Texas Football: Charlie Strong's 3 Biggest Concerns Post-Spring Practice

With the spring game now in the books, Charlie Strong's focus shifts to getting his team healthy and his young players ready to contribute. That offense is going to need all the help it can get.

Saturday's spring game showed us a close quarterback competition, a defense that really needs to get healthy and an offense that's still figuring out how to get it done. 

Freshman Malik Jefferson was the star of the day, recording a tackle for loss, a pass breakup and a forced fumble in his Longhorn debut. The Horns had better hope some of his classmates are ready to make similar impacts, because the Longhorns could really use more of his kind.

Until we see what Strong has in that group, he has to get to work on getting his offense moving, clearing the injury report and figuring out how he's going to incorporate all of these freshmen.

1. The Pedestrian Offense

Michael Thomas/Associated Press

Heard played well enough, but the offense never asserted its will against a depleted defense.

Texas lacked explosiveness and efficiency on offense in Saturday's spring game. Considering the state of the defense, that should be the team's biggest concern moving forward.

Tyrone Swoopes and Jerrod Heard each ran for touchdowns on their first drives of the day, but then the offense hit the skids. D'Onta Foreman punched in the game's only other offensive score, and the two offenses combined to attempt six field goals before it was all said and done.

This unit just didn't play all that well, especially when you consider that the defense is replacing six starters and ran without eight scholarship players. 

The fault doesn't fall on any one player or position group, either. The quarterbacks played well enough, the offensive line is obviously improved, most of the receivers played pretty well and Foreman ran like a worthy power back.

But you have to finish drives, and that was one of this team's biggest problems when it averaged 21.4 points in 2014. That doesn't win games in the Big 12, as we saw last season.

So while fans can enjoy the installation of the spread offense and the sight of Jerrod Heard, they're a long way from seeing 30-plus points per game.

2. Health

Associated Press

Top cornerback Duke Thomas headlined a list of 11 Longhorns who sat out of the spring game with an injury.

Health has been a major problem for the Longhorns basically since Strong became the head coach. He better hope that changes over the summer, because he'll need everyone he's got to improve on last season's record.

In total, eight defensive players sat out of the spring game on Saturday. Four were probable starters, though cornerback Duke Thomas was held out for precautionary reasons. On the other hand, senior Sheroid Evans is probably gone for the year, according to 247Sports' Bobby Burton.

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WR Marcus Johnson (knee) and CB Duke Thomas (ankle) will be held out today, joining Santos, Evans, Bluiett, D. Jackson on sidelines.

@LonghornNetwork, 18 Apr 2015

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The offense wasn't hit quite as hard, with only three absentees, but 11 injuries makes for a pretty rough spring. 

Hopefully the bad luck runs out for a team that lost four offensive lineman and Desmond Jackson last season. Putting 11 walk-ons on the sideline would be a bad look.

3. He's Going to Have to Play a Lot of Freshmen

Michael Thomas/Associated Press

Malik Jefferson is one of several freshman who will merit some early playing time next season.

Strong and defensive coordinator Vance Bedford expressed some aversion to playing freshmen. They're going to have to get over that this season.

Malik Jefferson proved at least one first-year player will have to see the field. After the true freshman's debut, in which he forced a fumble that was returned for six, the Horns can't afford to keep his absurd athleticism on the sideline.

Also count redshirt freshman Edwin Freeman, the player who returned that forced fumble, among the young talents who will demand field time. The same goes for true freshman Connor Williams, who played well enough as the first-team right tackle.

These three will play because they've earned it with their performances. They're already among the most talented options, so there should be no issue with getting them on the field.

Then there's the summer arrivals, who have yet to log a collegiate practice. The rest of the nation's No. 10 class (per 247Sports) had better be ready to roll as well, especially on the defense that trotted out several walk-ons in the spring game.

Most importantly, there's the case of redshirt quarterback Jerrod Heard, who showed everyone how close the competition is with Tyrone Swoopes. Strong knows it, and it's already wearing on his mind, as he told the media after the game, via Texassports.com:

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You know what it is, [Swoopes and Heard] have a chance this summer to work, and I'll be fine with that. No, I wouldn't be afraid [to start Swoopes against Notre Dame]. Now that you feel like you have the experience around him because you look and it's an experienced offensive line, or you look at the wide receivers. The thing about it is I hope I don't have to go into that game to start a redshirt freshman. I hope I don't.

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The best players have to play, and it's the staff's job to make that happen. Especially if that's Heard in South Bend for the season opener.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats and information courtesy of Texassports.com.