I’ve passed on several opportunities to half ass this thing, but since that goes against what we believe around here, I’ve delayed to this moment in the sake of content.  Duality is a tricky beast to spring analysis, so keep that in mind. This unit may not possess the stars of the 2008 group, but there are now some gritty veterans who have seen a lot of Big 12 snaps. 

Defensive Tackle

Specifically with Colby Whitlock and Richard Jones.  These 2 guys may not be 1st team all conference at the end of the season, but they’re both solid and place this interior unit as one of the better in this league.  They’ll be competitive against any OL they face this season.  Victor Hunter looked much better than I thought he would, although he’s not an every down option.  Chris Perry didn’t play and Britton Barbee doesn’t necessarily suck.  Sesay could move back down, if he’s still around.  If Wade and Graves both qualify, we’ll be in as good a shape as we’ve ever been.   

Defensive End

DE was dealt a blow with McKinner Dixon’s suspension.  Brandon Sesay gave Joe King the sisterhood treatment throughout this contest and was a strong candidate for MVP.  I don’t think he’ll look quite that good against the elite OTs of the Big 12, but I liked the motor he displayed and would be a solid option at SDE.  Predictably, Rajon Henley was much more effective at 265 lbs playing on the outside.  A lineup of Sesay/Whitlock/Jones/Henley would be a formidable unit in ground defense allowing Ruffin more options in Cover 2.  Pass rush will most likely come from Daniel Howard, who actually has a decent first step.  I’m not sold on Brandon Sharpe.  I thought Ryan Haliburton looked much better than I thought he would against Marlon Winn.  He’s better than Jake Ratliff or Sandy Riley.  Edge rushing may not be our specialty, but containment pressure as applied in this game should yield positive results against shitty new QBs from the North and Todd Reesing.  All their goal in Austin should be is to keep Colt McCoy in the pocket and I think they’ll be marginally effective at it.  I could see a true freshman like Pearlie Graves or Aundrey Barr possibly making an impact on the depth chart here, if either were to possess a legit first step.

MLB

Sam Fehoko looked much better than in the fall.  He has started to figure some things out and is doing less guessing.  Fehoko played pretty solid inside-out football and only overran a couple of plays.  He’s a physical finisher and looked impressive with the dropped weight.  Faster and quicker.  Big upgrade in depth over Hunter.  As his coverage skills improve, it will be debatable as to whether he might be an upgrade to WLB Marlon Williams in the starting lineup.  Everyone knows that Brian Duncan is a pretty solid run stuffer, but his coverage abilities are very underrated.  Solid game, but odd how he didn’t have to make as many plays when flanked by Tyrone Sonier and Blake Collier.

SLB

Tyrone Sonier is one of the top 3 athletes on our roster at LB.  I’m not sure whether he’s a SLB or WLB, but he looks like a Big 12 player.  I was impressed with how fluid he was changing directions for a guy his size.  Sonier doesn’t even whiff often on WR jams.  He ended up with 8 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 PBU.  I like the leaner, meaner Bront Bird and we know what he can do, which might not be as much as Sonier by mid-season, if appropriate playing time is delegated.

WLB

Marlon Williams is still our best option at this point and his open field tackling was much improved.  He finished with 6 tackles, 2 TFLs, and 1 PBU.  Blake Collier wasn’t required to do much in the run game as beneficiary of playing behind the Whitlock/Sesay/Henley/Duncan unit.  However, he did show me some things in coverage that Marlon can’t duplicate.  Like a nice interception in a deep zone drop as well as some other PBUs and tight coverage.  The guy can run with the TEs in this league and can run with a smaller player down the seam for an extended period of time.  Interesting 3rd down option, but this an area we’ve felt Marlon thrived at flexing if a successful defense was mounted.  This has to be frustrating for the coaching staff.   

CB

Jamar Wall didn’t suit up and Brent Nickerson went disguised as a Tascosa Rebel.  Taylor Charbonnet, Laron Moore, and Nathan Stone looked much more active at pestering WRs.  I stuck around late and traded them some bumper car rides at the Fair next fall for autographs.  A true freshman over 5′8″ may find sufficient playing time here, if he can run and be physical early.

Safety

Ruff chose to segregate the two units racially with the Whites, Cody and Brett, and the Blacks, Franklin and Jared.  I agreed with this move as it would really test our youth to the most extreme degree given the advantage it provides to savvy Leach QBs.  Not so fast my friend as both units were solid.  The star of the group was RS freshman Cody Davis, whose performance garnered Tortilla Retort MVP honors and a free Youporn subscription.  Davis logged 5 tackles and ran a pick back 100 yards.  It wasn’t just that, but more how he played.  He never really let anyone get behind him, yet stayed consistently active on the underneath and seam work.  Plus, he brings the wood.  I’m not sure if it’s still cool to say that, but that’s what he does.  Davis is listed at 6′2″, 205 lbs and looks no smaller than our starting SLB.  Not a great runner like McBath, but more fluid than Daniel Charbonnet.  I like this kid and he’ll garner more than just interweb porn subscriptions before his time is all said and done.  Probably 2nd Team All Conference at worst, which consists of hanging around for 4 years and showing up in the right spots on TV.  Davis can do that.  Mitchem, Dewhurst and Flannel were somewhat indistinguishable, although Dewhurst seemed more active in run support.  The stat sheet seemed to confirm that with 7 tackles and 1 TFL.  A true freshman will have an opportunity to start somewhere in this secondary.  Wall and Davis are locks.  The other two spots can be won, but they won’t be given away.  Daniel Cobb and Will Ford seem the most game ready on film, and the one with the higher football IQ will play a lot of minutes. 

Summary 

I was really impressed with the team defense played in this game.  Nobody really looked bad.  Good tackling.  Marlon and Bront looked a little slimmer and quicker.  Sonier, Fehoko and Collier appear to provide adequate motivation at this point.  Sesay played with a full motor and looked like he could be somewhat of a difference maker when in shape.  Henley was solid.  Interior run defense held up well.  Coverage was solid all the way around.  Maybe our offense sucks.