On Texas Football: Observations from the fourth day of Spring drills

On3 imageby:Steve Habel03/21/23

stevehabel

On the latest video edition of On Texas Football, Inside Texas’ Bobby Burton and Gerry Hamilton discuss the fourth day of Longhorns’ Spring drills including the first action of the year from quarterback Maalik Murphy, observations on the wide receiver group, the offensive line and much more.

[Get Inside Texas Plus until 8/31 for just $29.99!]

The practice was inside DKR – Texas Memorial Stadium because of Tuesday’s cool and misty conditions.

Murphy, who has missed the first week of practices due to complications from an ankle injury he suffered in high school, was taking second team snaps behind Quinn Ewers and ahead of Arch Manning.

“Every day Maalik misses he falls behind when a freshman as talented as Arch is taking reps, so it was good to see Maalik get back out there,” Hamilton said. “I had two takeaways from it on Malik. 

“I give him credit for putting in the work,” Hamilton explained. “He’s much more compact with his arm. He had a long release in high school and you wonder, man, how’s that really gonna work as a pocket passer? He has really worked to be a compact passer. You know, we’ll see what happens when it goes live and when he has to make reactionary plays but in the drills and routes on air, he’s very compact.

“The second takeaway, Bobby, was when you have three quarterbacks taking reps back to back to back I don’t think Texas has ever had that much arm talent in the program period.”

Hamilton said the day’s short media window allowed him to see that the quarterbacks are smooth as they went through some really, good corner routes. “Now I mean, perfectly timed, perfectly placed, passes,” he said.

“Overall, I thought the team looked good, you know, for a rainy misty day. You know, I thought the kids are moving well.”

Hamilton said that one of the most important things he gleaned from the practice was the participation of wide receiver Isaiah Neyor, who is working his way back from a knee injury that kept him out of all of last season.

“It was just good to see Neyor out there making a cut and having to feel confident coming out of a break and go chase a football,” Hamilton said.  “It means he’s right on track to be ready to go by August. He’s comfortable enough, the doctors are comfortable enough and Sarkisian is comfortable enough to get him out there and get him running routes again with pads on air and that tells you his rehab right where it needs to be.”

[Sign up NOW for the Inside Texas newsletter for Texas Longhorns daily updates and breaking news in your inbox!]

Hamilton said Jonathon Brooks was also back after missing two practices in the first week and that Brooks was leading a group that featured Jaydon Blue, Cedric Baxter and Savion Red.

“Man, watch out for Red,” Hamilton opined. “He’s got really good feet in the hole., maybe the best feet of all the backs as far as stick them in the ground quick and changing direction and the (Texas RBs coach) Tashard Choice gave him praise again and again.”

There’s plenty more to be seen on the video so go check it out in its entirety.

You may also like