Steve Sarkisian is high on Texas running backs, tight ends, needs to see more from wide receivers

As Steve Sarkisian prepares for his first season as the head coach of the Texas Longhorns, he’s hoping to bring his explosive offense with him from Tuscaloosa. While he doesn’t have Najee Harris or DeVonta Smith in Austin, Sarkisian believes there’s enough talent to be a fearsome group.

This weekend, Sarkisian heaped praise on his running backs, including star Bijan Robinson.

“I feel good about the running back position. I feel confident,” stated Sarkisian, via the team’s YouTube channel. “We’re four-deep at that position with Bijan [Robinson], Roschon [Johnson], Keilan [Robinson] and [Jonathon] Brooks. 

Additionally, the Longhorns head coach felt confident about the play of Cade Brewer and the rest of Texas’ tight-ends.

“And I feel good about the tight ends. I think Cade [Brewer] and Jared [Wiley] are both playing well,” said Sarkisian. “I think Gunnar Helm is coming, I think [Ja’Tavion Sanders] and Juan [Davis] are coming.”

While it’s great news that two valuable offensive position groups are making strides, not every offensive group is inspiring confidence. Later on, Sarkisian stated he needs more out of the wide receivers. 

“But I thought we played okay, quite frankly, at wideout today. We need to be better,” said Sarkisian. “I didn’t think we played with the quite the sense of urgency that we’re accustomed to playing with. 

“I think there was a little bit of a combination of them, the quarterbacks and just we were a little off, I expect more out of them, I’ve seen more out of them, that’s why I expect more out of them. So there’s that combination of the quarterback-wide receivers, clearly that aspect of our game isn’t where it needs to be yet.”

Obviously, Sarkisian sees the talent that the position group possesses. The standard was set at Alabama for wide receivers in Sakisian’s offense by players like DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle. This season, the Longhorns receiving corps will have to improve by leaps and bounds to reach that standard.

Steve Sarkisian: Unimpressed by Texas QBs

In addition to the Longhorns play-makers, Casey Thompson and Hudson Card neck and neck in a tight quarterback battle for the starting job. However, neither quarterback has pulled away from the other, making it tough on Steve Sarkisian. After Texas’ Saturday scrimmage, both quarterbacks showed that they have work to do to earn the starting job.

Action against live defenses is the best way to test whether or not a quarterback is ready. For Texas, Thompson and Card aren’t at the level that Sarkisian expects. Still, Sarkisian isn’t overly concerned about this and believes it is part of the process of a quarterback competition.

“We didn’t want to play it conservative today,” Sarkisian said. “I wanted to push the limit with them and look at the decision-making, which I thought we did. And quite frankly, neither guy played up to the standard that I view as acceptable, and I think what they view as acceptable. But I think that’s part of the process.”

When Steve Sarkisian left his post as the Alabama offensive coordinator to become the head coach at Texas, he did so to build them into one of college football’s premier programs. Amid his first summer in Austin, the Texas heat isn’t the only thing making him sweat.

On3’s Jonathon Wagner contributed to this article.

Image courtesy of Tim Warner / Getty Images