Early next week, Texas football players will report for the start of preseason training camp leading up to the inaugural campaign in the SEC in 2024. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian returns an experienced roster that is chocked full of returning starters and immediate impact transfers on both sides of the ball.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Longhorns return their starting quarterback and four out of five players along the offensive line. The receiving corps also is probably the deepest and most talented Sarkisian has had in his four years as Texas’s head coach.
Texas’s defense returns over half of its starters from last year’s squad, along with adding immediate impact transfers at almost every level of this side of the ball.
It’s not just the proven experience and chemistry that makes this Texas team special entering the 2024 season, it’s also the insane depth and talent among the underclassmen. Sarkisian and staff have recruited and developed talent extremely well at Texas over the past few years.
All the young talent on the two-deep on both sides of the ball will, once again, create healthy competition at multiple position groups in fall camp.
Here are three upperclassmen for the Longhorns who will face competition for first-team practice reps in preseason camp.
Senior guard Hayden Conner is one of the most experienced offensive linemen returning for Kyle Flood and the Longhorns in 2024. Conner has started over 20 games and taken nearly 2,000 offensive snaps in his career at Texas.
His proven experience and reliability as an interior pass blocker make Conner an important part of the stability of the interior offensive line alongside senior center Jake Majors. Conner and Majors are joined by another returning starter along the interior offensive line in the big and physical junior starting right guard DJ Campbell.
During spring ball, Conner had to fight off a major run from redshirt sophomore interior offensive lineman Neto Umeozulu to keep getting first-team reps at his spot on the OL. Like Campbell, Umeozulu is a really strong and powerful presence along the interior offensive line who can move bodies off the line of scrimmage blocking for the ground game.
Umeozulu gives Texas a more physical presence for interior run blocking entering the gauntlet in the trenches in the SEC this season. He could help alleviate some of Texas’s third down and goal line woes in short-yardage situations when they’re running the ball.
It’s noteworthy that Conner made some major strides in his consistency and proficiency as an interior pass blocker for the Longhorns last season. Conner didn’t allow a single quarterback hit or sack in the second half of the 2023 season (per PFF).
The competition for the starting left guard spot could come down to whether Sarkisian and Flood value the run blocking and body moving potential with Umeozulu or the reliability in pass pro and proven experience with Conner.