I’m not predicting that these players will start for Texas in 2026 or have significant roles. Still, there are five Longhorns whose stock has gone up relative to where I thought it was when spring practice began in March.

Kobe Black, CB, Jr.

I didn’t expect Black to end spring practice ahead of Kade Phillips at the cornerback spot opposite of Bo Mascoe. As it stands, the Longhorns are exiting spring practice with four players (Black, Mascoe, Phillips and Graceson Littleton) capable of occupying three starting spots in the secondary (both cornerback spots and nickelback).

Black took his lumps last season, but if Texas is going to be tighter and more physical in coverage under Will Muschamp, he’s potentially a much better scheme fit in the current defense than he was in Pete Kwiatkowski’s system.

KJ Lacey, QB, RS-Fr.

You never know how a quarterback will respond when given the opportunity Lacey got while Arch Manning was working his way back from foot surgery. While there’s a drastic difference between getting the job done on the practice field and coming through in a game when you’re live and there are 11 guys on the other side of the line of scrimmage trying to make your life miserable, Lacey’s performance over 15 practices made good on Steve Sarkisian’s decision to invest in him as QB2 in 2026.

One of the factors that helped Texas load up in the transfer portal was that the Longhorns had homegrown talent at arguably the three most important positions on the field: quarterback (Manning), left tackle (Trevor Goosby) and a top-tier pass rusher (Colin Simmons). Not having to allocate resources to top-tier players at premium positions allowed Texas to focus elsewhere.

No matter how much he plays as a redshirt freshman, Lacey staying on his developmental track is paramount to Sarkisian's 2027 roster build.

Kosi Okpala, LB, Fr.-HS

Okpala came to Texas known for his potential to rush the passer, making him a tremendous fit in Muschamp’s defense as an overhang linebacker (where Brad Spence currently starts). But Okpala’s ability to play off the ball, specifically how he looked in coverage last Saturday, has me feeling more optimistic than I already was about the future of the linebacker position on the Forty Acres.

Josiah Sharma, DL, RS-Fr.

One of the best scenes during the end-of-spring scrimmage was Muschamp getting fired up when Sharma sprinted down the line of scrimmage while trying to get to the football. Sharma and Myron Charles look like they took full advantage of a developmental season, which is a tribute to the work they put in and the job Kenny Baker did bringing them along.

The Longhorns are deep enough on the interior that Sharma and Charles don’t need to see the field in 2026. Regardless, I could see both playing high-leverage snaps during a College Football Playoff run if they successfully build on what could be gleaned from their spring development.

Dylan Sikorski, C/G, Soph.

Even though Texas won a battle with Tennessee for Sikorski’s commitment, the Oregon State transfer was a largely unknown commodity after starting six games and logging 444 snaps (according to Pro Football Focus) for the Beavers in 2025. Sikorski got some action with the first-team offense at left guard, but the potential he showed at center (he picked up more work there after a knee injury ended Jackson Christian’s spring) is why the arrow is pointing up.

While there’s a long way to go between now and the next portal window, Sikorski and Christian have positioned themselves to get the inside track on the two starting jobs on the interior that will come open in 2027, when Laurence Seymore and Connor Robertson will be out of eligibility.

The On Texas Football staff didn't put the four incoming summer transfers (Laurence Seymore and Paris Patterson Jr. on the offensive line, linebacker Darius Snow and defensive back Nick Hudson) on the depth chart. They'll be added in a later projection before the Longhorns begin preseason practices ahead of the 2026 season opener against Texas State on Sept. 5.

QUARTERBACK

1. Arch Manning

2. KJ Lacey

3. MJ Morris — OR — Dia Bell

RUNNING BACK

1. Raleek Brown — OR — Hollywood Smothers

2. Derrek Cooper

3. James Simon

4. Michael Terry III

5. Ryan Niblett

6. Jett Walker

WIDE RECEIVER (X)

1. Cam Coleman

2. Sterling Berkhalter

3. Kaliq Lockett

WIDE RECEIVER (Z)

1. Ryan Wingo

2. Kohen Brown

3. Chris Stewart

WIDE RECEIVER (H)

1. Emmett Mosley V

2. Jermaine Bishop Jr.

3. Daylan McCutcheon

TIGHT END (Y)

1. Michael Masunas — OR — Spencer Shannon

2. Charlie Jilek

TIGHT END (H)

