Jump to content

  • Texas Longhorns News

    A place for any Longhorn Fan to get the latest news from the On Texas Football team.
    Show all categories
    Jeff Howe
    Texas safety Michael Taaffe was selected by the Miami Dolphins with the No. 158 overall pick in the fifth round of the 2026 NFL Draft on Saturday.
    The former walk-on turned All-American put together a storybook career in Austin over the course of five years. In all, Taaffe recorded 222 tackles, 9.5 tackles for a loss, three sacks, 21 pass breakups and seven interceptions, including a pair of picks in back-to-back years against Texas A&M, fittingly enough.
    Taaffe started 36 games, appearing in 53 overall. He earned Second-Team AP All-American honors for his 2024 efforts. The Austin Westlake product opted to come back for one more season in 2025 to help Texas try and get back to the College Football Playoff.
    He’s the fifth Texas defensive back to be selected over the last three drafts, joining Malik Muhammad earlier in the day, Jahdae Barron and Andrew Mukuba in 2025, and Ryan Watts in 2024.
     
    Hank South contributed to this report.
    Jeff Howe
    Texas linebacker Trey Moore was selected by the Miami Dolphins with pick No. 130 overall in the fourth round of the 2026 NFL Draft on Saturday.
    Moore, a product of Smithson Valley High School, split his career between UTSA and Texas, playing his final two seasons with the Longhorns.
    In all, Moore had 71 tackles, including 15.5 tackles for a loss, and 9.5 sacks in his two seasons in Burnt Orange.
    Moore is the second linebacker to be selected from Texas this draft, after Anthony Hill Jr. was picked by the Tennessee Titans in the second round.
    Moore joins Hill, DeMarvion Overshown and Jaylan Ford as the fourth linebacker drafted out of Texas since Steve Sarkisian took over in Austin in 2021.
     
    Hank South contributed to this report.
    Jeff Howe
    Texas cornerback Malik Muhammad is off the board on Saturday, as the Chicago Bears picked the Longhorns cornerback with the 124th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
    Muhammad, a three-year contributor for Texas, played in 39 career games, starting two games a freshman, all 16 as a sophomore, and nine as a junior. The Dallas (Texas) South Oak Cliff product compiled 97 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for a loss, a sack, 19 pass breakups, and three interceptions over the course of his career in Burnt Orange.
    “Texas has prepared me very well, like overly prepared,” Muhammad said after his Texas Pro Day workout. “The program that Sark runs is like a pro program when it comes to time management, the structure of our day, the way we practice, the way we lift weights, the way we run. And then he just preaches to us about being a great person and a great man, whether you’re a husband, a father, a brother, a teammate, anyway possible, he just preaches about being a great man. Texas has definitely prepared us for these moments.”
    The former four-star recruit is the fourth defensive back to get drafted from Texas over the last three drafts, joining Jahdae Barron and Andrew Mukuba in 2025 and Ryan Watts in 2024.
     
    Hank South contributed to this report.
    Jeff Howe
    Including last Saturday’s open practice, five Longhorns are trending in the right direction coming out of spring football.
    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.
    Jeff Howe
    With spring practice in the books, it's time for a snapshot of the 2026 Texas depth chart. This is a combination of where guys stood at the end of spring practice and projections of how players who missed portions of spring football will fall in the pecking order when they're back to 100 percent.
    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
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.