40 Acres Sports

After getting bad news on Christmas, Texas fans awoke to more bad news on the first day of 2009. Three redshirting freshmen did not make the trip to Arizona for the Fiesta Bowl due to various reasons. The three players are defensive tackle Jarvis Humphrey, linebacker Dravannti Johnson and wide receiver DJ Monroe, all of which are important four-star 2008 recruits. The Statesman reports that each of the players was left behind for a different reason and that none were “serious”.

Unsubstantiated (and hopefully untrue) rumors on Orangebloods are that Monroe is a grade casualty and “don’t expect him back.” That of course would be counter to what the Statesman is reporting that none of the three issues were serious and if true would cost the Horns a possible future dynamic playmaker. Losing Humphrey for the spring or longer would also be a huge blow at one of the team’s least deep positions.

While they obviously would not be playing in next Monday’s game against Ohio State, bowl practices are a time when young players gain a great deal experience during the extra practice time and these guys are missing reps. Hopefully all three players are still in school and back on the practice field for spring football.

DJ Monroe impressive in THSCA All-Star game. Future Horn cornerback had 66-yard touchdown run and was game’s MVP.

Update: Bevo Sports is giving away NCAA Football 09, enter to win!

NCAA Football 09 is less than a month away, the demo is up on Xbox Live and the Playstation Network, and player ratings are starting to make their way on to the Internet. EA Sports released the team top 25 and player ratings for all those teams.

I went through the list and put the players’ real names in where possible. I had trouble with a lot of the true freshmen in the game so if you know who any of the blank names are or if I made any mistakes please let me know in the comments. It really looks like EA did a poor job this year on the roster and depth chart. Hopefully it’s a little more accurate when the game is released.

You can download Excel files of the player ratings at the bottom of this post or check out the overall ratings for the Texas team below:

Downloads

• Texas player ratings
• Full top 25 player ratings

The big one got away today (under suspicious circumstances) but the 2008 Texas recruiting class is still a good one. Mack Brown and the Horns signed 20 young athletes to letters of intent, nine of which are already on campus for the spring semester.

The class is headlined by defensive backs Aaron Williams and DJ Monroe, who along with safety Nolan Brewster, should anchor the Texas defensive backfield for the next four or five years. On the offensive side WR/RB DeSean Hales is electric with the football in his hands and wide receiver Dan Buckner is huge and will catch anything thrown in his general direction.

Here’s the full list of signees:

Name	Position	Rating	Hometown
Emmanuel Acho	LB		Dallas
Nolan Brewster	DB		Denver, CO
Mark Buchanan	OL		Austin
Dan Buckner	WR		Allen
Brock Fitzhenry	RB		Giddings
Blake Gideon	DB		Leander
DJ Grant	WR		Austin
DeSean Hales	RB		Klein
Antoine Hicks	ATH		Mansfield
Jeremy Hills	RB		Alief
Jarvis Humphrey	DT		Cedar Hill
Dravannti Johnson	LB		Nederland
DJ Monroe	DB		Angleton
Tre Newton	RB		Southlake
Luke Poehlmann	OL		Brenham
Kheeston Randall	DT		Beaumont
Ryan Roberson	RB		Brenham
David Snow	OL		Gilmer
Justin Tucker	K		Austin
Aaron Williams	DB		Round Rock

Congratulations to the newest Texas Longhorns!

The US Army All-American Bowl is most fans first chance to see the top high school recruits for themselves. Texas fans can see several Longhorn commitments take the field for the West squad as well as take their first look at 5-star stud running back Darrell Scott, who reportedly may now favor the Horns. Tune in now (12 pm Central) to NBC to catch the game.

Here are the Texas commits and targets to watch for:

Name	Number	Position	Commit?	Ranking
Nolan Brewster	24	Safety	Yes
Dan Buckner	4	Wide receiver	Yes
Dravannti Johnson	44	Linebacker	Yes
DJ Monroe	25	Defensive back	Yes
Rahim Moore	15	Safety	No
Darrell Scott	2	Running back	No
David Snow	76	Guard	Yes
Justin Tucker	23	Kicker	Yes
Aaron Williams	7	Cornerback	Yes

I’ll post some relevant updates and thoughts below:

First Quarter

• Nice looking punt by Justin Tucker. He’s been recruited as a placekicker but it certainly wouldn’t hurt if he could help out as a punter as well.
• DJ Monroe makes a good break on the football and knocks the pass up in the air for Nolan Brewster to pick it off. A third Texas commit, Dravannti Johnson, was also right there after the play was over. Impressive play by Monroe.
• Fantastic catch by Dan Buckner taking advantage of his size to go up high and grab the ball over a shorter corner. Definitely something I think we’ll see a lot of during his Longhorn career.

Second Quarter

• Good coverage by corner Aaron Williams but he gets beat deep. Williams has reportedly been very impressive this week and may be on the verge of getting a fifth star. He’s got good size but his speed (despite being listed with a 4.4 forty time) may mean he ends up at safety.
• It’s pretty clear where the Terrelle Pryor/Vince Young comparisons come from. The kid is big and natural and makes things look easy. Vince became Vince because of his intangibles and the improvements he made while in school, if Pryor can do the same he’ll be special.
• Monroe doesn’t look afraid of contact. Came flying up on screen and made a solid tackle behind the line of scrimmage.
• Another play by DJ Monroe. Good high punt by Tucker and Monroe gets down the field quickly as one of the gunners and covers up the ball after the East returned muffed it.
• Good tackle by Williams. I love to see secondary guys who can actually tackle.

Third Quarter

• I haven’t noticed Darrell Scott much. I don’t think he’s been in on a ton of snaps.
• Safety Rahim Moore, who is committed to UCLA but is still being recruited by Texas, just made a big hit on a pass breakup then popped up and gave the double hook ‘em. Don’t know what our chances are but new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp won’t hurt.

Texas commit D.J. Monroe is Houston Chronicle athlete of the week. The corner ran a blazing 10.5 100-meter dash.

Just like last year the 2008 recruiting season is just a few weeks old and the Longhorns have already bagged nine of the top recruits in the state.

The headliners of the group are possible 5-star wide receiver Dan Buckner out of Allen and offensive lineman David Snow from Gilmer. Buckner is big (6-foot-5) and fast (4.5 forty), he could be the next number 4 out at wide receiver for the Horns. Some have Buckner rated as the top receiver in the country.

I’m also excited about Justin Tucker, a kicker out of Austin Westlake. Tucker is the nation’s top rated kicker and the Horns didn’t let this one get out of their own backyard (see Mason Crosby). Tucker will be a redshirt freshman when Hunter Lawrence is a senior, meaning we’re actually stacking the roster and won’t have to rely on a true freshman walk-on kicker for once.

2008 Commits

• LB Emmanuel Acho - Dallas
• OL Mark Buchanan - Austin
• WR Dan Buckner - Allen
• ATH Brock Fitzhenry - Giddings
• RB Jeremy Hills - Alief
• DB DJ Monroe - Angleton
• RB Ryan Roberson - Brenham
• OL David Snow - Gilmer
• K Justin Tucker - Austin
• DB Aaron Williams - Round Rock

Update: Added Emmanuel Acho to the list as his commitment became official this morning. The 6-foot-2 linebacker out of Dallas St. Mark’s is of course 2007 signee Sam Acho’s little brother. Check out some great video highlights of Emmanuel.