Understanding Texas’ Offensive Line Struggles — A Fan’s Attempt to Diagnose the Real Issues

[Lam Dinh]

I wrote this as a diehard Longhorn fan just trying to understand what’s really behind our offensive line struggles — not to pile on with lazy “we suck” takes. This isn’t about blame; it’s about figuring out why the line looks so different this year and what can actually be done to fix it.

I’m not an expert — just a fan who wants to start an honest discussion so we can all better understand the root causes (and maybe sleep a little easier before the OU game). And if Big Tony Hills or @Jeff Howe are out there — the true Offensive Line experts over at OTF — I’d love to hear your takes. You guys know this stuff infinitely better than I do (hint hint: keep the great content coming 🙂).

1. Offensive Line Execution

Last year, Texas’ offensive line was a strength — ranking roughly 28th nationally in pressure rate allowed (~25.5% of dropbacks). That group even earned Joe Moore Award semifinalist honors.

This year? A complete collapse. Texas now ranks 128th in pressure rate allowed, giving up pressure on over 40% of dropbacks (CBS Sports / ESPN). That’s a 100-spot swing. We replaced four of five starters, and it shows: five false starts vs. Florida, blown pickups, and almost no consistent run push.

Possible Fix: Left Guard (Stroh) and Center (Hutson) are the weakest links right now. I’d try either Hutson at LG (where he was serviceable in 2024) and Conner Robertson at C, or continue letting Nick Brooks develop at LG (with 2026 in mind) while giving Robertson a shot at Center (since he gets more push IMO). 

2. Quarterback Time-to-Throw (and Scheme Design)

In the Florida game, Arch averaged 3.5 seconds before releasing the ball — roughly a full second longer than Quinn Ewers’ 2.58s average last year (PFF / CBS). That extra second is everything. It’s the difference between a tackle maintaining leverage and giving up a sack.

But it’s not purely on Arch. Sark has clearly emphasized more vertical routes and deeper progressions this year, which naturally extend the play clock. So it’s likely a mix: a scheme built for deep shots plus a quarterback hunting them too often.

Possible Fix: Speed up the reads. Call more quick-game and one-read concepts. Mix in rollouts, including Arch's favorite roll right waggle play. Let Arch build rhythm before chasing chunk plays, just like Quinn did last year.

3. Recruiting & Depth Misses

This problem started years ago. Texas has missed on nearly all the Top offensive lineman recruits after the 2022 class. Some examples: John Mills (now Washington’s starting left guard) and Michael Fasusi (now OU's starting LT). The result: thin depth, raw backups, and too much hope in youth.

But it’s not just about who we missed — it’s about how we evaluate. As Gerry Hamilton pointed out on the defensive side of the ball, Byron Murphy was a 3-star, undersized recruit who became a first-round NFL pick. The current staff probably wouldn’t have recruited him based on measurables alone.

That’s the lesson. Texas doesn’t need more so-called “Big Humans” — we need "TOUGH humans". Guys with a mean streak, an edge, a dog in them. Linemen who finish blocks, not just measure well in spring. Until Texas recruits to that identity relentlessly — we’ll keep ending up with size without bite.

Possible Fix: There’s no real in-season fix for this one. Texas needs to hit the portal hard this winter for veteran linemen who can anchor the group right away, and rethink its high school recruiting philosophy — prioritizing tough humans, not just big humans.

Hook 'em!

Edited 16 hours ago by Lam Dinh

[JMarquette]

This is good work

[Hashtag]

I’d add the term athletic into the “tough athletic humans” portion of this post and you are spot on. 

[TexasLonghorns]

3 hours ago, Lam Dinh said:

 

3. Recruiting & Depth Misses

This problem started years ago. Texas has missed on nearly all the Top offensive lineman recruits after the 2022 class. Some examples: John Mills (now Washington’s starting left guard) and Michael Fasusi (now OU's starting LT). The result: thin depth, raw backups, and too much hope in youth.

 

 

I agree with most of your post, but not that part.

