Burnt Orange Nation

He's a special teams weapon too, isn't he?

I like the idea of having a super specialist for returns.

absolutely

it’d be great to have this kid back there returning punts. He looks like he has the skill set to be a threat and it’d be nice not to have Diggs or a member of the ever fragile Shipley family back there.

cade21 - January 26, 2012 reply

Yup.

I'm not super optimistic

about him. Being a punt returner was also one of Desean Hales’ strengths(in HS) but he has never fielded a punt.

thebrat - January 26, 2012 reply

Monroe averaged 26.25yds/PR and 27.14 yds/KR as a HS senior

And I don’t think he’s ever returned a punt at UT either, although he has returned some kickoffs, sometimes quite electrically. I’m really surprised that Hales has never really been able to get on the field, and that Monroe can’t seem to earn enough confidence of the coaches to get in more gameday situations.

vanterminatorhorn - January 26, 2012 reply

this is awesome...

…first we get a awesome recruit, second i learned a new word today, vacillate. thanks DJ and welcome to texas. hook em!

I hear ya! Whenever I get a little chafed I always vacillate!

JoeT63 - January 26, 2012 reply

interesting

whenever I vacillate I get a little chafed…

UTLawGrad - January 26, 2012 reply

nice examples of using vacillate in a sentence :)

vanterminatorhorn - January 26, 2012 reply

Thanks, I'm studying for the LSAT...

JoeT63 - January 26, 2012 reply

Mistake not to get on this kid from the beginning

#Freedajejohnson #fromTCU

CMDR - January 26, 2012 via mobile reply

So true

I don’t understand the misses on the Austin area kids (like Ryan Swope and Emory Blake). The kids are Burnt Orange at heart and talented as all get out. It is like the fact that they are so easy to get we miss.

Welcome to the Big XII Coach Patterson

Snide Aside - January 26, 2012 reply

Dear TCU

Welcome to the league. We’re going to continue cherry-picking your favorite recruits at the last minute, because that’s what we do.

It’s one of the reasons why some folks don’t like us.

Honestly, we’re real nice folks. But we know the advantages we have and we use them. We’re Texas.

I hope this comes through, this is a kid I’d love to see in burnt orange… streaking past would-be tacklers. Kid’s got quicks for days, I’m just sayin.

windycityhorn - January 26, 2012 reply

TCU fan

is a prideful, feisty dude. It’s going to be really fun interacting with them over stuff like this and on-field results. Could be a fun rivalry.

Nickel Rover - January 26, 2012 reply

I also heard that TCU fans spit blood.

So I would be careful not to look them in the eyes.

spinmonkey - January 26, 2012 reply

They be blood-spitters ... but they still be horny.

this is why

i have felt all along that Aggie was doing us both a favor by leaving. Soon they will have a whole new life, not tied to us, and i think they will be happy.
But we will just increase the intensity of our Texas Tech, TCU and Baylor rivalries. Without all the idiot stuff that went with the aggies. It can be pure football hate and that is fine.

if we get this guy it will make the week a lot nicer if DGB goes someplace else.
but what a recruiting class. Way to go Coaches, everyone of you

Longhorn723 - January 26, 2012 reply

This was one of the kids that blew up at the Sparq's combine right?

HornsUpInLA - January 26, 2012 reply

Set the national SPARQ record

and outperformed Landon Collins in the initial testing. No small feat, that.

Do we need to talk to LC's mom

To get her approval? I don’t want her against us.

yep

Hopefully we get to play tcu every thanksgiving for the best Texas team. Also wouldn’t mind flipping tcu recruits to use against them.

And in all fairness

TCU in the Big XII also helps them sell their program to DFW kids and that also dips into OU’s best Texas base which is a good thing.

I hope we do have some good contests with TCU. They earned their good rep. and it is much diffrent than it was 20 years ago. I hope they knock off OU since A&M never could.

2010 aggy gives you the evil eye.

