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Nothing like an offensive line article to trigger @Joe Zura to kick off the week of camp!

That's going to be awesome.

College football’s talking season is rife with hyperbole. Thankfully, Steve Sarkisian shelved coachspeak last month after praising Laurence Seymore for the strides he’s made since joining the Texas program in June. It painted the most realistic picture of what to expect from Seymore when the Longhorns hold their first preseason practice on Wednesday. “It’s difficult in the summertime. We’re in underwear,” Sarkisian said during his press conference at the Texas High School Coaches Association Convention in Houston. “We'll find out a lot in training camp, especially when we get into the second week, when we're really in full pads and we're getting going. But so far, so good with him.” If Seymore, a 2025 second-team All-American with 27 career games played and 21 starts over parts of four seasons at Miami, Akron and Western Kentucky, wins the starting job at left guard, he’ll fill the biggest need Texas had on either side of the ball coming out of spring practice. But Seymore must win the job. It won’t be given to him. Seymore has to prove to Sarkisian and Kyle Flood that he’s the best option to protect Arch Manning and elevate the running game over Jaydon Chatman, Jackson Christian, Dylan Sikorski and any other challengers Seymore might face in camp. Before the 6-foot-2-inch, 316-pound Seymore hits the field for the first time in a formal practice with the Longhorns, there are three things to consider regarding the left guard competition: — Seymore’s presence as a pass blocker could be the most significant upgrade any of the transfer portal additions on offense will bring to the table in 2026. Seymore’s Pro Football Focus pass-blocking grade of 82.6 ranked 30th among FBS guards with at least 100 pass-blocking snaps last season (eight pressures allowed on 503 opportunities). While he dominated the competition in Conference USA, Seymore also allowed just one pressure on 48 opportunities against LSU and was charged with only one penalty on 840 snaps for the season. Those are important numbers against the backdrop of what Texas got out of the left guard position in 2025. According to PFF, the left guard position was responsible for 26.5 percent of the dropbacks on which Manning was pressured. That was the highest percentage of any position on the Texas offensive line and the highest percentage for any FBS offensive line’s left guard spot among the 136 quarterbacks in the country who were pressured on at least 50 dropbacks. — One of the legitimate questions regarding Seymore’s potential impact is how he’ll operate within Sarkisian’s zone running game. PFF’s run-blocking grades rated DJ Campbell (73.6) and Cole Hutson (71.6) as better overall run blockers than Seymore (63.9; PFF considers a grade of 70 above average). Of Seymore’s 308 gradable run-blocking snaps, 62.7 percent of them were on gap schemes; on zone runs, Campbell (81.2) and Hutson (74.5) graded out significantly higher than Seymore (60.2). Seymore should help the Longhorns improve as a gap/power running team. Still, Seymore must be well-rounded enough to keep opponents from successfully attacking a vulnerable part of the line. — Whether Hutson rejoins the team or not, Chatman, Christian, Sikorski and the other contenders for playing time at left guard have an advantage over Seymore with their varying levels of experience in Sarkisian’s offense. How fast Seymore absorbs the offense and takes to the field could be the biggest factor in how long the competition lasts. If Seymore needs time to get things down, Sarkisian and Flood could look at other options, some of which could significantly alter the projected depth chart as camp progresses. Andre Cojoe, Jonte Newman or John Turntine III emerging as a viable third tackle option behind Trevor Goosby and Melvin Siani could lead to Jordan Coleman, who spent the spring at left tackle while Goosby was recovering from shoulder surgery, getting a look at guard. Not only would Seymore winning the left guard job put the starting five for the Sept. 5 season opener against Texas State in stone, but it would also let Sarkisian and Flood get their depth pieces in order. Maximizing the available depth by turning to the best possible combination in a pinch is pivotal to the offense maintaining consistency and potency during a potential 17-game season, to say the least. View full news story

you right! I pictured him wearing #7 in my head lol.

Huff Daddy!

I don't know that any of those guys are true disruptors. When I say disruptor, I mean a guy like Lamarr Houston, Byron Murphy or Alfred Collins. I don't know that there are any of those guys in that group. But that's why it helps to have guys like Terry, Lance Jackson and Zina, who can play multiple shades and allow you to create matchup problems.

That's the gift and the curse about guys who are recruited as "athletes" without a position. As enticing as those guys are, it might take some time for them to find a home and get used to playing one position. Patience is required.

Yeah I couldn't come up with another besides him.

Aaron Ross. Who didn’t wear #7. He was #31.

Good stuff! Besides Terry, who do you feel might be a disruptive interior DL who really gets push into the backfield? Kanu & Watson should. For some reason I feel January might surprise.

Good deal. I'm picking up Sandman (his name on youtube lol) from the airport. I live far west, so almost 6 hour drive for me. My whole family is Tenn grads so I have had a lot of crap talking to back up haha.

Who's the third Thorpe winner?

Sure haha seems so aggy of you

That's my plan! I live in Charlotte so only a little over a 3-hour drive. Was hoping the game wasn't at noon so likely making the trip Friday night. Can't wait! Was recently there for the Luke Combs concert, great vibe.

