College Football's Top 25 Most Important Players: No. 2 EDGE Colin Simmons, Texas

Colin Simmons led the SEC in sacks last year and returns as the No. 2 player in college football, and Texas spent its offseason rebuilding the defense around him. The Longhorns fired Pete Kwiatkowski, who ran the unit for four seasons, and hired Will Muschamp, whose attacking scheme is built to turn its best pass rusher loose.

What Simmons does with that setup will decide how far Texas goes.

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No. 2: Colin Simmons, EDGE, Texas Longhorns

Simmons led the SEC with 12 sacks in 2025, a half-sack ahead of Texas A&M's Cashius Howell. He did it as a 20-year-old who started the year pressing and finished it as one of the two or three best defenders in the country. He returns for a junior season that carries real heavy expectations, because Texas built its 2026 defense around the idea that he can decide games by himself.

A year ago, the early numbers looked ordinary because through five games, the Dallas native had 1.5 sacks and four penalties. Head coach Steve Sarkisian said his edge rusher was chasing production instead of playing the down in front of him. The turn came at Florida on Oct. 4, in a game Texas lost 29-21.

Texas Longhorns defensive lineman Colin Simmons (1) reacts after a fumble was recovered for a touchdown during the second half against the Arkansas Razorbacks. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"Maybe we didn't play our best game defensively in that game," Sarkisian said. "But I thought Colin played a big game, because he was defending the run and he was now becoming a multi-dimensional player. It wasn't just about rushing the passer. He was stopping the run, and he was starting to affect the quarterback, and then the sacks and things started to happen for him."

In the following weeks, the Duncanville product posted 2.5 sacks against Oklahoma in the Red River rivalry, three sacks and a forced fumble at Kentucky and a strip-sack against Vanderbilt. He finished with 10.5 sacks over the final eight games and recorded a sack in each of the last five, capped by taking down Michigan freshman Bryce Underwood in the Citrus Bowl to clinch the conference sack title.

"I wasn't really chasing stats in this game, to be real with you, like I was at the beginning of the season, which was causing them penalties and stuff like that," Simmons said. "I was chasing plays, instead of letting the play come to me and letting the game come to me."

Why Will Muschamp changes what Colin Simmons can do

Texas fired Pete Kwiatkowski in December after a 9-3 season that began as the preseason No. 1 and ended outside the College Football Playoff. Sarkisian soon replaced him with Will Muschamp, who ran the Texas defense from 2008 to 2010 and spent the last several years on Kirby Smart's staff at Georgia.

The scheme change is the part that matters for Simmons. Kwiatkowski ran a bend-but-don't-break defense that kept its corners in off coverage.

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian speaks to the press during SEC Football Kickoff Media Day at the Tampa Marriott. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Muschamp brings Smart's double-A-gap pressure back to Austin and puts his cornerbacks in press-man, an attacking style that asks the front to win fast and get home.

For a rusher whose speed off the edge is the weapon, the switch removes the parts of the old scheme that slowed him down. Muschamp inherits a front that lost linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. and six defenders to the NFL, which means the burden on Simmons goes up.

Pursuing Texas' career sack record

Simmons has 21 sacks and 29.5 tackles for loss in 29 career games. The proof has been in the pudding from the start of his collegiate career, evidenced by when he won the Shaun Alexander National Freshman of the Year Award in 2024 as the first Longhorn to take the honor.

He enters 2026 as a Phil Steele preseason first-team All-American, and Pro Football Focus ranked him the No. 3 player in college football, behind only Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith and Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore.

There is a program record in reach. Kiki DeAyala set the Texas career sack mark of 22.5 in 1982, and Simmons could set a new mark early with a hot start. Arch Manning, who watches him in practice every day, put his teammate's talent into perspective.

"The guy can disrupt practice whenever he wants, and he's probably going to be a top-three pick in the draft," Manning said.

Looking ahead to Ohio State rematch

Texas hosts Ohio State on Sept. 12 in Austin, a rematch of the 2025 opener the Buckeyes won 14-7 in Columbus, and Simmons views the matchup as something personal since last season ended.

"Very excited. Second game of the season, all that nervousness, all that jittery is out the door," Simmons said. "We're coming. There's business to be taken care of."

Colin Simmons is the type of game wrecking edge rusher who could go #1 overall in 2027 pic.twitter.com/4U9fULjJfi
— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) November 7, 2025

At SEC Media Days in Tampa, he widened the message.

"Every game is a must-win," Simmons said. "It ain't no game that we looking down on. It don't matter if you're Ohio State or Texas State. We're taking every game with the right preparation."

Texas returns Manning, a top-10 transfer class led by Cam Coleman and a defense rebuilt to funnel opportunity toward its best player. Whether the Longhorns end a title drought that dates back to 2005 will depend in large part on how often No. 1 gets to the quarterback.

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