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Monday Mornings with Sean - Texas QBs

by: Sean Adams02/02/15
Zach Gentry
Zach Gentry. (Justin Wells/IT)
Zach Gentry. (Justin Wells/IT)

Zach Gentry. (Justin Wells/IT)

“They lost out on Gentry fooling around with Kyler Murray when they knew he wasn’t going to change his commitment. Now they have this Merrick kid who is supposed to grey-shirt and Kai Locksley who is dead set on red-shirting because he needs development.”

I hate to argue during radio show interviews but that’s what was thrown at me this morning on a show in this great state of Texas.

Now I would be naïve to think that everyone has heard my opinion on this so I had to go into it again.

Murray was a wildcard and if my sources are correct, the contact was initiated and even maintained by the Murray camp. That is no shot at them. They have a life-decision to make, had questions and were checking their options. Texas would be silly to not participate in its due diligence.

Now I’m honored that shows think enough of me to bring me on the air to talk about the team and sport that I cover but from time to time, I do not make all of them happy.

That statement above, while titillating for the air, left me with a question for them – “Where is Texas worse off?”

Seriously, where is Texas worse off?

I wrote right after the bowl game loss to Arkansas that Jerrod Heard needed the offense tweaked to suit his elite abilities. I also thought he would be the starting quarterback when Texas took the field on September 5th to open the season at Notre Dame.

Let’s say, for instance, that Texas never entertains Murray, and Gentry stays committed to Texas even though I don’t think those two things are as tied to each other and many suspect. Let’s even throw in that Locksley picks UT as well.

From June through fall camp, the quarterbacks would be Tyrone Swoopes, Jerrod Heard, Zach Gentry, and Kai Locksley with Merrick coming in January. That’s four scholarship quarterbacks in practice everyday.

Who is the starting quarterback on September 5th?

Everything is not a crisis. Murray was worth looking at even if for a fleeting moment because he was talented enough where he could challenge for September 5th. I understand depth. I understand competition in the position room. I also understand that the quarterback play needs to be great at some point. I don’t know that ‘some point’ is September 5th, 2015.

If Braxton Miller, Everett Golson or some other surprise graduate transfer were to cast their lot with the Longhorns, ‘great’ may come up in conversations. Right now, Texas needs for the quarterback position to not be toxic.

Tweaking the offense, putting the quarterback in a position of simplified reads and terminology, having competition at the quarterback position, and leveraging the elite aspects of the talent will be the best moves that Texas makes this offseason.

Murray would have been nice but do not forget about Heard. In my mind, nothing has changed. Don’t get twisted with hype and giving more hope to what might be possible as opposed to what is in hand.

Texas went 6 – 7 in 2014 and could land a recruiting class that ends up ranked higher than the class of 2006 that was signed a month after winning the national championship.

Think about that.

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