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Spring Football 2024 Updated Scholarship Count

By CJ Vogel

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The NCAA Transfer Portal window re-opens April 15. With a new wave of free agency to begin in the next week and a half, it is a good time to take a look at where Texas sits on the scholarship counter.

Reminder, Texas must be at or below the 85 scholarship number by the start of the season.

***

Quarterback (3)

  • JR. – Quinn Ewers
  • RS. – FR Arch Manning
  • FR. – Trey Owens

Running Back (6)

  • JR. – Jaydon Blue, Savion Red
  • SO. – CJ Baxter, Tre Wisner
  • FR. – Christian Clark, Jerrick Gibson

Wide Receiver (10)

  • SR. – Silas Bolden
  • JR. – Isaiah Bond, Matthew Golden
  • SO. – Johntay Cook, DeAndre Moore
  • RS FR. – Ryan Niblett
  • FR. – Aaron Butler, Freddie Dubose, Parker Livingstone, Ryan Wingo

Tight End (6)

  • SR. – Gunnar Helm, Juan Davis
  • JR. – Amari Niblack
  • RS FR. – Will Randle, Spencer Shannon
  • FR. – Jordan Washington

Offensive Line (18)

  • SR. – Jake Majors, Hayden Conner
  • JR. – Kelvin Banks, DJ Campbell, Cole Hutson, Max Merril, Cam Williams
  • SO. – Malik Agbo, Connor Robertson, Neto Umeozulu
  • RS FR. – Jaydon Chatman, Andre Cojoe, Trevor Goosby, Peyton Kirkland, Connor Stroh
  • FR. – Brandon Baker, Daniel Cruz, Nate Kibble

Defensive Line (9)

  • SR. – Vernon Broughton, Alfred Collins, Tia Savea
  • SO. – Jaray Bledsoe, Aaron Bryant, Zac Swanson
  • RS FR. – Sydir Mitchell
  • FR. – Melvin Hills, Alex January

EDGE (10)

  • SR. – Barryn Sorrell
  • JR. – Ethan Burke, Justice Finkley, Trey Moore
  • SO. – J'Mond Tapp
  • RS FR. – Tausili Akana, Colton Vasek, Billy Walton
  • FR. – Colin Simmons, Zina Umeozulu

Linebacker (8)

  • SR. – David Gbenda, Kendrick Blackshire, Morice Blackwell
  • SO. – Anthony Hill Jr., Liona Lefua
  • RS FR. – S'maje Burrell, Derion Gullette
  • FR. – Tyanthony Smith

Defensive Back (16)

  • SR. – Jahdae Barron, Gavin Holmes, Andrew Mukuba
  • JR. – Terrance Brooks, Jaylon Guilbeau, Austin Jordan, Michael Taaffe
  • SO. – Jelani McDonald, Malik Muhammad, Derek Williams
  • RS FR. – Warren Roberson
  • FR. – Kobe Black, Xavier Filsaime, Jordon Johnson-Rubell, Wardell Mack, Santana Wilson

Specialists (3)

  • JR. – Lance St. Louis, Will Stone
  • FR. – Michael Kern

***

Texas sits at 89 scholarship plays as I type this out on April 3rd. 

Of course, this goes without having K Bert Auburn on scholarship at the moment as well.

The Longhorns will need to get down to 85 scholarships by the beginning of the 2024 season. It goes without saying, but expect some attrition this spring, especially if Texas looks to add to their roster via the portal when the window opens.

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    Sophomore

    FrancoBevo3.0

    Members

    It will be interesting to see how this shakes out. If we’re at 89 and they want to add 2 IDL, that means 6 others would have to transfer, 7 if you want to get Auburn on scholarship. That’s a lot.

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    • Lifetime Longhorn

    CJ Vogel

    Moderators
    • Moderators
    11 minutes ago, FrancoBevo3.0 said:

    It will be interesting to see how this shakes out. If we’re at 89 and they want to add 2 IDL, that means 6 others would have to transfer, 7 if you want to get Auburn on scholarship. That’s a lot.

    I would bet five as the minimum we see enter the portal after the spring. Six is likely.

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    • First Round Pick

    Derek Handler

    Members

    Pancake Factory might keep some OL for transferring out.    

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    • Lifetime Longhorn

    CJ Vogel

    Moderators
    • Moderators
    5 minutes ago, Derek Handler said:

    Pancake Factory might keep some OL for transferring out.    

    It has certainly helped retain a few guys so far. Blessing and curse but I think ultimately you take the benefits of what it has brought to the table 10 times out of 10.

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    • Junior

    closetojumping

    Supporters
    10 minutes ago, Derek Handler said:

    Pancake Factory might keep some OL for transferring out.    

    It's a good sentiment, but the Pancake Factory was only active for one season. What you see now is active roster management regarding NIL across all position groups, and not everyone is assured of NIL, either. This approach has, however, led to optimized results regarding the comings and goings within the portal. 

    A few other things:

    1) Auburn will be on scholarship and will also continue to be a part of the NIL side of things.

    2) Expect some pain. It's a tribute to Sarkisian and Co. that the roster is more or less maxed out and that is reflected by there being a very limited set of players that anyone will just shrug about if they head to the portal. I assume several OLs will be gone and none will be named Max Merrill. Feels like almost a certainty at DB, LB, E, and TB as well. 

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    • Redshirt

    SamuraiKnight

    Supporters

    If Auburn's NIL deal is strong enough, does he have to be on scholarship? Why not keep him as a walk-on? I wonder if we will see NIL deals pop up at 1 time payments for players to leave.  Almost like a buyout. $125K for Max Merrill to move on? Max seems like a great kid. But I'd trade him for a starting NT in a heart beat. 

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    • Junior

    closetojumping

    Supporters
    21 minutes ago, SamuraiKnight said:

    If Auburn's NIL deal is strong enough, does he have to be on scholarship? Why not keep him as a walk-on? I wonder if we will see NIL deals pop up at 1 time payments for players to leave.  Almost like a buyout. $125K for Max Merrill to move on? Max seems like a great kid. But I'd trade him for a starting NT in a heart beat. 

    There's no harm in having a little fun with it all in your mind, but no, most of what you wrote won't happen.

    Regarding buying guys out, that's a concept that will almost certainly never get traction. It is really hard to get people to wrap their heads around paying players to be on campus. Trying to convince someone to give a player dead money to leave would get laughed at by all parties. There are 85 spots, paying to have a single one open up doesn't make sense.

    Regarding Auburn and the walk-on notion, that's just not how the players and their parents/handlers/agents see any of this. They want the scholarship as a matching of their value on the team, rightly so, and, if they are good enough, should be getting NIL as well. 

    Supporters of Texas have experimented with paying walk-ons NIL, or expanding legitimate roster spots with NIL, and the juice isn't worth the squeeze. Other programs have tried it as well and it hasn't gone anywhere for them either. Guys on scholarship resent it, and it doesn't change any walk-on behavior. Guys getting scholarship offers from other big time programs aren't going to take walk-on status for your school.

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    • Lifetime Longhorn

    Red Five

    Supporters
    1 hour ago, Derek Handler said:

    Pancake Factory might keep some OL for transferring out.    

    We need some to transfer out. 

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    • Sophomore

    Han Soul Hole

    Supporters

    18 OL, 19 DL (DT+DE), 16 DBs, and 10 WR.

    I like the OL to WR numbers considering those were flipped when Sark took over. 16 DB feels like A LOT.  

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