On Texas Football: Rod Babers on Texas DB commits and targets
On the inaugural video episode of Talkin’ Ball, the newest series the On Texas Football YouTube page, Inside Texas’ Gerry Hamilton and lifetime Longhorn Rod Babers break down the Longhorns’ secondary commits and targets.
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Babers, who played cornerback for the Longhorns from 1999-2002 and is also a popular radio host, will join Hamilton each week to talk about recruiting and let Babers tell Texas fans what he thinks of top Longhorns commitments and targets at different positions.
Babers began Tuesday’s debut YouTube video by explaining about his categories when evaluating defensive backs.
“I’m a little biased so I’m really hard on the corners because I was a corner myself,” Babers said. “I was a technician so I can easily look for the technicians – I can spot them really easily. And after that I’m looking for elite traits.
“I put guys in three different categories. They’re either a ball hawk, they’re a technician or they’re just a general disrupter. And I tend to look for elite traits whether it be someone who has great instincts, you know, or someone who has great closing speed. We might be looking at somebody who has great hands or really good, sweet feet – their feet never get crossed. A lot of screaming little, small things that will show you how advanced somebody is at playing the position.
“There’s no tiny things here and there, but sometimes guys just jump off the screen to identify all that little stuff.”
The duo discussed defensive backs Santana Wilson, Kobe Black, Jordan Johnson-Rubell, Joshua Lair, and Aeryn Hampton, with Babers telling Hamilton about his initial impressions about the quintet. Hamilton and Babers then talk about the specific strengths of the signees and commits.
About Wilson, who committed to the Longhorns in June, Babers likes the way he wants to play at the line of scrimmage.
“He moves up and plays bump-and-run coverage,” Babers said about Wilson. “He’s actually really good at his shuffle technique. I think that’s probably the biggest asset he has right now as a technician.”
Hamilton said Black is a little tougher of an evaluation because he plays running back, receiver and cornerback – all over the place for Waco Connally.
“Black is doing a lot of different things out there,” Babers concurs. “He’s a talented football player but at corner. I mean it seems like a natural.”
Go check out the rest of the video for more insights on Wilson and Black as well as the rundown on Johnson-Rubell, Lair and Hampton.
