What stands out on Texas' 2022 roster?

Texas released their fall roster for 2022 today with Steve Sarkisian and his four player representatives arriving in Arlington for Big 12 Media Days.

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Football rosters are notoriously sketchy when it comes to truth telling. The other day Oklahoma State slot receiver Brenan Presley was discussing the substantial degree to which candy makes up his diet. A reporter asked if a teammate’s mention of him as 180 pounds was accurate. “I’m not 180, but I am strong!” replied Presley with a smile.

“So, are you, 170?”

“Uhhhh, let’s go with that…” laughed Presley.

This Texas roster has freshman Ethan Burke arriving at Austin at 6-foot-3, 234 pounds. It’ll be quite the story for some TV crew on a game day when he magically grows to 6-foot-6, 270 pounds as an upperclassman starter. “You really hit a growth spurt in college!”

All that said, rosters can be accurate and often telegraph position/role changes for players. Even if the player’s weight isn’t accurate on the roster, they’ll often list the sort of weight you’d like a player to have to reflect their role on the team. Here’s a few weights on the roster which stood out.

Role changes?

Moro Ojomo continues to check in on the lighter side of things at 6-foot-3, 281 pounds. He played last year at 286 and was down to 279 in spring. We know he’s going to play as more of a defensive end this season, probably within the realm of how Alfred Collins was used last season, so carrying extra weight won’t be helpful.

Meanwhile Collins is down again as well. He was listed around 300 a year ago, was down to 295 in spring, and is now listed at 288. Does this mean he’ll be upfield more? Or is he simply more comfortable and effective playing at a lighter weight as a pure athlete?

DeMarvion Overshown, who’s positional designation has somehow been a topic of conversation every offseason for five consecutive offseasons, is “up” to 224 from 221. He probably played last year around 210 but has added some real muscle mass. Enough to hold up regularly on the edge? Unclear. Enough to do it from time to time? Probably. What’s most important for Overshown is simply adding a little armor to help him stay healthy throughout the season, whatever his role proves to be.

Morice Blackwell is still listed at 203 pounds but is now designated as a defensive back, whether he ever goes back to linebacker we’ll have to wait and see.

Fine-tuning for existing roles

In the spring, Texas’ weights in the secondary were completely out of whack. Ryan Watts and Terrance Brooks looked like safeties, even potential linebackers, listed at 6-foot-3, 214 pounds (Watts) and 5-foot-11, 210 pounds (Brooks).

Watts is now listed at 206 and Brooks at 198, which make more sense for players who will be asked to flip their hips and run with Big 12 receivers outside at cornerback.

Meanwhile the safeties are mostly heavier. Jerrin Thompson has worked his way up from 179 last season to 190, which is important in this defense for a guy who will be running the alley regularly to hit ballcarriers. Anthony Cook is up to 195 pounds now as well and Jahdae Barron is inching up with 188 next to his name now.

The linebackers are also all heavier, which makes sense in this scheme which can generally keep them in the box more easily than the old schemes. Jaylan Ford is now listed at 238 pounds and David Gbenda at 235, even Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey is listed at 219 which is a shade heavier than he was listed out at James Madison. Ovie Oghoufo is better suited to play on the Edge at 242 pounds, we’ll see if he looks it later today when he arrives for the press conference.

Texas’ receivers are all pretty light in their listings and Jordan Whittington, who easily gains weight in general, is down a little closer to 200 pounds at 203 after being listed at 209 in the spring. Hayden Conner continues to slim up a little, now down to 318 after being listed at 332 last year. Christian Jones, who’s weight has routinely fluctuated a bit between 310 and 330 is now listed at 328. Could those two be trading roles with Jones sliding inside to guard and Conner outside to tackle?

The freshman brigade

It’s always interesting to see how the incoming freshman are listed. Sometimes their college listings are wildly different from their high school listings, sometimes these guys weights change dramatically from spring to fall as they experience college strength and conditioning.

You can often get a decent sense of who might be ready to play early from these based on whether they have the right size to compete, or at least whether they are presenting themselves as having the needed size.

Justice Finkley is an interesting example. He was listed at 256 in the spring and is now down to 245 pounds. Is he going to end up as more of a Buck playing on the weakside rather than growing into a Jack who plays inside at times? In 2022 at least this would seem to be the case.

His compatriots Ethan Burke, J’Mond Tapp, and Derrick Brown are a mixed group, as is inside linebacker Trevell Johnson. Burke is listed at 6-foot-3, 234 pounds, which can’t possibly be true according to multiple people who have seen him in person and have him at 6-foot-5 or taller. Tapp is listed at 6-foot-3, 247 pounds which is certainly big enough to rush the passer if he’s ready. Brown and Johnson are going to be projects for the future, Brown is listed at 6-foot-4, 206 pounds and Johnson at 6-foot-1, 186 pounds.

Cam Williams, Devon Campbell, and Kelvin Banks are all coming in large and in charge. Williams is listed at a mammoth 6-foot-7, 374 pounds, which is really something since he’s been present for summer drills which can take weight off a human like few other things in life. Campbell is at 6-foot-3, 321 pounds, which is consistent with his camp measurements coming in. Banks is a bit heavier at 6-foot-5, 318 pounds. Will they have the strength to play in the trenches against 22 and 23-year old men? It’s definitely possible given their weight.