Texas Longhorns Open Practice: Takeaways, Videos, Notes

AUSTIN -- The Texas Longhorns allowed the media to watch about 30 minutes of Monday's practice at DKR as the team prepares for the first round of the College Football Playoff against the Clemson Tigers on Saturday.

Here's some takeaways and notes from the viewing portion along with a few videos:

Quinn Ewers & Arch Manning

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers took a bit of heat on social media for a video of a throw that was behind Ryan Wingo during passing drills. He also had a ball slightly behind and above Matthew Golden that was caught.

A few passes in practice should be taken with a grain of salt, but due to some of his up-and-down play this season, Ewers has faced building criticism from Texas fans that prefer to see Arch Manning take the reins. A video of a simple throw at practice won't exactly help ease any frustrations, whether they are justified or not.

As for Manning, he seemed fine from what we could tell, though we didn't have our eyes on each and every throw. He completed passes to Silas Bolden, Juan Davis and more. Since we're over-analyzing practice throws, one of Manning's passes was a tad behind Bolden, forcing him to slow down a bit on his route to catch the ball.

Steve Sarkisian talking with Quinn Ewers as he zips a pass to Ryan Wingo during Texas Longhorns practice.#HookEm pic.twitter.com/3rhiUIagnT
— Zach Dimmitt (@ZachDimmitt7) December 16, 2024

Isaiah Bond

While the other receivers ran routes, Bond was off to the side during the viewing portion of practice. He didn't have a walking boot on and was pacing the sidelines. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday that Bond will do "everything in his power to play this week."

Tashard Choice

Choice was coaching the running backs hard during ball-carrying drills, even getting in on the action by taking one of the large pads and hitting the players with force. He remained his usually-vocal self and was certainly a presence that stood out on the practice field.

Tashard Choice looking on as the Texas running backs go through drills.

“You know what time it is let’s work,” he said at one point.

Velton Gardner off to the right with sunglasses on after a season-ending eye injury.#HookEm pic.twitter.com/JF1HdE7H4K
— Zach Dimmitt (@ZachDimmitt7) December 16, 2024

Aaron Butler

It was only a small sample size, but Butler continued to show impressive use of his hands while running routes across the middle of the field. On one throw, he had to extend his reach quickly to the end of his catch radius to come up with the grab, and did so with relative ease. He's show signs of his solid hands during warmups throughout the season.

Butler hasn't gotten the chance to show off in-game, but Butler has displayed a With the breakout year DeAndre Moore Jr. has had, Texas fans are anticipating something similar for Butler next season.

Guess Who

A few players were wearing different jersey numbers for practice, making it tough to identify them if their face wasn't completely visible through their facemask.

In running back drills, a player was wearing No. 7, which is only worn by Jahdae Barron and Isaiah Bond. Based on his build and appearance, it's possible this was running back Nik Sanders, a freshman that also plays on the baseball team. He usually wears No. 31.

Over at receiver drills. a player was wearing a black No. 0 jersey while standing next to DeAndre Moore Jr., who already claims No. 0 on offense. Texas linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. wears No. 0 on defense, but this player was too undersized to be Hill. It's possible it was true freshman receiver Freddie Dubose Jr., who wears No. 80.

Tight ends

Gunnar Helm, Juan Davis, Amari Niblack and Spencer Shannon were running shallow crossing routes for the quarterbacks near their own goal line. Davis operated with Manning on the second team while Niblack caught from Trey Owens.

The little things

During the start of the viewing portion, the quarterbacks were doing routine outside handoffs with the running backs. Quinn Ewers and Quintrevion Wisner first, Manning and Jaydon Blue second, and Owens and Jerrick Gibson third.

Not exactly a drill that will blow anyone's mind, but it's clear the coaching staff is emphasizing the small details ahead of Saturday's elimination game.

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