Texas Football: 3 standouts from the first full-pads spring practice

Alfred Collins, DL

We’ve received some very positive returns from the play along the defensive front from the first two teams getting reps in spring practice this week. Defensive line coach Bo Davis, in particular, has his group on the two-deep getting a lot of praise from the Texas media in the first few practices of the spring.

We’re hearing about some of the names we expected to stand out in spring camp that is leading the way, including junior Byron Murphy II and redshirt senior T’Vondre Sweat.

But the really good news is that we’re getting consistently-positive returns from the play of other interior defensive linemen such as true freshman Sydir Mitchell and senior Alfred Collins. Mitchell is making strides and looking the part of a physical terror along the interior at the nose tackle position.

Meanwhile, Collins is showing the makings of becoming the impact defensive lineman we’ve always known he had the talent to be. Collins is reportedly around 315 pounds this spring, and it sounds like he’s carrying it well.

So far this offseason, Collins has apparently shown more commitment to improving in the weight room than ever before. And he’s showing more effort and intensity in individual drills than we saw in the last couple of years since Sark and PK took over on the 40.

If Collins keeps trending up the way he has in the last few months, he will be well on the path to solidifying his spot as one of the top three or four interior defensive linemen in the rotation in 2023.