Texas football and head coach Steve Sarkisian return over half of starters on each side of the ball entering this season. The amount of talent, depth, and proven experience Texas has on both sides of the ball are big reasons why this team is considered to be one of the top SEC title contenders for 2024.
Preseason training camp begins in exactly one week for the Longhorns. And players will report for the start of fall camp in a little under a week after the conclusion of the summer strength and conditioning program this month.
Texas still has a handful of position battles and jockeying to do in preseason camp so that Sarkisian and staff can configure the two-deep on each side of the ball entering the regular season opener on Aug. 31 against the Colorado State Rams.
There is still a chance for rising underclassmen to push for starting spots and/or key roles on the two-deep during preseason camp.
Here are three key underclassmen who can win starting spots for the Longhorns in fall camp.
Texas’s defensive tackle rotation is highlighted by immediate impact transfers that the Longhorns brought in during the winter and spring portal windows. The Longhorns added three immediate-impact transfer defensive tackles early in the offseason, including Jermayne Lole, Bill Norton, and Tia Savea.
With all three of Texas’s transfer defensive tackles likely to nail down spots in the defensive line rotation for Kenny Baker this upcoming season, a few remaining spots in that rotation will be decided by the younger guys. If Texas rotates five or six up front (with Alfred Collins getting another one of those spots), that really doesn’t leave much room for spots on the two-deep here along the defensive line.
Jaray Bledsoe and Sydir Mitchell are two defensive tackles to watch who are the best candidates to earn potentially the final spot in the defensive line rotation this fall.
This feels like a potential make-or-break year for the big 6-foot-6 and 350-pound sophomore defensive tackle Mitchell entering the fall. With true freshman defensive tackle Alex January coming on strong during the spring, Mitchell has to work to not be passed up on the depth chart at nose tackle this fall.
The good news for Mitchell is that he dropped over 20 pounds from between his spring roster weigh-in and what he’s listed at on the fall roster for the Longhorns. If Mitchell continues to work to get in shape and shows more effort and intensity consistently in practice in training camp, he has a good shot to earn a spot on the two-deep entering the regular season.