Kyle Flood has done a phenomenal job re-creating this Texas offensive line. Without bringing in any transfer portal additions, Flood added a lot of talent to this group. Kelvin Banks and Cole Hutson, both true freshmen, impressed this coaching staff enough to earn starting jobs before the season opener against ULM.
Now, five games into the season, let’s take a look at how this offensive line has done. We will look at each starter individually, as well as giving thoughts on the offensive line as a whole. Go to your local diner and order a stack of pancakes, because we’re about to talk about the Hog Mollies up front!
Texas Offensive Line Unit As A Whole
This is an incredibly young unit. As mentioned earlier, the unit consists of two true freshman as starters. However, Hayden Conner is a sophomore with less than 150 offensive snaps in his college career. Center Jake Majors and right tackle Christian Jones are the two veteran leaders of this unit.
This offensive line has been very impressive in pass protection thus far. Kelvin Banks has been the best of the bunch, but everyone has held their own in one on one situations.
As run blockers, this offensive line has struggled so far this season. Whether it is zone or gap schemes, this unit struggles with getting any strong push against defensive linemen consistently. They’re such a young unit, it is fair to say they still have a lot of development left.
However, it isn’t always bad. This Texas offensive line has shown they can work together well and create some movement upfront. It isn’t time to worry yet, Longhorn Fans.
Left Tackle: Kelvin Banks Jr.
We start off with maybe the most impressive lineman of the starting five. Kelvin Banks was a consensus five-star offensive tackle out of Humble, Texas. Banks had all the traits to become a great college tackle, but to show them off this early in his career is highly encouraging.
Strengths
- Anchor in Pass Protection
- Ability to stay In-Phase with Pass Rusher
- Foot Speed
Weaknesses
- Strength in the Run Game
- Ability to Get to the Second Level in the Run Game
Left Guard: Hayden Conner
Filling in for Junior Angilau, who was hurt in a Fall scrimmage, Hayden Conner came into the 2022 season without a lot of expectations. As a three-star recruit in the 2021 recruiting class, Conner actually found himself playing 110 snaps last season as a true freshman. In those 110 snaps, 80 were as a run blocker where he impressed with his natural brute strength.
Hayden Conner was operating as the right guard all off-season, until Angilau went down with his injury in the Fall. Kyle Flood and Steve Sarkisian decided to move Conner over to the left guard spot and let Cole Hutson man the right guard position. Hutson was impressive in the Spring, plus it would allow Texas to spread out their inexperience along the offensive line.
Hayden Conner deserves more time to acclimate to his new position. Switching from right guard to left guard sounds easy, however it typically is a tough process for offensive linemen. Their entire technique is now flipped and they basically have to re-learn their fundamentals. Some offensive linemen pick this up quicker than others, as is the case for anything in life.
Strengths
- Strong Hands
- Anchor as a Pass Protector
Weaknesses
- Foot Speed
- Leverage in Pass Protection
- Overall Run Blocking Technique: Foot Movement, Hand Placement, and Leverage
Center: Jake Majors
Starting center Jake Majors is the second most veteran player along this offensive line. Coming into the 2022 season, Majors had 938 offensive snaps. Majors filled in at center for an injured Derek Kerstetter at the end of the 2020 season and never looked back. Taking the starting center job over in 2021 while Kerstetter would slide to right tackle.
Although Majors impressed immediately as a freshman, he hasn’t developed as much as Texas fans may have hoped for. PFF grades are not perfect, nor should they be the end-all, be-all when evaluating players. However, Majors grades have been pretty consistent in his college career so far. Majors has registered the following PFF grades: 62.6 in 2020, 65.6 in 2021, and 60.3 so far in 2022.
Strengths
- Leader Along the Offensive Line
- High IQ
- Pass Protection
Weaknesses
- Play Strength in the Run Game
- Getting to the Second Level
Right Guard: Cole Hutson
The other true freshman who won a starting role this Fall camp. Cole Hutson wasn’t a flashy five-star offensive line recruit, however he was a priority for this Texas coaching staff. Kyle Flood and company worked fast: offering Hutson May 30th, getting an official visit June 11th, and finally getting a commitment from Hutson on July 2nd.
Cole Hutson has been an encouraging bright spot for this offensive line so far this season. Although he has a long way to go before we can talk about him as an elite player, as a true freshman he has held his own every Saturday.
Hutson’s biggest test was week two against Alabama. Steve Sarkisian assigned him to block Alabama’s two best pass rushers in Will Anderson Jr and Dallas Turner on several occasions. Utilizing a “Trap Pass” concept, the left tackle Kelvin Banks would down block the interior defensive lineman while Hutson would pull from his right guard spot and replace Kelvin Banks. Giving Hutson a running start and asking him to block the talented edge rushers one on one. He preformed very well in those scenarios.
Strengths
- Foot Speed
- Working as a Puller in the Run Game and the Passing Game
Weaknesses
- Balance
- Overall Strength
Right Tackle: Christian Jones
Christian Jones is the most veteran offensive lineman on this Texas team. However, that isn’t stopping him from being this offensive lines most improved player. Jones came into the 2022 season with 1,435 snaps under his belt. To see the improvement he has had from last year to this year is a testament to his work ethic and Kyle Flood’s coaching.
As mentioned earlier with Hayden Conner, switching positions along the offensive line isn’t always a smooth process. Christian Jones played the majority of his snaps in 2019 and 2020 at the right tackle spot, where he showed he could develop into a solid starter. However, in 2021 the new Texas staff decided to flip him to the left tackle position. Jones ended up struggling there all season long.
Now, Jones is back at his more natural position and he is impressing. So far this season Jones has had 177 pass blocking snaps. In those snaps he has only allowed seven pressures. That is good for a 96% efficiency rating on pass blocking snaps.
Strengths
- Consistent
- Play Strength
Weaknesses
- Foot Speed
- Leverage as a Run Blocker and Pass Protector
Bonus, Jumbo Tight End: Andrej Karic
Although not a starter, Andrej Karic has played significant playing time this season due to Sarkisian using him as an extra blocker in jumbo formations. Karic has seen 77 snaps already this season, 60 of those snaps coming in as an inline tight end.
Andrej Karic is not a tight end, to be clear. Listed at 6’5″ and 306lbs, Karic is the back-up left tackle. Sarkisian has decided to get him on the field more often by using him as a jumbo tight end, it has produced mixed results thus far.
Strengths
- Overall Strength
Weaknesses
- Balance
- Foot Speed
Conclusion
This offensive line is far from perfect, you could argue they aren’t even good right now. However, this unit is incredibly young and talented. This unit has shown obvious improvement from week one. They’re borderline great in pass protection already. However, they still aren’t good as run blockers. As mentioned above, they’ve shown flashes, but it isn’t often enough to feel good about them closing out a close game with a four minute drive.
We only went over the top six offensive linemen for Texas right now, but the Longhorns have a lot of young talent on the bench as well. To name a few: D.J. Campbell (2022 five-star), Neto Umeozulu (2022 four-star), Malik Agbo (2022 four-star), Cameron Williams (2022 four-star).
We must look for steady improvement from everyone along this offensive line for the rest of the season. If we see improvements, this Texas offense could realistically fight for a top-three spot in college football.
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