GBR-

Is DJ taking the spot that was going to be offered to the TE Hobbs? I read that offer isn’t going to happen so I assume that is because DJ is back with us.

Not sure exactly

whether Johnson or Santos took that spot. Either way, the bottom line is that Hobbs isn’t coming to Texas.

sounds like hobbs is a great kid

I wish him all the success in the world, but I think there are better options coming up in 2013 class. Sometimes it is better to make due with what you have until you see something you really like.

codaxx - January 26, 2012 reply

i thought

The linebacker from Oregon took hobbs offer.

Dustin Brockelman - January 26, 2012 reply

We also offered (or will offer) Santos and Contrell, I thought someone said the spot we were saving for DGB would go to vincent hobbs if DGB went to Arky (probable).

"if DGB went to Arky (probable)."

You haven’t been keeping up. There have been various pieces of info the last couple of days indicating Arky has probably dropped to 3rd behind Texas/Mizzou. Among them….
- Momma doesn’t like Petrino.
- Family doesn’t like Arky academics.
- Petrino’s “accidental” bumping into DGB in San Antonio which caused an NCAA infraction (probably minor).

IT spoke to a source in Springfield that seemed to confirm this overall shift of Arky down to 3rd.

LonghorninRaiderland - January 26, 2012 reply

"...though Johnson's skill set is probably closer to former 'Horn Ramonce Taylor as a guy who can work as both a wide receiver and a running back. "

I always loved RT and his explosive playmaking ability, too bad a few bad decisions ended his career at Texas. Johnson looks just as explosive, and looks like he is a good fit for the position of DJ Monroe position as well. I hope we can land this guy.

A few bad decisions....

kind of an understatement, isn’t it? Wasn’t he dealing drug and got caught with like a pound of weed?

Dustin Brockelman - January 26, 2012 reply

Five pounds.

In a Big 12 monogrammed backpack sitting in his car after he called the cops because the window on his Tahoe got broken after he threatened to come back and shoot some people because he’d been ask to leave because he’d been trying to sell his weed (apparently) at the private party. The best detail? I mean, besides the fact that he called the cops and allowed them to search his car despite having time to at least hide the weed…He had the five pounds split up into one-pound baggies. So not only was he trying to sell weed at this party, but he was apparently trying to move it in large amounts.

My favorite part of that story was...

If my recollection serves me, I was hearing rumors around the time of that party/fight/subsequent arrest that the party he was trying to move the product at was actually a graduation party for some Aggies just back home from school. Timing fit at least…it was late May. As if the rest of the story isn’t bad enough, you try to do that kind of business uninvited at a party for a fanbase that’s not exactly friendly to your allegiences to begin with…????

….then again I have absolutely nothing to substantiate that either at the time or now with my schoddy memory.

Shppy72 - January 26, 2012 reply

Yup,

that was the story.

That's a fantastic tale

I hadn’t heard it before.

One of these days I’ll regale this board with my story of getting high with Ricky Williams. (I know, I’m probably not the only person who has such a story.)

(Was post-college for both of us, BTW.)

windycityhorn - January 26, 2012 reply

Tokin' w/ Ricky?!

Never, not in a million years. I gotta hear this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-z8YYEQJ8A

He's got ambition

You gotta give him that

paperjames - January 26, 2012 reply

Mine was...

That he called the cops, waited for them to get there and then let them search his car which had weed in it. Surprised he hasn’t been featured on America’s Dumbest Criminals yet.

jdwall12 - January 26, 2012 reply

Speaking of Ramonce, my favorite moment

One clip pretty much sums up who Ramonce was as a player:

CMDR - January 26, 2012 reply

I always liked

the four carries for 12 yards and the 27-yard touchdown run in the Rose Bowl against USC to effectively summing up his career.

Yeah I think I saw that game

JoeT63 - January 26, 2012 reply

refresh my memory

Was that the time we played the greatest team of all time?

CMDR - January 26, 2012 reply

Have you been talking to Keith Jackson and Matt Leinart again?!

you are correct

best team ever

jlhotze - January 26, 2012 reply

Ramonce was so smooth.

