Opportunity is knocking for these 5 Longhorns ahead of the 2024 season

Every season presents new opportunities for players to make their mark and perhaps even leave a lasting legacy at Texas. Every career is different and each player is on his own developmental timeline. For every Kelvin Banks there are many more late bloomers who waited their turn and then went out with a bang.

[READ: Insider notes from Texas’ second scrimmage of fall camp! ($)]

Opportunity can present itself via teammates departing, injuries, or that player simply winning a hard fought competition.

Perhaps the best ‘breakout’ of the past decade was T’Vondre Sweat. I was very excited when he decided to return for one more year but I had no idea he would be as dominant as he was. I won’t predict we’ll see a breakout that big (Alfred Collins?) but I’m liking what I’m hearing about a handful of players who are having strong August camps.

Jaylon Guilbeau, Junior, Star

Guilbeau made noise very early on in his time at Texas but then struggled to see much playing time due to having Jahdae Barron ahead of him. Even with Barron returning for one more year, Guilbeau has a very good chance to start at Star (nickel).

Part of the allure for Barron to return was to play cornerback more often but that only works if Guilbeau proves to be a capable starter. By all accounts, Guilbeau is taking advantage of his opportunity and has been since winter conditioning reports foreshadowed Guilbeau’s ascent on the field.

This is a potentially massive development because it could allow the coaches to play Barron at boundary corner and Malik Muhammad at field corner. That’s a winning combination.

The staff is always looking to play the best five defensive backs and then make the pieces fit. These pieces look like they’re starting to fit quite nicely.

Juan Davis, Senior, Tight End

Davis is a great example of a player having to wait his turn after Ja’Tavion Sanders starred at Texas the last two seasons.

I can’t speak for Davis but sometimes when there’s a major roadblock in front of a player they’re not quite as locked in as they would be otherwise. Whatever it is, the light bulb is on and Davis is playing by far his best football since arriving to Austin.

For those who are unfamiliar with his skillset, he’s on the smaller side but is a plus athlete with good hands and a willingness to block. When the offense is in 12-personnel (two tight ends) there is still plenty of receiving firepower on the field thanks to Davis’ ability. He offers Sark a lot of schematic versatility and the ability to hunt matchups via shifts and motions.

It’s hard to put a prediction on number of receptions for Davis but if the scrimmages are representative of his usage this year you can expect to see him on the field a lot this year.

Tre Wisner, Sophomore, Running Back

Wisner was going to play a good amount this season, both on special teams and running back. With the recent injuries to running backs CJ Baxter and Christian Clark, however, you can expect to see him get even more playing time.

Wisner is a hard-nosed player who punches above his weight as a ball carrier and blocker. He’s also very versatile given his receiving ability. His skillset is ideal for third-down running back(where pass protection is important) but he’ll be more than that this season.

What I’ll continue to investigate is how much of a special teams contributor will he be this year. He was a seamless fit to replace Keilan Robinson as the special teams playmaker but I’m not sure if injuries at his position will allow for that.

Opportunity is also knocking for freshman running back Jerrick Gibson.

Jelani McDonald, Sophomore, Safety

We’ve discussed safety all offseason after the mass exodus of players and the addition of Andrew Mukuba from Clemson. Other topics include Michael Taaffe‘s importance to the room and Derek Williams entering his second year after his first real offseason. It’s easy to forget, Williams was a summer enrollee last year.

I’m not sure we’ve talked about McDonald enough. With his size, range, and ability to defend in man coverage, he’s a pretty uncommon player. While he’s unlikely to start he has received first team reps during scrimmage play, including on Saturday.

Whether or not you start doesn’t matter all that much at safety given how much the coaches rotate. For now my expectation is McDonald will receive the amount of snaps Kitan Crawford did last year.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in McDonald’s appearance and raw ability but what has stands out to me is how the staff viewed him coming out of high school. They didn’t really care what position he would ultimately play because he had the football mentality for anything. When you have the willingness and physicality to play linebacker but run and cover like a nickel you have the chance to be special.

Cameron Williams, Junior, Right Tackle

It’s finally Big Cam Williams’ time to shine after Christian Jones returned last year somewhat unexpectedly. Jones was one of the best developmental stories in the history of the program. It’s always been comforting that Williams is receiving that same development. Despite that, I did wonder how Williams would fare during spring ball. After just a few practices I knew there was no need for concern and that feeling has extended well into August.

A bonus for the big man is the elevated play at Edge. The old iron sharpens iron proverb certainly applies as there have been defenders with differing skillsets to challenge Williams but he’s played well against all of them. How he would deal with quickness was one question but so far so good in that regard.

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The expectation is Williams will play well in his first year as starter as Texas looks to have its best offensive line since 2006.