With fall camp fast approaching for last year's Big 12 champions, the Texas Longhorns are heading into summer practice with higher hopes than any team since Mack Brown left Austin. Texas is entering a new era in the SEC and is eager to be the best team in the conference.
Still, there are plenty of questions surrounding the team heading into camp, and with nearly a month until the start of games against Colorado State, that's the biggest talking point heading into summer training in Austin.
Texas has one of the deepest wide receiver corps in the country heading into 2024. With four prominent pass-catchers leaving for NFL teams after the 2023 season, outsiders would wonder if the Longhorns' passing game would regress, but head coach Steve Sarkisian has taken numerous steps to build one of the best receiver corps in the country.
On the player development side, Texas returns blocking tight end Gunner Helm, who made strides in pass-catching in 2023, as well as sophomore wide receivers Jontay Cook II and DeAndre Moore Jr., who are expected to see significant increases in playing time and production (Moore has zero receptions and Cook just eight in 2023). Redshirt freshman speedster Ryan Niblett will be a step behind in the depth department but could bring the ability to stretch the field in a pinch.
Where Sarkisian really started to emerge was through the transfer portal. Texas added four pass catchers, including two Alabama pass catchers ranked No. 1 by their position in 247Sports' portal rankings, wide receiver Isaiah Bond and tight end Amari Niblack. Matthew Golden and Cyrus Bolden, who transferred from Houston and Oregon State, respectively, were four-star transfers who averaged 52 yards per game and 13 combined touchdowns in 2023.
Ryan Wingo leads an impressive group of rookie receivers and has received plenty of praise since joining the team in Austin, and while he will likely be the only one able to contribute in 2024, there are also Parker Livingston, Freddie DuBose and top 200 player Aaron Butler waiting in the wings.
The big question for Texas is what to do with this group. Seven wide receivers are guaranteed meaningful playing time, but Sarkisian's average sets typically have him using only two or three on the field. If there's a primary receiver, it's Bonds, but Wingo, at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, has the most athletic build for the position. Bolden has produced the most, Bonds was the most coveted transfer, and Cook and Moore waited behind the scenes for a year. This may be the first time in Sarkisian's coaching tenure that he's used more than five pass catchers, but it hasn't been as prominent in his past three seasons at Texas.
It's not a stretch to say the Longhorns have upgraded their secondary in 2023. Despite the unexpected loss of cornerback Terrance Brooks, Texas acquired Austin native and highly-touted Clemson safety Andrew Mukuba and San Jose State forward Jayveon Cole to fill the void left by Brooks. The Longhorns were also fortunate that nickel cornerback Ja'Di Barron stayed on for an extra year, boosting him at a potential problem position.
But that group was the team's biggest weakness in 2023. Michael Pennis Jr. and Rome Odunze came together for 430 yards and 37 points in the Sugar Bowl, solidifying their spots in the top 10 of the NFL Draft. The Longhorns likely won't face a duo as good in 2024, but Texas won't be playing like that when it plays its biggest rival in 2023.
On the bright side, this group is better. Malik Muhammad and Derek Williams spent the entire offseason in Austin and are no longer true freshmen competing against NFL-level talent. Mukuba should provide more than current Auburn Tiger Jaelin Thompson, but there are still question marks over where the boundary cornerback positions will go between Cole, Gavin Holmes and potential freshman Kobe Black.
The Longhorns have a deeper and older secondary, currently featuring five seniors in the seven-man main rotation, but that still might not be enough to get them over the hump. Keep an eye on guys like Muhammad and Mukuba in camp, they could be X-factors in November, December and maybe January.
In the second week of the college football season, Texas beat Alabama, but two freshmen did their best to ensure the win. Running back CJ Baxter played in the game but was injured after 15 touches, while linebacker Anthony Hill had his best performance of the year, sacking Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe twice among his six tackles.
Texas has another important out-of-conference matchup coming up in Week 2 of 2024, when they travel to Ann Arbor to take on the defending champion Michigan Wolverines. This year's Wolverines are not the same team as last year, having lost their coach, quarterback and offensive star, but Texas will need a surprise star player to win a game like this.
So which freshmen will see playing time as early as Week 2? Hill and Baxter had impressive camps in 2023, and the Longhorns have two players projected to be big players in 2024: Wingo and edge rusher Collin Simmons.
Both have a mixed pass-rush group with UTSA transfer Trey Moore, senior Valin Sorrell and junior Ethan Burke, with Hill also mixed in a bit, but Simmons appears to have already been in the rotation after spring practice. Wingo could be a player to watch at Michigan, while Simmons is likely to be the biggest defensive contributor on Day 1 in the 2024 class.
A few other names could make waves early on. Brandon Baker, a top-three offensive tackle, will try to win the backup tackle position, which will be important when facing a physical team like Michigan, while Black and defensive back Xavier Filsheim are very talented but could be blocked early in the season. Running back Jerick Gibson will also compete with Tre Withner for RB3 touches, a position Sarkisian doesn't hesitate to use.
Summer workouts mean football is on the way, and Texans fans should be ecstatic about their team heading into 2024. There are still some question marks remaining, but as the offseason draws to a close, we expect to see significant contributions from some new names and some familiar faces.