He was such a big "get" in recruiting. Hopefully he'll stay and develop. I sometimes wonder what position he could get playing time at.

He's got a long way to go from where he was in the spring, IMO. You can't rule it out, but I'm not banking on him having a defined role.

Indiana and tech in a race to the bottom.

Here are those two USC seasons with Sark as the play-caller when the Trojans had three 500-yard rushers in back-to-back seasons: 2007: Chauncey Washington (969 yards, 5.0 YPC); Stafon Johnson (673 yards, 6.9 YPC); Joe McKnight (540 yards, 5.7 YPC) 2008: Stafon Johnson (705 yards, 5.1 YPC); Joe McKnight (659 yards, 7.4 YPC); C.J. Gable (617 yards, 5.8 YPC)

Anyone making the trip to Knoxville? I live in Tennessee, but come to Texas for more games every year. Now that Texas is in the SEC, the away games are closer. I'll be up in Knoxville the night before. If anyone needs recommendations or want to tailgate, let me know!

Will we see any Michael Terry III this season?

With Texas set for its first preseason practice on Wednesday, there are four things on my mind. — Typically, when reports about live portions of practice come out from behind the burnt orange curtain, the defense is ahead of the offense. I’m preparing for that to be the case this month, especially given the time several key cogs in the offense missed during spring practice. A lot of that focus has rightfully gone to the offensive line, where Laurence Seymore will attempt to win the left guard job while playing between Trevor Goosby (who spent most of the spring recovering from shoulder surgery) and Connor Robertson. Beyond the left guard battle, however, camp will be a great opportunity for Goosby, Arch Manning and Ryan Wingo to knock the rust off while learning how to operate with the new pieces around them. It’s not like the offense is starting at a deficit because there's no substitute for the live snaps and overall experience that Goosby, Manning and Wingo have in Steve Sarkisian’s system. Still, with everybody healthy and ready to go, Sarkisian has a full slate of practices to ensure his offense is better prepared to step on the field than the unit was at this time last year, the importance of which can’t be overstated. I don’t know if anyone reading this can handle the offense trudging through any portion of the September schedule, let alone the first half of the season before finding its groove. — The competition to enter Sarkisian’s circle of trust at wide receiver and the battle between Michael Masunas and Spencer Shannon to be the No. 1 in-line tight end shouldn’t be overlooked. The same can be said for the running back pecking order, where not enough is being said about Derrek Cooper pushing Raleek Brown and Hollywood Smothers for playing time. Cooper’s stature (6-1, 212) is more in line with the type of bell-cow running back Sarkisian has typically preferred to see emerge. He drew rave reviews as a pass protector during spring practice and Cooper has the kind of physical running style and forward body lean that could be a key ingredient to resolving the offense’s long-running short-yardage and red-zone issues. The 2026 Texas ground attack could mirror what Sarkisian had at USC in 2007 and 2008, when he called plays for an offense that produced three running backs with 500 or more rushing yards in back-to-back seasons. Or Cooper could be the latest in a long line of Longhorn freshman running backs who grabbed the bull by the horns right out of the gate, leaving those outside the top three spots on the depth chart fighting tooth and nail for the remaining consequential snaps. — For all of the talk about a disruptive defensive line presence emerging to go along with Colin Simmons, a healthy Maraad Watson could go a long way toward solidifying the rotation and allowing Will Muschamp to get creative with how he utilizes an embarrassment of riches at EDGE. The 333-pound Watson worked with the nose tackles and with the tackle group in the spring. If he’s truly a 330-plus-pound defender who can play multiple shades, Watson would become one of Muschamp’s most valuable chess pieces. In theory, Watson could play next to Ian Geffrard when the situation calls for Texas to beef up the front. Watson could also be paired with Alex January and Hero Kanu on standard downs and then be lined up with Justus Terry and Muschamp’s plethora of edge defenders on more predictable passing downs. For me, Watson is in a group with Cooper, Terry, Brandon Baker, Jermaine Bishop Jr., Ty’Anthony Smith, Brad Spence and Bo Mascoe as players who can raise the Longhorns’ ceiling. — When the On Texas Football staff picked the player they were most excited to see in camp for our latest "Sideline Debate," I almost picked Xavier Filsaime. As good as Graceson Littleton was as a true freshman, I can’t get over Sarkisian going out of his way to mention Filsaime as a nickel candidate while addressing the Muschamp hire last December. While surgery after the Citrus Bowl had the 6-foot-1-inch, 193-pound Filsaime on the mend during spring practice, he fits the physical profile of the bigger-bodied nickel Muschamp has typically preferred. While I don’t think Muschamp will experiment with Littleton at safety (even though I think he’d thrive there in Muschamp’s scheme because of his instincts and ball skills), the idea of Littleton getting freed up to solidify an area of concern with Filsaime occupying the nickel role is intriguing, to say the least. Regardless, if Filsaime approached Muschamp’s arrival and the return of Blake Gideon to the Forty Acres like a man who has a new lease on life, he has a chance to remind people why several elite defensive back evaluators (Corey Raymond, Nick Saban and Brent Venables among them) thought so highly of him during the 2024 recruiting cycle. View full news story

What a joke