't Geyer, and he ran a lot last year for Oklahoma, and he runs kind of high, 'cause he's kind of big. And they're gonna have to run him for their offense to work. And a young guy like that that hasn't been hit a lot yet, going into the SEC after playing the cupcake schedule they got last year. I think there's gonna be a big adjustment for him just in knowing how to stay healthy. Like you look at like Sam Ellinger's freshman here at Texas, he kept getting hurt over and over and over again. And it took him like till the next year to learn how to avoid some of the bigger shots and also just to know how to play through injury and like avoid the big ones that knock you out. - Yeah, Arches has that same problem. Arches has that same problem of running high. They're just, they give you so much surface area to hit. They got to learn not to hard way. We'll see, that's gonna be a, oh man. Football can't get it fast enough. - Well, I want to talk about one of our friends, Laura Baker, who's been a big supporter of this. We want to say thank you to her. I know that we've got somebody on this particular call that has some experience with Laura. Laura is, she's a UT grad. She's a Longhorn fan obviously, but she's also a member of InsideTexas.com, which means she's family, she's a part of our community and we really appreciate her support. She's an elite member on the Andy Allen team with Keller Williams and we want you to hit her up if you're thinking about buying a home in the central Texas area. Her number is 512-784-0505. Again, that number is 512-784-0505. Please reach out to Laura for any and all of your real estate needs. Have you ever, do you have anything you'd like to say about Laura, Ian? - She's amazing. We just closed this last week on our new home. If my wife wasn't busy preparing this one to be sold, she would come down here and just rave about how great Laura was for the whole experience. - When we're talking about, again, these questions that are coming in today, Ian, seem to be a little bit more scheme-based and I'd love to talk about your thoughts on the Jack rotation. Where do you see that? First of all, just if you can give people a quick primer on the Jack border field side, where that position plays, I know that you guys did an amazing video on that and we'll make sure that we throw that into the comments with breaking down the defensive line positions, but what do you see that rotation being during this season and is frankly gonna be a factor? - That's a really good question. Eric has been reporting throughout the off-season that Burke was likely to get some looks at Jack. Jack, so Jack is the field side and edge and you want someone that's big and strong enough there to set the edge and prevent teams from being able to run to the wide side of the field. So it's a little, they're both pass rushing positions, both the Jack and Buck edge positions, but if you're gonna pick where you want your best runstopper to be, it's gonna be at the Jack. And ideally he's a little bigger for that reason and he's also big enough to fly it around and play a few different techniques. So he's not just strictly on the wide edge. So Sorel's been great there for the last two years. He's like, what, six, three, two, sixty five, something like that right now. Burke is probably gonna be that big this season, if not this season, than not long after. So that would put him next in line. Finkely is solid there as a runstopper. You would probably put him third on that list if they can get Burke over there consistently. And then, I don't know, that'd probably be it 'cause everybody else that's amongst the better edges on the team are gonna be more pass rushing guys, like Trey Moore is smaller. Colin Simmons obviously, you don't wanna make his responsibilities a rookie to defend the wide edge, set the edge against the run. That's not really what he's coming in to do in year one. It's gonna take him time to develop that discipline. Colton Vosic with time could be good there. We just haven't seen a lot from him yet. Eric, do you have any thoughts here? You're just just Sorel Burke. - I think it's gonna be Sorel and Burke just because they fit everything you're looking for in that position, you'll probably see Burke out there a little bit more in clear pass rushing situations. Hey, I don't know, maybe they move Sorel inside in some of those situations too. He's physically mature at this point, strong in the lower body. Maybe there's some things they can do. Maybe they move Burke inside and move Vosic out there. I don't know, there's a lot of things they can do, but I think Sorel and Burke will get the lion's share there. Not only does it, you know, you're improving all the pass rush across the board because Trey Moore's probably gonna be a better pass rusher off the boundary side than Burke. At least that's the early word on him. But you can also upgrade the Sorel side too. But Sorel's still gonna be out there quite a bit. You know, we saw I look like you got mad early in the season he was getting taken off in a lot of pass rushing situations and then he really came up big, I think, is against Baylor and made some plays in the back. But he's got kind of a lower floor as far as a pass rusher, Burke, I think has a much higher or lower ceiling, I should say. Burke has the guy, I think, that can put up 89 sacks in the NFL. Not sure we can say the same about Sorel. - Well, stick with you, Eric, and this is, again, a recruiting question. I wanna thank Jack for giving us a super chat there. It's really generous. It really helps us out and we do appreciate it. - Eric, of