Steve Sarkisian identifies the next step for running back Jaydon Blue

In his first two seasons at Texas, head coach Steve Sarkisian knew he could lean on the running game. Now, Bijan Robinson is a likely first round NFL Draft pick. Meanwhile, the less recognized but still important Roschon Johnson is moving onto the NFL too. Because of this turnover, Sarkisian is facing questions at the running back position.

There, Jaydon Blue is expected to become a key contributor. Still, as Sarkisian explained, Blue has steps he still needs to take.

“Well, I think naturally for a young runner when you come in, is how much can you learn from the guys in front of you?” Steve Sarkisian said.

“And I thought that when you look at Bijan, when you look at Roschon, and then you look at Keilan [Robinson] and his approach to it, I think there’s a level of maturity that those guys played with, and I think Jaydon really has matured in his time here where it’s not always about one play. It’s about a complete body of work, game-by-game, scrimmage-by-scrimmage, practice-by-practice. Then growing from it.”

Jaydon Blue was a four-star recruit in the Class of 2022, according to the On3 Industry Recruiting Rankings. As a freshman, he played in nine games, running for 33 yards on 15 carries.

“And some mistakes are going to occur but how do you reset and re-calibrate and then go do it again the next carry or the next route or the next protection. And that, for him, is where I think we’ve seen a ton of growth in him and that’s what’s needed,” Sarkisian said.

“Because every run is not going to be beautifully blocked with a huge hole and it’s a gain of 50 yards. Sometimes, you’ve got to go get a dirty three or four yards and get back in the huddle and try to go do it again. And I think that’s the level of maturity that we’re looking for from him.”

Steve Sarkisian on his expectations for the running backs.

Steve Sarkisian and Texas are trying to replace 2,134 yards rushing and 23 rushing touchdowns from last season. That production was incredibly important in helping a young Quinn Ewers land on his feet in his first season as a starter.

“At the end, we’ve got a long way to go to figure out until September, when we play. We’ve got a lot practices still to go. We’ve got a whole summer conditioning program to go through. So I’m not as pressed for somebody to just kind of take the bull by the horns right this second. Ultimately, by the time the games roll around, somebodies gotta be the first guy to jog off the sideline when we break the huddle. But we’ll figure that out. We have time for that,” Sarkisian said.

“And if it’s one, if it’s two, what does that look like? We’ve got really good coaches on staff, we’ll figure that out. These guys are competing at a high level and it’s a very talented room. But I do think we have some time until we get to that point.”