When he was full-speed, it looked like he had actual wheels under his torso. What an effortless stride.

ramonce taylor

I think I saw him at the NFL combine in like 08. Anybody know if he is playing somewhere?

Indoor Football League

somewhere in south Texas….

Rio Grande Valley Magic

Dude, he's just living the dream

plus

he’s spending less in gas money to go south-o-the-border for “supplies”

UTLawGrad - January 26, 2012 reply

RT: Such a waste of talent

Before the weed stuff, he was an academic casualty. In fact, I’m not sure how he was eligible for the USC game. Mack barred him from spring training in ’06, supposedly because of academic deficiencies. Maybe he was OK thru fall ’05, then stopped going to class the following spring.

That burst out of the backfield is such a field stretcher. The field gets wide open on third-and-long, third-and-medium, when the receivers scatter and the defense fires people at the QB . . . who then can give to or pass to the speedy back.

edsp - January 26, 2012 reply

Yet he carried a 3.5 gpa at Belton.

Riiiiiiight.

Belton was on a 6 point scale back then, so a 3.5 is plausible.

LongCat - January 26, 2012 reply

Ahhh

That’ll do it.

thanx

I remember him in the rose bowl against usc comming up big. so. How soon do u think daje Johnson will get and how much? Is it going to be like 3 to 5 times?

since DJ Monroe is still on the roster...

Daje may not get any carries… Also Goodwin is back as well and came on strong at the end of the year…

May be a good Kick Off Returner/Punt Returner

What's the likelihood he 'shirts?

I doubt he’s as refined as Ramonce Taylor was (that seems to be the most apt comparison) and could use a shirt year to refine his skills at WR and scat back (DJ’s role). After next year, DJ and Goodwin will be gone, and he can hopefully step in.

If the coaches

see Johnson as more versatile and harder working than Monroe, there’s no reason he can’t play on offense immediately.

True.

Hopefully DJ doesn’t get supplanted (not trying to rehash that whole scenario) and Johnson gets a learning year. But if he can offer us more, sounds good.

As long as it's a matter of Monroe's earning it

I’d like to see him keep or expand his role, but only if he’s going to improve and do the things coaches want him to do. Pretty disappointing so far.

I don't know if we can say

he hasn’t improved or practiced hard. That’s for the coaches to decide. But, as has been said before, Harsin and co. have talked about getting him the ball more. So we will see. I want to see Johnson ’shirt, personally, to learn.

I was thinking Ramonce only played because of Selvin Young's injury

But that’s wrong, because I remember watching him bust out for 96yds. against North Texas in my first in-person Texas game. They won 63-0, although it was a relatively quiet day for VY IIRC. They retired a Bevo though, and Benson and Selvin had good showings. Anyway, Selvin went down for the season the next week, in that thriller against the University of Matt Jones.

Ramonce played because of Albert Hardy's off-field problems

I believe those were drug related as well.

I specifically went to that game to see Hardy, so I was pretty bummed that he didn’t play. I clearly remember on RT’s first carry the announcer calling him “Romance” Taylor. And that was before the fairy tale spun by McFarland.

Romance was a beast

My poor cousin got stuck as his backup in hs haha.

HookemHouston - January 26, 2012 via mobile reply

haha whoops

Romance=ramonce

HookemHouston - January 26, 2012 via mobile reply

I don't think you mean Hardy

Hardy was a fullback, and he actually played in that and seven other games that season.

Do you mean Erik Hardeman? He sat that season due to academic ineligibility.

Speaking of Hardeman…

So let me get this straight: he’s arrested for felony cocaine possession on Dec. 13/14, 2004. In 2006, with the trial for arrest #1 still pending, he’s arrested for cocaine possession again, I believe another felony. He begins a 2yr. sentence for arrest #1 on July 10, 2007, and then a 5yr. sentence for the second arrest a week later. I can only imagine he appealed, because then he was arrested the very next month on two counts of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and one count of evading arrest. The very next day he begins a 30yr. sentence for the robberies, then six days later he begins a 2yr. sentence for evading arrest.

