Texas Football: Final 2015 Positional Grades for the Longhorns

The Texas Longhorns' young talent emerged in 2015, showing some potential in spite of a 5-7 finish.

Charlie Strong's team had its fair share of ups and downs during his second season. The Horns knocked off two top-12 teams and suffered three losses by a combined seven points, but they also got blown out four times.

When 11 different freshmen start at least one game for you, that's to be expected.

But with the quarterback position still a mystery, the program has a ways to go. Should that get fixed under new offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert, there is hope as the rest of the team's positional units showed how far the Horns can go in 2016.

Quarterback: D

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Despite some flashes of brilliance, Heard failed to prove that he's Texas' answer at quarterback.

Different year, same results for the Longhorns, who still have no clarity at the game's most important position.

It didn't take long for Tyrone Swoopes to show Longhorn nation that he's not the future of the program. The junior began the season with a scoreless 7-for-22 outing in a 38-3 loss at Notre Dame, picking up right where he left off at the end of 2014.

Redshirt freshman Jerrod Heard then got the nod in a rudimentary power spread attack. The speedy dual-threat impressed at first, setting a school record with 527 total yards against Cal before pacing the win over Oklahoma.

Otherwise, Heard looked, well, like a redshirt freshman in a bad offense. Aside from those two games, Heard never again cleared 100 rushing yards and only once more threw for over 200 yards. 

Swoopes found a role as a short-yardage runner, scoring 12 rushing touchdowns on the year. That appears to be his ceiling at the position, as he barely completed more than 50 percent of his passes.

Moving forward, Heard presents the highest ceiling in Sterlin Gilbert's new spread attack. In spite of his struggles, the redshirt freshman still managed more than 7.6 yards per attempt, which would have ranked in the nation's top 50, per CFBStats.com.

It's ridiculous that Texas is still searching for an answer here, but Heard has a chance to get it going under Gilbert's tutelage.

Running Backs and Fullback: A-

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AUSTIN, TX - SEPTEMBER 26: D'Onta Foreman #33 of the Texas Longhorns breaks free against the Oklahoma State Cowboys on September 26, 2015 at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

As the season wore on, it became more and more obvious that the Longhorns had something special brewing in the backfield. Unfortunately, unleashing it would have meant benching a senior, which the coaches were unwilling to do.

The Longhorns finished the season averaging 224.8 yards per game, good for 20th in the nation per CFBStats.com. Whatever success the Horns had on offense, it almost always started with solid work out of the backfield.

Sophomore D'Onta Foreman led the way for this group, running for 681 yards while averaging an insane 7.2 yards per carry. Considering that Foreman weighs over 240 pounds, it's even more impressive that 239 of those yards came on three carries. He's the real deal.

Then there's freshman Chris Warren, who went nuclear in Texas' final two games with Foreman shelved by a hand injury. The former 4-star recruit, (per 247Sports.com), ran for 382 yards on 53 totes in those two starts, including a 276-yard demolition of Texas Tech. At 6'2", 232 pounds, he, too, has a chance to do special things at Texas.

Even at fullback, Alex De La Torre's work as blocker can't be appreciated enough. Without a clear replacement on the roster, he will be sorely missed in 2016.

All that said, this group gets a "minus" because of Johnathan Gray. The senior rushed for just under four yards per carry and was a constant frustration for fans wanting to see more of Foreman. It's a sad end to the former 5-star recruit's, (per 247Sports.com), once promising career.

Receivers and Tight Ends: C

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Sep 12, 2015; Austin, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns wide receiver John Burt (1) scores a touchdown against the Rice Owls during the third quarter at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Texas beat Rice 42-28. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Spor

If we're basing this solely on receiving, Texas' pass-catchers could almost get an "incomplete." Fortunately, most of these guys made up for their lack of volume with some solid blocking.

This isn't a total indictment of the Longhorn receiving corps. Freshman John Burt especially looked like a future star, starting every game on the outside while averaging over 16 yards per catch. He also led the team in receiving with 457 yards, which tells you everything you need to know about this passing offense.

Senior Daje Johnson also made some plays, but this was pretty much a wasted group of skill players. Johnson and Burt were the only Longhorn pass-catchers to reel in more than 12 balls and/or clear 200 receiving yards. Everyone else was used sparingly while the Horns mixed and matched their personnel.

Aside from Burt, no other player from this group made a bigger impact than converted defensive end Caleb Bluiett. The junior actually led the team with 20.9 yards per catch, albeit on only eight receptions. However, he proved to be an excellent blocker off the edge, where he will continue to work in the new offense. With a full offseason to master his craft, Bluiett has solid every-down potential.

There's more talent at these positions than the production shows. The hope is that Gilbert can put it to better use next season.

Offensive Line: B+

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Williams (pictured) and Vahe brought a physical presence that Texas' front line desperately needed.

A year after ranking 93rd in rushing yards per carry, the Horns cracked the top 25 both in that category and rushing yards per game in 2015, per CFBStats.com.

That improvement can be mostly attributed to two freshmen who will anchor this group through at least 2017.

