Three questions for the Texas running back room ahead of training camp
Texas rushed for 2446 yards and 29 touchdowns during the 2022 season with Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson totaling a combined 2134 yards and 23 touchdowns. Both Robinson and Johnson are off to the NFL, meaning Steve Sarkisian, Tashard Choice, and the offensive staff have to figure how to replace almost 90 percent of the rushing yardage production with the group left on campus.
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There are some promising prospects, like third-year rusher Jonathon Brooks and five-star early enrollee CJ Baxter. Even with those high Power 5 talents in the group and all five offensive lineman who started every game in 2022 returning, replacing Robinson, the 2022 Doak Walker Award winner, and Johnson, the undisputed alpha of the Longhorn football program last year, is far easier said than done.
That difficulty was increased when Brooks and Keilan Robinson, who ended the season at the top of the depth chart in the Alamo Bowl, missed many if not all of the opportunities available to them during the most recent 15 spring practices. Brooks was recovering from offseason hernia surgery, while Robinson was on the mend from a groin injury.
That allowed for younger players like Baxter, Jaydon Blue, and converted running back Savion Red to accumulate important practice reps for a position that’s often featured in the Sarkisian offense. Sark likes to brag about how many 1000-yard rushers he has produced. Finding the top candidate to add to that list in the 2023 season will be one of several challenges the Longhorn offense faces in August.
Is Jonathon Brooks RB1?
When Texas put the game out of the opponents’ reach last season, Brooks became the running back to take the contest home. This was the case versus Louisiana-Monroe, Oklahoma, and Kansas, with Brooks scoring four of his six total touchdowns in those games.
Brooks became RB1 ahead of the Alamo Bowl when Texas’ top two elected to sit the game out, but he was handled delicately as he was dealing with complications from a sports hernia. He had eight total touches for 55 yards and two scores, including a 34-yard touchdown reception early in the third quarter.
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Ahead of spring, Brooks had surgery to treat his injury. He missed all 15 practices but is likely to be at the top of the depth chart when preseason camp comes around. That spot at the top is by no means securely his, but he has the best chance of quickly taking hold the position.
Brooks will have to show a level of toughness, durability, decision-making, and blocking ability he’s yet to have to display at Texas. He’s received brief chances in his two years on the Forty Acres, but most of the time those chances were against inferior opponents.
Robinson and Johnson leave massive shoes to fill, and Brooks will get the first crack at stepping into them come training camp.
How much can CJ Baxter handle early in his Texas career?
Baxter has the physical ability, the size and speed, the hair, and even the karaoke skills to be the next great running back at Texas. So what will it take for him to start on that journey during his first season in Austin?
The depth chart is far more inviting for a back of his caliber now than it would have been a year ago, and running back is a position where early playing time is more of a possibility compared to other positions. That was indicated by Baxter moving up to the second spot in the Brooks-and-Robinson-less depth chart during the spring.
However, the Sarkisian offense utilizes a variety of run schemes, including those of the zone and gap variety. A viewing of Baxter’s time at Edgewater High School shows a miniscule amount of running behind zone blocking. To be an every-down back at Texas, the runner has to be able to find the hole and not just follow the big boy.
That’s an area Baxter had 15 opportunities to improve upon during spring, and how far he can take that skill will determine plenty about the amount of snaps he sees during Year 1.
What’s next for Keilan Robinson and Jaydon Blue?
There are places for backs like Keilan Robinson and Jaydon Blue in the Sarkisian offense. Sark wouldn’t have asked Robinson to come to Texas out of the transfer portal if he didn’t believe the former Crimson Tide back could produce for the Longhorns, nor would he have continued to recruit Blue after he elected to sit out his senior season in high school.
Neither Robinson nor Blue fit the mold of an every-down back within his scheme considering both are on the smaller end of the spectrum as far as Texas running backs go. And while when they will have to take on conventional running back opportunities between the tackles or in outside zone to be a factor in the offense, there are non-conventional places within the system for both.
Robinson was effective as a player who moved all over the field in 2022. Despite at one point having a reputation for drops, Robinson made progress as a receiver last year. He caught 20 passes for 219 yards and three scores in addition to his 25 carries for 86 yards.
Blue showed strong traits as a receiver at Klein (Texas) Cain but the opportunities were few and far between as he was more often utilized as a rusher during his sophomore and junior seasons.
Sweeps, screens, and other quick ways to get the ball into a player’s hands will likely be the main way Texas utilizes both Robinson and Blue in the coming season in order to maximize their skill sets. Savion Red will factor into this conversation, too. All three will have to be able to do the dirty work between the tackles, but they each possess a value in other ways that makes them an intriguing part of the 2023 offense.