1. Nick Townsend

2. Emaree Winston

3. Will Randle

LEFT TACKLE

1. Trevor Goosby

2. Jordan Coleman

3. John Turntine III

LEFT GUARD

1. Jaydon Chatman

2. Dylan Sikorski

3. Jackson Christian

CENTER

1. Connor Robertson

2. Jackson Christian

3. Dylan Sikorski

RIGHT GUARD

1. Brandon Baker

2. Devin Coleman

3. Kaden Scherer

RIGHT TACKLE

1. Melvin Siani

2. Andre Cojoe

3. Jonte Newman

NOSE TACKLE

1. Ian Geffrard

2. Maraad Watson

3. Josiah Sharma

4. Zion Williams 

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

1. Hero Kanu

2. Justus Terry

3. James Johnson

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

1. Alex January

2. Myron Charles

JACK

1. Colin Simmons

2. Colton Vasek

3. Smith Orogbo — OR — Richard Wesley

END

1. Lance Jackson

2. Zina Umeozulu

3. Jamarion Carlton

WLB

1. Rasheem Biles

2. Rocky Cummings

SLB

1. Brad Spence

2. Kosi Okpala

MLB

1. Ty’Anthony Smith

2. Justin Cryer

3. Tyler Atkinson

4. Markus Boswell

NICKEL

1. Graceson Littleton

2. Bo Mascoe

3. Wardell Mack

CORNERBACK

1. Kobe Black

2. Kade Phillips

3. Hayward Howard Jr.

CORNERBACK

1. Bo Mascoe

2. Warren Roberson

3. Samari Matthews

FREE SAFETY

1. Jelani McDonald

2. Jordon Johnson-Rubell

3. Toray Davis

4. Zelus Hicks

STRONG SAFETY

1. Derek Williams Jr.

2. Xavier Filsaime

3. Jonathan Cunningham

4. Jonah Williams

5. Yaheim Riley

PUNTER

1. Mac Chuimento

2. Mikey Bukauskus

KICKER

1. Gianni Spetic

2. Spencer Barnett

3. Jake Collett

PUNT RETURN

1. Ryan Niblett

2. Raleek Brown

3. Daylan McCutcheon

KICKOFF RETURN

1. Raleek Brown and Jermaine Bishop Jr.

2. Derrek Cooper and Michael Terry III

Still, what could be gleaned from a thud tempo scrimmage on a cold, dreary day at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium answered a few questions on a day when the curtain fell on a productive spring for Steve Sarkisian’s program. And, obviously, there are also things we won’t know about until Texas kicks off its sixth campaign under Sarkisian against Texas State on Sept. 5.

Three questions answered at the end of spring practice

1. What’s the deepest position on the team?

While the answer is debatable, the wide receivers made a strong case for being the deepest group on the Forty Acres throughout the spring. That continued on Saturday with Sterling Berkhalter, Jermaine Bishop and Daylan McCutcheon flashing, most notably McCutcheon on an outstretched touchdown catch inside the front pylon against Kade Phillips.

With Cam Coleman, Emmett Mosley and Ryan Wingo getting no snaps during the live periods of practice, the second unit made plays for KJ Lacey (when he had time to throw the football) and consistently challenged an aggressive secondary. Even with a defensive line (both on the interior and out on the edge) that’s as deep and talented as any in the country, Sarkisian might be forced to expand his rotation of wideouts, given the number of playmakers in Chris Jackson’s room.

2. How different will the defense be under Will Muschamp?

Although the live portion of Saturday’s action was void of exotic pressures and the kind of looks Muschamp will dial up during the regular season, it was clear that the Longhorns are going to be an aggressive, attacking defense under the new regime.

Specifically, Saturday’s practice featured numerous A-gap pressures by the linebackers (Rasheem Biles, Tyler Atkinson and Kosi Okpala destroyed plays with pressure in the quarterback’s face) and tight, man coverage on the back end. With a few exceptions, defenders were on top of intended receivers when balls were caught, either forcing incompletions or eliminating yards after the catch.

3. Is the running game going to be better than it was in 2025?

With little seen of Raleek Brown and Hollywood Smothers, and the offensive line missing Trevor Goosby and Melvin Siani (Brandon Baker, Jaydon Chatman and Connor Robertson saw few snaps), it was hard to get a full picture of the state of the running game. Nevertheless, Derrek Cooper ran with a different level of wiggle and maximized runs better than anyone (other than a healthy Tre Wisner) did last season, including on his short touchdown run and a gain of about eight yards in which he pushed the pile forward for a few yards before going down.

Michael Terry had a good practice to close out spring practice, squirting loose over the left side of the line for a first down on a third-and-short run to highlight his day. James Simon, who Jabbar Juluke says is perhaps the best natural runner in his room, popped the longest gain of the day over the right side of the line late in the scrimmage.

