OTF Premium Four things on my mind before the Longhorns hit the practice field

[Jeff Howe]

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.

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[BlakeMay]

Will we see any Michael Terry III this season?

[Jeff Howe]

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)

[Jeff Howe]

3 minutes ago, BlakeMay said:

Will we see any Michael Terry III this season?

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.

[BlakeMay]

1 minute ago, Jeff Howe said:

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.

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. 

[Thailand T Sip]

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.

[Jeff Howe]

13 minutes ago, BlakeMay said:

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. 

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. 

[Jeff Howe]

9 minutes ago, Thailand T Sip said:

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.

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.

[UT92]

41 minutes ago, BlakeMay said:

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. 

Could he play LB we seem to be coming up a little short there in recruiting... 🤷‍♂️