Many fans and media were really impressed with the
overachieving season the Texas Longhorns had to finish the year, especially
with the forever impressive win to beat the fifth ranked Georgia Bulldogs who
might have been snubbed from the National Playoff.
A great win to finish the season will intensify the
expectations for the 2019 season. And just like every season players come and
go. Playmakers jump to the NFL a la Lil’Jordan Humphrey or finish out their
eligibility; Gary Johnson, Breckyn Hager, Kris Boyd, and Charles Omenihu come
to mind.
What does this mean for the starting offense and defense?
The defense will take a big hit losing a majority of their starting first team
and a lot of experience. Luckily after receiving draft stock analysis Junior
Safety Brandon Jones has decided to return for his final season to graduate.
Teaming up with Freshman stud safety Caden Sterns definitely eases some fans
minds heading into the offseason. The secondary will need to find cornerback
replacements from Devonte Davis and Kris Boyd who has NFL quality talent to
compete at the next level. Freshman corners Anthony Cook and Kobe Boyce played
extensively in the Oklahoma State game when Davis and Boyd were suspended for
the first half. The freshmen were exposed early causing the Horns to play catch
up the rest of the game before losing. They will have a full off season and
will compete to earn the starting left and right cornerback positions.
Colin Johnson will return to the field to give Sam Ehlinger
a big target who will team up with Devin Duvernay next year. The offense should
continue where they left off as Keaontay Ingram will run full time from
splitting time with Tre Watson this past year. Fans will see if he has the
ability to elevate his game in 2019 judging from this season he will be more
than capable.
Tom Herman in year two successfully recruited another top
ten class to spring board them into the offseason in December grabbing twelve
elite prospects from the top 300 athletes.
Three starting offensive lineman will move on from the team leaving
multiple spots on the line up for grabs. Tyler Johnson a four star offensive
tackle ranked 37th nationally signed in the early signing period and
will be enrolled early in January. He will compete with redshirt freshman
Junior Angilau another top 300 prospect from their previous third ranked class
for one of the tackle jobs.
Gary Johnson was the leading tackler will be missed for the
Horns who leaves a huge void in the middle of the of the front seven.
De’Gabriel Floyd an All American linebacker who played his senior season at
Westlake provides fire power to a lot of question marks that need answers. He
will bring toughness to the position to help stop the run in the Big 12 as he
too is also an early enrolled player.
Herman signed talented receiver in Jordan Whittington from
Cuero, Texas who can play all three phases of the game. He took over the state
championship game and was the MVP on both the defense and offense sides of the
ball. He will enroll early in January to show the coaches his playmaking
ability to be used in September.
There were many players that were able to benefit from the 4 game rule that allowed players to qualify for a red shirt season. The depth on the Texas team is very deep which adds the idea the talent that Texas has been able to rack up has greatly improved. Ayodele Adeoye played in four games and will likely take over one of the linebackers jobs vacated from Wheeler and Johnson. Pairing him with Floyd will give them a nasty duo. And last season Texas brought in its third ranked class and many players were able to red-shirt the season. Herman has brought in the talent and has shown he can coach them up to the Texas standard. Sam Ehlinger has weapons to take this offense to the playoff where fans think back of Colt McCoy and Vince Young. It’s been ten years since the Horns has been in the national title game will next year have this team in the hunt? September can come back fast enough.