OTF Premium So About the Offensive Line in 2026

[CJ Vogel]

Bear with me — as I type this out of my phone instead of laptop — but I have some thoughts on the offensive line. 

Of course, this comes on the heels of freshman Nick Brooks entering the portal Tuesday afternoon.

Brooks becomes the fifth Longhorn offensive lineman to enter the portal in the 2026 portal window, joining Daniel Cruz, Connor Stroh, Nate Kibble and Neto Umeozulu. 

I tweeted this and mentioned it in the Portal Palace thread, but in the offseasons of 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, Texas had just seven departures out of the offensive line room to the portal. 

So all of this really comes as new ground for the Texas program. It’s just something that has not been experienced so far and as Texas continues its path down the roster cutting circuit, it makes sense to see this room start to lose some pieces. 

After all, offensive linemen are relatively expensive. 

But here is my point here — if the NFL parallels we have seen take place with the Texas roster continue in the offensive line room, it is more than realistic to expect the Longhorns to carry 10-12 offensive linemen in a given season. With where things sit currently, Texas has 12 offensive linemen on roster when you include Sikorski and the 2 early enrollees + Nicolas Robertson. 

In a given season, all you really need is eight. Both Sarkisian and Flood have mentioned that as the goal to find the top eight in spring and fall camp. While part of that is coach speak, the numbers back it up. 

***

2022

• 7 offensive linemen played 100+ snaps

• 877 - Christian Jones
• 860 - Jake Majors
• 858 - Kelvin Banks
• 850 - Hayden Conner
• 781 - Cole Hutson 
• 162 - Andrej Karic
• 129 - DJ Campbell

 

2023

• 8 played over 100 snaps, only 5 with 150+

• 985 - Kelvin Banks
• 982 - Hayden Conner
• 908 - Jake Majors
• 907 - Christian Jones
• 868 - DJ Campbell
• 144 - Cole Hutson
• 126 - Cam Williams
• 124 - Connor Robertson

 

2024

• Depth was tested a bit more, with 7 playing over 300 snaps. No on else saw more than 81.

• 1067 - Hayden Conner
• 1042 - Jake Majors 
• 975 - Cameron Williams
• 935 - Kelvin Banks
• 809 - DJ Campbell
• 389 - Cole Hutson 
• 319 - Trevor Goosby 

 

2025

• Even with as rocky this offensive line season was, only seven players saw more than 100 snaps. 

• 873 - Brandon Baker
• 847 - Trevor Goosby 
• 831 - DJ Campbell
• 645 - Cole Hutson
• 557 - Connor Robertson
• 310 - Connor Stroh
• 221 - Nick Brooks

***

All of this to prove the point of this —

We are seeing Texas concisely construct a roster with as few fish as necessary. But making sure those fish are the biggest in the pond. 

I bet Texas carries 10-12 offensive linemen from here on out, with the top 7, maybe top 8, being Ready for Play type of guys. 

Trevor Goosby, Connor Robertson, Brandon Baker, Dylan Sikorski. 

There are four of the 7-8. Add in an older Cojoe + Chatman as serviceable options as well.

Now, who else joins the pond, and how big of fish are they?

Thats the vision on my end. 

[NTX_Horn]

Still needs those big fish for this year.

[CJ Vogel]

1 minute ago, NTX_Horn said:

Still needs those big fish for this year.

Texas will continue to recruit the Kelvin Banks’ of the HS world. 

[bourbasted]

Good take, CJ.  The landscape has changed immensely.  IMHO, it's lazy to blame Flood for the loss of Brooks (he can be blamed for other things).  The likelihood he has been recruited behind the scenes to a school who will feature him as a starter is almost a certainty.  Texas will continue to lose key long-term project linemen in the new era unless something changes.  We will also gain key pieces, so I think we're monitoring the new ways to see what becomes a norm vs a bad portal year when it comes to OL and other key positions.

[horn1]

Looking pretty bleak right now if you ask me.

[airhelm24]

43 minutes ago, CJ Vogel said:

Bear with me — as I type this out of my phone instead of laptop — but I have some thoughts on the offensive line. 

Of course, this comes on the heels of freshman Nick Brooks entering the portal Tuesday afternoon.

Brooks becomes the fifth Longhorn offensive lineman to enter the portal in the 2026 portal window, joining Daniel Cruz, Connor Stroh, Nate Kibble and Neto Umeozulu. 

I tweeted this and mentioned it in the Portal Palace thread, but in the offseasons of 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, Texas had just seven departures out of the offensive line room to the portal. 