There’s no question that Texas has upgraded at running back. That alone gives the running game a much higher ceiling than it had last season.

Three questions that remain unanswered at the end of spring practice

1. Will the offensive line be better than it was last season?

Nobody should take what happened on Saturday as a sign of things to come, considering how many key pieces were held out of action or limited. Regardless, it’s hard to assume things will be drastically improved in the trenches without the group passing the eye test in a game.

More than any other position, the offensive line needs a lot of time playing together for things to mesh well when it matters. Until the bullets are live, the jury is out on Kyle Flood’s group turning the page from a 2025 showing that fell short of expectations.

2. What will the tight ends’ role be on offense?

Other than a catch-and-run by Michael Masunas late in the scrimmage and Spencer Shannon making a catch over the middle before Phillips took him off his feet, there wasn’t much to write home about regarding the performance of the tight ends on Saturday. Sarkisian’s offense often operates out of two tight ends, but the volume of 12 personnel snaps could decrease given the depth of the running back and wide receiver groups.

It seemed like when Nick Townsend was in a position to catch the ball and do something with it in his hands, pressure forced the ball to come out of the quarterback’s hand too quickly or be thrown behind Townsend. Townsend has the tools to be a tremendous weapon, but the group’s role within the offense seems to be a work in progress.

3. What do we know about the kicking game?

Not much after Saturday, which has been the case throughout the spring. Gianni Spetic had at least one missed field goal during the live portion of practice, Mac Chiumento’s punts didn’t move the needle and returns weren’t fully live (even though Raleek Brown looked the part on a kickoff return down the sideline to start the scrimmage).

Like the additions of Darius Snow and Paris Patterson Jr., recruiting Hudson from the portal speaks to how the Longhorns are maximizing the new age of roster building in college football. With roster construction mimicking an NFL model, Texas landing Hudson is akin to an NFL club signing a free agent ahead of training camp.

That’s not to minimize what Hudson, who played 777 snaps in three seasons at Brown and led the Ivy League with 13 pass breakups in 2024, brings to the table. Still, with instant impact starters like Cam Coleman, Rasheem Biles, Raleek Brown, Hollywood Smothers, Melvin Siani and Bo Mascoe accounting for where Texas had to devote most of its portal resources, guys like Hudson, Snow and Patterson are like the low-risk, high-reward options found throughout NFL rosters in the preseason.

If Hudson, or any of the other post-spring practice additions, earn significant roles in 2026, they’ll be well worth whatever the staff invested in them to get them to the Forty Acres. If things don’t pan out, and Hudson, Snow and Patterson are simply on the roster and contributing mainly through their work on the practice field, then they’ll be unused insurance policies.

The best-case scenario for Hudson (along with Snow and Patterson) might be mirroring what Sterling Berkhalter has done since joining the program. Even within a position group oozing talent, Berkhalter has had the kind of spring that has Steve Sarkisian and Chris Jackson believing in him as someone who could potentially be counted on to log meaningful snaps.

Regardless, the three most recent roster additions can put a buffer between a talented group of true freshmen and the field, if nothing else. If Tyler Atkinson, Samari Matthews and John Turntine III have significant roles as true freshmen, it needs to be because they’re the best options and not the only options available at their respective positions.

That’s not to say the staff should or would put Hudson on the field before Matthews, for example. But a capable, experienced option is a nice fallback plan to consider if, for whatever reason, there are reservations about turning to a true freshman.

With college football teams operating under a roster cap of 105 players, late additions like Hudson are more talented, experienced versions of the preferred walk-ons who've previously filled out the roster. If Hudson does nothing beyond giving the starters a better look to go against in practice, taking him will have been a worthwhile addition to the roster.

One of the things that made Pete Kwiatkowski’s group elite was the defense’s ability to create havoc plays. When the curtain fell on a 16-game season, Texas ranked among the nation’s leaders with 22 interceptions (tied for first), 18 forced fumbles (No. 3) and 112 tackles for loss (No. 6).

Calculating havoc rate isn’t complicated. It’s the combined number of tackles for loss, forced fumbles and passes defensed (combining pass breakups and interceptions) divided by the number of plays faced, which determines the rate at which a defense creates a negative play for the offense.

Texas finished the 2024 season with an overall havoc rate of 21.1 percent, according to CollegeFootballData.com. The Longhorns’ overall havoc rate was the seventh-highest rate in FBS, trailing only national leader Ole Miss and Tennessee among SEC defenses. A front seven havoc rate of 13 percent tied for 12th nationally, while a defensive back havoc rate of 8.1 percent tied for eighth-best in the country.

