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Rodriguez originally injured his left hand in late March 2025 after being hit by a pitch during a series against Missouri. He missed only seven games before returning to the lineup for the remainder of the 2025 season. The delay was primarily due to Rodriguez attempting to manage the injury without a full surgical shutdown during the 2025 season and the subsequent summer.

Great stuff Jeff 🤘🏼

I'm betting we have "hi's" that you are not reporting! lol

Before the Texas Longhorns return to the practice field for the third week of spring ball on Tuesday, I want to look at five players who appear poised to further establish their roles on the 2026 squad. — The injuries and on-the-mend status of multiple safeties have opened the door for Derek Williams Jr. to lock down the starting spot next to Jelani McDonald. Factor in the combination of Williams being almost 16 months removed from the knee injury that ended his 2024 season, with the return of Blake Gideon to the Forty Acres, and the redshirt junior has a chance to get back on the upward trajectory his career was on before the injury. Williams, who started over Andrew Mukuba early in the 2024 season before a hamstring issue cost him three games, made impact plays as a true sophomore. Along with Malik Muhammad, Williams was playing a significant role in the secondary by the end of his freshman season in 2023. Williams' return to his pre-injury form would significantly cushion the blow of Michael Taaffe’s departure. At the very least, Williams has an opportunity to enter the summer a significant step ahead of everyone other than McDonald in the safety room if he takes advantage of his opportunity. — I’ve been thinking about Ryan Niblett’s potential to be for the 2026 backfield what Keilan Robinson was in 2023. But what if I’ve been thinking about the wrong back for a specialty role? Now is the time when Michael Terry III can do enough unique things to stand out in a crowded backfield. Terry continues to make strides and, even if he’s behind Raleek Brown, Derrek Cooper and Hollywood Smothers in the pecking order, he can carve out a significant role on offense. Along with his potential as a runner and a receiver, Terry’s progress could force Steve Sarkisian’s hand to bring the Wildcat back in the mix on offense. Such a package would give Terry a unique role he can sink his teeth into while minimizing the risk of making Arch Manning a true additional hat in the running game. Wildcat or not, forcing Sarkisian to create something for him is something Terry can do if his development is expedited. — Even though Laurence Seymore was recruited out of the transfer portal to be a plug-and-play guard, the Texas offense will be better if Seymore has to battle for a starting role. Dylan Sikorski has a chance to come out of the spring with Sarkisian and Kyle Flood believing in him as a starting-caliber player. One of the more intriguing practice tidbits from the weekend was Sikorski and Jackson Christian getting first-team snaps at guard. The Longhorns won a recruiting battle with Tennessee to get Sikorski when he decided to transfer from Oregon State, so it’s not crazy to think he could emerge as legitimate competition for Seymore. That’s assuming his elevation up the depth chart wasn’t a one-off situation. After last season, Texas can't enough quality depth in the trenches. — Nothing feels set in stone from a depth standpoint at cornerback, other than Graceson Littleton, Bo Mascoe and Kade Phillips separating themselves as the top group. If Samari Matthews is indeed the second-most talented cornerback on the roster, which is what a source told On Texas Football over the weekend, he should have a chance to compete with Kobe Black and Warren Roberson for snaps behind Mascoe and Phillips. One of the reasons why Sarkisian made a coordinator change and hired Muschamp is his long-stated desire to play tighter, more physical man coverage. Like Phillips, Matthews has the physical traits that should translate to being a good man-cover guy early in his career. Confidence goes a long way at cornerback. Matthews is reportedly bringing it with him to the practice field by the truckload. — I keep making the comparison between Sterling Berkhalter and Tarique Milton, who Sarkisian took out of the transfer portal for the 2022 season. Given Jordan Whittington’s injury history, Texas needed an insurance policy in case he went down in the middle of the season. Thankfully, the Longhorns didn’t need to cash the policy, but the early returns from Berkhalter’s addition suggest landing the Wake Forest transfer was a shrewd move by the staff. At a time when Emmett Mosley V is on the mend, Kaliq Lockett is on the shelf and Ryan Wingo is working his way back, Berkhalter can establish himself as someone Sarkisian can trust. Sarkisian has kept his receiver rotation tight throughout his tenure, with few targets available for anyone outside of the top group. If Berkhalter can maintain the consistency he’s shown through the first two weeks, he has a chance to be in the mix of the guys who are afforded playmaking opportunities in games. View full news story

This is a good problem to have. We are how many years away from a place where a coach's main expectation for the players was to have light yellow pee? The only guarantee when a coach has low expectations is that the team will meet them.

The portal has made it so hard to determine which teams will actually be good next year. I don’t think you can say it’s natty or bust for anybody anymore. That being said, this is for sure Sarks most talented roster during his time here. This team will lose several key pieces in the 2027 draft especially in early rounds. If he doesn’t get it done this year I’m not sure when he will.

How Texas performs in the Ohio State game will determine the expectations I have for the season.

I'd prefer to keep expectations in check until we believe in the 2 deep at OL and S coming out of Knoxville.

"I can't fund Texas Tech forever"

I didn't even read the article and this was my exact thought on what he said. "I am the problem but I won't stop doing what I'm doing."

So what is the true expectations here with this team for the upcoming season? Natty or bust? That is a HARD task. Sec champ and no Nat? Is that good enough? 10 plus wins is a BUST?? What is the base expectations?

Also, Rodriguez wasn't really lighting it up at the plate this year, but he was doing a great job at getting on base. Was walking a ton.

A-Rod spoke right before the season about not hitting everyday to give himself some offdays and time to relax. Hoping this solves the issue fully, he was clearly squinting on swings and misses.

So did A-Rod not get surgery till the fall instead after the end of last year?

I know Bobby isn't a championship or bust guy, but if there's ever a year where it's championship or bust, this is it. Next year with all the potential pros leaving and a new starting QB, while Texas will be reloading, won't be as lofty expectations for a championship.

The A-Rod surgery should been in the summer not the fall to allow more time to heal.

Who are you talking to—me or Sark? I don’t see any problem with Sark exuding confidence about his team. And if this team is the best roster in the country, maybe it should be deserving of preseason #1. But they’d better back up the talk.

Please slow the hype train before we're preseason #1 again, ugh

Gumbo has developed a good eye at the plate and has improved his contact by seeing more pitchers in Conference competition. He is very fast too. 🤘🏽🤘🏾🤘🏿

Expectations need to be high with so many of these players not expected to be back next year. If you look at a projected starting 11 on Offense how many are back next year? Over/under 1.5?

Perhaps it was because of Midtier's insistence of playing too early? Or Midtier is just not a very good QB even when healthy?? 🤔 🤘🏻🤘🏼🤘🤘🏽🤘🏾🤘🏿

This is 100% a ploy to allow Texas Tech get the same media payout as Alabama, when Alabama generates 4 times the viewership. And if the media payout is going to be equal for every school then why should football and basketball be the main recipients of revenue sharing? I’m sure that isn’t something Campbell wants to change. The justification now is because they generate the media revenue. Well…. Don’t the conferences that generate the most in media revenue deserve more of the pie?

If it ends up being Borba at third and someone else at first, then that would say a lot about the perceived defensive downgrade from Becerra to the next man up. It sounds like Becerra to shortstop is pretty much a lock at this point.