Texas Longhorns Football: Offseason Workout Report

Scipio Tex writes at Barking Carnival and his archive can be found here.

Some trusted friends and family took in the Longhorns seven-on-seven workout in the Bubble (there’s a cheerleading camp going on at the practice fields) yesterday and had some things to share.

Garrett Gilbert’s shoulder is healthy and “he was throwing lasers.” He’s a legitimate 6'3"/6'4" and weighs over 200 pounds. Not to mention he has a broad frame.

He’ll most likely end up around 6'4" and over 225 pounds when he fully matures. Although he won’t be a zone-read running threat at the college level, he’s mobile with good feet.

G.G. was not known for having a particularly big arm in high school, but it appears that the shoulder surgery rehab has benefited him in terms of arm strength. He runs the drills with the backs and linemen before grabbing a few reps with the receivers when starting quarterback Colt McCoy lets him.

McCoy’s accuracy is off of the charts. His footwork has improved and his timing throws in the mid-range passing game is the stuff of Swiss watchmakers.

Our DBs were blanketing the WRs and Colt kept fitting the ball into tight spots. He’s unquestionably the team leader and the other players interacted with him like he was the gruff dad that they were trying to impress with their antics off of the high dive.

He allows everyone to have fun to a point and then he reins it in and refocuses the participants—occasionally barking at young receivers who don’t absorb his instruction or make a poor decision on an option route.

Pretty structured for a non-practice with no coaches—everything works on a clock and all players get their reps in. A lot of former Longhorn players were on hand (like Orakpo and Griffin) and one definitely gets the sense of continuity that engenders. Not to mention the motivational aspect of having several millionaires who used to be your teammates loitering around.

D.J. Grant is a rock-hard 220 and still runs like a WR. He’ll be a huge deep threat up the seam. He’s also reliable working in tight spaces. You won’t see any volleyball set interceptions from him.

Any team that tries to cover him with a LB on an inside release is conceding a potential six. Obviously, we won’t know what he can do as an extra blocking surface until the pads go on.

Dan Buckner is filling out with good weight. He struggled with getting a good release last year and though some of that is technique, a good bit of it has to do with upper body strength and explosiveness out of his stance. He at least looks a lot stronger.

Malcolm Williams is still a physical freak and now looks like a polished physical freak.

On the DB side, we look really good. In fact, it's crazy good.

It’s obvious that these guys will be the strength of our defense this year and we’ve got at least seven DBs who can play at a high level and two to three freshmen who would be grabbing meaningful snaps at any other Big 12 school.

Aaron Williams and Earl Thomas were particularly impressive. Both have really filled out without sacrificing quickness and have big-time ball skills. Earl’s ability to play midfield safety or run up to the LOS and man-n-jam give us a lot of coverage flexibility.

A lot of the skinny kids from last year have filled out and you’re going to see a much more physical secondary. Expect more forced turnovers, more big hits, and a lot of depth. That also bodes well for our special teams play.

The players are all unfailingly polite and pose for pictures and sign autographs with enthusiasm; there are definitely some really good guys on this team. Our litany of police blotter appearances seems like a very long time ago.

One last thing: David Snow is put together like a brick outhouse. He has some kids ahead of him with a lot of skins on the wall, but if we don’t make him a co-starter rotating in at center/guard I’d be fairly surprised.