the incoming freshmen that were not early enrollees, who has the best chance to see the field in any capacity? So obviously, we're including some special teams there. - Yeah, and Jack's gonna really regret spending $5 to hear about a punter, but it's gonna be Michael Kern, the punter, right? That's the biggest need. You always go by biggest need, you know, where the hole is on the roster. There's not a lot. Look at how many guys they had enrolled early. I mean, almost all the high school players enrolled early, there's not many of them. Santana Wilson is one just because it's hard to leave school early in Arizona. I'm not sure what the exact rules are. It was surprising that Christian Clark was able to do it. The running back, but Santana, I would expect to see him on, have a chance to be on coverage teams. He's very fast. He's a pretty physical player, even though he's not the biggest. He's got those, he's a smart player too. You know, they like guys out there that they can trust. He's got the genetics that his dad, Adrian Wilson had, who was a beast in the NFL. So I would probably go to Santana Wilson, but that's more from special teams. And then of course, you know, Michael Kern, the punter. - Ian, who do you, what's your view about utilizing Gunner Helm as a goal line threat specifically? I mean, we, this is a, this kind of opens up another topic again of what we're going to be looking like within the red zone. That was clearly an issue last year. What do you see the, how do you see us utilizing Helm, specifically in the goal line position, or I'll even call it from the 10s in? - Well, his blocking is definitely a goal line threat. Last year, he was good from like, once they crossed like the 30 or so, they drew up a few plays for him where he would release on like a, pain of block and release down the field on play action or an RPO or something. He has good hands. And if the other teams think and run and he slips by, and that's, that was easy points for Texas a couple of times last year. They did it twice against Oklahoma, right? They had a Savion Red throw him a pass that he took down to the goal line on the fourth and one. They had him hit from like 30 out on a play action pass on another fourth and one against Oklahoma, I think. It's what, it feels like David is asking if Helm is gonna be a guy that can like go moss somebody on the perimeter. - Right, I think yeah, I'm getting that sense. - Or like, or make a little nifty move to get open. And there were like hints of that from his high school film or like from a practice cut or two early at Texas, but they haven't really used him that way much. And they haven't, I mean, they didn't even use Jetavian Sanders that way very often. And Jetavian Sanders was theoretically a lot better at it than Helm. So I don't know if we're gonna see a lot of that, especially like you watch like a wingo in the spring game had an amazing catch on a ball that was throwing out for him. John Tay Cook has really strong hands. If you're looking for guys that you just throw the ball up in the air in the corner and let them go high point it, I don't think it'll be home. I think it'd be like one of those receivers. - Any thoughts here, Eric? - It was weird. It seemed like they used Jetavian in the red zone more in that traditional sense that they're talking about two years ago than they did last year. And I'm not sure why they went away from that. I was standing in the end zone when he caught that one against West Virginia beautiful ball elevated for, I'm surprised we didn't see more of that. If they didn't do it to Jetavian last year, I'm not sure that they're gonna use gunner in that way, but they do like to use misdirection and some deception and get them open. I think he had a long one versus Iowa state last year, right, maybe 30 yard touchdown. And he had another one we got tripped up and SARK said, "Man, I schemed him wide open." He fell down at like the half yard line or something. I think that's the type of tight end he is. He's not gonna beat with pure athleticism. Excuse me, but he's athletic enough to take advantage to be a constraint against what the defense is doing. - Moving on, we have, this is the question about, obviously, Gullet, sorry, how's he coming back from the injury? - Gullet. - Gullet. - I'm sorry, it must be an odd issue that it's Gullet. That's what I'm clearly saying. You may not hit, it's probably a speaker thing. How's he doing coming back from the injury? Is he 100% yet? - Well, Geronimo, he reads inside text. So he should have seen this for sure. Maybe he was in between suspensions when we wrote about him, I'm not sure. But Gullet, the best thing to get, he's healthy. I saw him moving around there in the spring. He looked really good. He's just, every time you guys ask about a guy like that, he's got starters in front of him. He's just not better than the starter right now. But he's actually, he's back to healthy. He's still learning the position. He missed his senior year due to injury. And before that, he was a raw off-ball linebacker take to begin with to the point where I thought, he'd just throw this guy out at the edge. He's got the size for it. But no, he's coming along and learning the position. They like him, they're high on him. But he's probably two years away from playing. Now that's a guy that could make a dent on special teams. There's somebody with size and speed that runs down and wants to hit. But I'm not expecting big things at him this year. Hopefully they can get him out on the field though and some blowouts. - He's a guy that, like Eric was just