We are officially two weeks from Texas football and another major piece of news has popped up. Ty'Anthony Smith, the third-year linebacker, has been dismissed from the team following a tumultuous fall camp.
As has been discussed throughout the offseason, the LB room is not the deepest on the team. The trio of freshmen, led by Tyler Atkinson, will need to play a bigger role this season. I believe they are up to the task but it's unlikely to come as quickly as Texas would like.
One of the single biggest storylines this offseason has been the freshmen LBs. Tyler Atkinson came in as the top dawg, but Rocky ******* s and Kosi Okpala were the story during spring camp. Since then, Atkinson has taken a step forward and seems poised to back up Rasheem Biles. ******* s will get looks behind Justin Cryer at MLB and Okpala is likely to occupy a role similar to Brad Spence.
That trio of players are talented enough to make this a relative non-problem. However, LB is not always a position that comes quickly to young players. It's a position largely defined off your experience and knowledge of the game. That's something this trio will have to find early in the season or the Texas LB unit will have to lean on the trio of Biles, Cryer and Spence more than they'd like.
So, how quickly can this group be ready? I'd argue Tyler Atkinson will be a consistent and confident contributor by the Oklahoma game. Before that, he will get reps but might not be ready to fill the role he'll eventually have to. The entire trio needs to find the field consistently against Texas State and UTSA, to speed up the process as much as possible. I would expect the veterans to carry the majority of the weight against Ohio State, simply because of the complexity and intensity that game will contain.
#tyler
As has been discussed throughout the offseason, the LB room is not the deepest on the team. The trio of freshmen, led by Tyler Atkinson, will need to play a bigger role this season. I believe they are up to the task but it's unlikely to come as quickly as Texas would like.
One of the single biggest storylines this offseason has been the freshmen LBs. Tyler Atkinson came in as the top dawg, but Rocky ******* s and Kosi Okpala were the story during spring camp. Since then, Atkinson has taken a step forward and seems poised to back up Rasheem Biles. ******* s will get looks behind Justin Cryer at MLB and Okpala is likely to occupy a role similar to Brad Spence.
That trio of players are talented enough to make this a relative non-problem. However, LB is not always a position that comes quickly to young players. It's a position largely defined off your experience and knowledge of the game. That's something this trio will have to find early in the season or the Texas LB unit will have to lean on the trio of Biles, Cryer and Spence more than they'd like.
So, how quickly can this group be ready? I'd argue Tyler Atkinson will be a consistent and confident contributor by the Oklahoma game. Before that, he will get reps but might not be ready to fill the role he'll eventually have to. The entire trio needs to find the field consistently against Texas State and UTSA, to speed up the process as much as possible. I would expect the veterans to carry the majority of the weight against Ohio State, simply because of the complexity and intensity that game will contain.
#tyler
2 months ago
