1st and 10: Barryn Sorrell, a freak on the Texas D-line and a Longhorn others look toward
According to The Athletic, there’s only one freak on the Texas Longhorns and his name is Barryn Sorrell.
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The senior EDGE from New Orleans (La.) Holy Cross was recently named to Bruce Feldman’s Freaks List, the only player on the Longhorns to earn that distinction. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 260 pounds, Sorrell was described by Feldman as having eclipsed the 20 mph threshold during the offseason, indicating his explosiveness. That shouldn’t be mistaken for a lack of strength, as Feldman said Sorrell has benched 425 pounds, squatted 575 pounds, and power cleaned 355 pounds.
Sorrell, who started all 14 games last year at JACK, recorded 37 tackles with 4.5 TFL and four sacks. But now he has a bit of a target on his back thanks to his new description.
Who gets the credit (or the blame for that)?
“I guess shout out to (Torre) Becton,” Sorrell said last week. “Putting in a lot of work with him and a lot of the work I put in on my own. Honing my craft and my speed. And in the weight room as well, those things paid off.”
Sorrell leads both the EDGE room and a defensive front missing Byron Murphy and T’Vondre Sweat from last season. When searching for who might anchor that front this upcoming season, don’t overlook the senior from the Big Easy. Trey Moore has drawn plenty of positive reviews, but Sorrell is someone who is leading others with his presence and his play.
In fact, Steve Sarkisian looked to Sorrell recently as a prime example of how good things come to those who develop within the program and put full effort toward the goals of the team.
“We’re seeing the best version of a Barryn Sorrell than we’ve seen in any of the previous three years,” Sarkisian said Monday. “Physically, he’s in great shape. He’s in a great mental space coming into this season.”
Sorrell is a leader not just in his position group, but also for the entire Longhorn roster. He works to be a model for anyone wearing burnt orange. His weight room gains are one way to get others to follow him. But that’s not the only way.
“For me, it’s just being consistent, not just saying things at one time and then living a different way,” Sorrell said. “Every time I come into this locker room, I’ve got to set an example for everybody. Not just the guys in my room, but for the whole team. That’s been my role, being the guy that sets the example, sets the tone out there at practice, saying what needs to be said in the locker room, then guiding and serving everyone else on my team.”
His efforts do not go unnoticed. Said Quinn Ewers, “I think the biggest thing for Barryn is just his ability to pull anyone along no matter what position it is. His positive outlook on the game and also how much he cares about the game, you can just tell it means a lot to him. He saw two guys get paid a good amount of money. I know he’s looking forward to this year and I’m excited to see where that takes him.”
Added Jahdae Barron, “I love Sorrell, and I love how he’s matured over the years, how he’s changed physically. His body has changed and everything. And mentally. That’s a heck of a player right there. He’s going to be good for us.”
Sorrell has done all this not for individual accolades, but with a single goal in mind.
“For me, it’s just winning the national championship,” Sorrell said. “That’s my main thing. I know if I obviously contribute to that, I know that everything individually I’ll achieve as well.”
Sorrell didn’t have to stick around to become the player he is today. He originally committed to and signed to play for Tom Herman. Sarkisian inherited Sorrell in the 2021 class, and Sorrell could have chosen to go to another school.
Instead, he remained with the Longhorns to become not only a freak on the field, but a leader off it as well. As a result, Texas is in a better position to achieve Sorrell’s aforementioned goal.
“Barryn Sorrell is one of the leaders on our team because he does all the things we ask of the players and he’s holding his teammates accountable,” Sarkisian said. “We’re benefitting on a lot of levels from an older version, a truly, whole-heartedly committed version of Barryn Sorrell.”
Here are 10 more tidbits on the latest from Texas’ fall camp
1: Sark was asked on Monday if he feels like his front four can do the job on its own more often than not without having to send Anthony Hill Jr. or David Gbenda.
“I want to do both,” Sarkisian said. “I think one of the challenges is we want to be a very versatile defense like we’re trying to be a very versatile offense. We don’t just want to be stationary targets and we want to have the ability to mix some things up. I would say Vernon (Broughton) and Alfred (Collins) are playing at a really high level, and they have a different skill set than Murph and Sweat had last year.”
That led Sarkisian to explain how the EDGE room provides his defensive front with the ability to move more along with the presence of Collins, Broughton, and other transfer additions. Pair that with recent Inside Texas reports that the defense has put together strong practice performances, and the Longhorns appear to have found the formula for replacing All-Americans in Murphy and Sweat.
