Texas football enters the 2017 season with new leadership, but who will break out for Tom Herman’s squad.
Entering the 2017 season with a new direction, Texas football is hoping Tom Herman can guide it back to greatness. It’s been over a decade since the Longhorns were considered a top dog in the college football world, and that might change with a new head coach.
Although Charlie Strong was a player’s coach, he didn’t win enough to keep his job. That meant that the former Houston coach and Ohio State assistant would get a shot to lead Texas back to the top of the Big 12. Will it happen right away? It’s possible.
Let’s take a look at five breakout candidates who could lead the Longhorns out of the gutter.
Getting his first opportunity to start full-time at defensive end for Texas, Malcolm Roach enters his sophomore season with injury issues. He missed some time during fall camp with injuries, but he’s been back at practice since.
Roach is going to be a major contributor for this team and it’s only a matter of time before he cracks the All-Big 12 team. He’s a strong 6-foot-3, 270-pound behemoth with plenty of moves and potential through the roof. He came to Texas as a high three-star recruit, but no one expected him to contribute at such a high level right away.
In fact, he finished with 33 total tackles, eight for loss and three sacks as a backup in 2016, and he’s going to have an even larger impact in 2017.
Don’t be shocked if Roach finishes with nearly 50 total tackles, 10-plus tackles for loss and nearly 10 sacks. If he can stay healthy, the sky is the limit.
Another player who is facing issues, but for a different reason, this offseason is freshman tight end Reese Leitao. He has been suspended for the first two games of the season after pleading guilty to misdemeanor drug charges. Some believed Herman wouldn’t let him enroll, but he gave the young tight end a second chance.
Although he will be out for the opener as well as the San Jose State game, Leitao could have an instant impact when he returns in Week 3 against USC. The Longhorns are already thin at tight end as Andrew Beck has been lost for the season and Syracuse transfer Kendall Moore and Garrett Gray has little experience.
Cade Brewer could be another breakout candidate at this position, but I believe Leitao has a higher ceiling. He stands 6-foot-4 and weighs in at 234 pounds. He was also considered the 14th-best tight end in the 2017 class and could be a major target for Shane Buechele.
Herman has to be frustrated with the dwindling depth, but he can rest easy in Week 3 knowing that he’s getting a potential All-Big 12 Freshman back.
Entering the 2016 season, which would be Charlie Strong’s last, the Longhorns brought in a talented crop of recruits. One happened to be Collin Johnson, the No. 175 overall recruit in the class, according to 247Sports.
Johnson, now entering his sophomore season, looks to be the perfect red-zone target. Although he didn’t have the biggest impact on the offense as a true freshman, he wasn’t exactly a slouch, either. His 6-foot-6, 215-pound frame made for some matchup nightmares with opposing secondaries and you can expect more of that as he starts in 2017.
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With his huge frame, he’s going to be a force in Big 12 play. Opposing secondaries already have to guard against speedy wide outs in the Big 12, but not often do they have to account for a 6-foot-6 monster.
Although he will have to battle Devin Duvernay and Jerrod Heard for targets, there’s a good chance Johnson could be the team’s No. 1 receiver by season’s end. He caught 28 passes for 315 yards and three scores in 2016.
Texas had the second-best rushing attack in the Big 12 a season ago thanks, in large part, to the season churned out by D’Onta Foreman. The bruising back finished with 2,028 yards and 15 touchdowns, averaging 6.3 yards per carry.
Unfortunately, the Longhorns will be forced to move on without him as he took the leap to the NFL. Now, it’s Chris Warren III’s backfield. It’s not like the junior running back is void of talent, though. In fact, he finished with 366 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 5.9 yards per touch, in 2016. He had just 62 carries all year, but that will soon change.
Foreman was a workhorse for Strong. He ran the ball 323 times in 2016 and was one of few running backs in recent college football memory to even approach, let alone break, the 2,000-yard mark for a single season. If Warren gets about 250 carries and averages about 6.0 yards per touch, he will surpass 1,500 yards.
That looks to be the case as he will be the lead back, expected to run the ball 20-25 times per game. Texas won’t lean on the run game quite as much this year, but when it does, it’ll be in good hands.
Tom Herman named Shane Buechele his starting quarterback for 2017 recently, but his statement didn’t exactly sound like a vote of confidence. In fact, he stated “as of today” Shane is the starting quarterback. That must mean true freshman Sam Ehlinger is pushing him more than people expected.
More: Texas Football: Projected 2-deep depth chart for 2017
Don’t let that fool you, though. This might just be a motivational technique by Herman. Saying that “as of today” he is the starting quarterback may push Buechele to be his best self throughout the remainder of camp and play his best ball during the 2017 season — not that he wouldn’t anyway.
Still, counting a guy like Buechele out is a bad idea.
Many would argue he had a breakout season as a true freshman, but if that were the case, he wouldn’t have people doubting him and calling for a true freshman to start over him in 2017. He’s going to have a monster year in 2017, though.
Next: College Football: Top 50 breakout candidates for 2017
Buechele did pass for 2,958 yards and 21 touchdowns, but he had 11 interceptions and completed just 60 percent of his throws. Expect all of those numbers to improve as he approaches the 3,500-yard mark in 2017 and takes the conference by storm.