Wow. He was the #1 RB in the state in 2003, and heir to the Texas RB throne, which hadn’t failed to produce a 1000yd. rusher since 1994. The PITA is that he was the only RB in 2003, and how the surrounding classes went. The previous class had four-star RB’s in Hardy and Selvin, and three-star guy Clinton Haney. Hardy obviously ended up a backup FB and left the program after 2004, Haney left as well, and Selvin had his injury issues and seemed steered by coaches to just be a third-down back and returner. The 2004 class had zero RB’s, but Ramonce was recruited as an athlete and Ogbonnaya was a wide receiver before moving to RB before his RS-FR season.

Anyway, 2002-2004 wasn’t exactly a good stretch for getting running backs. 2005 had Charles, but the other two RB’s (Wilkerson and Houston) were gone before the next season. I think we all know what happened with Melton, who was an athlete recruit. 2006 yielded McGee and Cobb.

Ramonce Taylor was invaluable in 2005, but unless you count his role, the only RB recruit from the 2002-2011 classes who turned into real featured back was Jamaal Charles, and he only had one season of that. It’s been a pretty long drought since Cedric Benson. I’m truly hoping Brown, Bergeron, or Gray can do it, although it seems they might be sharing a lot of carries.

Yeah, Hardeman

Thanks.

Ken Rucker was.....

…… one sorry evaluator of RB talent. Pretty much an embarrassment for a marquee program.

HornChamps - January 27, 2012 reply

question

am I the only one that is not convinced his final position will be on offense. Speed and athleticism makes him very interesting as a cb

codaxx - January 26, 2012 reply

i agree

I think he will make a great db but I think the coaches already have their secondary set. It would be nice tho incredible depth at db this year.

"An offer has not yet been extended to Johnson by the Longhorns, that seems like only a formality at this point"

This really pisses me off. If we want him then formally offer. If it’s a “formality” then just do it. Why put the kid in the position of having to jeoparidize a sure thing (TCU offer) in order to come visit and get “what appears to be a formality” but hasn’t officially been offerred yet.

Normally I agree with Mack's policy of sitting down and talking to the player before extending an offer

But in this very specific instance, especially with the small window between now and NSD, I agree with you.

I wonder if the Hobbes no-offer is having any impact on spooking Daje.

I dunno.

I think Mack wants to do it formally. Nothing wrong with that.

Nothing wrong with it if you want to risk him say "nevermind. I don't want to risk the sure thing with TCU for a promise."

Comparing him to DJ?

That is a recipe to lose the recruit. DJ has such a little role in the program why would that attract Daje?

realmccoy - January 26, 2012 reply

The coaching might not be pushing a "Wanna be the next DJ Monroe?" angle to Daje

DJ

I am worried that in a couple years, we will all be begging to let this dj off of the leash too..

HookemHouston - January 26, 2012 via mobile reply

Are people still begging for Monroe to be unleashed?

He doesn’t seem to have established himself as a competent player in the minds of the coaches, and his in-game impacts have been few and far between.

I may be mistaken but...

I think GoBR did a write up about it before one of the last games. Perhaps he just has not proven it to the coaches though.

HookemHouston - January 26, 2012 via mobile reply

yup, here's a link to it

maybe this time..

got it. haha third time is the charm.

Right, can't link in the title

I do remember the thread, but I don’t think all of us are begging for Monroe to be let of the leash. Just some.

http://www.kspr.com/news/kspr-dorial-greenbeckham-hillcrest-super-recruit-gets-punked-with-pie-in-the-face-20120126,0,5447061.story

kcmorse - January 26, 2012 reply

Well damn.

HawkeyedFrog - January 26, 2012 reply

Haha poor frogs..

You can blame Oregon for this one! If Thomas Johnson hadn’t bailed, we wouldn’t be in this predicament right now. Welcome to the big 12 though….