Weekly Deep Dig:
The DEEP DIG Rice
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Market Shares and Futures
Following Week 1, we unveiled our new defensive scoring system which will help us track who the top producers are on the 2015 Texas defense. Coming into Week 2, we see that massive shifts are already beginning to occur in how productivity market-shares are apportioned within the unit.
That is, except for one guy who remains massively atop the heap.
NOSE
99 Desmond Jackson - 40 snaps
93 Paul Boyette - 38 snaps (22 at DT, 16 at NT)
97 Chris Nelson - 12 snaps
TACKLE
98 Hassan Ridgeway - 40 snaps (24 at NT, 16 at DT)
95 Poona Ford - 52 snaps
- Hassan Ridgeway seems to be coming to life, and it shouldn’t be long before he assumes his starting role once again as he continues his slowly-worked-in return from a lingering back injury. Ridgeway is simply too disruptive and explosive at the line of scrimmage as an interior penetrator to be kept off the field while he’s clicking on all cylinders. The question then becomes, how many snaps a game can he be clicking on all cylinders?
- We at the Deep Dig found it very interesting that Charlie Strong indicated at his pre-California availability (completely unsolicited) that he was unsure of Desmond Jackson’s complete health at this point. The simple fact, as of now, is that Jackson has been one of the defense’s biggest disappointments to start the season. Jackson currently ranks 18th on the defense in snaps-per-productivity over 83 total snaps so far this season, managing a productivity on one per only every 12.76 plays.
- Poona Ford had a great game versus Rice, recording four points for tackles and also racking up 2 QB pressures, a TFL and a run-stuff. Ford was an absolute non-factor against Notre Dame, but a productive Rice game vaulted him closer to the area of productivity that most fans would have expected and hoped for in the preseason.
- Paul Boyette remains dependable. He’s not a special player on the defensive line but he’s very good. The trouble the Texas defense has had with stopping the run seems confusing to more than a few of our dark basement’s regulars as the personnel is generally good-to-great - as is the defensive technique coaching at Texas.
- It’s easy to observe that Rice was doing all it could to keep the Texas defense on the field, and furthermore, the big Texas defensive linemen set in their stances through elongated, play-clock-diminishing pre-snap cadences. It was beyond clear on review that being in an athletic stance for 30 seconds before firing off was wearing on all Texas interior defenders - especially after so many plays. The discipline needed in maintaining a proper stance through ball games involves burning, screaming hip flexors. With so much explosion in engagement coming through the hips, it’s just a physical fact that the defense will be getting less push as these anatomical regions are consistently sapped of juice.
STRONG END
1 Shiro Davis - 50 snaps (48 at SDE, 2 at DT)
91 Bryce Cottrell - 35 snaps
92 Quincy Vasser - 9 snaps
FOX END
40 Naashon Hughes - 63 snaps
90 Charles Omenihu - 23 snaps
42 Caleb Bluiett - 6 snaps
- Texas needs better production out of its edge-defenders and the fact that Caleb Bluiett is already sneaking back into the lineup (in what could become increasing fashion) is simply proof that the staff’s decision to move one of its most disruptive 2014 defenders to a wasteland of a tight end position may not have been the best idea as Texas kills itself to generate any sort of pass rush.
- Shiro Davis is simply not an impactful player and he never has been. The Texas staff has talked up Davis’ role on the Texas defensive line coming into his senior season, but between Davis and (what could be a semi- ailing) Tank Jackson, many of the gap-integrity and blown-off-the-line moments witnessed by fans in the first two games of 2015 from the defensive line involved one of these two players.
- Quincy Vasser shows up highly on the snaps-per-production numbers, actually rounding out the Top 10 based on a very limited sample of 9 snaps. Vasser was involved in two tackles versus Rice’s backups to end the game during his only snaps on the season, though. His rank within this stat is deceiving as Vasser’s done absolutely nothing at Texas to show he represents (at this time) any better of an option than Shiro Davis or Bryce Cottrell. Strong-side defensive end must be a major area of focus for the Texas staff in recruiting as the cupboard is bare behind these three.
WILL LB
19 Peter Jinkens - 57 snaps (56 at WLB, 1 at MLB)
35 Edwin Freeman - 23 snaps
45 Anthony Wheeler - 12 snaps
MIKE LB
46 Malik Jefferson - 60 snaps (59 at MLB, 1 at WLB)
30 Tim Cole - 20 snaps
44 Breckyn Hager - 12 snaps
- Texas played its entire game versus Rice in nickel personnel (two linebackers and five defensive backs).
