Texas Football: Savion Red receiving ‘plenty of praise’ at RB
Texas football got down to work for the second day of spring practice on the morning of March 8. For the second time this week, Texas and head coach Steve Sarkisian took part in drills at Denius Fields in Austin in the early stages of spring camp.
And while there weren’t any major surprises that emerged from the initial practice reports coming out of the second day of spring practice, there were still some interesting nuggets that caught my eye.
One of the interesting notes that came out of the second day of spring practice involved a player that recently underwent a position change, sophomore running back Savion Red. Ahead of spring ball, Sark and the Longhorns moved Red from slot receiver to running back to fill a depth need at this position.
Sark also mentioned during his Monday press conference on March 6 that the ultimate goal of moving Red from wide receiver to running back is to add another dynamic layer to the offense and get some versatility out of the backfield.
"“Now, we’re gonna train him at running back, and the goal is that we have a guy who can do both, that maybe we can put some pressure on defenses when he’s on the field.”"
It sounds like Red is acclimating quite well to the position change early this spring. A practice report on the morning of March 8 from Gerry Hamilton of Inside Texas (paid content) notes that Red “received plenty of praise” from second-year running backs coach Tashard Choice in drills this week.
New Texas football RB Savion Red receiving “plenty of praise” from Tashard Choice early in spring ball
Red apparently impressed the coaches, namely Choice, with his performance in one-on-one drills in the first two practices of spring camp. He reportedly impressed in the running backs drills and the one-on-ones with the linebackers, if a couple of them had to be picked out.
Word on the street is that Red and freshman running back Cedric Baxter Jr. are making quite the impression on the coaching staff early this spring.
Red is showing that he can be a natural fit in this running back room as a versatile piece that Sark can use in multiple different ways out of the backfield this fall. And Baxter is already proving that he can handle the spotlight of getting second-team reps in practice.
On the first day of spring practice, Red was pretty far down the pecking order in terms of the distribution of reps at running back. But it sounds like he is making a lot of the right moves to be able to work his way up the running back depth chart throughout the spring.
Red will continue to be one of the key names to watch out of the backfield this spring, especially with the likes of redshirt senior running back Keilan Robinson and redshirt sophomore Jonathon Brooks recovering from various ailments.
Next. 3 most impactful injury absences on Texas this spring. dark
Texas began spring camp with the first practice earlier this week, specifically on March 6. Following the conclusion of the second practice on March 8, the Longhorns have 13 more practices (most of which will be in full pads) before it’s time for the Orange-White Game on April 15 at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.