Who will replace production at RB for Texas following CJ Baxter's injury

Texas took a big hit when it lost running back CJ Baxter for the season due to injury. But filling in for him could be a plethora of talented runners.

That starts with Jaydon Blue, who contributed last season. Inside Texas’ Joe Cook named him first among a group of running backs who could replace Baxter’s production in 2024.

Texas will surely need it though considering the team is now in the SEC and has immense expectations.

“You know, as odd as it sounds before this injury, I didn’t think Texas was going to have 1,000 yard regular season back,” Cook said on the On3 Roundtable. “Now, I think the odds of Jaydon Blue tallying 1,000 yards this year went up a ton. He’s about 5-foot-11 … at 200 pounds, but he’s fast registered, I think 22, almost 23 miles an hour on a run late last year. But he also has the ability to go between the tackles and if you’re playing in Steve Sarkisian’s offense and you’re a running back, you have to go between the tackles.” 

Blue tallied 65 carries for Texas last year, running for 398 yards and three touchdowns. He also had 14 catches for 135 yards and one touchdown. But he might not be the only guy for Texas to step up.

“(Quintrevion Wisner) was someone called a special teams demon, but with guys like Jonathon Brooks, Baxter and Blue ahead of him … he made the most of (garbage time) plays with a lot of effort,” Cook said. “Kind of a fun fact about him, he was a running back recruit. He transfers to DeSoto ahead of his senior year, a state championship program in Texas, and for a state championship team spends a lot of time playing wide receiver because there was a guy there, running back, I think he ended up committing to A&M, who was just going to get more carries. 

“But they wanted Wisner on the field. They found ways to get on the ball both at running back and then at wide receiver full time. I think he would be your, you know, expected favorite to be that second running back.”

Blue and Wisner are the top two at this point, but Cook noted there are some young bucks who could step up for Texas.

“The players they have from this 2024 class both enrolled early. And one of them is Christian Clark … I know people probably want to think oh, a great talented running back from Arizona. Well, it’s Bijan Robinson again … There’s only one of him. But there are some smooth capabilities that they both bring to their game.

“And then with (Jerrick) Gibson, someone who played high school football in Georgia for a year before transferring to IMG Academy, I’m honestly a little surprised that Clark is listed as just being a couple pounds within range of Gibson because Gibson is extremely thick, and he’s someone that if you watch what he did at IMG, he’s not just being the beneficiary of a super team. He’s doing great running back things.”