So all of this really comes as new ground for the Texas program. It’s just something that has not been experienced so far and as Texas continues its path down the roster cutting circuit, it makes sense to see this room start to lose some pieces. 

After all, offensive linemen are relatively expensive. 

But here is my point here — if the NFL parallels we have seen take place with the Texas roster continue in the offensive line room, it is more than realistic to expect the Longhorns to carry 10-12 offensive linemen in a given season. With where things sit currently, Texas has 12 offensive linemen on roster when you include Sikorski and the 2 early enrollees + Nicolas Robertson. 

In a given season, all you really need is eight. Both Sarkisian and Flood have mentioned that as the goal to find the top eight in spring and fall camp. While part of that is coach speak, the numbers back it up. 

***

2022

• 7 offensive linemen played 100+ snaps

• 877 - Christian Jones
• 860 - Jake Majors
• 858 - Kelvin Banks
• 850 - Hayden Conner
• 781 - Cole Hutson 
• 162 - Andrej Karic
• 129 - DJ Campbell

 

2023

• 8 played over 100 snaps, only 5 with 150+

• 985 - Kelvin Banks
• 982 - Hayden Conner
• 908 - Jake Majors
• 907 - Christian Jones
• 868 - DJ Campbell
• 144 - Cole Hutson
• 126 - Cam Williams
• 124 - Connor Robertson

 

2024

• Depth was tested a bit more, with 7 playing over 300 snaps. No on else saw more than 81.

• 1067 - Hayden Conner
• 1042 - Jake Majors 
• 975 - Cameron Williams
• 935 - Kelvin Banks
• 809 - DJ Campbell
• 389 - Cole Hutson 
• 319 - Trevor Goosby 

 

2025

• Even with as rocky this offensive line season was, only seven players saw more than 100 snaps. 

• 873 - Brandon Baker
• 847 - Trevor Goosby 
• 831 - DJ Campbell
• 645 - Cole Hutson
• 557 - Connor Robertson
• 310 - Connor Stroh
• 221 - Nick Brooks

***

All of this to prove the point of this —

We are seeing Texas concisely construct a roster with as few fish as necessary. But making sure those fish are the biggest in the pond. 

I bet Texas carries 10-12 offensive linemen from here on out, with the top 7, maybe top 8, being Ready for Play type of guys. 

Trevor Goosby, Connor Robertson, Brandon Baker, Dylan Sikorski. 

There are four of the 7-8. Add in an older Cojoe + Chatman as serviceable options as well.

Now, who else joins the pond, and how big of fish are they?

Thats the vision on my end. 

Good points and a logical progression.

[CJ Vogel]

The concern is what 2027 looks like. But that’s a full portal cycle and year of development away. So not even worth worrying over. 

[drag worm]

Here’s where things sit without listing freshman or adding anyone else in the portal.

LT - Goosby (Jr) 
LG - Sikorski (So)
C - C.Robertson (Sr) 
RG - Chatman (Jr)
RT - Baker (Jr) or Cojoe (Knee / Jr)

Terrifying 

[Texbam]

Not sure why you’d want to go so thin…just wait til a rash of injuries happens (and it will eventually) and then you’re SOL.

[NothinButDaHorns34]

33 minutes ago, horn1 said:

Looking pretty bleak right now if you ask me.

Glad they aren’t asking you then lol

[Thorn007]

so we lost 5 lineman and gained one from ore st that was a defensive lineman the year before.  yikes yo. better get alfred to summon the bat phone. we are in an emergency I repeat...

[John F.]

Thanks CJ. Appreciate the perspective. After reading I feel better about the OL. 

(in 2026. 2027 is yikes)

[UTexas]

24 minutes ago, drag worm said:

Here’s where things sit without listing freshman or adding anyone else in the portal.

LT - Goosby (Jr) 
LG - Sikorski (So)
C - C.Robertson (Sr) 
RG - Chatman (Jr)
RT - Baker (Jr) or Cojoe (Knee / Jr)

Terrifying 

Terrifying? Little dramatic aren’t you?

[mmdaytontexas]

I could see a lot of cross training in different positions. If you had a lot of injuries, I could even see a DT cross training there. 

[drag worm]

18 minutes ago, UTexas said:

Terrifying? Little dramatic aren’t you?

As it stands? Not dramatic at all. But we will obviously be adding more than one dude in the portal. 

[MCTEX]

1 hour ago, CJ Vogel said:

Bear with me — as I type this out of my phone instead of laptop — but I have some thoughts on the offensive line. 

