40 Acres Sports

Article #2198 of the week calling out Fran & the Aggies.

It appears that Ramonce Taylor was unable to get his grades and his life in order as he is transferring from the University of Texas. The news is confirmed from both the athletic department and Taylor himself. There is no official destination yet, but the only school mentioned has been Texas College in Tyler.

Not a gigantic surprise, though I think a lot of us were still hoping things would work out and he’d back with the team this season. News and rumors had Taylor still attending classes at UT this summer, working out with the team, and that eventually all charges against him related to his May arrest will be dropped. He seemed to be doing everything he could to prove to the coaches he deserved another chance, but they either didn’t believe that was the case or Ramonce simply didn’t get his schoolwork in order. Disappointing.

I wonder why he and Mike Williams (defensive end version) chose to attend an NAIA school in Texas College instead of a Division 1-AA school like Texas State or Sam Houston State? There’s less exposure at a school like that and lower caliber competition. It seems for players with NFL aspirations, such as Ramonce, there would be better options out there for them. You see guys from 1-AA or even Division II of III drafted all the time, not too many from the NAIA.

Taylor was a big part of the Longhorns national title run last year, providing 15 TD’s and gamebreaking ability, so it’s tough to lose a player of his caliber. Fortunately, running back and wide receiver are two of the team’s deepest positions. Taylor will always be a Longhorn wherever he ends up, and we hope he gets his head on straight so he is able to fulfill his NFL potential.

The preseason magazines don’t have a perfect track record for predicting much of anything, but it’s wonderfully interesting to see what they’re smoking. Fortunately the AAS aggregated the data from all the polls so we can see all this info in one place.

Most overrated? Easily Notre Dame and Oklahoma. The Irish defense was slow and average last year and should be pretty much the same this year, and their schedule is absolutely brutal. Heck, they could be pretty darn good and still lose two of their first five games. And as for the Sooners, their main weakness last year was their offensive line and I’m not sure how losing two top draft picks will help that. If they’re going to be a top team they’ll need a healthy Adrian Peterson and a much improved Rhett Bomar, I wouldn’t count on both of those happening.

With several teams with an equal shot of a national title, proven teams with holes to fill like Texas and USC seem to deserve more credit than teams who had lesser seasons and have just as many issues.

A 5-year deal with $15 million guaranteed.

If Rocky was at Texas, we’d probably be unanimous preseason #1.

Auburn football players had one of the highest academic progress rates, now we know why.

Ex-Longhorn fullback and Marine joins VY in Tennessee.

Interesting body changes since getting to USC. The dude needs a bro. (Manssiere!)

High praise for the future Longhorn, whether he ends up a QB or a WR.

Vince needs to get in camp on time, but he also needs to get his guaranteed money. Let’s hope they work it out.