Texas Football: Why moving Savion Red to RB is a brilliant decision

We already appear to have some movement between position groups for the Texas football program ahead of spring ball this offseason. According to a report from Eric Nahlin of Inside Texas on Feb. 7 (paid content), Texas and head coach Steve Sarkisian are moving rising sophomore Savion Red from wide receiver to running back heading into spring camp.

Sark and the Longhorns wanted to have more depth in the running back room this spring, thus the move for Red to switch positions.

This report from IT’s Nahlin mentioned that while Texas’ staff is happy with the top three or four backs in 2023, they aren’t happy with the lack of depth behind those guys. I would presume that Texas likes what it has with the likes of true freshman running back Cedric Baxter Jr., redshirt sophomore Jonathon Brooks, redshirt senior Keilan Robinson, and sophomore Jaydon Blue.

But there was only one scholarship running back on the roster beyond those four aforementioned Longhorns players prior to this position switch, freshman Tre Wisner.

We also mentioned within the last week how Texas was a bit thin in the running back room in the midst of winter workouts and heading into spring drills. Brooks and Blue are both coming off injuries that have apparently limited them in winter workouts. That has left Texas with very few running backs at full health entering spring camp.

Thus, the move makes sense on a lot of levels for both Red and the Texas offense.

From a depth chart perspective, the necessity to add depth at the running back position was greater than in the wide receiver room. Texas already has multiple young receivers that can play out of the slot and that will challenge for spots on the two-deep (i.e. DeAndre Moore Jr., Brenen Thompson, Ryan Niblett, etc.) behind the returning starter at the position, Jordan Whittington.

While I do believe that Red was likely going to be on the two-deep at the outset of spring ball, there are multiple capable slot wideouts that can still take his place.

Moreover, Red has the frame at 5-foot-10 and 210 pounds and the skill set to be able to thrive at the running back position. He’s got tremendous open-field vision and good short-area quickness, both of which are skills needed to pick up yards in chunks while running between the tackles.

Texas football makes a sensible move converting Savion Red from WR to RB

Red also ran the ball a lot out of the backfield while taking snaps at quarterback for Grand Prairie High School during his senior season in 2021. That experience should help the transition and familiarity at the running back position for Red heading into spring ball.

According to Maxpreps, Red racked up more than 1,350 rushing yards and a whopping 20 rushing touchdowns during his senior season at Grand Prairie.

From a blocking perspective, Red showed some proficiency during his true freshman campaign at Texas that should translate at running back. Red was actually the highest-graded run-blocker among Texas wideouts last season. That blocking proficiency he showed at the wide receiver position last year should translate in terms of his transition to more pass-blocking snaps and the different approach and recognition to run blocking out of the backfield.

Last but not least, Red made some real strides during his true freshman campaign playing out of the slot at wide receiver. He immediately climbed his way up the depth chart coming out of camp last year, which earned him more offensive snaps last season than any other true freshman wideout for the Longhorns.

During his true freshman campaign, Red was targeted seven times, which resulted in six catches for 34 receiving yards and no touchdown catches.

It’s worth noting that none of Red’s six catches came in front of the line of scrimmage. He was targeted almost exclusively behind the line of scrimmage in the short passing and screen game, which culminated in 45 yards after the catch. That averages out to an impressive 7.5 yards after the catch per reception.

I believe that proficiency that Red put on display as a target in the screen and short passing games will translate in terms of the threat he poses as a receiver out of the backfield.

To sum this up, Red will give Sark and the Longhorns another dynamic weapon to utilize out of the backfield while adding key depth at the position heading into spring ball. He’s excelled in multiple phases of the game that are critical to being a proficient and versatile running back at the collegiate level.

For a lot of the reasons I’ve talked about here, I really believe this is a solid move given Red’s versatile skill set and experience in the last couple of years at Texas and Grand Prairie. It is a good move for the team, too, since critical depth is added at the running back position.

Texas finished up the 2022 campaign with a record of 8-5 (6-3 Big 12) following a loss to the No. 12 Washington Huskies in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29. Sark and the Longhorns will take part in the annual Orange-White spring football game on April 15 and the 2023 regular season opens up at home at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Sep. 2 against the Rice Owls.