4 players that shined in first fall scrimmage
After the Texas offense started to make some apparent strides in full-pads practice earlier this week, it looks like the defense took things back over.
#1
Jordan Whittington, WR
There was some common feedback following the conclusion of this first fall scrimmage that one of the true offensive standouts was the former five-star recruit and redshirt junior wide receiver Jordan Whittington. This starting slot wideout was apparently still very productive and efficient in the receiving game, despite the secondary mostly getting the best of the offense.
Whittington had at least one touchdown catch on the day and only really had one mistake that was noteworthy. And that was not something that could be said for most offensive players for the Longhorns in this scrimmage.
That one mistake that Whittington made in this scrimmage was a drop on a pass from Card.
But drops are going to happen in these early scrimmages. It sounds like Texas even saw an unusual drop by star sophomore wide receiver Xavier Worthy.
Yet, the takeaway... looks to be that Whittington was a major positive. He apparently had a nice connection with Ewers on the day, including a receiving touchdown out of the slot.
#2
DeMarvion Overshown, LB
Overshown reportedly was all over the place, getting after the quarterback effectively while showing some flashes as a production run-stopper.
There was also a reported sack that Overshown had on the day of Ewers, which came on the very first play of the scrimmage. All in all, it sounds like Overshown was showing a lot of speed and quickness off the line of scrimmage when he was called upon as an edge rusher in this scrimmage.
Overshown’s speed was also apparently a problem for this offensive line, which was struggling to hold up the pocket for the quarterbacks in this scrimmage. That is a good sign considering how many situations Texas could utilize Overshown off the edge as a pass rusher this fall.
We will still continue to monitor Overshown’s progress when he’s asked to drop back into pass coverage. That was one area that we didn’t get a lot of returns from in this first fall scrimmage. It is also one of the more important parts of Overshown’s game where he needs to show some growth this season.
#3
From what we’ve heard about Thompson’s play in camp in the last few days, he’s really picking up the concepts of this defense in Year 2 under PK and Gideon. Thompson even reportedly had maybe the most impressive interception of the scrimmage on Aug. 13 (per the scrimmage notes from Inside Texas, paid content).
It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest to hear Sark and the Longhorns staff continue to speak positively about the progress made by Thompson so far this offseason. Thompson was apparently very consistent and effective in pass protection in this first fall scrimmage.
And Thompson continues to step up as one of the vocal leaders in this secondary coming out of this weekend’s scrimmage.
If we keep getting these types of improvements from Thompson heading into the season, then all the chatter concerning any looming position battle at field safety will cease in the near future.
#4
Jaylon Guilbeau, CB
Guilbeau could be a candidate to either land a backup spot on the two-deep at corner or star this fall.
Moreover, a notable nugget here is that Guilbeau at least spent some of this first fall scrimmage playing with the ones at the star position. This would likely be due to some type of injury or non-football-related precaution for the Longhorns with junior defensive back Jahdae Barron.
Nonetheless, this is still a significant development for Guilbeau to be playing so well in camp, regardless of whether he gets reps at corner or star.
He apparently was one of the best freshmen in this scrimmage. And it sounds like he was able to make some big plays on the day, including at least one pass breakup and a couple of key tackles.
Honorable mentions
Bijan Robinson, RB
Kelvin Banks, OT
Charles Wright, QB
Ovie Oghoufo, EDGE
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