Connor Williams and Patrick Vahe, both 2015 recruits, beat out upperclassmen in fall camp for starting jobs. Williams proceeded to anchor the problematic left tackle spot for the full season, earning Freshman All-American honors from USA Today. At right guard, Vahe started every game when he was healthy and was honored as an All-Big 12 honorable mention.

These two brought a physical attitude that Texas sorely needed. The entire line dominated at times this season, especially as the Horns piled up 313 rushing yards on Oklahoma.

This group struggled in Kent Perkins' absence against Oklahoma State and TCU but still exceeded expectations by a mile. With Williams, Vahe and Perkins all returning in 2016, the arrow's only pointing up.

Defensive Line: C-

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When Ridgeway (right) was healthy, Texas' defensive line played like a force to be reckoned with.

Texas' defensive line could go out and dominate just as easily as it could get run over. That's not good enough for a unit that was supposed to anchor the Longhorn defense.

Even without former All-Big 12ers Malcom Brown and Cedric Reed, the Horns obviously had to lean on its defensive front in 2015. The program lost four senior starters along the back seven and had projected to have true two-deep along all four spots up front, as noted by SB Nation's Zane Ellis.

That didn't exactly pan out.

With star tackle Hassan Ridgeway dealing with multiple injuries, Texas' ever-rotating personnel struggled to find consistency in the trenches. The result was a group that piled up 37 sacks, good for seventh in the nation, but had a bottom-20 run defense that really got exposed at the end of the season, per CFBStats.com.

The inconsistency explains how the Horns could hold Oklahoma to under 300 yards, then give up over 400 yards to Iowa State two weeks later.

Tackle Desmond Jackson is the only one graduating from this group. Should Ridgeway decide to stay for one more year, these Horns should bounce back in a big way.

Linebackers: C+

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When healthy, Jefferson (pictured) and Jinkens were as good as any linebacking corps in the Big 12.

Like its defensive line, Texas' linebacking corps had moments of brilliance in 2015. But when either of its starters came off the field, the drop-off was significant.

Were this grade based solely on Peter Jinkens and Malik Jefferson, this would be the easiest "A" of any position unit on the team. Texas' two leading tacklers combined for 136 stops, nine sacks, 16.5 tackles for loss and 10 quarterback hurries. They were everywhere—especially Jefferson, the do-it-all freshman.

However, these two each missed most or all of Texas' last two games, and Jefferson fought through illness for four weeks before that. Without them at full strength, the Horns had to turn to freshmen and to Tim Cole, who was benched in favor of the youngsters in the game against Baylor.

Had Jinkens and Jefferson stayed healthy, the duo would have been able to cover some deficiencies on this side of the ball. As it is, the entire group bears responsibility for the defense's uneven play following the win over Oklahoma.

Secondary: C

Considering the amount of freshmen that had to play on the back end, it's a miracle that Texas finished with an average secondary in 2015.

After Notre Dame, Cal and TCU tore up the secondary through the air, Texas did a pretty good job putting the clamps on opposing passing attacks. Over the Horns' next seven games, they would give up just eight touchdown passes with only Texas Tech's Patrick Mahomes crossing the 300-yard mark.

Part of that had to do with some pitiful run defense, but that stretch also coincided with the elevation of freshmen Holton Hill and Davante Davis into the starting lineup.

Tweeted Ryan Autullo of Hookem.com during the Oklahoma game, " Whichever WR Holton Hill is covering hasn't gotten open all day. The freshman corner is having a great game."

Putting two freshmen back there should be a death sentence in the Big 12. Instead, teams avoided Hill like the plague and found Davis wasn't too fun to pick on. With Duke Thomas handling the slot, the Horns finished the season with three All-Big 12 honorable mentions at corner.

Safety was another issue. Both Dylan Haines and Jason Hall were repeatedly exposed in coverage while playing soft against the run. Following strong 2014 campaigns, both were major disappointments who will have to fight for their jobs during the offseason.

With freshmen P.J. Locke, DeShon Elliott and Kris Boyd also in the fold, there's a ton of talent to be excited about here. The issue this past season was that the young players were too often the most consistent players on the field.

Special Teams: C

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Rose (left) came up big against Baylor, but his missed extra point against Cal will define his final season at Texas.

On the whole, Texas had a pretty solid year on special teams. Still, two gaffes will undermine any success this unit had in 2015.

The first big mistake came against Cal, in which Jerrod Heard seemed to tie the game on a 45-yard run. With 1:11 left to play, Nick Rose stepped in for the extra point that should have sent it to overtime. Instead the senior pushed it wide right, and Texas lost 45-44.

The very next week, freshman punter Michael Dickson was called upon to ensure overtime with Oklahoma State. Dickson mishandled the snap and barely managed a minus-6-yard punt. The Pokes got the ball back at the Texas 18 and kicked a field goal for the 30-27 win.

Sure, Rose never missed another extra point all season, and he made over 75 percent of his field goals, including three big ones in the win over Baylor. And yeah, Dickson averaged over 40 yards per punt on the year.

But those two plays cost Texas as many as two wins, and that's what will stick.

On the bright side, the Horns were great at covering and returning punts all season, per CFBStats.com. DeShon Elliott also forced a fumble on a kickoff return by Alex Ross to set up Texas' second score in its win over Oklahoma.

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