OTF Premium Size isn't the only thing that matters for the Texas offensive line

[Jeff Howe]

AUSTIN, Texas — Are Steve Sarkisian and Kyle Flood rethinking their philosophy regarding the body types Texas wants along the offensive line?

One spring practice isn’t enough to render a verdict. And when looking at Flood’s first unit that worked at Denius Fields on Monday, 354-pound Jordan Coleman lining up at left tackle (Trevor Goosby was suited up for the team's first spring practice, but he’ll be limited until further notice while recovering from postseason shoulder surgery) is exactly the kind of large human Sarkisian’s organization has tried to get into the fold since he started remaking the roster upon taking the job in 2021.

Still, with Jaydon Chatman (315 pounds), Connor Robertson (317), Brandon Baker (304) and newcomer Melvin Siani (313) rounding out the starters on Monday, the Longhorns aren’t quite as big up front as they’ve previously been under the current regime.

Goosby is listed at 325 pounds on the spring roster, putting the 2026 projected starting offensive line’s average weight on pace to be 314.8 pounds. That’s slightly up from the 312.2-pound average of the season-ending combination in 2025, but 349-pound Nick Brooks and 341-pound Connor Stroh combined to start seven games at left guard during the regular season.

Regardless, the current starting offensive line and last year’s top group weigh significantly less than the 2024 unit (324 pounds). That number was slightly down from the 2023 group, which averaged 324.6 pounds.

After practice, while discussing Baker’s move from tackle to guard and the possibility of the junior adding more mass, Sarkisian didn’t stick to his typical big people talking points.

“Natural weight is important to me,” he said. “I think, sometimes, just trying to get heavy —one of his strengths is his ability to move and play with great balance and body control. That's something that I think will benefit him.

“Mass is helpful, but we just want to make sure it's the right type of mass as his weight goes up.”

An answer to a press conference question doesn’t confirm that Sarkisian and Flood want a slimmer offensive line with improved movement skills. Nevertheless, the Longhorns coming off of the program’s worst season running the football since 2014 (137.8 yards per game ranked 90th in FBS, while an average of 4.19 yards per attempt ranked 84th nationally) and allowing Arch Manning to be pressured on an SEC-leading 165 dropbacks (according to Pro Football Focus) should require going back to the drawing board.

If the leaks in the dam last season weren’t enough to force Sarkisian and Flood to adjust course, DJ Campbell’s career arc might be the best example that bigger doesn’t always mean better.

Campbell played his best football as a Longhorn in 2025, a season in which he weighed 321 pounds. He was a first-team All-SEC selection by the Associated Press and a third-team pick by the league’s coaches while recording career-high single-season PFF grades with a 70.9 overall and 73.6 as a run blocker, with a pass-blocking grade of 77.6. After getting up to 343 pounds in 2023 and playing the 2024 season at 330 pounds, Campbell trimmed down to 313 pounds for the NFL Scouting Combine, where he ran a 5.01 40-yard dash, potentially improving his draft position.

It wouldn’t do the staff any good to spend time thinking about what a leaner, more agile Campbell would’ve done on the Forty Acres. But with four of the seven offensive linemen who weighed 325-plus pounds last season hitting the transfer portal, and only one such player entering the program (344-pound Dylan Sikorski), a case can be made that the belt is literally tightening in the offensive line room.

And it might not be a bad thing.

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[Jeff Howe]

I asked Sark a couple of years ago about the big humans philosophy.

Some of it he attributed to Nick Saban, but it had more to do with when he and Kyle Flood were with the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL.

The Falcons had one of, if not the lightest, offensive lines in the league. When that worked against them, Sark told me, was when they'd play the Eagles, the Patriots, the Steelers or the Ravens — teams that could put massive nose tackles over the ball and would win the line of scrimmage battle.

Sark said he made a note to himself that if he was ever a head coach again, he didn't want to go into a game and lose just because his team wasn't big enough.

The big human philosophy hasn't been a bad one for Texas. But it needed some tweaking and there are signs there that Sark and Flood are changing things up.

[NothinButDaHorns34]

“Big humans” blah, blah, blah. I just want experience in the interior that can displace defense tackles against their will in the run game and move their feet horizontally in pass protection. 

[Austalgia]

45 minutes ago, NothinButDaHorns34 said:

“Big humans” blah, blah, blah. I just want experience in the interior that can displace defense tackles against their will in the run game and move their feet horizontally in pass protection. 