Sure, we’ve missed on some OL prospects in past cycles and relied on players down the list, no doubt. But the two you mentioned (Mills and Fasusi) are true freshmen, so they don’t really support the “too much hope in youth” argument  for this team.  The guys we’re actually playing are older than both. Only one is a second-year player, the rest are third and fourth year guys. This isn’t a young group, they’ve had plenty of time in the program.

Also, Neto’s been here four years now, he just hasn’t developed for whatever reason. That’s not a youth problem, it’s a recruiting, evaluation, and development problem, compounded by coaching and scheme issues.

[Hashtag]

17 minutes ago, TexasLonghorns said:

 

I agree with most of your post, but not that part.

Sure, we’ve missed on some OL prospects in past cycles and relied on players down the list, no doubt. But the two you mentioned (Mills and Fasusi) are true freshmen, so they don’t really support the “too much hope in youth” argument  for this team.  The guys we’re actually playing are older than both. Only one is a second-year player, the rest are third and fourth year guys. This isn’t a young group, they’ve had plenty of time in the program.

Also, Neto’s been here four years now, he just hasn’t developed for whatever reason. That’s not a youth problem, it’s a recruiting, evaluation, and development problem, compounded by coaching and scheme issues.

Fasusi in his starts with OU has graded out highly. 
 

Mills would be the best guard on this team as a true freshman. 
 

 

Edited 13 hours ago by Hashtag

[Tommy]

IT's Deep Dive today (the best thing they put out) is the best eval I've seen on O-line struggles. In short, it's fundamentally bad practice, players playing robotically and following a scheme that's not working, not actually engaging with the D-tackles and just moving to spots without purpose.
I think two things may exacerbate it:
1. losing the longtime center Jake Majors who communicated his defensive reads constantly, and 

2. Defensive coordinators picking apart the line scheme, similar to regular season Georgia last year lining up just opposite to the O-line's intended slide protects, and Arizona State picking up our landmarks to stunt the outside zone run. With Arizona State, I thought it was the few Texas transfers that exposed our landmarks. But similar to Georgia, I think Florida might've ripped our playbook for O-line protection. 

It's a bad bad situation if so.

[Lam Dinh]

47 minutes ago, Hashtag said:

Fasusi in his starts with OU has graded out highly. 
 

Mills would be the best guard on this team as a true freshman. 
 

 

If John Mills was our starting LG and Michael Fasusi was starting at RT, I think our line would then at least match the 3 NFL drafted linemen of 2024 (Banks, Williams, Conner). I'm not sure we have an NFL draft pick on the O-Line outside of Trevor Goosby (unless Nick Brooks develops much quicker).

[Lam Dinh]

43 minutes ago, Tommy said:

IT's Deep Dive today (the best thing they put out) is the best eval I've seen on O-line struggles. In short, it's fundamentally bad practice, players playing robotically and following a scheme that's not working, not actually engaging with the D-tackles and just moving to spots without purpose.
I think two things may exacerbate it:
1. losing the longtime center Jake Majors who communicated his defensive reads constantly, and 

2. Defensive coordinators picking apart the line scheme, similar to regular season Georgia last year lining up just opposite to the O-line's intended slide protects, and Arizona State picking up our landmarks to stunt the outside zone run. With Arizona State, I thought it was the few Texas transfers that exposed our landmarks. But similar to Georgia, I think Florida might've ripped our playbook for O-line protection. 

It's a bad bad situation if so.

I completely agree on Jake Majors. He was a much bigger loss as a leader/communicator/blocker/player than most people gave him credit for. 

[JMarquette]

13 minutes ago, Lam Dinh said:

If John Mills was our starting LG and Michael Fasusi was starting at RT, I think our line would then at least match the 3 NFL drafted linemen of 2024 (Banks, Williams, Conner). I'm not sure we have an NFL draft pick on the O-Line outside of Trevor Goosby (unless Nick Brooks develops much quicker).

