In case you haven’t been paying attention, college football is changing in the state of Texas. The Aggies are moving to the SEC, the Longhorns may be the the fourth-best team in the state and Texas Christian is moving up to play with the big boys.
Lance Zierlein knows Lone Star State football as well as anyone. Based out of Houston, he writes about the NFL draft, fantasy football and football handicapping for The Sideline View and Chron.com. He also co-hosts the morning radio show for KBME (790 AM)
Zierlein graciously agreed to endure “Five Burning Questions” with CBR about the major college programs in the country’s most football-crazy state…
1. You’re known as a fantasy football expert. How long did you have to go to school for that?
The entire program took 8 years. I spent three years getting my bachelor’s in “General Fantasy Football Studies” and then pursued my Masters in “Draft Strategy and Waiver Wire Calculations.” After that I spent a year abroad in Spain as a counselor at one of Gregg Rosenthal’s fantasy camps and finally did some mission work in my final year as I traveled with Tim Tebow to third world countries performing circumcisions and beefing up on my tight end rankings.
2. There has been a lot of conversation about the wisdom of Texas A&M’s decision to leave the Big 12 for the SEC. If you were to take your typical Aggie team of the last five years and drop it in the SEC in any given year, about where do you think it would finish? From a talent standpoint, where do the Aggies rate relative to the SEC?
Over the last five years? They would struggle to win more than 6 games.
This year, however, I feel like their offense is one of the more potent units in college football and I think most SEC teams would have a hard time keeping up with them. Obviously, LSU and Bama would slow the Ags way down, but I’m not convinced that Arkansas is better than A&M this year.
Offensively, the Aggies are fine, but defensively they are nowhere near being ready to be compared to some of the units in that conference. Von Millers grow on trees in that conference, and they have to load up their two-deep with much, much better talent on the front seven, which means more size and more speed.
3. Along similar lines, how ready is TCU for the Big 12?
Very ready based on their coaching and recruiting over the last five years.
Patterson’s defense is struggling this year, but on the whole, that defense has been terrific and he has done it with a mixture of quality talent and great coaching. With TCU, you are going to see consistency and you’re going to see a team that won’t deviate much from year to year from their philosophies on both sides of the ball.
TCU is kind of like a Ronin. They travel from conference to conference and they haven’t really had much of a home. They are also used to being doubted. My guess is that the mental toughness that has developed in that program will pay dividends in the Big 12.
4. The downturn in Texas’ program since 2009 has generated its own fair share of debate. Some want to blame Mack Brown and his coaches, others say the talent level has dropped off. What has been the biggest problem plaguing the Longhorns in your opinion?
I think the coaching there has always been hit or miss, even when they won a national championship, so I have to think it is the talent level. I am in constant contact with regional scouts who are looking at Big 12 and SEC West talent all year long, and they have been talking about the lack of talent on the offensive side for three straight years now.
The biggest problem for the ‘Horns is that they are missing on their offensive line prospects and they’ve let too many good running backs get out of state. Obviously Malcolm Brown is a big step in the right direction, and I think the Horns did the right thing in naming David Ash the starter. With that said, Texas should be more than just Jaxon Shipley and just some guys as receiving targets. Defensively, I think they are going to be alright, but offensively, they have to get the offensive line fixed, and that means recruiting better talent and athleticism at that position.
5. Looking ahead to the upcoming NFL draft, are there any sleeper prospects in the state of Texas who have caught your eye?
I love University of Houston wide receiver Patrick Edwards. He’s small, but he’s a blazer who can stretch the field, work out of the slot and return kicks. With teams recognizing the value of difficult match-ups in the slot, Edwards is going to get drafted… especially after he runs at the combine or at his workout.
I’m also a fan of Baylor running back Terrance Ganaway, who I think can be a similar style runner in the NFL as LeGarrette Blount. Ganaway runs with power, and he has just enough burst to be effective in a power running system.
