CJ Vogel

The players shown are from the most recent draft that each school has had three players selected in R1.

Following the impressive showings by AD Mitchell and Xavier in Indianapolis for the NFL Combine, the most recent Mock Drafts from the top NFL Draft experts have the resulted in three Longhorns going in the first round. NFL.com's Lance Zierlein #13 Las Vegas selects Byron Murphy #28 Philadelphia selects AD Mitchell #32 Kansas City selects Xavier Worthy The Athletic's Dane Burgler #18 Cincinnati selects Byron Murphy #24 Buffalo selects AD Mitchell #32 Kansas City selects Xavier Worthy As a result, this got me thinking a good bit – something that does not happen all too often. When was the last time Texas had three first round draft picks? Well, the answer to that is 1980 – #2 Johnny 'Lam' Jones, #17 Johnnie Johnson and #24 Derrick Hatchett. It was surprising. Texas has had first round success under Mack Brown with four straight years of two first round picks, but never finding a third out of that group. From 2004-2007, Texas saw two players get selected in the first round in four consecutive years, though again, it did not meet the criteria for my research here. We have seen in the last decade or so Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State have set record after record with players selected, first rounders and consecutive draft accomplishment. I should tip my cap to LSU and their historic first round as well here. It really could not be that common throughout all of college football right? Well, to my surprise, out of the 68 power four programs, 33 have seen a trio of players selected in the first round (48.5%). Of those 33 programs, 26 have experienced more recently than Texas. Schools with 3+ First Rounders in a Single Draft By Conference ACC: 8/18 (44.4%) B1G: 11/18 (61.1%) Big 12: 3/16 (18.8%) SEC: 11/16 (68.8%) Then, my mind really began wandering into the realm of which power five program has the most drafts of three (or more) players drafted in the first round. Number of Drafts With 3+ First Rounders (most recent) 12 – Ohio State (2023) 11 – Alabama (2023) 9 – USC (2009) 8 – Notre Dame (1994) 6 – Miami (2007) 5 – FSU (2013) 4 – Oklahoma (2010 – had four) 3 – Nebraska (1972) 3 – LSU (2020) 3 – Georgia (2023) 2 – Six Schools 1 – 17 schools *** A handful of teams have had four players in one draft, only four have eclipsed five (LSU, Miami, Georgia and Alabama) and the record sits at six with Miami and Alabama there. It is an interesting conversation. Notre Dame and Nebraska have put players in the league, but it has been a long time since their last three-player showing in the first round. *** A few more surprises: Oregon has never done it. TCU did it in 1939, so take that for what it is worth. Only Oklahoma (2010) and Michigan State (1967) had three selections in the first five picks of a draft. Clemson has only accomplished this feat once. Georgia sits at three, but two of those come in the last two years. A current Big 12 school has not done this since 1984 when Steve Young was the first off the board for BYU. Aside from Ohio State, an original B1G school (not including USC or UW) has not accomplished this since Penn State in 2003. Eight SEC schools have had drafts since 2010 with three players in the first round. Michigan has only done this twice. Miami had 19 first rounders from 2001-2004, each hit 3+ per draft. *** It was a really fun deep dive. Attached in the comments will be a screenshot of the data compiled from this rabbit hole. Hope you all enjoyed it. Every time I say hello to Bugs Bunny down these research expeditions I end up with wild and wacky takeaways. Let me know what you think and if there was anything that stood out to you. View full news

Moves pretty well for his size in these clips. Still young too.

Katoa's sophomore Hudl: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/17897403/65669aa63dec5904cc9032ca

Big Human in 2026 class to visit Texas in April Kyle Flood is getting a start on the 2026 class by hosting Euless Trinity OL Pupungatoa Katoa for an unofficial visit on April 13. Katoa is a massive human that the Longhorns have been monitoring for a bit. Kyle Flood visited Euless Trinity back in the early winter time to see Katoa in person. So far, the offer list has grown for the 6-foot-5 and 385-pound Trinity Trojan. Katoa sits with seven offers: Texas State, Utah State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Houston, SMU, Miami and TCU. Again, this is a 385-pound offensive line prospect coming to town. Big, big, big. *** April 13 is looking more and more like a 2026 day on campus. Here is the updated visitor list for the weekend. 2026 QB Will Griffin – Tampa (FL) OnTexasFootball rating: 4-star Note: Visited Texas on January 20 for Junior Day 2026 OL Felix Ojo – Mansfield Lake Ridge HS (TX) OnTexasFootball rating: 4-star Offers: Baylor, Houston, UNT, Texas State, SMU, Texas Tech View full news

Andrew Marsh also has an OV locked to USC for June 7-9.