Campbell will be a day 3 pick. Baker could develop into one. But the current prognosis is correct. 

[JMarquette]

One thing to add too - how the hell did flood literally miss on the only day 1 starter in the 24 class? All he had to do was match and he chose wrong. 

[Doc Strangemood]

Check the running game scheme.

[AusMOJO]

10 hours ago, Tommy said:

IT's Deep Dive today (the best thing they put out) is the best eval I've seen on O-line struggles. In short, it's fundamentally bad practice, players playing robotically and following a scheme that's not working, not actually engaging with the D-tackles and just moving to spots without purpose.
I think two things may exacerbate it:
1. losing the longtime center Jake Majors who communicated his defensive reads constantly, and 

2. Defensive coordinators picking apart the line scheme, similar to regular season Georgia last year lining up just opposite to the O-line's intended slide protects, and Arizona State picking up our landmarks to stunt the outside zone run. With Arizona State, I thought it was the few Texas transfers that exposed our landmarks. But similar to Georgia, I think Florida might've ripped our playbook for O-line protection. 

It's a bad bad situation if so.

That view of the OL from behind is just...wow. How are they all just whiffing on easy blocks? Stroh looks so weird moving out there and not to mention how often they just let guys go straight pass them, without even so much as getting a hand on them. 

I refuse to believe Flood is this bad at coaching OL.

Another factor, is that Hutson isn't a C. We all thought he'd be better there, but he just doesn't have the strength or communication to play C. He might've whiffed as much as Stroh did. 

Also agree that deep dive with Paul and Ian, I think it was? That was actually really good. I don't typically watch a lot of their content but it came across my feed today. 

[AusMOJO]

9 hours ago, Lam Dinh said:

I completely agree on Jake Majors. He was a much bigger loss as a leader/communicator/blocker/player than most people gave him credit for. 

I disagree, he was a liability a lot but his experience/communication was a huge factor. Something they could've gone to the portal to get from an experienced C. If they weren't going to go in on other guys, you could've just left Hutson at LG and brought in an experienced C until Cruz is ready to go. 

[AusMOJO]

9 hours ago, JMarquette said:

One thing to add too - how the hell did flood literally miss on the only day 1 starter in the 24 class? All he had to do was match and he chose wrong. 

Who are you talking about here, Mills or Fasusi? I don't think either one of those guys was coming to Texas, unfortunately. 

[Karl Simon]

If you watch the tape another bad actor is DJ Campbell. He’s always looking for ways  to back away from a fight in pass protection. I don’t understand why the OL coach doesn’t see the problem he’s creating for our plays to develop. Hookem 

[Hashtag]

5 minutes ago, Karl Simon said:

If you watch the tape another bad actor is DJ Campbell. He’s always looking for ways  to back away from a fight in pass protection. I don’t understand why the OL coach doesn’t see the problem he’s creating for our plays to develop. Hookem 

can you provide an example of this? I’d love to see what you mean. Thanks

Edited 1 hour ago by Hashtag

[Oldest Horn]

1 hour ago, Hashtag said:

can you provide an example of this? I’d love to see what you mean. Thanks

Ever get that link to the all 22 you use?

[JMarquette]

2 hours ago, AusMOJO said:

Who are you talking about here, Mills or Fasusi? I don't think either one of those guys was coming to Texas, unfortunately. 

Mills - Fasusi was never in the class. My understanding was Washington made Mills a more competitive NIL offer

[AusMOJO]

8 minutes ago, JMarquette said:

Mills - Fasusi was never in the class. My understanding was Washington made Mills a more competitive NIL offer

My understanding was it was NIL + family factor. Didn't he have family who played at Washington? Either way, he seems to be doing good at Washington. 

Edited 4 minutes ago by AusMOJO

[JMarquette]

4 minutes ago, AusMOJO said:

My understanding was it was NIL + family factor. Didn't he have family who played at Washington? Either way, he seems to be doing good at Washington. 

That’s what’s unfortunate- he’d already be the best guard on the roster.