On Texas Football: Looking back at the Spring Game, ranking the team by position
On the latest episode of On Texas Football’s State of the Program, Inside Texas’ Bobby Burton and Eric Nahlin take a look back at the Orange-White Spring Game and Nahlin’s ranking of the Longhorns’ positions from weakest to strongest heading into the runup to the 2023 campaign.
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The duo opened the video with a quick overview of the Spring Game, which was conducted on April 15 and won by the White team 21-10. Quarterback Quinn Ewers and wide receiver Xavier Worthy shone during the game – as one would expect Texas’ star players to do, and backup quarterback Maalik Murphy opened some eyes with his play for the Orange team.
“I’ve never seen a really clean Spring game,” Nahlin said. “I look for individual (improvement) more than a (team) cohesion. The defense has a lot of experience and is a little ahead of the offense, but I’m not worried about the offense at all heading into September.
“I thought the Spring game was less disjointed than the ones we’ve seen in the past. Texas has a lot more depth, a lot more playmakers. There’s still plenty of work to do, but you got to believe they are well ahead of any point in the last few years.”
Burton concurred, saying “you feel this is a better team, essentially. Maybe not a better team, but a better collection of talent, at least at this point. How well they play together – that only happens whenever they go on the road to Tuscaloosa or, in the Cotton Bowl against OU.”
Nahlin, in a story published on Inside Texas on Wednesday, ranked the positions on the Texas roster from a value of strength, depth, star power, etc.
He listed EDGE as the team’s weakest position, and the bottom five was rounded out by safety, tight end, offensive line, and linebacker.
Nahlin said Longhorns at the EDGE “only have one guy that’s really suited for playing three downs. There’s depth issues and starter issues. I don’t think there’s talent issues necessarily. I think there’s a number of guys that are going to be very good players.”
In the top five, Nahlin ranked running back as the fifth strongest position on his list, followed by quarterback, wide receiver, and defensive line. Nahlin opined that cornerback is currently the strongest position on the Longhorns.
Both Nahlin and Burton reiterated that the Texas quarterback room is the best they’ve seen in a long while.
“The story is going to be Quinn coming into the year,” Nahlin said abut Ewers. “I think just, you know, minimal improvement or modest improvement is going to lift overall team.”
Murphy solidified himself as a solid backup for Ewers and looked comfortable at the position. “Maalik was moving the team and he has some gamesmanship about him,” Burton said.
Burton said that A.D. Mitchell’s play at wide receiver will be a key for the Longhorns this year.
Burton also believes that there are three players on the defensive line that could play in the NFL.
Nahlin said that the cornerback position has four players that can start and excel enough to play on Sundays.
“Texas has the best cornerbacks in the league, the best defensive line in the league and the best linebacker (Jaylan Ford) in the Big 12,” Nahlin said.
There are plenty of more facts and opinions from Burton and Nahlin on the video, so go check in out in its entirety.
