Gsquared
08-19-2010, 12:46 PM
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Malcolm Brown to Texas
08/19/2010
By Travis Stewart/Texas Football
Cibolo Steele running back Malcolm Brown has pledged out to the University of Texas, according to the San Antonio Express News.
Brown had reportedly narrowed down his collegiate choices to Texas and Alabama and had been on a minute-by-minute timeframe to announce his decision. His commitment to the Longhorns provides Texas not only with an immediate classmaker for 2011, not only the top offensive and top defensive player (Steve Edmond) in Texas, but the marquee running back it had so badly been needing for at least the past five years. Brown is arguably the top rated running back Mack Brown has brought to Austin since Ricky Williams, and perhaps ever.
Barring an unforeseen explosion in productivity from any number of incumbent talents, including Tre Newton, Traylon Shead and numerous others, Brown would challenge for playing time the second he arrives on campus. Most high school experts, including Dave Campbell's Texas Football, sees him as one of the best running talents since Adrian Peterson.
In many ways, he reminds you of the former Palestine and Sooner great. Though he's not quite as big as Peterson — Brown stands 6-foot-1 to Peterson's 6-3 — he runs with the same combination of power and speed. Brown is almost impossible to bring down one-on-one, both because of his great strength at the point of the tackle, and his fluid, easy foot speed that guides him in around the crevices of the defense. On multiple occasions last year, he ran for more than 100 yards and three touchdowns on less than 10 carries. That's one thing at the 1A or 2A level. But that rarely happens up in Class 5A. And he's done it several times!
But we don't want to deify the kid, especially before he ever plays a snap of college ball. Recruiting is so often about predicting, and in this case, that's all we can offer — predictions. But our opinions are informed, as our staff has seen him on numerous occasions and has never come away with anything less than starstruck amazement. No kid is a sure thing, but Brown, who also has a very good head on his shoulders and a strong support system, is probably about as close as you'll get to a slam dunk.
What this means for Texas is very interesting. The moment Brown offered his pledge out last night, multiple names became instantaneously forgotten. Chris Whaley, the Madisonville product who has battled weight and depth chart issues for the past year, will now have a very hard time finding a home once Brown arrives. Traylon Shead, Cayuga's superstar and the second all-time leading rusher in Texas high school history, is facing a tough issue, too. After all, like Brown, he's a power back. Does this make him redundant? Or would Texas seriously consider splitting carries between the two for the next four years? If they're not, would Shead (or Brown, I guess) seriously consider playing as a backup? Might we see Shead ... transfer?
Here's a list of current scholarship UT running backs, roughly in order of depth:
Tre Newton, Soph.
Fozzy Whittaker, Jr.
Cody Johnson, Jr.
D.J. Monroe, Soph.
Traylon Shead, Fr.
Chris Whaley, Fr.
Vondrell McGee, Sr.
Jeremy Hills, Jr.
That means, essentially, that some of these guys' careers as potential star running backs are over if Brown lives up to even half of his potential. And if Brown becomes a full-time starter in his true freshman year, guys like Tre Newton and Cody Johnson will have little chance to showcase NFL talent in their senior years.
Bottom line? Brown's pledge to the Horns is a massive one, no question. But it does leave a number of issues to work out for the UT coaching staff — a number of which won't be much fun.
Malcolm Brown to Texas
08/19/2010
By Travis Stewart/Texas Football
Cibolo Steele running back Malcolm Brown has pledged out to the University of Texas, according to the San Antonio Express News.
Brown had reportedly narrowed down his collegiate choices to Texas and Alabama and had been on a minute-by-minute timeframe to announce his decision. His commitment to the Longhorns provides Texas not only with an immediate classmaker for 2011, not only the top offensive and top defensive player (Steve Edmond) in Texas, but the marquee running back it had so badly been needing for at least the past five years. Brown is arguably the top rated running back Mack Brown has brought to Austin since Ricky Williams, and perhaps ever.
Barring an unforeseen explosion in productivity from any number of incumbent talents, including Tre Newton, Traylon Shead and numerous others, Brown would challenge for playing time the second he arrives on campus. Most high school experts, including Dave Campbell's Texas Football, sees him as one of the best running talents since Adrian Peterson.
In many ways, he reminds you of the former Palestine and Sooner great. Though he's not quite as big as Peterson — Brown stands 6-foot-1 to Peterson's 6-3 — he runs with the same combination of power and speed. Brown is almost impossible to bring down one-on-one, both because of his great strength at the point of the tackle, and his fluid, easy foot speed that guides him in around the crevices of the defense. On multiple occasions last year, he ran for more than 100 yards and three touchdowns on less than 10 carries. That's one thing at the 1A or 2A level. But that rarely happens up in Class 5A. And he's done it several times!
But we don't want to deify the kid, especially before he ever plays a snap of college ball. Recruiting is so often about predicting, and in this case, that's all we can offer — predictions. But our opinions are informed, as our staff has seen him on numerous occasions and has never come away with anything less than starstruck amazement. No kid is a sure thing, but Brown, who also has a very good head on his shoulders and a strong support system, is probably about as close as you'll get to a slam dunk.
What this means for Texas is very interesting. The moment Brown offered his pledge out last night, multiple names became instantaneously forgotten. Chris Whaley, the Madisonville product who has battled weight and depth chart issues for the past year, will now have a very hard time finding a home once Brown arrives. Traylon Shead, Cayuga's superstar and the second all-time leading rusher in Texas high school history, is facing a tough issue, too. After all, like Brown, he's a power back. Does this make him redundant? Or would Texas seriously consider splitting carries between the two for the next four years? If they're not, would Shead (or Brown, I guess) seriously consider playing as a backup? Might we see Shead ... transfer?
Here's a list of current scholarship UT running backs, roughly in order of depth:
Tre Newton, Soph.
Fozzy Whittaker, Jr.
Cody Johnson, Jr.
D.J. Monroe, Soph.
Traylon Shead, Fr.
Chris Whaley, Fr.
Vondrell McGee, Sr.
Jeremy Hills, Jr.
That means, essentially, that some of these guys' careers as potential star running backs are over if Brown lives up to even half of his potential. And if Brown becomes a full-time starter in his true freshman year, guys like Tre Newton and Cody Johnson will have little chance to showcase NFL talent in their senior years.
Bottom line? Brown's pledge to the Horns is a massive one, no question. But it does leave a number of issues to work out for the UT coaching staff — a number of which won't be much fun.