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Big shoes to fill: Texas offensive players at the ready to replace those lost to NFL

Steve Habelby:Steve Habel•03/06/24•

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Johntay Cook (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

Eleven former Texas players showed their athletic prowess last week in the NFL Combine in an attempt to impress team scouts and personnel staffs as they make their step up to the highest level of the game.

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Those players leaving the 40 Acres have left considerable holes to be filled on coach Steve Sarkisian’s squad. But the Longhorns’ staff, recruiting specialists’ and talent evaluators’ hard work and success rate on landing talent and depth means Texas’ cupboard will be far from bare.

Here’s a list of the offensive players that need to be replaced as the Longhorns head into Spring Drills on March 19 and a look at some of the returners set to step into their starting roles:

Running back

Gone: Jonathon Brooks

Returning: sophomore CJ Baxter Jr., junior Jaydon Blue

This transition began in the final three games of the 2023 regular season, the Big 12 Championship, and College Football Playoff semifinal after Brooks was lost to a knee injury against TCU in November.

Baxter was the first man to step up, having begun the season as starter, the first freshman to do so since Ricky Williams in 1995. He appeared in 12 games with six starts over the course of the season, rushing 138 times for 659 yards (4.8 yards per carry) and five touchdowns and catching 24 passes for 156 yards.

Blue was late to the scene but made the most of his chances. He played in all 14 games, rushing 65 times for 398 yards and three touchdowns and hauling in 14 passes for 135 yards and another score.

Wide Receiver

Gone: Adonai Mitchell, Xavier Worthy, Jordan Whittington

Returning/replacement: sophomore Johntay Cook II, junior Isaiah Bond, junior Matthew Golden

Cook, a speedster and the heir apparent to Worthy, saw the field in all 14 games as a freshman in 2023, catching eight passes for 136 yards. He is due for a breakout campaign as he gets more work.

Bond transfers in from Alabama, where he started all 14 games for the Crimson Tide in 2023 and led the team with 48 receptions totaling 668 yards and four scores. He also added one rush for three yards. He lined up both wide and in the slot for Alabama.

Golden, who played his first two seasons at Houston, racked up 988 yards and 13 touchdowns on 76 catches while a Cougar. He battled injuries in 2023 but comes into spring healthy and ready to be a major contributor both as a receiver and in the return game.

Tight end

Gone: Ja’Tavion Sanders

Replacement: junior Amari Niblack

Niblack, who played at Alabama his first two years, will augment and complement Gunnar Helm at tight end, which is a crucial role in Sarkisian’s offense. Niblack played in all 14 games and started four last year, when he caught 20 passes for 327 yards and four touchdowns. One of those TDs was a 39-yard score against Texas in September.

Right tackle

Gone: Christian Jones

Returning: junior Cameron Williams, senior Hayden Conner, redshirt freshman Jaydon Chatman, redshirt freshman Trevor Goosby, true freshman Brandon Baker

The massive Williams (6-foot-5, 369 pounds) is likely the front-runner to take over this position, having played in 22 games the past two seasons (nine in 2023, one start). 

Conner, who started all 14 games at left guard in 2023 and has played in 35 contests (with 27 starts) in the past three years, could make the move to the right edge. 

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Chatman, Goosby and Baker offer key depth but will make a go at earning a spot in the starting five.

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