Jeff Howe

I feel really good about these four groups. That's not to say that the other position groups are in trouble, but I love the talented depth within these four positions.

Viewing windows into two spring practices aren’t enough to tell us everything about the 2026 Texas Longhorns. Nevertheless, the time afforded to the media to take stock of the Texas position groups provides a good snapshot of positional depth across the roster. One thing I’ve always tried to identify is which position groups have talented depth. Those are position groups that can bring In reserves for starters with minimal decline in ability, potential, or production. The best recent example is the 2022 running back room on the Forty Acres. With the Doak Walker Award winner (Bijan Robinson) leading the way, Tashard Choice’s room in his first season coaching the Longhorn running backs included Robinson, Roschon Johnson, Keilan Robinson, Jonathan Brooks and Jaydon Blue. Those players who shared a backfield for one season at Texas were selected in the first, fourth, fifth, second and fifth rounds over three NFL drafts, respectively. That’s the best-case scenario for a position group aiming to boast talented depth. Right now, I think four position coaches can rightfully claim they’ve got talented depth in their room. 1. DEFENSIVE LINE Even if Justus Terry doesn’t exclusively fit in with Kenny Baker’s group, the fact that the defensive line can go through drills unaffected by the absences of Terry or James Johnson (both of whom are on the mend) says a lot about the unit’s depth. It would be hard to find a better four-man group in the country than Ian Geffrard, Alex January, Hero Kanu and Maraad Watson. There’s a chance all four of them could be drafted in 2027, or January and Watson could return for the 2027 season as potential early-round picks in 2028. Regardless, Watson spending time practicing playing closer to the ball is the kind of move that could allow Baker and Will Muschamp to mix and match combinations based on certain situations to ensure the four lead dogs in the pack have enough gas in the tank for the fourth quarter of games and, hopefully, a deep run in the College Football Playoff. Considering there are four players with realistic NFL futures headlining the group, Baker and the Longhorns can continue to let Myron Charles, Josiah Sharma and Zion Williams develop behind them. Texas also doesn’t need Johnson or Terry to rush back from injury because of the quality and quantity at the point of attack. This group might not have the ceiling of the 2023 group, which featured four linemen who went in the first three rounds of the 2024 (Byron Murphy went 16th overall and T’Vondre Sweat was the 38th pick) and 2025 (Alfred Collins was picked 43rd overall and Vernon Broughton was selected with the 71st pick) drafts. Thankfully, it doesn’t need to repeat that level of draft success to play a pivotal role in the Longhorns' competing for a national championship. 2. WIDE RECEIVER Emmett Mosley V and Ryan Wingo weren’t on the field for either media window during the first week of spring practice. Still, they’ve got spots secured within Steve Sarkisian’s circle of trust as two of the four wideouts on the 2025 squad who were targeted more than 40 times (94 targets for Wingo, 49 for DeAndre Moore Jr., 48 for Mosley and 44 for Parker Livingstone, according to Pro Football Focus). Considering the 31-target difference between Livingstone and the wide receiver with the fifth-most targets last season (Daylan McCutcheon with 13), there are six scholarship wideouts (McCutcheon, Sterling Berkhalter, Jermaine Bishop Jr., Kohen Brown, Kaliq Lockett and Chris Stewart) competing for the last spot in the rotation. And if the buzz Bishop generated last week carries over to padded practices after spring break, that could leave five of Chris Jackson’s scholarship players to duke it out for whatever targets are left over after the top four wide receivers get fed. The sense of urgency among Jackson’s charges should be sky high. Anything less won’t cut during what must be an insanely competitive spring, with Sarkisian, Jackson and the other offensive coaches doing whatever it takes to maximize what’s expected to be Arch Manning’s final campaign as a Longhorn. 3. EDGE Brad Spence spending time with the EDGE group and the linebackers in spring practice is a sign that Muschamp wants to put Spence’s natural pass-rushing ability to good use. Colin Simmons is going to draw enough attention to get pass rushers playing alongside him in favorable matchups and cleaner paths to the quarterback. Spence is one of the players who can take advantage of those situations, but he’s not the only one. Lance Jackson, Smith Orogbo, Zina Umeozulu and Colton Vasek have flashed playmaking ability throughout their Texas careers. Keep in mind that after Muschamp was hired, the staff avoided losing Umeozulu and Vasek to the transfer portal, showing their value to the program. Even though six defenders are competing for opportunities to get after the quarterback, Jamarion Carlton and Richard Wesley look the part physically. It isn’t a hot take to think one or both of the true freshmen could log high-leverage snaps by the time the 2026 season is in the books. 4. RUNNING BACK There was a time last season when Quintrevion Wisner, C.J. Baxter and Christian Clark were dealing with or recovering from injuries. That left Jerrick Gibson and James Simon to pick up the slack. By the time the Longhorns were preparing to face Michigan in the Citrus Bowl, three of those five runners had entered the transfer portal. Michael Terry III had already moved over from wide receiver for depth purposes by that point. Wanting to avoid similar pitfalls in 2026, Sarkisian and Jabbar Juluke left nothing to chance in the offseason when rebuilding the running back room. Raleek Brown and Hollywood Smothers were two of the best available running backs in the transfer portal. Derrek Cooper was one of the top high school running backs in the 2026 recruiting cycle. Those three, along with the returns of Simon and Terry, the late-cycle addition of Jett Walker and whatever becomes of Ryan Niblett's role, give the Longhorns seven scholarship backs, a group with a good mix of experience, youth, proven production and high upside. Considering Baxter and Clark were coming off major injuries at this time last year, it’s remarkable how the position has been almost entirely turned over and is better positioned for success, with more margin for error based on the early returns from spring practice. View full news story

