Texas football and head coach Steve Sarkisian have started to see the fruits of their labor being paid off with the solid results on the recruiting trail in the past few cycles with all the underclassmen who have contributed early this fall camp. Texas returns over half of its starters on both sides of the ball entering this upcoming season in the SEC in 2024.
But competition is always going to play a big role in how Sarkisian likes to see the intensity and depth chart movement impact the starters and two-deep in a positive way on each side of the ball in camp in the spring and the fall.
It’s noteworthy that Sarkisian is reportedly (per Horns247) planning on reducing the full-contact drills in practice, especially between the skill guys and the defensive players for the second half of preseason camp. That could definitely impact the position battles that remain for the second half of fall practice.
Nonetheless, the Longhorns have plenty of underclassmen who have proven they deserve spots on the two-deep on each side of the ball entering the regular season in a few weeks. Here are three underclassmen who are winning position battles for the Longhorns after the first half of preseason camp.
Throughout much of the first half of preseason camp, sophomore safety Jelani McDonald has taken first and second-team practice reps in individual and team drills. He also got looks with the first-team defense at safety in the first scrimmage of fall camp last weekend.
McDonald has really proven himself regarding how far his understanding of his role and the defensive scheme as a whole have come since spring ball. He’s made big plays and shown consistent effort on the practice field this fall camp.
In the scrimmage last weekend, McDonald came up with a big interception against redshirt freshman quarterback Arch Manning. It wouldn’t surprise me to see McDonald get the safety reps with the first-team defense in this weekend’s fall scrimmage too.
At the very least, McDonald will be part of the three or four-man rotation at safety for the Longhorns in live-game action this fall. He has consistently gotten the most first and second-team safety reps in team drills and scrimmage settings in the last couple of weeks, along with senior Andrew Mukuba, sophomore Derek Williams Jr., and redshirt junior Michael Taaffe.