Staff Roundtable: Phase One superlatives for Texas

MVPs, Newcomer of the Year, all that crap we can talk about on a bye week!

Superlative time! Let’s start with your Offensive and Defensive MVPs for the Texas Longhorns through five games:

Daniel Seahorn (@DanielSeahorn) — My bias is going to show, but I’m going to go with one of the big fellas up front given how well they have been protecting the passer this year. Give me Kelvin Banks on offense. Cherish what time you have left of him because he’s heading to Sunday.

On defense, give me Collin Simmons. That dude looks like a DUDE through the first four weeks and leads the team in sacks. He is also constantly causing havoc even when he doesn’t get to the quarterback.

Gerald Goodridge (@ghgoodridge) — Offensive: Kelvin Banks. I would have said Cam Williams last week, but the penalties cost Texas a few times. Defensive: Manny Muhammad. Dude has literally shut down his side of the field.

Cameron Parker (@camerondparker) — Arch Manning and Anthony Hill. Texas fans have seen their fair share of backup quarterbacks having to play for the injured starter over the years. None have performed like Arch Manning. He’s fourth in the country in QB rating and has thrown for 201 more yards than Quinn Ewers has on one less pass attempt. After a shaky start against ULM, he played flawlessly against Mississippi State in a game that was a struggle for the Longhorns. Would Texas be 5-0 with a healthy Quinn? No doubt. What about with Trey Owens? Possibly. But Arch has played like a college veteran, not a freshman. Honorable Mentions: Kelvin Banks and David Gbenda

Defensively, it’s linebacker Anthony Hill who leads the team in tackles and is tied for most interceptions with one. The sophomore has taken a massive leap over the summer and is one of the best defensive players in the SEC.

Jacob Neidig (@jneidig_2) — Quinn Ewers and Anthony Hill Jr. Both these players have been lights out. They’ve been leaders in their play and in the locker room. The injury to Ewers demonstrated that while this team is deep, the postseason expectations depend on him. There aren’t two other players that Texas needs more.

Newcomer/Freshman of the Year:

Daniel Seahorn — Collin Simmons. See my statement above.

Gerald Goodridge — ​​Colin Simmons. Already on the all-time freshman sacks list. There’s a strong possibility he moves up the list quite a bit. There’s no reason a freshman edge rusher should be that good that quickly.

Cameron Parker — Colin Simmons. His “get off” speed is uncoachable, as Sark alluded to this week at his Monday press conference. He’s also a kid who always talks about “getting better” in his media availabilities. Simmons is going to break a few records during his time in Austin. Honorable mention: Isaiah Bond

Jacob Neidig — Ryan Wingo. He’s the only wideout with over 100 deep ball receiving yards. 2nd on the team in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns despite missing most of the Miss State game. The true freshman has had his foot on the gas since the jump.

What is your favorite moment or play of the season thus far?

Daniel Seahorn — The Arch Manning touchdown run when he came in after Ewers went out stands out to me. That play is still getting plenty of burn on the interwebs and had everybody talking about the young Manning.

Gerald Goodridge — This one might be a little weird, but Wardell Mack’s interception to end the game against Colorado State in the opener. There’s something to be said about being up 52-0 and the defense fighting to the last whistle to preserve the shutout. All of the talk this offseason was about the offense, but the defense has been downright lethal in most games and that was the first time I knew they were about that business.

Cameron Parker — The Quinn Ewers touchdown pass to Gunnar Helm against Michigan. On the road, the crowd loud as hell, and Quinn climbs the pocket and delivers a perfect strike to Helm. One of my favorite Quinn throws of all-time.

Jacob Neidig — The Helm Hurdle, trademark pending. I thought the touch pass by Ewers was good enough to be on a highlight reel but Helm decided to steal the spotlight with his bunnies. I was previously unaware of his hops, so the play put me on notice.

What is your biggest concern?

Daniel — A consistent run game. Sark has churned out a 1K back every year, but this year is looking a little interesting early on. It’s looking like a legit committee approach thus far unless Jaydon Blue is able to become the guy the coaches need him to be.

Gerald — The ground game overall. Texas hasn’t fully found its stride on the ground and has been consistent in that game thus far. Texas has one 100-yard rusher this season and he was pulled the next game due to turnover issues. In fact, through five games, Texas has had just one of its three healthy backs repeat as its leading rusher with Jerrick Gibson rushing for 67 and 36 yards in the first two games of the season. Add in that Texas is currently No. 82 in the country in fumbles lost and Oklahoma leads the country with eight recovered fumbles, I can’t shake my anxiety around that.

Cameron — Ground game on both sides of the ball. It’s likely the best offensive line Texas has had in decades, yet ranks eighth in the SEC in rushing yards per game (191.2). How much is that on the OL and how much is that on a running back unit that has been depleted, without projected starter Cedric Baxter Jr. out for the season and various injuries to others? And when the ground game is going, Texas has coughed up the ball.

Defensively, Texas is in the middle of the pack in rushing yards allowed per game (eighth) but is that because of the opposing teams? The Longhorns haven’t faced a team with a capable passing attack yet so opponents have targeted running the ball over passing.

Jacob — How this team will respond to adversity? For better or worse, this team hasn’t been punched in the mouth so far this season. While Michigan was ranked highly at the time and the first half of the Miss State game was close, neither contest really forced Texas to deal with intense difficulty or misfortune. I’m worried about how this team may respond at that moment because they haven’t been in it thus far. To be clear, It is entirely possible that this group of student athletes donning the burnt orange will be able to handle that moment when it comes. I think that is very likely. Until we see that in action though, I’m a little angsty.