How Cole Hutson's Return to Texas Changes the Longhorns Offensive Line Depth Chart

The college football eligibility playbook continues to morph as the years roll on, with a breakthrough ruling now allowing some players to return to the college ranks.

Texas offensive lineman Cole Hutson, who started 23 games and appeared in almost 50 across his college career, will return to the 40 Acres despite going undrafted in this past year’s draft and participating in minicamp for the Cleveland Browns and Dallas Cowboys.

Although he was out on the field for day one of fall camp for Texas yesterday, he was not officially listed on the roster. Today, it was officially announced that he’ll suit up once again for the Longhorns after settling with the NCAA.

Texas O-Line Might Be The Deepest In The Country

Hutson’s return is a welcome addition to a Texas Longhorns group that has all the expectations to be one of the final teams by the time next calendar year rolls around.

When asked back at SEC Media Days in Tampa, Florida, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said he’d love to have one of his experienced linemen back with the team.

“At the end of the day, there’s nothing like having an experienced player on your team, in your locker room, in the offensive line room,” Sarkisian said. “It’s been seven months since the last time we played. So there’s a lot that we have to kind of sort through and unpack. But if we’re fortunate enough to have him back, it’d be great.”

Sarkisian got his wish.

But for Huston, it's not as simple as going back to his spot from last season, either at left guard or center, the two positions he started last season.

Because of how the situation has unfolded, Texas brought in two transfers at the left guard spot Hutson occupied: Western Kentucky guard Laurence Seymour and Oregon State’s Dylan Sikorski as potential replacements in one of the most intriguing position battles at camp.

It's a stiff bet from Hutson’s end, deciding that being a practice squad body or trying his hand at Spring Football was not in the cards. It’s a bold approach, challenging college football’s governing body and returning to a team that already “moved on,” per se.

Granted, Hutson has the Big 12/Southeastern playing experience, and lots of it, compared to Seymour and Sikorski having half or a fraction of experience.

But this late into the season, missing both the spring and the practice window, it would be hard to see Hutson in a starting role come game one against Texas State in little under a month. But as life is in the trenches, injuries are unavoidable, and the Longhorns know all too well about shuffling offensive linemen groupings.

While that left guard spot may have plenty of depth and Connor Robertson secured at center, it never hurts to have another lineman with experience snapping, especially already having chemistry with your incumbent starter.

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