Advertisement

Five Texas players to watch this spring if the Horns are to have a special fall | Golden

cedric golden, austin american-statesman
·5 min read
3

The SEC doesn't care how many players Texas lost.

The bar remains high.

The Horns begin preparation for their first season in their new conference when spring football begins Tuesday with an array of new faces in camp for Steve Sarkisian's fourth season. With the bevy of talented players who departed the program — many of whom will be taken in the NFL draft — there are more than a few Longhorns who will have to step up if they are to make another College Football Playoff run.

Sarkisian will need it from all over to repeat that magic we witnessed. Here are five players who are a must watch this spring to make Texas a national player this fall:

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian talks with quarterback Quinn Ewers during a timeout in the 2023 season-opening win over Rice. Ewers enters his third season as the starting quarterback as Texas prepares to join the Southeastern Conference.
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian talks with quarterback Quinn Ewers during a timeout in the 2023 season-opening win over Rice. Ewers enters his third season as the starting quarterback as Texas prepares to join the Southeastern Conference.

Quinn Ewers, quarterback

Ewers will be among the most watched quarterbacks in the country, not only because he plays for Texas but because the Longhorns are leaving the Big 12 for the toughest league in the country. He showed us last season that he's capable of leading this team to special places (3,479 passing yards, 22 touchdowns, six interceptions), but the biggest question is whether he can stay healthy for a full season.

Ewers has missed six possible starts over the last two seasons and while Texas went 5-1 in those games, it’s really important that he avoid the injury bug in a season that can make or break him when it comes to his NFL prospects. He has added 10 pounds to his 6-foot-2 frame and is now tipping the scales at 205 pounds. The added bulk can't hurt.

Golden: Jonathon Brooks would look awfully nice in a Dallas Cowboys helmet, Mr. Jones

The pressure is on for him to deliver some Colt McCoy-type numbers, but he'll have to do it with some new starting receivers. And that's why spring football has value. It's a chance to develop chemistry with new teammates months before the season.

I expect Ewers to be behind center for the opener, but the most popular Texas backup since Major Applewhite is entering his second season. And as we all know, Arch Manning is waiting in the wings if Ewers gets hurt again. It would be great to see Ewers go wire to wire for the first, but there is talent at No. 2 just in case he gets banged up.

Wideout Matthew Golden transferred to Texas after playing two seasons at Houston. He will compete for a starting job in a Texas offense that's losing its top three receivers Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell and Jordan Whittington to the NFL.
Wideout Matthew Golden transferred to Texas after playing two seasons at Houston. He will compete for a starting job in a Texas offense that's losing its top three receivers Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell and Jordan Whittington to the NFL.

Matthew Golden, wide receiver

Texas has some returners with experience in DeAndre Moore and Johntay Cook II, but those guys are young. Golden arrives from Houston with plenty of game time under his belt.

Over the last two seasons, he's hauled in 76 passes for 988 yards and 13 touchdowns (38 catches for 404 yards and six touchdowns in 2023). He also brings some electricity to the kickoff return unit, having returned two kicks for touchdowns last season, one for 98 yards against TCU and another for 100 against West Virginia.

Golden: Texas right tackle Christian Jones has put in the work for his NFL dream

With Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell and Jordan Whittington going pro, Golden will make things a lot easier for Ewers if he becomes a plug-and-play producer.

Duncanville five-star edge rusher Colin Simmons will join a Texas defense seeking its first double-digit sack producer since 2013. Simmons had 32½ sacks in his final two high school seasons.
Duncanville five-star edge rusher Colin Simmons will join a Texas defense seeking its first double-digit sack producer since 2013. Simmons had 32½ sacks in his final two high school seasons.

Colin Simmons, edge rusher

We’re at 10 seasons and counting since the Longhorns had a double-digit sack man (Jackson Jeffcoat). To ask a freshman to reach such a number is asking a lot, but that's where Colin Simmons, the five-star edge rusher from Duncanville, is at.

I watched Hutto, my nephew’s team, get served up to the Duncanville prep All-American and his teammates in the opening round of the UIL state playoffs and it just wasn’t a fair fight. Simmons looked like a 28-year-old dad playing in a father-son game. He was simply un-blockable, finishing with 44½ sacks in his final three seasons.

With Simmons joining a corps of solid pass rushers in Barryn Sorrell, Anthony Hill Jr., Ethan Burke and UTSA transfer Trey Moore, Texas’ edge athlete could take a lot of pressure off the linebackers and secondary, which lost some key components this offseason.

Texas running back CJ Baxter ran for 659 yards, mostly as a backup to Jonathon Brooks last season. He will compete with Jaydon Blue for the starting job this spring. The Horns begin spring football Tuesday.
Texas running back CJ Baxter ran for 659 yards, mostly as a backup to Jonathon Brooks last season. He will compete with Jaydon Blue for the starting job this spring. The Horns begin spring football Tuesday.

CJ Baxter, running back

Baxter was named the starting running back entering last season, but Jonathon Brooks quickly revealed himself as one of the best running backs in the country. But Baxter is no slouch. He, who's the first true freshman running back to start the season opener for Texas since Ricky Williams, earned freshman All-America honors after averaging 4.8 yards per carry.

With Brooks prepping for the NFL draft, Baxter (659 rushing yards, five touchdowns, 24 catches for 156 yards in 2023) will battle the speedy Jaydon Blue for reps though there should be plenty to go around.

Texas defensive tackle Alfred Collins took a step up in production last season as part of a rotation with All-Big 12 selections T'Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy II. The Horns start spring football Tuesday.
Texas defensive tackle Alfred Collins took a step up in production last season as part of a rotation with All-Big 12 selections T'Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy II. The Horns start spring football Tuesday.

Defensive tackles: pick one, any one

If you can add all the Longhorns' defensive tackles and get half of what their predecessors produced last season, I'm guessing defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski would take it.

When a team loses a pair of defensive tackles that are being projected as first-round draft picks, the impact will be felt, and not in a good way. T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy II were the best tandem in college football and their departure leaves a gaping hole in the middle.

Alfred Collins enters his senior year after showing some signs of being a mainstay last season as part of the rotation, but we’re still waiting on him to have a breakout year. The Bastrop product and classmate Vernon Broughton figure to have first crack in the starting lineup, but they will be pushed by some hungry youngsters behind them and senior Tiaoalii Savea, who transfered in from Arizona.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Five Texas football players who must step up this spring for the Horns