- As we’ll soon see, Malik Jefferson missed way too many tackles versus Rice and, in fact, he currently leads the team in the dubious category on the season.
- Still, Jefferson is the best player on the defense and likely the team despite these misses (which are accounted for negatively in the market shares tallies). It’s amazing to see a true freshman accounting for nearly 20% of an entire defense’s total productivity. Losing Malik Jefferson would effectively be the equivalent of losing two really good players given the production he's provided thus far in his young career.
- Edwin Freeman is creeping up the rankings while Peter Jinkens is in a bit of a free-fall. The Texas staff loves Jinkens and his ability to play both the the will-role in nickel and the sam-role in base 4-3, but this is a skill set that is the exact same as Freeman’s. Remember, Freeman was a practice-squad star on the scout team during his redshirt season last year working mostly at the SAM. It would not surprise us one bit to see Freeman’s snaps on an uptick through the course of the season. He’s not a player who will hurt you to keep off the field - Texas has one of those, and we’ll get to him soon - but he’s more productive than Jinkens while also possessing more natural athleticism.
- Breckyn Hager is the team’s leader in snaps-per-production based on a puny 14-snap sample (every one of which occurring against backups in garbage time). But, the fact is, you have to start somewhere, and Hager has consistently shown in two games now that he makes big-time plays when given the opportunity. At this point in time, we at the Deep Dig do here and now declare there is no reason to think Anthony Wheeler is poised to be any more effective than Hager based on all the information currently available to us.
CORNERBACK
21 Duke Thomas - 80 snaps (80 at Nickel)
24 John Bonney - 68 snaps (41 at RCB, 12 at Nickel, 15 at LCB)
2 Kris Boyd - 47 snaps (27 at LCB, 20 at RCB)
25 Antwuan Davis - 41 snaps (41 at LCB)
5 Holton Hill - 36 snaps (27 at RCB, 9 at LCB)
9 Davante Davis - 4 snaps (4 at RCB)
- It should have been clear as day from the start to pencil in Duke Thomas as a candidate to bump inside to the nickel position, as he was burned in 2014 on the outside by being overaggressive in his reads and steps. Moving Thomas inside to nickel allows the staff to not train his aggressiveness out of him while also not making the unit as vulnerable to similar mistakes in 2015. It seems like Thomas has moved inside to stay.
- That player you can’t keep off the field anymore? It’s Kris Boyd. We at the Deep Dig do here and now proclaim to the Texas football universe that you will keep Kris Boyd off the football field at your own peril. He’s going to be the best player in the Texas secondary at some point, and that could be this year if unleashed. He’s a dynamo who’s always around the football and just has that baller’s nose for the big play.
- Holton Hill and Kris Boyd basically played the entire second half of the Rice game, so we’re starting to see already that what Vance Bedford indicated last week - that the freshman DBs will be worked in more and more steadily through the season - is very likely to be true.
SAFETY
14 Dylan Haines - 80 snaps
31 Jason Hall - 80 snaps
11 PJ Locke - 12 snaps
18 Kevin Vaccaro - 12 snaps
- If you listen to the burnt-orange fanbase exclusively, you’ll hear that Dylan Haines blows coverages in two-high shells versus Notre Dame and that he’s a former walk-on who’s lucky to still be holding onto a starting job. If you listen to the coaches, you’ll hear Haines talked about as a player they are seemingly perfectly comfortable with. Haines holds the second-largest market share of productivity on the Texas defense behind Malik Jefferson after two weeks. This is, however, somewhat due to volume as Haines ranks 16th in snaps/production. Haines, at 155, has played the most 2015 snaps on defense for Texas of any player.
This Week in Missed Tackles
It hurts when they’re really “missed sacks” a lot of the time
Malik Jefferson - 4 missed tackles on defense
John Bonney - 2 missed tackles on defense
Edwin Freeman - 2 missed tackles on defense
Peter Jinkens - 2 missed tackles on defense
Bryce Cottrell - 1 missed tackle on defense
Naashon Hughes - 1 missed tackle on defense
Tim Cole - 1 missed tackle on defense
Desmond Jackson - 1 missed tackle on defense
For a grand total of 14 missed tackles on defense vs. Rice - in case Vance Bedford asks.
. . .
As we turn our attention to Part II: Offense, we thank you, once again for reading.