Of course, this comes on the heels of freshman Nick Brooks entering the portal Tuesday afternoon.

Brooks becomes the fifth Longhorn offensive lineman to enter the portal in the 2026 portal window, joining Daniel Cruz, Connor Stroh, Nate Kibble and Neto Umeozulu. 

I tweeted this and mentioned it in the Portal Palace thread, but in the offseasons of 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, Texas had just seven departures out of the offensive line room to the portal. 

So all of this really comes as new ground for the Texas program. It’s just something that has not been experienced so far and as Texas continues its path down the roster cutting circuit, it makes sense to see this room start to lose some pieces. 

After all, offensive linemen are relatively expensive. 

But here is my point here — if the NFL parallels we have seen take place with the Texas roster continue in the offensive line room, it is more than realistic to expect the Longhorns to carry 10-12 offensive linemen in a given season. With where things sit currently, Texas has 12 offensive linemen on roster when you include Sikorski and the 2 early enrollees + Nicolas Robertson. 

In a given season, all you really need is eight. Both Sarkisian and Flood have mentioned that as the goal to find the top eight in spring and fall camp. While part of that is coach speak, the numbers back it up. 

***

2022

• 7 offensive linemen played 100+ snaps

• 877 - Christian Jones
• 860 - Jake Majors
• 858 - Kelvin Banks
• 850 - Hayden Conner
• 781 - Cole Hutson 
• 162 - Andrej Karic
• 129 - DJ Campbell

 

2023

• 8 played over 100 snaps, only 5 with 150+

• 985 - Kelvin Banks
• 982 - Hayden Conner
• 908 - Jake Majors
• 907 - Christian Jones
• 868 - DJ Campbell
• 144 - Cole Hutson
• 126 - Cam Williams
• 124 - Connor Robertson

 

2024

• Depth was tested a bit more, with 7 playing over 300 snaps. No on else saw more than 81.

• 1067 - Hayden Conner
• 1042 - Jake Majors 
• 975 - Cameron Williams
• 935 - Kelvin Banks
• 809 - DJ Campbell
• 389 - Cole Hutson 
• 319 - Trevor Goosby 

 

2025

• Even with as rocky this offensive line season was, only seven players saw more than 100 snaps. 

• 873 - Brandon Baker
• 847 - Trevor Goosby 
• 831 - DJ Campbell
• 645 - Cole Hutson
• 557 - Connor Robertson
• 310 - Connor Stroh
• 221 - Nick Brooks

***

All of this to prove the point of this —

We are seeing Texas concisely construct a roster with as few fish as necessary. But making sure those fish are the biggest in the pond. 

I bet Texas carries 10-12 offensive linemen from here on out, with the top 7, maybe top 8, being Ready for Play type of guys. 

Trevor Goosby, Connor Robertson, Brandon Baker, Dylan Sikorski. 

There are four of the 7-8. Add in an older Cojoe + Chatman as serviceable options as well.

Now, who else joins the pond, and how big of fish are they?

Thats the vision on my end. 

Great post - spot on. 

[AZ Longhorn]

@CJ Vogel check my math here but to end up with 10-12 in the OL room, as you suggest, we will see several more departures from our current room.

• We only have 4/7 playable depth (and please don't consider Chatman or Cojoe "playable depth" in a championship caliber top 7 lol)
• That means we need to add 3 more playable pieces.
• Current room is 12 guys
• 12+3=15

Based on your argument here, could we really see 3-5 more departures from the current room? 

 

[TheContractor12]

2 hours ago, CJ Vogel said:

Bear with me — as I type this out of my phone instead of laptop — but I have some thoughts on the offensive line. 

Of course, this comes on the heels of freshman Nick Brooks entering the portal Tuesday afternoon.

Brooks becomes the fifth Longhorn offensive lineman to enter the portal in the 2026 portal window, joining Daniel Cruz, Connor Stroh, Nate Kibble and Neto Umeozulu. 

I tweeted this and mentioned it in the Portal Palace thread, but in the offseasons of 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, Texas had just seven departures out of the offensive line room to the portal. 

So all of this really comes as new ground for the Texas program. It’s just something that has not been experienced so far and as Texas continues its path down the roster cutting circuit, it makes sense to see this room start to lose some pieces. 

After all, offensive linemen are relatively expensive. 

But here is my point here — if the NFL parallels we have seen take place with the Texas roster continue in the offensive line room, it is more than realistic to expect the Longhorns to carry 10-12 offensive linemen in a given season. With where things sit currently, Texas has 12 offensive linemen on roster when you include Sikorski and the 2 early enrollees + Nicolas Robertson. 