I once had lunch with Billy Ray Smith, who has a jacked up pinky. It was borderline frightening.

That's it for Sean Miller's Zoom call. On the way out, he thanked the reporters on the call for sticking with him and the team throughout the season. He hopes there are more games ahead for the Longhorns before the 2025-26 season is in the books.

I asked Miller if Lassina Traore will be available on Tuesday or beyond. "We're beyond that," Miller said. It sounds like Traore has played his last game for the Longhorns.

A 2-point FG percentage and a high free-throw rate have carried Texas offensively, Miller said. "Offensively, Miller said, "it's hard for me to be too critical."

"I don't know that we ever disconnected from that moment," Miller said of how Texas reacted to the loss to OU. He believes that the Longhorns have disconnected from the loss to Ole Miss and are ready to face N.C. State.

On the possibility of Xavier fans who might show up, Miller said (with a smirk) he's got a lot of friends in Cincinnati and he thinks the environment will be very supportive.

"We need those guys really playing well and setting the tone for our team," Miller said.

The Longhorns are at their best, Miller said, when Tramon Mark, Jordan Pope, Dailyn Swain and Matas are all playing well.

Miller: "The familiarity of already being there a year ago will be good."

It's "healthy" that Miller's staff and a lot of the players on this team know what it's like to start the NCAA Tournament in Dayton.

Playing offense and committing fewer than 10 turnovers is what Texas needs to do to be successful in the NCAA Tournament, he said.

Why did the Longhorns win 18 games and win nine SEC games? "It really starts on the offensive end," Miller said. Turnovers have been a major issue in the last two games, he said. Many of those, Miller added, were live-ball turnovers.

Miller said this team is ready to embrace the moment in Dayton.

Miller gave the Longhorns a couple of days off after the loss to Ole Miss. He believes the team has been in NCAA Tournament mode for the last couple of days.

Miller's message to the team has been to treat the NCAA Tournament as the start of a new season, and what happened against Ole Miss doesn't matter.

Miller compares the loss to OU and dropping the game to Ole Miss to the two-game stretch when Texas lost to Mississippi State and then didn't play well in a road loss to Tennessee the next time out.

Miller: "I don't think we ever had a chance, nor did I take it upon myself to separate the end of the regular season" from the start of the postseason with the team's first (and only) SEC Tournament game in Nashville.

Miller: "We have to get back to playing our best."

Miller calls the Wolfpack "very explosive" on offense, adding that Will Wade's team benefits from "balanced scoring."

Like Texas, Miller said N.C. State didn't finish as strong as they probably would've liked.

Miller believes Texas "is super excited to keep playing."

Miller said Texas was "playing in mud" to start the Ole Miss game, indicating that they let the loss to OU carry over to the SEC Tournament.