Join Erin Hogan, Rod Babers and myself tonight for the Longhorn Livestream, discussing the newest Texas visit news, offers and of course some team news! View full news

Jarquez Carter Hudl: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/16402641/655b9ff1b534910ad44daacc

Derry Norris' Hudl: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/16292308/653d3bbac124d40c94a2bf01

Following an earlier reported offer by Kenny Baker to 2025 Randle (TX) DL Chace Sims, a pair of additional offers have been extended to out of state targets. The first going to Newberry (FL) DL Jarquez Carter. The 6-foot-2 interior defensive lineman holds 31 offers currently and sits just outside of the top 300 national prospects according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. https://www.instagram.com/p/C4JhsigLm3e/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== The second offer was a joint offer by both Kenny Baker and Tashard Choice. Though sticking in Florida for this one, the Longhorns extend an offer to Port Orange (FL) DL Derry Norris Jr. Norris holds 30 offers as well. The three-star prospect has official visits locked in with Georgia Tech May 31, NC State June 7, Minnesota June 15 and Purdue June 20. View full news

The group on campus right now is pretty talented. Hopefully it backs up in the fall.

Sims' Hudl: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/16259694/652ad3f93df5b809b09e4d8d

Texas DL coach Kenny Baker has extended an offer 2025 Randle DL Chace Sims. Baker stopped by Randle High School in February for one of the first stops as the Texas DL coach. Texas is the 14th offer for the 6-foot-2 and 305-pound defensive lineman. Right now, Sims has just one official visit locked in – Texas Tech on June 21-23. So far, Sims holds offers from Texas A&M, LSU, Texas Tech, Kansas State and several others. View full news

Definitely! Will have something tomorrow on the transfers, then Thursday and Friday will be the full offense and defense approaches to spring ball.

Earlier this morning we took a look at the early enrollees on the offense side of the ball two weeks out from the beginning of spring ball. Now that most of us have taken care of lunch and are cruising towards 5:00 p.m. to come rolling around, spend a few minutes reading about the defense. *** DT Alex January – Duncanville HS (TX) The lone early enrollee in the interior of the defensive line comes in with big shoes to fill. Luckily, there has been plenty of positive remarks surrounding Alex January surrounding his approach to the winter conditioning program. January has slimmed down about 15 pounds since his arrival to campus. The staff is working on replacing bad weight with good weight and January has been a sponge when it comes to taking in everything he can from the staff so far. EDGE Zina Umeozulu – Allen HS (TX) Both edge prospects in this article have received tremendous praise for their body transformations since January 1. Umeozulu has the physical frame of a dream edge prospect and is completely bought into the weights. The key for Umeozulu is to make sure the light stays on when the pads come into play. He has a chance to really impress early on in his career. EDGE Colin Simmons – Duncanville HS (TX) Simmons is sitting right around 240 pounds at the moment, a 20-pound increase from where he was in Orlando for the Under Armour All American game. The nutritional side of college has been the biggest change for Simmons, but he deserves his flowers for the work in the weight room. At 240 pounds, you can expect to see Simmons get some run with the two-deep in the spring, any additional weight at this part of his career is icing on the cake. LB Tyanthony Smith – Jasper HS (TX) I have heard Tyanthony Smith's several times in regards to early enrollees with the best attitude towards offseason workouts. There has been progress to Smith's frame in the past two months, but there remains plenty of room to grow. He likely won't be physically ready to take extended snaps in the spring, but the will to work is there and by the time fall camp comes around, you can expect a completely different looking prospect. DB Jordon Johnson-Rubell – IMG Academy (FL) I am very excited to see JJR in pads for the first time in college. Of anyone in the class, you could make the argument for Johnson-Rubell to be the most intelligent player on the field at any given moment, which is going to be huge with his career starting at nickel. JJR does not have a huge frame, but he does have a good start to his build and will eventually be a player at 5-foot-10. DB Xavier Filsaime – McKinney HS (TX) Similarly to what was said about Ryan Wingo earlier today, Xavier Filsaime has been the defensive MVP of offseason workouts so far. He has enough athleticism to play right away. Filsaime is tremendously smooth in and out of breaks plus has the top end speed Texas has desired at the safety spot. Whether it be drills, throwing sessions or conditioning, Filsaime is pushing the incumbents the most of any EE. DB Kobe Black – Waco Connally HS (TX) Get ready to see some big time physical development from Black over the next few months. He was already a plus-athlete, but now that he has received professional training from Torre Becton's staff, expect to see him continue on this developmental trend. DB Wardell Mack – John Ehret HS (LA) Mack's name has surfaced a few times early from those close to workouts. Earlier this offseason I reported on the return of swagger coming back to the Texas DB room. Well, Mack has been a good proponent of that movement. He has a great mindset and is ultra competitive which is a key for defensive backs. Mack has impressed early and often since arriving on campus. View full news

Count me in for that as well!

Forgot to add that Owens has been key in organizing throwing sessions during the winter with the newcomers.

There has not been a consistent line of communication since the fall for what it is worth.