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Texas 2025 Spring Camp Series: Getting to Know the New Defensive Tackles

Eric Nahlinby:Eric Nahlin•03/19/25
Alex January
Alex January (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

Along with a hefty amount of pollen, spring is in the air.

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The Texas Football program is currently on spring break ahead of the official start of spring ball on Tuesday, March 25th.

With so many new players in the program, whether added from the transfer portal or high school, what better time to assess what we hope to learn at each position group over the next month and change?

The loss of so much talent to the NFL creates plenty of angles to assess, so let’s get to assessin’.

We’ll start with defensive tackles, because once again, there is a hefty new presence from the transfer ranks. Fortunately, unlike the last two cycles, there’s also a hefty new presence from the high school ranks.

Portal Additions

Once again the staff was forced to make up for years of underperforming recruiting at the position by being aggressive in the transfer portal. Though it’s very hard to find difference-makers at the position in the portal, Texas has been able to find quality, mentally and physically mature players. This past winter portal window was the staff’s best work to date after adding Cole Brevard (Purdue), Travis Shaw (North Carolina), and Hero Kanu (Ohio State).

Brevard and Shaw are proven starters in P4 conferences. Kanu was set to see drastically increased playing time for defending national champs. On paper, these were good additions. When evaluating traits on film, they might be even better than given credit for. However, I want to hear how these three fair against an equally physically mature interior offensive line.

Zero-sum can muddy the picture when it comes to assessing overall quality, but it can also add clarity if the two competing positions, in this case the iDL and iOL, are somewhat proven.

Can Brevard and Kanu show play-making ability behind the line of scrimmage? Can Shawn show consistency while playing at a potential difference-making level? The former five-star showed glimpses of his high school reputation this past year.

Returning Players

Alex January seeing snaps in the national semifinal game in January was a sign the staff was high on him and that excitement has only grown during the winter offseason. January has leaned up and gotten quicker while also getting stronger. As one source said, he’s starting to look like a jumbo Edge. I can’t wait to hear about his spring. I want to get a better understanding of what realistic expectations should be for him—quality starter, quality rotational player, quality depth? It’ll be quality something.

Melvin Hills has a big spring ahead of him as he jockeys for snaps with the incoming freshman. The Louisiana native had a quiet, but productive redshirt year.

True Freshmen

Five-star Justus Terry has already lived up to the hype to the extent he can before playing real snaps. He’s added weight which should come as no surprise. It would be a surprise if he didn’t add weight. I’ll be curious to hear how he holds up against the run. We already expect him to play a lot in pass rushing scenarios. He is continually referred to as a “freak.”

After spring ball will Josiah Sharma and Myron Charles project as contributors this year? Physically they look the part but how’s their stamina, pad level, technique, and ability to process the run game?

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We’ll get a good idea of that and much more in the coming five weeks.

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