Texas Star OT Trevor Goosby Leaves Practice With Knee Injury

The Texas Longhorns underwent a major offensive line reconstruction this past offseason, bringing in multiple new faces, including both starters and depth pieces.

But perhaps their biggest win of the offseason was getting star left tackle Trevor Goosby to return to Austin, instead of heading off to the NFL, where he most certainly would have been a first-round pick.

Unfortunately, that win may have been shortlived.

According to reports from OrangeBloods.com's Anwar Richardson, Goosby suffered a knee injury in practice on Monday. Goosby will undergo an MRI on Tuesday to determine the extent of the injury.

Goosby is critical to the Longhorns success

Texas Longhorns offensive lineman Trevor Goosby rests during a game against the Texas El Paso Miners at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It goes without saying that, should Goosby miss any time, it would be a major blow for the Longhorns, and it could cause a major reshuffling of their starting unit.

Not only is Goosby the team's best offensive lineman by a good margin, but he also plays arguably the most important role along the entire front - protecting Arch Manning's blindside.

He was also one of the best left tackles in the sport over the last two seasons and was one of the few bright spots along the offensive front for Texas.

The obvious hope is that, this is a short team deal, and Goosby will be back 100 percent healthy by the start of the season, or at the very least, by the Ohio State game in Week 2.

But if he is not, how do Texas replace him in the event of a long term injury?

Replacing Goosby

Texas left tackle Melvin Siani — Wake Forest Demon Deacons offensive lineman Melvin Siani blocks Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets defensive lineman Jordan van den Berg | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Without Goosby in the mix, that job could fall to a number of different players. That list includes Wake Forest Transfer Melvin Siani, who has been working exclusively at right tackle throughout fall camp.

The good news for Texas, is that Siani played in and started all 13 games for Wake Forest last season, and was very good, finishing the year with an 80.3 pass blocking grade, per PFF.

He has also impressed his head coach, Steve Sarkisian, in a major way.

"I think we have a really good understanding of who Melvin Siani is right now... This guy's a tough ass," Sarkisian said Monday. "I'll be quite frank with everybody. I thought I was getting (mostly) a pass protector when we recruited him. I'm getting a tough-ass run blocker who is a good pass protector, and that's encouraging for us because clearly we know how important the run game is going to be for us."

In that event could move Brandon Baker from guard back out to right tackle, where he played all of last season, and then slide Dylan Sikorski, Cole Hutson, or Jaydon Chatman into his guard spot. There is also a plausible scenario with Siani at left tackle, Chatman, Sikorski or Huston at left guard, Laurence Seymore at right guard and Brandon Baker at right tackle.

The simplest solution in that situation, however, could be to move Siani to left tackle, leave Baker at right guard, and start Andre Cojoe at right tackle.

Should the Longhorns elect to leave Siani on the right side however, they could take a leap of faith and start redshirt freshman Jordan Coleman at left tackle, while leaving the rest of the offensive line intact.

Coleman has impressed throughout the spring and in fall camp, and has the talent, size and athleticism to be a starting left tackle in the SEC.

“You see the physical ability,” Sarkisian said of Coleman in the spring. “When he does it right, it’s like whoa. He can pass set guys and move people in the run game. Now it’s the consistency factor. We’ve been very encouraged by where he’s at.”

That, of course would be a lot to put on a young players shoulders.

No matter which way you slice it, however, there is no way to truly replace Goosby. He is argubaly the best left tackle in America, and a critical piece of the Longhorns championship hopes.

And should he be forced to miss any sort of extended time due to the injury, those hopes could be in major jeopardy.

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

Add us as a preferred source on Google