Historically, those rates were the highest marks during Kwiatkowski’s five seasons. Last season, however, the Texas defense’s havoc rate dropped to 17.9 percent, with the front seven (11.3 percent) and defensive back (6.6 percent) rated down from 2024.

Beyond the overall production slipping, the Longhorns generated a staggeringly low number of havoc plays in their three losses.

Whereas Texas averaged 13.4 havoc plays per game in its 10 wins (71 tackles for loss, 10 forced fumbles, 39 pass breakups and 14 interceptions), the defense netted only 21 total havoc plays in losses to Ohio State, (one tackle for loss and two pass breakups), Florida (three tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, two pass breakups and an interception) and Georgia (eight tackles for loss, one pass breakup and one interception. The dropoff was sharp decline compared to 2024, when the Longhorns recorded 11 havoc plays in a regular-season loss to the Bulldogs (four tackles for loss, three interceptions and two pass breakups), 20 in the SEC championship game (10 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, five pass breakups and one interception) and eight in a Cotton Bowl loss to the Buckeyes (four tackles for loss, two pass breakups, one forced fumbles and one interception).

The need to consistently cause havoc can’t be overlooked in the continued offseason examination of Steve Sarkisian's decision to part ways with Kwiatkowski in favor of Will Muschamp.

“We want to create havoc,” Sarkisian said after Tuesday’s practice. “We did a tremendous job defensively (last) Saturday, in the scrimmage, of creating havoc plays — sacks and negative plays, turnovers.”

Muschamp’s 2009 defense was one of the most opportunistic in program history, helping the Longhorns set a single-season school record for non-offensive touchdowns (11) while leading the nation with 25 interceptions.

One of the byproducts of Texas playing more man coverage under Muschamp and getting more aggressive on the perimeter should be more opportunities for Longhorn defenders to make plays on the football. Graceson Littleton and Kade Phillips tied for the team lead with six pass breakups as true freshmen in 2025 — Littleton led the defense in passes defensed (eight, including two interceptions), while Phillips and Jelani McDonald (three interceptions and three pass breakups) tied for the second-most passes defensed last season — which speaks to the playmaking potential of Muschamp has in the secondary.

McDonald, who chose to return for his senior season instead of entering the 2026 NFL Draft, said during Wednesday’s on-campus media availability that Muschamp’s scheme will let the safeties show off their versatility compared to what the position was asked to do under Kwiatkowski.

“We're able to do more,” McDonald said. “We're jumping digs, we're on top of digs, we're in man coverage — everything. We're able to blitz.

“It's going to give me more things to put on my résumé.”

Hopefully, McDonald and the Longhorn defenders' renewed focus on finding the football leads to the defense causing havoc more consistently in 2026.

What Muschamp doesn’t get enough credit for is his attention to detail. Playing for Muschamp requires a razor-sharp focus, which bred discipline that helped Muschamp field championship-caliber defenses and change the football culture on the Forty Acres during his three seasons under Mack Brown (2008-10).

Unlike his first tour of duty with the Longhorns, Muschamp’s return hasn’t tasked him with creating something from scratch. It’s more of a case of Muschamp helping Sarkisian clear a hurdle he’s reached along his climb to college football’s summit.

Regardless, Muschamp’s impact in his second Texas tenure is being felt in how the Longhorns practice. The expected Muschamp hallmarks are evident (the “No Thud = No Play” mantra chief among them). Muschamp’s detailing of Steve Sarkisian’s defensive practice plan for spring ball during his media availability last Tuesday, however, revealed how Sarkisian is giving Muschamp the tools he needs to help Texas regain the physical edge it lacked at times in 2025.

For starters, Muschamp is familiar with the way Texas practices because Sarkisian’s practice structure, he said, is similar to what he experienced while working under Nick Saban and Kirby Smart.

From the day he took the job, Sarkisian has implemented a lot of what he learned from Saban during his time as an Alabama assistant coach (2016, 2019-20). Still, Sarkisian using practice periods to run through half-line pass drills, for example, is a sign that Muschamp is getting everything he needs to make his mark on the 2026 squad.

“When you do half-line pass, that's really a great teaching tool for the defense,” Muschamp said. “I hear a lot of offensive coaches, like, 'I never want to do that.' We always did that with Coach Saban because it’s really to teach the principles of the coverage to the defensive players. We do that here. Coach Sarkisian loves it, but he knows that it helps us probably more than it really helps our offense. If (the play is) a full-field read for the quarterback, he's only reading half the field and sometimes there's some coverages that are going to kill any route over there.”