The DEEP DIG Rice
. .
Market Shares and Futures
Following Week 1, we unveiled our new defensive scoring system which will help us track who the top producers are on the 2015 Texas defense. Coming into Week 2, we see that massive shifts are already beginning to occur in how productivity market-shares are apportioned within the unit.
That is, except for one guy who remains massively atop the heap.
NOSE
99 Desmond Jackson - 40 snaps
93 Paul Boyette - 38 snaps (22 at DT, 16 at NT)
97 Chris Nelson - 12 snaps
TACKLE
98 Hassan Ridgeway - 40 snaps (24 at NT, 16 at DT)
95 Poona Ford - 52 snaps
- Hassan Ridgeway seems to be coming to life, and it shouldn’t be long before he assumes his starting role once again as he continues his slowly-worked-in return from a lingering back injury. Ridgeway is simply too disruptive and explosive at the line of scrimmage as an interior penetrator to be kept off the field while he’s clicking on all cylinders. The question then becomes, how many snaps a game can he be clicking on all cylinders?
- We at the Deep Dig found it very interesting that Charlie Strong indicated at his pre-California availability (completely unsolicited) that he was unsure of Desmond Jackson’s complete health at this point. The simple fact, as of now, is that Jackson has been one of the defense’s biggest disappointments to start the season. Jackson currently ranks 18th on the defense in snaps-per-productivity over 83 total snaps so far this season, managing a productivity on one per only every 12.76 plays.
- Poona Ford had a great game versus Rice, recording four points for tackles and also racking up 2 QB pressures, a TFL and a run-stuff. Ford was an absolute non-factor against Notre Dame, but a productive Rice game vaulted him closer to the area of productivity that most fans would have expected and hoped for in the preseason.
- Paul Boyette remains dependable. He’s not a special player on the defensive line but he’s very good. The trouble the Texas defense has had with stopping the run seems confusing to more than a few of our dark basement’s regulars as the personnel is generally good-to-great - as is the defensive technique coaching at Texas.
- It’s easy to observe that Rice was doing all it could to keep the Texas defense on the field, and furthermore, the big Texas defensive linemen set in their stances through elongated, play-clock-diminishing pre-snap cadences. It was beyond clear on review that being in an athletic stance for 30 seconds before firing off was wearing on all Texas interior defenders - especially after so many plays. The discipline needed in maintaining a proper stance through ball games involves burning, screaming hip flexors. With so much explosion in engagement coming through the hips, it’s just a physical fact that the defense will be getting less push as these anatomical regions are consistently sapped of juice.
STRONG END
1 Shiro Davis - 50 snaps (48 at SDE, 2 at DT)
91 Bryce Cottrell - 35 snaps
92 Quincy Vasser - 9 snaps
FOX END
40 Naashon Hughes - 63 snaps
90 Charles Omenihu - 23 snaps
42 Caleb Bluiett - 6 snaps
- Texas needs better production out of its edge-defenders and the fact that Caleb Bluiett is already sneaking back into the lineup (in what could become increasing fashion) is simply proof that the staff’s decision to move one of its most disruptive 2014 defenders to a wasteland of a tight end position may not have been the best idea as Texas kills itself to generate any sort of pass rush.
- Shiro Davis is simply not an impactful player and he never has been. The Texas staff has talked up Davis’ role on the Texas defensive line coming into his senior season, but between Davis and (what could be a semi- ailing) Tank Jackson, many of the gap-integrity and blown-off-the-line moments witnessed by fans in the first two games of 2015 from the defensive line involved one of these two players.
- Quincy Vasser shows up highly on the snaps-per-production numbers, actually rounding out the Top 10 based on a very limited sample of 9 snaps. Vasser was involved in two tackles versus Rice’s backups to end the game during his only snaps on the season, though. His rank within this stat is deceiving as Vasser’s done absolutely nothing at Texas to show he represents (at this time) any better of an option than Shiro Davis or Bryce Cottrell. Strong-side defensive end must be a major area of focus for the Texas staff in recruiting as the cupboard is bare behind these three.
WILL LB
19 Peter Jinkens - 57 snaps (56 at WLB, 1 at MLB)
35 Edwin Freeman - 23 snaps
45 Anthony Wheeler - 12 snaps
MIKE LB
46 Malik Jefferson - 60 snaps (59 at MLB, 1 at WLB)
30 Tim Cole - 20 snaps
44 Breckyn Hager - 12 snaps
- Texas played its entire game versus Rice in nickel personnel (two linebackers and five defensive backs).
