40 Acres Sports

Update: Download named rosters for NCAA Football 10. (7/23/2009)

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

Congratulations to the newest Texas Longhorns!

5A Texas Football.com has released their awards for the 2007 season and several future Longhorns have made their list. Just like last year, Leander safety [tag]Blake Gideon[/tag] is receiving state accolades and 5A Texas Football.com has named him their Defensive MVP. The kid may not be highly rated recruit but he just makes plays and he’s been one of the best players in the state’s highest classification the last two years.

Here’s the rest of the future Horns who made their list:

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
[tag]Nolan Brewster[/tag]	24	Safety	Yes
[tag]Dan Buckner[/tag]	4	Wide receiver	Yes
[tag]Dravannti Johnson[/tag]	44	Linebacker	Yes
[tag]DJ Monroe[/tag]	25	Defensive back	Yes
Rahim Moore	15	Safety	No
Darrell Scott	2	Running back	No
[tag]David Snow[/tag]	76	Guard	Yes
[tag]Justin Tucker[/tag]	23	Kicker	Yes
[tag]Aaron Williams[/tag]	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.

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