That might not sound like a big deal. But, Sarkisian, who points out time and again that “you get what you emphasize" in practice, tailoring practice periods to Muschamp’s liking speaks to a coach who wants to maximize a shift in defensive philosophy capable of elevating the program to the elusive next rung on the championship ladder.

Muschamp likes the physicality of Sarkisian’s practice. Beyond that, and perhaps more important to Texas getting back to the College Football Playoff, Sarkisian’s understanding that the defense needs live snaps to hone their craft has Muschamp excited about what the team has accomplished in spring practice.

“On offense, you can go out and do routes on air and really improve and get the timing and get all that,” Muschamp said. “On defense, you have to key and diagnose. You have to see something, you have to respond to it the right way, have your eyes in the right spot and in order for us to get better, we've got to go against people.”

A national top-100 recruit out of Harker Heights in the 2024 class, Punch joins the Longhorns after two seasons at TCU. As a sophomore, the 6-foot-7-inch, 245-pound Punch was an honorable mention All-Big 12 selection, averaging 14.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.3 steals per game.

Punch gives Texas a presence at the power forward spot it lacked during its run to the Sweet 16 in Sean Miller’s first season.

Along with his ability to keep the ball moving on offense, Punch should immediately help the Longhorns improve on the defensive end of the floor. Punch blocked 66 shots and recorded 45 steals in 34 games; Punch doubled Matas Vokietaitis’ team-leading 33 blocked shots this past season and only Dailyn Swain’s 59 steals topped Punch’s totals among Texas players.

The addition of Punch and the return of Vokietaitis give the Longhorns two tremendous frontcourt pieces for Miller’s second season. Currently, with Swain making himself eligible for the 2026 NBA Draft while maintaining his college eligibility, Texas has four starting spots penciled in for next season: Punch, Vokietaitis, Colorado transfer guard Isaiah Johnson and McDonald’s All-American guard Austin Goosby.

In their first series loss of the season, the Longhorns watched a 1-0 lead in the top of the first evaporate. Luke Harrison was tagged for two runs on three hits before the game entered a 98-minute rain delay, after which Harrison surrendered extra-base hits to three of the next four batters he faced.

Texas (27-7, 9-5 SEC) yanked Harrison after 0.2 innings, with Texas A&M (27-7, 9-5) roughing up the Longhorn lefty for eight earned runs on six hits. Even though Max Grubbs, Brody Walls, Michael Winter and Cal Higgins combined to allow just three hits and two earned runs in 7.1 innings of work, the damage was done.

Offensively, Texas benefitted from two solo home runs by Aiden Robbins and a solo shot from Josh Livingston. Unfortunately, the disastrous first inning doomed the Longhorns, who will look to avoid a series sweep at the hands of the Aggies on Sunday (1 p.m., SEC Network+).

Following the loss, On Texas Football will have live updates from Jim Schlossnagle’s postgame Zoom call with reporters.

Jonathan Giovny of Draft Express first reported Heide's intent to enter the portal on Thursday. On Texas Football expected Heide to be a part of Sean Miller's club for the 2026-27 season, which will be Heide's last in college basketball after playing two seasons at Purdue before joining the Longhorns for the 2025-26 campaign.

After playing in 75 career games for the Boilermakers, Heide saw action in 35 games for Texas. As a Longhorn, Heide set career-high marks for games started (29), scoring (5.9 points per game), assists (23), steals (15), 3-pointers made (49) and 3-point percentage (45.4).

Heide made one of the most memorable plays of the season, hitting a 3-pointer from the corner with 14.7 seconds left in regulation to help Texas secure a 74-68 NCAA Tournament win over Gonzaga. The Longhorns finished the season in the Sweet 16, dropping a 79-77 decision to Purdue, with Heide scoring three points and grabbing five rebounds in 24 minutes.

With Heide gone and Nic Codie both entering the transfer portal, Matas Vokietaitis is the only experienced frontcourt player returning to Texas for Miller's second season. John Clark and Lewis Obiorah are expected to return after both big men redshirted this past season.

Before Heide's departure was known, sources told OTF that the power forward position is one the Longhorns were looking to upgrade with a transfer portal acquisition.

Wilcher is the second known portal departure from Sean Miller’s program, joining forward Nic Codie.

A transfer from St. John’s, Wilcher has one season of eligibility remaining after spending one season with the Longhorns. Wilcher played in 36 games during the 2025-26 season, making one start and averaging 5.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.

Wilcher’s departure means the Texas backcourt will be completely rebuilt from the group that helped the Longhorns advance to the Sweet 16. Tramon Mark, Jordan Pope and Chendall Weaver are out of eligibility, with Wilcher the only other guard in the rotation.