Texas' interior O-line depth is already being tested

Offensive line coaches aren’t just looking to build a starting five during training camp. That’s an important part of the leadup, but so too is finding players behind that starting five that can be trusted to go into a game and not miss a beat.

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Texas offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Kyle Flood had to tap into his depth early in training camp to see who from the bench, as it currently stands, would go into the first five. Projected starting right guard DJ Campbell missed Thursday’s practice due to what the program described as personal reasons.

So the first five O-linemen, at least from drills visible to the media, went from…

LT Trevor Goosby – LG Neto Umeozulu – OC Cole Hutson – RG DJ Campbell – RT Brandon Baker

…to…

LT Trevor Goosby – LG Neto Umeozulu – OC Connor Robertson – RG Cole Hutson – RT Brandon Baker.

The move from center to right guard for Hutson is an easy one. All 1314 of his career snaps have been at guard, with 1220 of them coming at right guard. Robertson has seen 230 snaps at center, including 77 last year.

Prior to the first few practices, Flood was asked if Hutson was ready to man the center position full-time. Flood responded “he’s absolutely ready.”

“Really, really smart player,” Flood said of Hutson. “Been in our system for four years. Has played a lot of center in situations you guys haven’t seen in practice, similar to Hayden Conner. No one had really seen him play in a game until we got to the Clemson game last year. He did a really nice job for us. I feel like Cole is absolutely ready.”

For Robertson, there may be varying public sentiments on his ability to play center. His most extended action came in 2023, when he had to replace Jake Majors in the Longhorns’ rivalry battle with Oklahoma. As a redshirt freshman playing against a quality D-line, Robertson struggled. He allowed four pressures and committed two penalties in a loss to the Sooners.

Last year, Robertson saw action in four games: Colorado State, UTSA, ULM, and Florida. He posted a Pro Football Focus offensive grade of 73.0 across those performances, including a quality 69.9 against Florida.

He’s earned enough trust from Flood to be first off the bench, at least at this very early stage of preseason camp.

“We’ve got some depth at that position between Cole and Connor Robertson,” Flood said. “Both guys have played a lot of football here, so I’ve got a lot of confidence in both of them.”

Who could be No. 7 or No. 8? Flood isn’t afraid to move a guard out or a tackle in with the goal of putting the best five on the field. But at this juncture, the tackle group appears to be Goosby, Baker, Andre Cojoe, and Nick Brooks. Flood mentioned that the battle between Baker and Cojoe at right tackle is one that might last throughout camp.

So who else could man one of the interior spots?

“We’ve got a guy like Nate Kibble who has been in our program and has done a good job,” Flood said. “We’ve got a guy like Connor Stroh now who has been in program now for a few years and had a really good spring. Jaydon Chatman gives us a lot of position flexibility as we go across. I think those guys are going to really compete.”

Chatman, a third-year sophomore, is the only one with any in-game experience in burnt orange as neither the redshirt freshman in Kibble nor the third year sophomore in Stroh saw action last year. Chatman played 32 snaps at left tackle in 2023. In 2024, he saw five snaps at left guard and 26 snaps at right guard. He also had one snap at fullback in the Longhorns’ Cotton Bowl loss versus Ohio State.

While Flood listed options, he didn’t list a preference. It could be inferred that’s because no one has stood out enough to become the go-to answer to a question about interior depth. But Texas has only been on the field for three practices, with a fourth coming on Saturday. There’s plenty of time for competition to build depth on the O-line, something Flood is ready to oversee.

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“Over the first two weeks of training camp is their opportunity to show us ‘I’m ready to handle this type of workload when we get to game week,'” Flood said.