Texas looking for more "consistency and continuity" from an O-line replacing four starters

When a program sends 12 players into the draft and a handful more into the undrafted free agent pool, it’s going to drain a lot of accumulated experience from the roster. No position on the 2025 Longhorns feels that more than the offensive line, which saw three starters drafted and one starter signed in free agency from the 2024 starting lineup.

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The lone returning starter in the preview magazine definition of the term is DJ Campbell, who will enter his fourth season in burnt orange as the most experienced offensive lineman in Kyle Flood’s room. While most of the candidates to replace draft picks like Kelvin Banks, Hayden Conner, Jake Majors, and Cameron Williams are entering at least their third year in the program, they are light on meaningful snaps and experience.

But there were still extended glimpses of quality O-line play this spring in Sarkisian’s eyes. On Monday at the Touchdown Club of Houston’s University of Texas day, Sarkisian explained there have been instances that show he has the right mix on his roster to find replacements for four starters.

“I would say I’m confident in our ability,” Sarkisian said. “We have some high level players on that unit. With DJ Campbell, when he’s at his best, what that looks like I’m very confident in. What Trevor Goosby looks like at his best I’m very confident in. With Cole Hutson, Neto (Umeozulu), the Brandon Bakers of the world, these guys when they’re on it’s really, really good.”

That’s a nice round five, and each player fits into a specific role on the offensive line. But as the data shows, the in-game experience is lacking at a number of positions.

Player	Year	Projected Position	Career Off. Snap Count	2024 PFF Offensive Grade
Trevor Goosby	Sophomore	LT	328	62.7 (319 snaps)
Neto Umeozulu	Junior	LG	166	70.4 (81 snaps)
Cole Hutson	Senior	C	1314	61.7 (389 snaps)
DJ Campbell	Senior	RG	1806	68.3 (809 snaps)
Brandon Baker	Sophomore	RT	65	68.9 (65 snaps)

Goosby’s low snap count doesn’t tell the full story. In late 2024, he stepped in for Banks and Williams in postseason games and performed admirably against the Georgia and Clemson defenses. Hutson’s high snap count also doesn’t tell the full tale of his career. Though he has over 1300 career snaps, none have taken place at center in a game.

Campbell has been the right guard for the Longhorns ever since the tail end of the 2022 season, with some brief spells of Hutson mixed in. That trade-off may become a thing of the past with Hutson working to replace Majors at Center.

Umeozulu has the fewest career snaps of anyone in his 2022 class. A fourth-year junior, Umeozulu has a chance to lock up a spot he competed for last year with Conner.

Baker was the lone second-year player mentioned by Sarkisian on Monday. The No. 34 overall prospect in the 2024 class, Baker saw all of his action in the blowout games from Texas 2024 schedule.

There are a number of players Sarkisian didn’t mention that would like to factor into the battle to replace four starters, including Connor Robertson, Jaydon Chatman, Andre Cojoe, and Connor Stroh. But they have something in common with their teammates in that they all need to find a greater level of what Sarkisian described as consistency and continuity.

“We had such a comfort level of continuity over the past few years because of so many familiar faces,” Sarkisian said. “Now, we have to make sure we force feed consistency and continuity amongst that group. That starts with trust, right? Trust in calls, trust in footwork, trust in the guy next to you. We’ve seen in some practices where it’s been a really beautiful thing and it feels great. We’ve seen other days where it’s been a little bit off, which is understandable in spring practice. “

As of yet, Texas has not gone to the portal for an offensive lineman throughout Flood’s entire tenure in burnt orange. An appealing and obtainable O-lineman has not yet materialized in the current transfer window, nor in any other prior windows.

That means for the 2025 Longhorns, the starting five O-linemen should come from group that’s already in Flood’s room. To make that starting five or to keep a spot in that starting five, current Longhorns will have to start to play the way veterans are expected to in Sarkisian’s program.

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“Like I said, I wasn’t sounding the alarm in spring ball about it, but we’re going to have to continue to find that growth throughout the summer and into fall camp because it’s not going to be about talent with that group,” Sarkisian said.