Stock Up: Tyrone Swoopes
Swoopes is a regular on this list now as almost all the attention has been on him recently. For the second consecutive week, Swoopes lived up to the high standards that were set for him, throwing for 321 yards. The coaching staff finally looks comfortable letting him air it out, and it is paying off. But most importantly, Swoopes is finally running and showing off the legs. He is by no means “Vince Young Jr.,” but he is effective. His 14 rushes for 95 yards and a touchdown really opened up the offense against Iowa State. The young quarterback is improving at a rapid pace, and everyone can tell.
Stock Down: Johnathan Gray
The Longhorns carried the ball 39 times against Iowa State, but only six of those went to Gray, who managed to punch one into the endzone. The former five-star recruit’s workload has decreased each game, as senior running back Malcolm Brown has earned the bulk of the carries. Gray got over 50 percent of the running back touches in week one and exactly half the carries the following week, as he and Brown were sharing the workload. But, his impact has declined ever since. Despite Gray’s higher yards per carry average, Brown is getting the majority of the touches now. Over the past three weeks, Gray has had just 34 percent of the running back touches, and that number is trending downwards.
Stock Up: Dylan Haines
The 74-yard interception return for a touchdown stands out — as it should. But, the former walk-on did more than that against the Cyclones. He led the team in solo tackles with nine and helped limit the deep throws for Iowa State. He is also involved with the special teams on punts and kickoffs. The sophomore safety is quickly becoming one of head coach Charlie Strong’s favorites.
“That’s the kind of guy that you like to see go play because he plays hard, and he gives you everything he’s got,” Strong said.
Stock Down: Adrian Colbert
The Longhorns have two stars at corner: senior Quandre Diggs, who has made his presence felt for a while, and junior Duke Thomas, who is emerging as a shutdown guy on the other side after a few slow games to start the year. But aside from that, Texas’ secondary has some major holes. Colbert, who got the majority of the reps with freshman Jason Hall out, was sloppy all around. He didn’t help stop the rush or do much to slow down the passing game. He ended up with just five tackles on the evening, a rather unimpressive number against a team that completed 36 passes and ran the ball 38 times. If it wasn’t for Haines’ pick-six and Thomas’ late-game interception, the secondary’s performance would have looked awful. Giving up 345 passing yards to Iowa State is nothing to brag about.
