Texas Football: 4 overreactions from Longhorns spring game

The highly anticipated Orange-White spring game for Texas football and head coach Steve Sarkisian took place at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on April 15. Texas fans got to see new additions to the program such as true freshman early enrollee quarterback Arch Manning, true freshman running back CJ Baxter Jr., and junior wide receiver AD Mitchell, among many other newcomers, take part in the spring game action this weekend.

For the most part, Texas was able to have a good spring game, albeit with some parts being pretty underwhelming. Sark and the Longhorns did accomplish a few key things, though.

First off, the Longhorns were able to avoid any major injuries. That is always one of the most important parts of a spring game is to avoid any consequential injuries.

Secondly, Texas was able to get some valuable live-game reps to more than a dozen new additions to the program during the spring scrimmages and the spring game this weekend. While those live spring game reps aren’t very indicative of how a player will fair in live-game action during the fall, those reps are still valuable to build up experience this offseason.

Last but not least, Texas was able to inject some excitement into the fan base with quite a few players standing out on both sides of the ball.

Overreactions from the Orange-White Game for Texas football

Here’s a look at four overreactions from the Longhorns’ Orange-White Game on April 15.

Savion Red can take some reps away from Keilan Robinson

Texas made a smart position switch heading into the spring, given the lack of depth in the running back room early this offseason, by moving former slot receiver and sophomore Savion Red to RB. Red proved to be a formidable option in the running back room this spring as one of the Longhorns players we heard the most positive feedback about in camp.

And Red showed a lot of the flashes we heard about in spring camp in various spring camp highlights and in the spring game this weekend. Red looked pretty elusive in the open field and ran some good routes out of the backfield in the Orange-White Game on April 15.

I believe that Red proved enough this spring to legitimately push for a top three or four spot in the running back hierarchy heading into the fall. He’s a versatile weapon that can make plays in the receiving game out of the backfield and in the ground game given his field vision and low-to-the-ground running style.

Red made some real strides and he definitely made the most of the opportunity to get more reps at running back in spring camp with two key RBs either limited or missing throughout practice this offseason. The ability that Red put on display to find running lanes that seemingly emerge out of nowhere and fight for those valuable extra yards is something that is unique in this running back room.

If there is one Texas running back that would probably lose some reps due to the rise of Red this offseason, it’s probably redshirt senior Keilan Robinson. Keilan is the most similar in skill set and versatility to Red given that he was used almost as much as a receiver out of the backfield as he was on rushing plays last season (22 targets compared to 25 rushing attempts).

I understand that Keilan has the talent and experience edge over Red. But Red is going to challenge for reps this fall, and Keilan would be the most threatened among the running backs if that comes to fruition for Red.