Texas Football Freshmen Making a Strong Push For Immediate Playing Time

Texas is seeing some major early returns from these three freshmen so far in fall camp.

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian runs across the field during warm-ups prior to the NCAA football game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium on Aug. 30, 2025. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Texas has freshman risers in fall camp who may prove to be undeniable by the beginning of September.

The early returns at the Longhorns' first week of fall camp practices are extremely promising.

Promising enough where it doesn't seem crazy that these three freshmen could be playing their way into comfortable early-season roles:

RB Derrek Cooper

Texas Longhorns running back Derrek Cooper | @DerrekCooper80 - X

The running back room is supposed to heavily feature transfers Hollywood Smothers and Raleek Brown out of the backfield, but Derrek Cooper could be on his way to crashing the party and pushing Brown for his snaps, while providing more of a bruising look for defenses to deal with.

Cooper got a shoutout from Coach Steve Sarkisian when the latter was asked who set the tone for practice over the past week.

“Offensively, I touched on all those o-linemen, but these runners are running. You know, Derrek Cooper for a young guy, he runs a physical style, which is encouraging. Emmett Mosely blocking on the perimeter. Ryan Wingo. These guys are physical players," Sarkisian said.

Sarkisian later complained to the media that some players feel snubbed when there names aren't printed, but it's not lost that Cooper was the first name. Cooper could be the brute force complement to Sark's finesse duo from the portal.

WR Jermaine Bishop Jr.

According to upperclassman return man/receiver Ryan Niblett, Jermaine Bishop Jr. has looked great in fall camp so far. Sarkisian has called out Bishop's love of the game earlier in the spring, and that was evident throughout the first week of camp.

Bishop is showing great agility and on-ball ability, and he's been winning reps thus far against five-star freshman corner John Meredith III.

After a historic high school career in 6A Division 2 football in the Houston metro, Bishop may take minimal time getting out there to run routes for Arch Manning. He's in a loaded receiver room, but opportunities downfield will surely arise this fall.

LB Tyler Atkinson

While Ty'Anthony Smith will likely start in the middle and wear the green dot helmet, and Justin Cryer will be the primary backup MIKE, Tyler Atkinson is turning heads in camp and may be playing before long.

Atkinson has made a big jump from the spring to now, and if there are snaps to steal on the weakside behind Rasheem Biles, the Grayson (GA) could shift over to get them.

Will Muschamp's development will be put to the test with how quickly he could get Atkinson on the field during the 2026 season. It might be worth taking the chalk and believing the 4-star in-state product will see time on Cambell-Williams Field soon.

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