Texas Football: Depth-Chart Analysis, Complete 2015 Preview and Predictions
Fall camp is in the books, and it's on to the regular season for the Texas Longhorns.
Charlie Strong's team is young, passionate and ready to turn things around. The addition of the 2015 freshman class has made that official, infusing a different intensity to fall camp. Even oft-criticized Tyrone Swoopes has picked up a new edge, as noted by his coaches.
But even with those traits working for this team, its youth will keep it just one step away from competing for anything beyond a bowl appearance.
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Offensive Depth-Chart Analysis
| Quarterback | Tyrone Swoopes (Jr.) | Jerrod Heard (R-Fr.) | Kai Locksley (Fr.) |
| Running Back | Johnathan Gray (Sr.) | D'Onta Foreman (So.) | Chris Warren (Fr.) |
| Wide Receiver (X) | John Burt (Fr.) | Dorian Leonard (So.) OR | DeAndre McNeal (Fr.) |
| Wide Receiver (Z) | Marcus Johnson (Sr.) | Daje Johnson (Sr.) | Lorenzo Joe (So.) |
| Wide Receiver (H) | Armanti Foreman (So.) | Jacorey Warrick (Jr.) | Ryan Newsome (Fr.) |
| Tight End | Andrew Beck (So.) | Alex De La Torre (Sr.) | Caleb Bluiett (Jr.) |
| Left Tackle | Connor Williams (Fr.) | Marcus Hutchins (Sr.) | |
| Left Guard | Sedrick Flowers (Sr.) | Brandon Hodges (Jr.) | Alex Anderson (R-Fr.) |
| Center | Taylor Doyle (Sr.) | Jake Raulerson (So.) | Terrell Cuney (R-Fr.) |
| Right Guard | Patrick Vahe (Fr.) | Elijah Rodriguez (R-Fr.) | |
| Right Tackle | Kent Perkins (Jr.) | Tristan Nickelson (So.) | Garrett Thomas (Fr.) |
If you've been following fall camp, nothing of what you see on Texas' offensive depth chart should surprise you.
Swoopes will take the first snap against Notre Dame. He dominated fall camp, and this will be his job until he shows that he can't handle it. Strong insists that Heard will still play in the opener, but the redshirt freshman will likely see five snaps or fewer. HornsDigest.com's Chip Brown shared Strong's quarterback projections:
Running back is also a no-brainer at this stage. Johnathan Gray's the driving force of this offense, with powerful sophomore D'Onta Foreman stepping into Malcolm Brown's complementary role. Freshman Chris Warren will mix in as well, with Kirk Johnson being the fourth option.
Receiver looks a little different than expected, but Armanti Foreman, freshman John Burt, Marcus Johnson and Daje Johnson are having by far the best camps of anyone on the roster. They'll be the guys when Texas goes four-wide, and just about all of them can mix and match, as Strong said on Saturday:
"At the wide receiver position, 7 [Marcus Johnson] is playing really well for us, he's doing a really good job. Foreman, 83, Armanti's doing a really good job for us. That's going to be the position there because Daje [Johnson] has come alive here the last week or so and then you have [John] Burt outside.
So many weapons there at the wide receiver where you can place guys and you can move guys.The good thing about it, they have to learn all four positions so you can just move them around and try to get the ball in the playmaker's hand.
"
Behind this crew, Ryan Newsome, Jacorey Warrick and former tight end DeAndre McNeal, per HornsDigest.com's William Wilkerson, will fight for snaps. Newsome and Warrick are both inside receivers, but the 6'1" McNeal could be interesting. He's extremely versatile despite being a bigger body, and Texas could use him to create a variety of mismatches.
Tight end's the only real mystery left on this side of the ball. Blake Whiteley's injury clears the way for Andrew Beck, but Caleb Bluiett's position change could make things interesting. Burnt Orange Nation's Wescott Eberts envisions Bluiett as a "potential contributor at TE":
Lastly, we hit the offensive line, which remained unchanged from the spring until Patrick Vahe blew things up halfway through fall camp. The highly regarded freshman worked in with the ones the rest of the way, pushing Kent Perkins to right tackle and Connor Williams off to the blind side. Center Taylor Doyle confirmed Vahe's work with the ones, per the Statesman's Ryan Autullo:
Senior Marcus Hutchins looks like the odd man out and will likely work in along with swing guys Brandon Hodges and Tristan Nickelson. Overall, this should be one of the team's most improved groups, thanks to the physical young players who have burst into the mix.
