Been struggling

Given my pending entry into the legitimate professional world I've been struggling with the notion of killing this thing off.  The world isn't likely to miss it or anything and it would be smart to limit the chances of anyone finding the offensive things I've written here and blacklisting me professionally.

Having said that, I'm not going to do the smart thing.  (Kind of like choosing to move to fucking Michigan for fellowship instead of taking the better opportunity to stay in Texas.)  Instead I've simply taken a few steps to further dissociate my personal accounts from the blog.

So, with that out of the way, let's talk about college football!!!11!!

Texas's 2012 Recruiting Class:


QB: Connor Brewer and Jalen Overstreet -- neither is ready to play immediately and if Ash develops and Texas gets the right guy next year, these guys may never play a down at QB for the Horns.  Overstreet looks like a comic book character.  Brewer looks like a suburban doucher with a smoking hot sister.  Neither looks like the second coming of VY (Brewer looks more like the second coming of Applewhite), though after a redshirt year either could probably be a serviceable D1 QB.
Grade: B

RB: Jonathan Gray and Daje Johnson -- HOMERUN.  Gray is the best back Texas has signed since Jamaal Charles and he's probably a better overall player than Charles.  Also, no speech impediment.  Daje Johnson is a bit of a midget but has sub-4.4 speed, fantastic quickness, and surprising toughness running through arm tackles at the high school level.  DJ Monroe with the ability to learn the playbook, imo.
Grade: A++

WR: Cayleb Jones, Marcus Johnson, and Kendall Sanders -- classic possession receiver in the Michael Irvin/Keyshawn Johnson mold; smooth outside receiver who has good size, good speed, good hands, and good polish running routes (though great at none of these); and electric athlete who could kill it from the slot (or dominate at CB like he did in his All Star game).  These guys form a cohesive group in which each player complements the others.  Individually only Sanders is probably a homerun, but taken as a collective they are stellar.
Grade: B+

OL: Camrhon Hughes, Kennedy Estelle, Curtis Riser, and Donald Hawkins -- I don't know shit about what separates a good high school lineman from a schlub, but I know all of these guys are fucking huge.  Hawkins dwarfs most of the Texas OL from 2008 - 2011.  Clearly a change in philosophy with regard to recruiting this position.
Grade: A

TE: nobody -- Texas reached out to a guy in California who was supposed to be a stud, but he has a Greek last name, so he can't be that great an athlete.  Honestly, I'm pretty sure Hercules was the last Greek that did shit at the elite level.  Caleb Bluiett was recruited as a DE but could move to TE if needed.  He's a guy who would bring DJ Grant's pre-injuries athleticism together with the size (but hopefully not the study habits) of Dominique Jones.  Need to get a stud or two next year fo shizzle.
Grade: D

DT: Malcom Brown, Brandon Moore, Alex Norman, Paul Boyette -- Brown is Tommie Harris in Burn Orange.  Moore is a guy who played for Nick Saban as a true freshman at Bama (actually recorded some tackles against Texas in the Rose Bowl), so, you know, he's probably a'ight.  Norman and Boyette seem like JAGs.  Norman used to weigh 60 pounds more than his current listed weight.  Dude has no neck at his current weight.  I bet he looked like a damn frightened turtle at 330+.
Grade: A

DE: Toshiro Davis, Hassan Ridgeway, Bryce Cottrell, Caleb Bluiett -- Speed, power, slightly less speed, slightly less power.  Davis is the guy they stole from LSU at the last minute.  Pure speed rusher who could be a Brian Orakpo starter kit.  Ridgeway is a monster who was probably never challenged at the high school level.  He could grow into a DT.  Cottrell is possibly just a warm body, but he was stolen from Oregon a few days before signing day, and, well, fuck Oregon, that's why.  Bluiett is an athletic guy with good size.  I could see him growing into a Tim Crowder.
Grade: A+

LB: Peter Jinkens, Tim Cole, Dalton Santos, Alex De La Torre (no relation to Coach Joey) -- I'll be honest, this group is full of reaches.  Jinkens brings a lot of speed to the OLB position, but he's not the biggest guy and probably never will be.  If he can cover he'd be a badass strong safety, but I'm not sure about his future as a LB.  Cole is just a guy whose best attribute may have been his influence with teammate Malcom Brown.  Santos is a thick white guy with a bit of a gut and a reportedly Bosworthian attitude.  Thick white dudes in the middle of the defense don't tend to work out well for Texas in the Mack Brown era.  ADLT (yes, that's apparently what he answers to) is a coach's son.  He's a potential fullback candidate, so I guess there's that.
Grade: C

CB: Bryson Echols, Orlando Thomas, Kevin Vaccaro -- This is a weird group.  On paper Echols is not an elite CB prospect, but he reportedly showed well against stud WRs at his All Star game.  Thomas is an elite athlete from the home of RGIII who has never played DB.  As long as Akina's around I have faith in those types of projects.  Vaccaro junior (pronounced yoon-yer) is small and slow and his older brother would stay for his senior year if Mack gave him a scholarship.  Worth it?  I don't know.  I've never been as impressed with Vaccaro as lots of other people.  Diggs and Byndom have that shit on lock for the next couple of years anyway.  2013 class needs to hit big on CBs.
Grade: B

S: Adrian Colbert -- Blazing speed.  Hits like a truck.  Overcame a broken back after getting run over by a literal truck as a kid.  I don't know why anyone let this kid play football when he's apparently an elite track athlete anyway, but if he's going to play I'd rather he play for Texas.  Mack stole him from Baylor, which I am torn about.  I mean, I want Baylor to do well, but at the same time, I think Art Briles is a dick.
Grade: A

Overall grade: B+ to A-
The upgrades along the line of scrimmage combined with the stud athletes at the skill positions (other than QB) of the last two classes augur for a national championship in 2013/2014.

I haven't kept up with Baylor's class in anywhere near the same level of detail, but I do think they signed a better class than Texas A&M (or really any in-state school not named UT).  The Ags only signed two or three real difference makers -- Thomas Johnson at WR, Trey Williams at RB, Devante Harris at DB.  None of their offensive or defensive linemen are anything to write home about.  Meanwhile, Baylor signed a tier-one DE (Javonte Magee), a tier-one OL (Tre-Von Armstead), and two stud WRs (Corey Coleman and Kiante Griffin).  Thomas Johnson and Trey Williams are probably the best players overall, but Baylor got the upgrade in the trenches that will push them further up the ladder down the road.

That's all I have to say about that.  Well, that and fuck Michigan.

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