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Texas is a popular pick in several way-too-early top-25 polls

by:Justin Nash•about 9 hours
Steve Sarkisian
Steve Sarkisian (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

People love to look ahead to the next season as soon as theirs is over, and in the FBS there are only two fan bases still focused on the present.

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Texas is losing quite a few players to the NFL, but that doesn’t mean hopes of having a good football team are gone with them. Way-too-early top 25 rankings have started to leak out, and right at the top of several of them are the Texas Longhorns.

It is no secret that the college football world thinks Arch Manning is yet another excellent QB bearing that last name, and it is no secret that he is a massive reason for the 2025 hype. Manning looked fantastic in his extended appearances, he throws a beautiful deep ball that often hits runners in stride, he is a massive dude who can run. It is impossible to not think of Josh Allen when watching Manning play.

Now while having a QB who is tall, fast, can throw, and grew up in the Manning Passing Academy practically will be the largest factor, the defense should be viewed as a big part of the equation too. In a year where Texas finished with a top five defense, there’s a chance it could be of a similar quality in 2025.

So with that being said, let’s look at a number of way-too-early predictions from some of the big sites.

People often like to talk about reloading versus rebuilding in college football, Texas is currently reloading. A great example of this is looking at Kobe Black. Black could have gone to a number of schools where he would’ve likely started in year one. Instead he stayed on the second string, getting valuable snaps and developing. Now that Jahdae Barron is gone, the opportunity for a former highly-ranked four-star in Black is there for the taking.

This process likely applies to Jonah Williams too, though maybe not as soon as next season. There are three very good future NFL safeties in Derek Williams Jr., Michael Taaffe, and Jelani McDonald on the roster right now. After 2025, Taaffe and Williams Jr. will likely head to the NFL draft.

Just like Black, Jonah Williams will be expected to step up into a “reloading” role.

You can look pretty much anywhere on the roster and see that magic at work with Sarkisian targeting recruiting. Look at the offensive line, Texas is going to be replacing 4 of the 5 starters from 2024. But most if not all of the new lineman in 2025 will be going into their second to fourth seasons with one another. The staff already knows their strengths and weaknesses and they already know how they respond to coaching. These tiny details make a massive difference.

Going back to the defense, the pass rush should be downright scary for opposing teams. Getting Trey Moore for another season was huge, and the NASCAR package may be the most effective it’s been under Pete Kwiatkowski.

Colin Simmons will be in his second year with a full offseason under his belt and last year he gained 15-20 pounds in the first few months at Texas. Pair that with Anthony Hill Jr. who will be going into his junior year at Texas with hopes of a top 15 draft selection, and the NASCAR package will likely have the guys who could probably play in the NFL in 2025.

Texas will also have four solid linebackers with the departures of David Gbenda and Morice Blackwell Jr.. Texas added Brad Spence from Arkansas, he will join Hill Jr., Liona Lefau (who took over the starting role from Gbenda), and last but not least Ty’Anthony Smith who will be going into his second spring after a promising rookie year.

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Manning is undoubtedly the largest source of the hype, but the Texas Defense is lurking in the waters going virtually undetected. All those factors have the Longhorns as a popular early pick in way-to-early top 25s.

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