Defensive Depth-Chart Analysis
| Fox End | Naashon Hughes (So.) | Derick Roberson (R-Fr.) | Charles Omenihu (Fr.) |
| Nose Tackle | Desmond Jackson (Sr.) OR | Paul Boyette (Jr.) | Alex Norman (Jr.) |
| Defensive Tackle | Hassan Ridgeway (Jr.) | Poona Ford (So.) | Chris Nelson (R-Fr.) |
| Defensive End | Shiro Davis (Sr.) | Bryce Cottrell (Jr.) | Quincy Vasser (Jr.) |
| Strongside Linebacker | Peter Jinkens (Sr.) | Tim Cole (Jr.) | Anthony Wheeler (Fr.) |
| Middle Linebacker | Malik Jefferson (Fr.) | Dalton Santos (Sr.) | |
| Weakside Linebacker | Edwin Freeman (R-Fr.) | Naashon Hughes (So.) | Cameron Townsend (Fr.) |
| Cornerback | Duke Thomas (Sr.) | Antwuan Davis (So.) OR | Kris Boyd (Fr.) |
| Nickel | John Bonney (R-Fr.) | P.J. Locke (Fr.) | Kris Boyd (Fr.) |
| Strong Safety | Dylan Haines (Jr.) | Adrian Colbert (Jr.) | P.J. Locke (Fr.) |
| Free Safety | Jason Hall (So.) | DeShon Elliott (Fr.) | Kevin Vaccaro (Jr.) |
| Cornerback | Bryson Echols (Jr.) | Holton Hill (Fr.) OR | Davante Davis (Fr.) |
Even after almost a month of fall camp, the defense is much more difficult to pin down than the offense. Every one of these positions has high potential for being changed up, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
The defensive line will be the bread-winner for this side of the ball. Strong trusts just about everybody on the roster there, and for good reason. Poona Ford might the second-best lineman on the team, yet he's a backup because of Hassan Ridgeway
In fact, this group is so stacked, it might consider parting with one of its best athletes. HornsDigest.com's Chip Brown reports the rangy "Fox" end Naashon Hughes could move back to linebacker to help with depth, where he would challenge Peter Jinkens to play in nickel sets. Standing 6'4" with elite speed, Hughes will excel wherever he ends up.
Until that situation becomes more clear, Jinkens told Brown he's battling Malik Jefferson to be the middle linebacker. Jefferson's the better athlete and fits the new trend of teams putting their most physically gifted defenders in the middle of the defense. He's not going anywhere.
The secondary's an even bigger mess. Dylan Haines and Jason Hall are set in stone at safety, but there's a battle royale for all the corners not named Duke Thomas.
Holton Hill was the odds-on favorite to assume the role opposite Thomas before an injury interrupted his fall camp. That opened the door for Davante Davis, John Bonney and Kris Boyd to get work at that spot, with the latter two also trying out the nickel spot. Strong expressed how impressed he had been with Hill's on-field performance, per Ebert:
Bryson Echols will probably get the start at Notre Dame, but all of these guys will be competing on a weekly basis. Eventually, Hill, Boyd and Davis will have their day.
Special Teams Depth-Chart Analysis
| Kicker | Nick Rose (Sr.) | Nick Jordan (Jr.) |
| Punter | Mitchell Becker (So.) | Michael Davidson (Fr.) |
| Kick Returner | Daje Johnson (Sr.) AND | Armanti Foreman (So.) |
| Punt Returner | Daje Johnson (Sr.) | Ryan Newsome (Fr.) |
Nick Rose will resume kicking duties after showing some improvement this offseason. Until Australian Michael Davidson settles down at punter, Mitchell Becker will do his best to help the defense out. Becker's a below-average talent, so this will be a problem area while the team works on Davidson.
Return duties seem pretty wide-open as well. Daje Johnson's the name that comes up most often in both phases of the return game, and it's hard to imagine Ryan Newsome and Armanti Foreman won't get their cracks as well.
No matter what, Texas needs more from its entire special teams unit. Jeff Traylor's had his work cut out for him with this group.
Preview and Prediction for 2015
One thing's for sure about these Longhorns—they're going to fight.
"There is such a different team chemistry and energy this year compared to last year," said safety Dylan Haines at the end camp.
Renewed competitiveness and sense of team have been recurring themes this offseason. The practices have been intense, and the players are taking pride in the team's improvement, which center Taylor Doyle elaborated upon as well:
"Every day we're trying to get better as individuals and as a team and guys are playing well and grinding. I'm really happy with how the freshmen have come in and worked and the older guys also. Everyone has come in to work and is positive and it's really exciting to be around.
"
Whether that improved team attitude will lead to wins is another question. Not only is this team replacing 10 starters, but it also has a tough nonconference schedule before it dives straight into some unforgiving Big 12 play.
Just because this team wants to improve doesn't mean it will. So much of its success in this conference depends on a quarterback finding his way. And for all the praise for Swoopes' improvement, he still has a lot to prove before he's considered trustworthy.
Then there's the fact that so many of the team's best players are in their first year playing. There are 15 true or redshirt freshmen up there in the two-deep, and it's only reasonable to expect that some of them will act like, well, freshmen at times.
Still, this team will play hard for Strong and his staff. It won't be able to hang with teams such as Baylor, TCU or Notre Dame, but it's good enough for 7-5. These Horns will pull off a surprising win or two before the season's done on their way to bigger things in 2016.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats and information courtesy of TexasSports.com.
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