Texas Longhorns OL Brandon Baker Opens Up About His Position Change

The Texas Longhorns have shuffled many parts of their team after completing a solid but disappointing 10-3 campaign in 2025.

Their offensive line was not immune to this change. The Longhorns brought in five offensive linemen in the transfer portal and are planning on starting two of them, tackle Melvin Siani and guard Laurence Seymore.

With left tackle Trevor Goosby firmly entrenched, that meant incumbent right tackle Brandon Baker would have to give up his spot and move to the interior. Luckily, the switch seems to be going well.

Brandon Baker Says Transition to Guard is Going Great, Impressed by Interior Defensive Line

Texas Longhorns offensive lineman Brandon Baker against the Clemson Tigers during the CFP National playoff first round | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Baker took 857 of his 873 offensive snaps at right tackle last season and had middling results. While he never gave up a sack, at least according to PFF, he also led the team with 12 penalties.

Siani, his replacement, also gave up zero sacks, however he had only seven penalties and had better PFF grades across the board. Still, head coach Steve Sarkisian and offensive line coach Kyle Flood still want to put Baker's combination of size and athleticism on the field, hence the move to guard.

The transition, so far, had been a smooth one, according to Baker.

"It's been a great adjustment so far," Baker said. "[There's a] lot of terminology, different sound bites, that takes a little bit of time to get used to, but for the most part, everything's been smooth."

Baker's transition to guard is aided by prior experience, as he played some guard at Mater Dei high school.

He is getting to learn against some of the best interior defensive linemen in the country. The Longhorns added 747-pounds of gap-crushing to their defensive line in the form of transfers Ian Geffrard and Zion Williams.

Those two join a group headed by veteran Hero Kanu, whom Baker is quickly getting to know.

"First [interior defensive lineman] that comes to mind is Hero Kanu, man is he fast," Baker said. "Same thing with Maraad [Watson], he's quick off that snap count."

Baker's ability to get reps against talented defensive linemen will help get him out of the cooking pan and into the fryer, and allow him to get an idea of what he will see from the top nose tackles and three-techniques of the SEC.

So far, he is holding up well.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram for the latest news.