Pete Thamel on why Texas is ready to compete for SEC, national titles in 2024: 'Texas is loaded'

Texas is loaded going into the 2024 season, it’s as simple as that. That’s why ESPN’s Pete Thamel thinks the Longhorns can compete for SEC and national titles this season.

With Quinn Ewers back at QB, a stout offensive line, high end defensive players and more, Texas might be dominant. Will that adjust to a new conference?

It certainly seems like it.

“I think Texas is really well prepared to be a high end SEC team immediately upon entering the league,” Thamel said on Get Up. “Let’s go back to 2021, Sark’s first year at Texas, goes 5-7. Texas goes to Arkansas and they just get absolutely mauled by three touchdowns there. Texas wasn’t ready, they weren’t ready on the offensive line. They weren’t ready on the defensive line. Give Steve Sarkisian credit, he has leveraged NIL, he has leveraged the natural resources of Texas to put that program in position where they’re now sending double digit guys to the draft.”

Texas cleaned up at the 2024 NFL Draft and the Longhorns should do so again. Not only will Ewers be a high pick at this rate, look no further than the offensive line for a potential top 10 pick.

“They had two of the best defensive tackles in college football last year,” Thamel said. “This year Texas’s offensive line will have a first round pick left tackle, Kelvin Banks. You’ll know his name … This will be Texas’ first, first round offensive lineman since 2002. It’s almost criminal that Texas has gone two decades without a first round pick up the offensive line if you think about how many great players come from that state. 

“They have four returning offensive lineman: right tackle Cam Williams slides in, he’s gonna end up being a projected top 50 pick by the end of this season. Texas is loaded. They’ve had NIL in place there for a while and they’ve really done a great job leveraging all the local resources to get the program right and ready for this jump.”

If you couldn’t feel it at SEC Media Days, Sarkisian can sense how good this Texas team can be in the Fall.

“As far as our team goes, I think this team has been really, really focused,” Sarkisian said. “It’s been a long time coming for Texas to get back to this stage. Last year was a tremendous run. We fell short in the semifinals in the Sugar Bowl coming off of being Big 12 champions …

“There’s an idea of obsession going on in our locker room right now. They got a taste of what it can taste like, of being a Big 12 champion, playing in a College Football Playoff, and we fell short. This idea of obsession, the obsession that our players have is one that really came from them. They couldn’t wait to get back to work. They couldn’t wait to get back in the weight room.”