The Next Longhorn Player Who Could Follow Jack Endries to the NFL

Texas may have already found the next tight end to follow Jack Endries from the Forty Acres to Sundays.

Texas Longhorns tight end Nick Townsend (81) celebrates with the golden hat in the second half of the Red River Rivalry game. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

For years, the Texas Longhorns struggled to consistently send tight ends to the NFL.

Now, that pipeline may be quietly building.

After Ja'Tavion Sanders and Gunnar Helm were selected in back-to-back drafts, Jack Endries became the latest Texas tight end to hear his name called after being drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals following his lone season in Austin.

And if that trend continues, sophomore Nick Townsend may be next in line.

Why Nick Townsend could be Texas’ next NFL tight end

Texas Longhorns tight end Nick Townsend (81) reaches for a pass during the second half against the San Jose State Spartans. | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Endries’ path to the draft wasn’t exactly what many expected.

After transferring from Cal — where he posted 56 catches for 623 yards as a sophomore — he arrived in Austin as the clear receiving threat in Texas’ tight end room. But despite ranking third on the team with 33 receptions for 346 yards, his production dipped significantly in Steve Sarkisian’s offense.

Much of that came from how he was used.

Texas asked Endries to line up inline far more often than Cal did, limiting the creativity that made him such a dangerous receiving option. Still, his strong hands, route awareness and quarterback-friendly reliability kept him squarely on NFL radars.

Now, with Endries off to the draft, the spotlight shifts to Townsend. 

The former four-star recruit entered Texas as one of the more intriguing athletes in the room, and despite modest numbers last season — just two catches for seven yards — he played in all 13 games, a strong sign of how much trust the staff already had in him.

That trust may turn into a breakout role in 2026.

Townsend is expected to take over as TE1 and fits naturally into Sarkisian’s hybrid tight end role — part receiver, part blocker, part mismatch creator.

At 6-foot-3 and 241 pounds, he has the athletic build of a modern NFL tight end and the versatility to line up almost anywhere. He will likely play off the line as a hybrid receiver/fullback type and has the potential to be a valuable short-yardage weapon — as Texas fans saw when he scored a rushing touchdown against Texas A&M in the Lone Star Showdown.

Could that have been a preview of what’s coming?

Dave Campbell’s Texas Football recently ranked Townsend as the No. 4 tight end in the state entering 2026, despite his limited production. That ranking says less about what he’s done and more about what people around the program believe he’s about to become.

Sarkisian has long treated tight end as one of the most important positions in his offense — second only to quarterback.

If Townsend fully steps into that role, the production should follow.

And with blockers like Michael Masunas and Spencer Shannon helping balance the room, Townsend may finally have the freedom to become more of a featured receiving threat.

He may not match what Helm did. He may not have Endries’ immediate production. But if the development continues, Nick Townsend could be the next Texas tight end making the jump from the Forty Acres to Sundays.

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