“We’re maybe a little bit different, and because we’re a little bit different we have to adapt and evolve as a staff,” Sarkisian said.
2: It’s not just Gbenda and Hill Jr. Liona Lefau has also made sure to be a big part of the defense as Sarkisian looks for a “top 44.”
“Liona is such a do-right player,” Sarkisian said. “He’s always spot on with what he’s supposed to do. Run fits. Pass coverage. Special teams. The thing that I’ve been impressed with this year as opposed to his true freshman year is I really feel like he’s cutting it loose more. He’s confident in what he needs to do and he’s letting it go.”
I’ve mentioned often that Lefau’s competition in Hawaii ran offenses that featured modern passing schemes. Lefau’s presence at Mike is due to his ability to not only react well to what’s going on in front of him, but defend what’s going on behind him too.
3: The second scrimmage is often the one where players determine by their own play where they will end up on the depth chart. Players can solidify their status as starters or be relegated to the scout team based on what they do in the second scrimmage. Then the week before the game, Sarkisian usually holds a “mock game” to get everyone used to the feeling of going through Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
Sark is looking for more than just a top-22. He’s mentioned often how his program will need to play more players than ever, not just to make it through the heat of a 2:30 p.m. kickoff against Colorado State on August 31 but also to make it through an entire season that could last until January 20.
“I think the one thing for us is that we really need a top-44,” Sarkisian said. “Just the way the season is going to go, the length of the season, the extension of four non-conference games before we get to conference play, we’re really looking at the two-deep rather than just the one-deep. We’re really trying to look at those group of guys on both sides of the ball as all starters. Then there are going to be guys that have unique packages within that.”
4: Kobe Black was one of the higher-ranked players to join the Longhorns’ 2024 class, and it appears as if he’s making progress that matches his promise.
Black was running with the twos during a media viewing portion of Longhorns practice last week and just earned praise from Sarkisian on Monday.
“I think Kobe Black has made really good strides from spring to fall camp,” Sarkisian said.
Black was ranked as the No. 37 overall prospect in the On3 Industry Ranking. Texas lists him at 6-foot-2, 200 pounds.
5: Where does Texas go for running back help? Remaining uncommitted backs in the portal can be found here. Pickings are slim.
There are some names recruitniks might remember like Derrian Brown (who told IT he hasn’t heard from Texas), Demarkcus Bowman, and Brandon Campbell.
As Paul Wadlington mentioned, the portal window is open for players from Utah State and Fresno State because of head coaching changes.
Still, Texas will not only have to overcome scarcity but also practicality of adding a player to the roster between now and August 14. Not impossible, but not easy.
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6: Sarkisian mentioned walk-on running back Colin Page as a non-scholarship player who has impressed. Page, a product of Austin (Texas) Anderson, was his district MVP as a senior and averaged 8.5 ypc for the Trojans with 22 touchdowns. He was an All-Central Texas first-teamer according to the Austin American-Statesman.
No one will mistake Anderson’s schedule for an SEC slate but Texas recruits quality walk-ons and Page getting good action during the scrimmage is evidence of that. He may be called into action on special teams more than he’ll be asked to provide carries
7: Speaking of special teams, injuries to players like CJ Baxter and Christian Clark do have downstream effects. They thrust Tre Wisner into a more prominent offensive role. While Wisner will likely contribute on special teams, the snap volume may be more limited.
Opportunities are there for younger players. Sarkisian and Jeff Banks like to play “top 44” guys, but more from the underclassmen ranks may be needed to keep everyone fresh (and happy).
In addition to his play at cornerback, this could be a place where someone like Black fits in. One Connally Cadet stepping in for another, maybe at gunner? It would make a lot of sense.
8: Sarkisian isn’t publicly worried about Ewers building rapport with the new receivers. He mentioned all three of Isaiah Bond, Matthew Golden, and Silas Bolden made plays during Saturday’s scrimmage and Sarkisian liked the progress made throwing to them.
9: Quote of the week, via Jahdae Barron: “Silas (Bolden), he makes strong catches. He’s a heck of a ball-player. He may be little, but he has a lot of heart to him.”
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10: Justin Wells put in a On3 RPM yesterday for the Longhorns to land Michael Terry III from Alamo Heights. I’ll be in San Antonio to see the Mules scrimmage San Antonio Taft and get the latest on Terry as he could potentially be approaching his decision. Texas leads in the RPM with a 93.9 percent chance of landing Terry.