- As we’ll soon see, Malik Jefferson missed way too many tackles versus Rice and, in fact, he currently leads the team in the dubious category on the season.
- Still, Jefferson is the best player on the defense and likely the team despite these misses (which are accounted for negatively in the market shares tallies). It’s amazing to see a true freshman accounting for nearly 20% of an entire defense’s total productivity. Losing Malik Jefferson would effectively be the equivalent of losing two really good players given the production he's provided thus far in his young career.
- Edwin Freeman is creeping up the rankings while Peter Jinkens is in a bit of a free-fall. The Texas staff loves Jinkens and his ability to play both the the will-role in nickel and the sam-role in base 4-3, but this is a skill set that is the exact same as Freeman’s. Remember, Freeman was a practice-squad star on the scout team during his redshirt season last year working mostly at the SAM. It would not surprise us one bit to see Freeman’s snaps on an uptick through the course of the season. He’s not a player who will hurt you to keep off the field - Texas has one of those, and we’ll get to him soon - but he’s more productive than Jinkens while also possessing more natural athleticism.
- Breckyn Hager is the team’s leader in snaps-per-production based on a puny 14-snap sample (every one of which occurring against backups in garbage time). But, the fact is, you have to start somewhere, and Hager has consistently shown in two games now that he makes big-time plays when given the opportunity. At this point in time, we at the Deep Dig do here and now declare there is no reason to think Anthony Wheeler is poised to be any more effective than Hager based on all the information currently available to us.
CORNERBACK
21 Duke Thomas - 80 snaps (80 at Nickel)
24 John Bonney - 68 snaps (41 at RCB, 12 at Nickel, 15 at LCB)
2 Kris Boyd - 47 snaps (27 at LCB, 20 at RCB)
25 Antwuan Davis - 41 snaps (41 at LCB)
5 Holton Hill - 36 snaps (27 at RCB, 9 at LCB)
9 Davante Davis - 4 snaps (4 at RCB)
- It should have been clear as day from the start to pencil in Duke Thomas as a candidate to bump inside to the nickel position, as he was burned in 2014 on the outside by being overaggressive in his reads and steps. Moving Thomas inside to nickel allows the staff to not train his aggressiveness out of him while also not making the unit as vulnerable to similar mistakes in 2015. It seems like Thomas has moved inside to stay.
- That player you can’t keep off the field anymore? It’s Kris Boyd. We at the Deep Dig do here and now proclaim to the Texas football universe that you will keep Kris Boyd off the football field at your own peril. He’s going to be the best player in the Texas secondary at some point, and that could be this year if unleashed. He’s a dynamo who’s always around the football and just has that baller’s nose for the big play.
- Holton Hill and Kris Boyd basically played the entire second half of the Rice game, so we’re starting to see already that what Vance Bedford indicated last week - that the freshman DBs will be worked in more and more steadily through the season - is very likely to be true.
SAFETY
14 Dylan Haines - 80 snaps
31 Jason Hall - 80 snaps
11 PJ Locke - 12 snaps
18 Kevin Vaccaro - 12 snaps
- If you listen to the burnt-orange fanbase exclusively, you’ll hear that Dylan Haines blows coverages in two-high shells versus Notre Dame and that he’s a former walk-on who’s lucky to still be holding onto a starting job. If you listen to the coaches, you’ll hear Haines talked about as a player they are seemingly perfectly comfortable with. Haines holds the second-largest market share of productivity on the Texas defense behind Malik Jefferson after two weeks. This is, however, somewhat due to volume as Haines ranks 16th in snaps/production. Haines, at 155, has played the most 2015 snaps on defense for Texas of any player.
This Week in Missed Tackles
It hurts when they’re really “missed sacks” a lot of the time
Malik Jefferson - 4 missed tackles on defense
John Bonney - 2 missed tackles on defense
Edwin Freeman - 2 missed tackles on defense
Peter Jinkens - 2 missed tackles on defense
Bryce Cottrell - 1 missed tackle on defense
Naashon Hughes - 1 missed tackle on defense
Tim Cole - 1 missed tackle on defense
Desmond Jackson - 1 missed tackle on defense
For a grand total of 14 missed tackles on defense vs. Rice - in case Vance Bedford asks.
. . .
As we turn our attention to Part II: Offense, we thank you, once again for reading.