hinting at, he'll be like a red shirt junior. And all of a sudden he'll be the starting wheel linebacker. And everyone will be already ready for the next hot recruit. But then Gullet will take the job and be a lot better than everyone thought because they didn't realize that he's, yeah, he's looking pretty promising out there, I would say. - Yeah, I'm excited about him. I was, when I saw him moving around in the spring, I focused on him specifically. His fundamentals were good. He looked natural moving as a linebacker, not just coming downhill. And that's important for somebody his size. I mean, he's not a small linebacker. The easiest thing they could have done is just put him at edge, but they still see that upside of him off fall. So that, we know he could play edge if he had to. It's exciting to see him back and healthy. It just needs a little more time. - Do you see the playing off ball? Is that more to do with his ability to cover or what do you attribute that to? - Well, when you talk about off ball linebacker, they have to be able to move backwards and directionally and laterally. If you watch him as an athlete, he's more of a downhill athlete, but he's good enough to move omnidirectionally. But the number one thing for him was always going to be just learning the position, processing it. He was a very raw, very raw prospect coming out. And then he missed a senior year on top of it. So I would say he's honestly ahead of schedule of where I thought I would have assumed they just put him at edge just 'cause that's a far easier position to play with someone his size and his kind of a downhill skill set. - One of the players that we talk about a lot and you're mentioning players coming in raw, something that's obviously gonna be in the news cycle pretty much until he graduates, he's arch manning, Sark was talking about him a little bit this week. And John points something out that might be, it's certainly interesting for me to talk about, but the idea that arch's first season could include Ohio State, Oklahoma, Alabama, Auburn, Missouri, Tennessee, I mean, obviously this is a, when you start thinking about reasons why you want to let your players develop, if you can, it's this reason right here. I mean, this kid is not in any way going to get a, a soft welcome into his first season of playing. Is there- - Auburn, that'd be year two. - That'd be year two? - Yeah, 25. Yeah, I don't think Quinn has two more years left at Texas. - Oh, that's fair. - But yeah, let me either come back and play that slate or leave early and hand that to Trey Owens. So, that would be something to stress about. - I think he's gonna play two years. That family gets the long view of it. They're not hurting to jump into the workforce for a couple of reasons. I think he's gonna be there for two years. - Keep your questions coming. I wanna throw it out one more time to our friend Laura Baker. If you are in the central Texas area, she's someone that just helped out our friend Ian Boyd, please reach out to her. Her number is 512-784-0505. Again, that's Laura Baker for all your realty needs in the central Texas area. That's 512-784-0505. One of the things, guys, we were talking about is, and this has been the subtext of today. So, I don't think really need to go into it too deeply, but the idea of calling a way, way too early depth chart, moving forward, is there any position in particular, maybe a position group that you think is most in play? Is there an area there where you can see maybe the most movement? Obviously, we may not be moving as much, moving players around as much in our tackle positions, but what are some other areas that you might see some opportunities for some young bucks getting in there? What probably do you, Ian? Will linebacker is probably Binda. I'm thinking about loud linebackers, probably pretty settled, but they have a lot of options there because I actually think Leungo LaFalle could probably play this year if he needed to and be good. Binda is probably gonna start next to Hill. Maurice Blackwell has played a ton. He's ready. On defense, probably it's like sorting out the edge positions and who ends up where and when. And then, I'll leave offense for Eric. And then safety, I mean, they have like three guys at safety that we all think would be hard not to start. And there's like two positions. And that's Michael Taff, Derek Williams and Andrew Makuba. Makuba is like a really good all around athlete, proven starter from Clemson on a good defense. Taff is just hard to get off the field 'cause he's good and he knows where everybody's supposed to be. He was timely in his play making. And then, Derek Williams looks like one of the most talented guys in the entire team. So I really don't know exactly how that's gonna shake out. If they have to, I mean, usually you just stick to walk on in the bench, but they'll have to be able to pull it off first. - Well, we wanna thank everybody for checking us out again on a Monday morning. We hope you didn't miss too much of your work meetings. It's an opportunity for us to check in with you and really good questions today. Thank you so much for that. If you've have any more questions, you wanna follow up with the guys, please check us out at InsideTexas.com. We are running, especially right now, it's IT1 is the promo code that'll give you two months or $1, which is a great opportunity you're gonna get into that June visit season. We thank you so much for checking us out and we will see you next time. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)
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