I would think he will be a “Swiss army knife”. Slot, end arounds, jet sweeps, punt returns? Wildcat RB? He will allow us to open up the playbook more. Heck we could have 2 slot receivers that can stretch the field on the same play! Smith & Whittington. If Yurcich is what I think he is, Texas could jump WAAY up in the rankings next year!
I have this bad feeling that he may be more hype/myth than substance. I hope that I am wrong about this. Just get the feeling that he will always be hurt, or have an excuse. I pray that I am wrong.
I thought the same thing about Marco Martin. Well, not really, but the reality is you never know until they get the chance to prove themselves on the big stage. Anyone can cite examples of big 5 star busts along with those who even exceeded their 5 star expectations. I certainly am hoping both Jordan and Bijan exceed all expectations, but reality is neither played in a tough Texas 6A district so cautious optimism is always in the back of your mind.
JWhit's HS Championship game was the most amazing, spectacularly dominating performance I ever witnessed. He was everywhere on O and D. That being said I'm hoping the coaches put him in a single position rather than mixing him in at several. Just feel that when a player gets used in too many spots his impact gets watered down. Utilize him at one position and D's have to plan for it - then our O can leverage that.
High school competition has zero bearing on if someone is a bust. Case in point, Barron Browning played big time high school football in DFW and is considered by many to be a bust at Ohio State. We are talking about a 5'star that was a physical freak coming out of high school (could squat 600 lbs and was a track sprinter). It's possible to be a bust, but it's also possible to not be a bust. I pointed out Jordan Shipley because he was often injured his first 3 years and ended his career as one of the all time greats.
Jordan Whittington comprehensive high school stats...dude is a doooood... Games Played 38 Offense - PassingTotals Completions 14 Passing Att 14 Passing Yards 301 Completion Percentage 100% Yards Per Completion 21.5 Passing Yards Per Game 7.9 Passing TDs 2 Passing Long 70 QB Rating 177.1 Offense - RushingTotals Carriers 104 Rushing Yards 1100 Yards Per Carry 10.6 Rushing Yards Per Game 28.9 Rushing Long 71 Rushing TDs 18 Offense - ReceivingTotals Receptions 164 Receiving Yards 3157 Yards Per Catch 19.3 Receiving Yards Per Game 83.1 Receiving Long 72 Receiving TDs 40 Offense - All Purpose YardsTotals Rushing Yards 1100 Receiving Yards 3157 Kickoff Return Yards 195 Punt Return Yards 784 Interceptions Yards 548 All Purpose Yards 5784 All Purpose Yards Per Game 152.2 Offense - Total YardsTotals Passing Yards 301 Rushing Yards 1100 Receiving Yards 3157 Total Yards 4558 Total Yards Per Game 119.9 Defense - TacklesTotals Solo Tackle 61 Assists 36 Total Tackles 97 Tackles Per Game 2.6 Tackles For Loss 7.0 Defense - InterceptionsTotals Interceptions 14 Interceptions Yards 548 Yards Per INT 39.1 Interceptions Per Game 0.4 Passes Defensed 5 Special Teams - PuntsTotals Punts 1 Punt Yards 8 Punt Average 8.0 Punt Long 8 Special Teams - Kickoff ReturnsTotals Kickoff Returns 8 Kickoff Return Yards 195 Kickoff Return Yards Avg 24.4 Kickoff Return Long 89 Special Teams - Punt ReturnsTotals Punt Returns 42 Punt Return Yards 784 Punt Return Yards Avg 18.7 Punt Return Long 78 Total Return Yards 979 Scoring - PointsTotals Total TDs 68 Total TD Points 408 Total Conversion Points 8 Total Points 416 Points Per Game 10.9 Scoring - TouchdownsTotals Rushing TDs 18 Receiving TDs 40 Interceptions Returned for Touchdown 5 Punts Returned for Touchdown 4 Kickoffs Returned for Touchdown 1 Total TDs 68 Scoring - ConversionsTotals PAT Rushing 3 PAT Receiving 1 PATConversions 4
You need to watch his State Title game where he played WR,QB and RB and DB. He not only broke Eric Dickerson's and Jonathan Gray's UIL playoff game records, but was named both Offensive and Defensive player of the game. A whole lot of hype for sure. Kind of old news as this was posted on a couple of different threads last week.
If Robinson doesn't run all over USF, then it will be safe to say he is not who many think he is. Whittington didn't have a chance to show us anything due to getting hurt on his first touches in game one ( actually was hurt before that ). He will also get his chance to show what he can do vs USF. These guys were electric in HS, and if they are the real deal they should be electric in college...Just 2 Examples : Look at Dodson @ tOSU, he did the same thing in HS @ LaGrange. The Williams kid @ A&M was electric in college and @ C.E. King too. I pick these two examples because they did that in conferences that play stout run defense. Texas hasn't had anyone electric since Jamal Charles. lets hope Whittington and/or Robinson show some electricity. ( Electric --meaning DCs are afraid he might go 60 any time he touches the football, and usually does if you miss a tackle at the LOS. )
So the true freshman will be judged by you based on the output in his first game. That's just brilliant.
True one game doesn't a season make..... But, If he can't do it against USF, he sure won't against OU, LSU, and other better power 5 defenses. The Williams kid lit it up as a Freshman at A&M, and Dobbins did the same at tOSU. Both came out strong from the get go. ( They aren't the only ones ) Would think Robinson will do the same if he is as good as advertised.
If you want to say Bijan should flash something special in his first game, i could agree with that. Ricky Williams did against Hawaii. Everybody could see that kid had some pop to his game. But... had Ricky failed to flash against Hawaii, anybody who wrote him off at that point would have looked extremely foolish for doing so. I expect we will see at least one special run from Bijan against USF, distance be damned. We'll see something that will open everybody's eyes. But if we don't, I won't come on here and take the extremely foolish position that Bijan isn't all he was cracked up to be. It's a long season and a longer career that shouldn't be judged off the first 20 times the guy touches the football.
I already view JWhitt this way. Saw 4 plays vs LaTech and said, oh yeah...he's got "it". Unfortunately the pudding got cut off too soon. Hope I end up right. My hope for Bijan is that he comes in looking like Adrian Peterson as a freshman.
I don't recall how Adrian played his freshman year. Prolly pretty good. I doubt Bijan is as good as Adrian but it would be very pleasant if he is. Adrian runs with mean intensions.
He set NCAA freshman rushing record and helped ou to a NC appearance...and was Heisman runner-up...that's all.
I, for one, am excited about Overshown moving to linebacker. That's a big upgrade to the LB position. I've been concerned about that. Our defense is looking solid.
You mean, the guy that got hurt a lot, and got a medical redshirt, so he and Quan Cosby were 30 years old and still playing for the Longhorns?
Perine -- OU --- 5.9 yds a carry in first game as Freshman Dobbins -- tOSU -- 6.2 yds a carry " " Williams -- A&M -- 6.3 " " Etienne -- Clemson -- 10.1 " " Could list a butt-load more..... Point is if Robinson is all he is projected to be, he will perform from the get go..All the great ones do. Its not like we are playing LSU, Bama, Clemson, tOSU, etc, etc in game one. We are playing USF a team that gave up 208 yds rushing a game, 4.5 average per rush.If he is a stud he will perform.