Bijan Robinson, Cedric Baxter, and establishing pipeline positions
When Steve Sarkisian was hired at Texas we mentioned he had credibility to sell each and every position on offense. While his wide receiver in DeVonta Smith won a rare Heisman for the position, his tailbacks set the tone for the offense, his quarterback seemingly came out of nowhere to finish third in the Heisman vote, and it was all made possible by a wonderfully choreographed offensive line. Not to be forgotten, tight ends were used as receivers, blockers, and often in tandem in 12 personnel. Try to negative recruit all that.
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Sometimes you have to begin position pipelines from the ground up. Given Sark was at Alabama and playing wingman to the great Nick Saban, it was his job to keep the talent flowing into the pipelines rather than starting them from scratch.
While Sark had it made at Alabama, there were no such pipelines to take advantage of at Texas. Sure, there has been greatness at running back and quarterback at Texas, but past pipelines were rusted shut by the time the new head coach arrived. There was promise, however, at running back due to Bijan Robinson.
Robinson, a five-star from Arizona, improbably selected Texas over Ohio State thanks to the connection he felt with former running backs coach Stan Drayton. Given Alabama’s ability to run the ball under Sark despite his reputation for having a passing offense, Robinson was the perfect guy to use as a proof of concept at a position to help establish a pipeline at Texas. Not only is he a unique talent, he’s also highly marketable in an age of college football where that can be compensated. This was always a set of circumstances to be capitalized on.
In addition to Robinson, Texas has good, talented running backs on the roster. Roschon Johnson will sign a few contracts in the NFL, and not because he’s bouncing from team to team. Keilan Robinson has elite burst and surprising toughness — he was good enough to play at Bama. Jonathon Brooks is a nuanced back with good feet, vision, and balance. Jaydon Blue is a speed back with great hands and big-play ability. It’s a stable most schools would love to have but none are locks to be ‘the guy’ after Robinson.
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Orlando (Fla.) Edgewater running back Cedric Baxter is as special of a talent as Robinson. It seems blasphemous, but roll the tape and you’ll see elements of all the backs listed above. He’s big and fast, which is obvious to see, but his feel to find the crease and quickness to get through it at his size is very uncommon. If he stays healthy, he’s a sure thing to be very productive. Like Robinson, he should end his high school career as a five-star.
Robinson followed by Baxter is how you never have a poor running game. It’s the makings of a pipeline similar to Derek Henry to Damien Harris to Najee Harris.
Sark had to take advantage of Robinson and now he has. The well choreographed offensive line Kyle Flood had at Bama is in early rehearsal at Texas. While Texas may not have a wide receiver on the level of Smith, they’re already building a pipeline off the success of Xavier Worthy’s freshman season. With Arch Manning in the 2023 class, quarterback seems to be in good shape.
Though you wouldn’t say Texas has established pipelines just yet, they’ve broken ground all across the offensive side of the ball and with Sark at the helm, it will ensure his preferred side of the ball does nothing to hurt his reputation as a mastermind.
