ESPN's Post-Spring Rankings Have The Longhorns In An Interesting Spot
The Texas Longhorns are entering the upcoming season with a whole new identity. New head coach Steve Sarkisian, who is leading the program’s culture change, has completely transformed the Texas coaching staff.
ESPN has the Longhorns at No. 22 for the post-spring rankings.
Texas is returning 15 total starters (six offense, seven defense, two special teams), but has also lost some key players including QB Sam Ehlinger, WR Brennan Eagles, OT Samuel Cosmi, DT Ta'Quon Graham, LB Joseph Ossai, SS Chris Brown, and FS Caden Sterns.
Now, the quarterback competition will be between Casey Thompson and Hudson Card. But most notably, the offense will feature young sophomore Heisman candidate Bijan Robinson.
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Here’s ESPN’s outlook for the Longhorns this upcoming season:
“Steve Sarkisian's first spring camp concluded without a definitive answer on who will replace Ehlinger, a four-year starter. Casey Thompson took snaps with the No. 1 offense in the spring game, and he'll continue to battle Hudson Card throughout the offseason.
New defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski will have a busy offseason trying to build depth at linebacker and on the edge. Along with losing Ossai to the NFL draft, 2020 leading tackler Juwan Mitchell announced on Monday he will transfer to Tennessee.
The Longhorns added Thornton (LSU), Davis (Alabama), Oghoufo (Notre Dame) and Richardson (New Mexico State) from the portal. Richardson had 69 tackles as a freshman in 2019 and was named to the Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-American team.”
The list includes the Oklahoma Sooners in the first spot, followed by Alabama and Georgia.
Twenty-second is a very respectable post-spring ranking for an evolving team like the Longhorns. With the new staff, Texas will be a wildcard team whose success could be unpredictable.
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Who do you think of the rankings? Comment and join in on the discussion below!
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