Right. Some players that can fire off low with a flat back and drive their feet.  Move their feet in pass pro laterally without crossing them over and give a good punch with their hands.  I don’t get paid millions, but what the hell? Are we teaching the basics before all these complicated blocking schemes. 

Edited 19 hours ago by Austalgia

[Alex Butler]

I couldn’t help myself lol. 
But seriously I think O line is going to be much improved and more effective this year than other years save 2024 since Sark has been here. 

[NothinButDaHorns34]

58 minutes ago, Austalgia said:

Right. Some players that can fire off low with a flat back and drive their feet.  Move their feet in pass pro laterally without crossing them over and give a good punch with their hands.  I don’t get paid millions, but what the hell? Are we teaching the basics before all these complicated blocking schemes. 

I don’t feel like that’s too much to ask at all for dudes making money now to be productive. 

[Bobby_Batronic]

13 hours ago, NothinButDaHorns34 said:

“Big humans” blah, blah, blah. I just want experience in the interior that can displace defense tackles against their will in the run game and move their feet horizontally in pass protection. 

Hard to move much mass (DT’s) if you’re not thick in the a**.  
 

Looks like we’ll be doing more attacking through the Ardennes as an offensive unit than taking on the Maginot Line directly. Hopefully our aerial blitz is better this year. 

Edited 6 hours ago by Bobby_Batronic

[jhookem91]

Great article, Jeff.  To further your point, Jonte Newman was listed at 275 lbs as a recruit but was listed on A&M's roster last year as a true freshman at 331 lbs.  He is now listed on our roster at 302 lbs and looked good in the pictures I saw from yesterday's practice.  I liked him (and his teammate Ryan Fodje) during the recruiting process.  Even though he is a little shorter at 6'4", he has great length and moves really well.  I hope he can make an impact for us at OT at some point.

As I posted before, I am really interested to see how Jordan Coleman looks this spring.  He has great height, length, and strength, but did not move as well as some others in his HS film.  He has clearly dropped some bad weight (and added some good weight since he is still 354 lbs) based on the pictures I saw from yesterday.  I am interested to see how he is moving now and whether he can stay at OT or needs to be moved inside to OG.  

[Thorn007]

What about the wku guard yo. Strange it's  taking so long. MasterKey to O line imho

[Rocky P]

1 hour ago, Thorn007 said:

What about the wku guard yo. Strange it's  taking so long. MasterKey to O line imho

Check is taking a second to clear

[CJ Vogel]

1 hour ago, Thorn007 said:

What about the wku guard yo. Strange it's  taking so long. MasterKey to O line imho

You’re not wrong. No update has been given and I don’t suspect we’ll know anything until Texas puts something out

[Jeff Howe]

18 hours ago, Austalgia said:

Right. Some players that can fire off low with a flat back and drive their feet.  Move their feet in pass pro laterally without crossing them over and give a good punch with their hands.  I don’t get paid millions, but what the hell? Are we teaching the basics before all these complicated blocking schemes. 

I think offensive line fundamentals are lacking at the lower levels of football.

Nobody does sled work anymore other than the Crowther sled. I stopped seeing chutes on practice fields about a decade ago.

The quality of line play across the board has been declining slowly over the last 10-15 years, IMO.

[Jeff Howe]

2 hours ago, jhookem91 said:

Great article, Jeff.  To further your point, Jonte Newman was listed at 275 lbs as a recruit but was listed on A&M's roster last year as a true freshman at 331 lbs.  He is now listed on our roster at 302 lbs and looked good in the pictures I saw from yesterday's practice.  I liked him (and his teammate Ryan Fodje) during the recruiting process.  Even though he is a little shorter at 6'4", he has great length and moves really well.  I hope he can make an impact for us at OT at some point.

As I posted before, I am really interested to see how Jordan Coleman looks this spring.  He has great height, length, and strength, but did not move as well as some others in his HS film.  He has clearly dropped some bad weight (and added some good weight since he is still 354 lbs) based on the pictures I saw from yesterday.  I am interested to see how he is moving now and whether he can stay at OT or needs to be moved inside to OG.  

Newman was leaner and quicker than I expected.

Melvin Siani is probably the true backup left tackle if something happened to Goosby in a game, or if he weren't available.

Time will tell with Coleman, but multiple OTF sources were high on him coming out of bowl practices and throughout conditioning leading up to spring practice.