In a given season, all you really need is eight. Both Sarkisian and Flood have mentioned that as the goal to find the top eight in spring and fall camp. While part of that is coach speak, the numbers back it up. 

***

2022

• 7 offensive linemen played 100+ snaps

• 877 - Christian Jones
• 860 - Jake Majors
• 858 - Kelvin Banks
• 850 - Hayden Conner
• 781 - Cole Hutson 
• 162 - Andrej Karic
• 129 - DJ Campbell

 

2023

• 8 played over 100 snaps, only 5 with 150+

• 985 - Kelvin Banks
• 982 - Hayden Conner
• 908 - Jake Majors
• 907 - Christian Jones
• 868 - DJ Campbell
• 144 - Cole Hutson
• 126 - Cam Williams
• 124 - Connor Robertson

 

2024

• Depth was tested a bit more, with 7 playing over 300 snaps. No on else saw more than 81.

• 1067 - Hayden Conner
• 1042 - Jake Majors 
• 975 - Cameron Williams
• 935 - Kelvin Banks
• 809 - DJ Campbell
• 389 - Cole Hutson 
• 319 - Trevor Goosby 

 

2025

• Even with as rocky this offensive line season was, only seven players saw more than 100 snaps. 

• 873 - Brandon Baker
• 847 - Trevor Goosby 
• 831 - DJ Campbell
• 645 - Cole Hutson
• 557 - Connor Robertson
• 310 - Connor Stroh
• 221 - Nick Brooks

***

All of this to prove the point of this —

We are seeing Texas concisely construct a roster with as few fish as necessary. But making sure those fish are the biggest in the pond. 

I bet Texas carries 10-12 offensive linemen from here on out, with the top 7, maybe top 8, being Ready for Play type of guys. 

Trevor Goosby, Connor Robertson, Brandon Baker, Dylan Sikorski. 

There are four of the 7-8. Add in an older Cojoe + Chatman as serviceable options as well.

Now, who else joins the pond, and how big of fish are they?

Thats the vision on my end. 

I understand you point and there is some validity to it but cfb and nfl have many big differences which does not allow you to treat it the same way. 
 

1. if you have a rash if injuries you have a practice squad and you can pick up guys off the street and trade for them mid season. In college you are stuck. 
 

2. in college fr typically(95%+) of the time are not ready to play snaps , especially on the lines. In NFL, day 1 and 2 draft pics better be in 2 deep, possibly start. Being 22 and being 18 is a big difference. 

3. you have guys under contract for multiple years so you can project someone next year. Nothing like that anymore from this year in college. 

 Even adding 1 guy(whoever that is, Seaton for example) is not enough. If we just add seaton, we are good with OT depth but not OC and OG. We must add 2 more if not 3 on OL alone. FCs/G5/D2 but bodies must be added, talent would be great. 
 

edit: we do not have 8 playable bodies currently, yes 5-7 more days left to change that 

Edited 49 minutes ago by TheContractor12

[Beldar]

All you see on line is fire Coach Flood, Act like our young developing players are trash. Do not blame them for moving on . We better go get some bodies ane we are screwed. Sure wish the unqualified posters would stop eating our own.  Wake the F up.

 

[Brenton]

Love how all yall look at the negative. Look at the positive and quit being the reason people hate Texas fans

[cmk4pres]

My issue with it isnt the trimming the total number, my issus you lose Goosby, Robertson or even Baker for any length of time you are SCREWED. 

[airhelm24]

Just now, cmk4pres said:

My issue with it isnt the trimming the total number, my issus you lose Goosby, Robertson or even Baker for any length of time you are SCREWED. 

Just wait, hold only we’ve seen this before. When it looks bleak Sark & Harris won’t let you down — except in the red zone 😂 

[ElCafetero]

I get that the goal is to get everyone to the  NFL and run the program like it but this is college and even now we have 105 players, wouldn’t we want to the depth in case of injury and develop for the future 

And as far as I know, there are no “rules” yet on NIL

[tommym]

Great article, Flood coached NFL. He should be able to adjust and get them ready. Those tune-up games beginning of the season are huge for a offensive line to gel. So, the way of 5 OL in high school recruiting is forever lost.

[cmk4pres]

7 minutes ago, tommym said:

Great article, Flood coached NFL. He should be able to adjust and get them ready. Those tune-up games beginning of the season are huge for a offensive line to gel. So, the way of 5 OL in high school recruiting is forever lost.

Ohio st week 2 isnt a tune up. And 9 game sec schedule so only two tune ups