Look to Texas special teams to determine the young players on the cusp of more snaps

When it comes to figuring out the players on the brink of earning more playing time, look to Texas’ special teams units.

[Sign up for Inside Texas TODAY and get the BEST Longhorns coverage!]

In 2023, Michael Taaffe, Liona Lefau, and Kitan Crawford were the only players who played over 250 snaps on special teams. The next year, Taaffe became a starter and an All-American and Lefau turned into a frontline player. Though Crawford transferred to Nevada, he became an All-Mountain West honorable mention and was picked by the Arizona Cardinals in the 7th round of the 2025 Draft.

In 2024, Lefau, Warren Roberson, and Morice Blackwell were the only players to eclipse 250 special teams snaps. Roberson is now battling to join the Texas defensive back rotation, and Blackwell is with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League.

Other players that were special teams regulars in 2024 who stepped into new opportunities in 2025 include:

• Taaffe, of course.
• Ryan Niblett, who is now a featured returner and part of the Texas offense.
• Ty’Anthony Smith, who sees plenty of standard down snaps.
• Kobe Black, who is arguably CB3 for the Longhorns right now.
• Spencer Shannon, who sees the field plenty in two tight end sets.

Those are just a few examples of players who took the chances Jeff Banks offered in the third phase and made the most of them, parlaying those opportunities into offensive or defensive snaps this year.

Which young players who already aren’t in the regular rotation could earn trust on special teams in 2025, especially as Texas closes out its non-conference schedule, and use that trust to play more on standard downs this season or the next?

Two names who aren’t already in the starting lineup stand out: Jordon Johnson-Rubell and Jonathan “Deuce” Cunningham.

“I thought JJR and Deuce both have had good games for us on special teams for us last week on punt return and on kick coverage,” Steve Sarkisian said Wednesday.

Johnson-Rubell, a second-year player, has played on kick return, kick coverage, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal block this season, notching 47 special teams snaps in three games. That’s a sign of trust from the special teams and defensive staff. Because of his special teams acumen, Johnson-Rubell netted 20 defensive snaps against UTEP last week. He finished with good numbers and a Pro Football Focus defensive grade of 75.1.

Cunningham, a true freshman, didn’t play at Ohio State but has been on kick coverage and punt return so far this year. There are several standard down regulars on special teams still like Taaffe, Lefau, Shannon, Colton Vasek, Graceson Littleton, Ethan Burke, Jack Endries, and Jelani McDonald, but the presence of Johnson-Rubell and Cunningham is notable in that one is seeing a significant jump in opportunity and the other is a true freshman.

Xavier Filsaime also fits into this category as he went from no special teams snaps in 2024 to seeing 26 in the first two games, plus action on defense. Though he may not play this week due to a lingering shoulder issue, he fits the type of player Sarkisian was talking about when he added on Wednesday “there’s more guys than (Johnson-Rubell and Cunningham).”

Now that he’s available, it’s likely Texas makes use of Jonah Williams‘ elite athleticism. Similar applies for Kade Phillips, Nick Townsend, Elijah Barnes, Zelus Hicks, Rickey Stewart Jr., Emaree Winston, Caleb Chester, and others.

That’s something Sarkisian and Banks are looking for as Southeastern Conference play approaches. The more players they can put their faith in, the more rested the Texas defense will be.

“The key is the more guys that we can trust to be on kick coverage, to be on punt return, to be on kickoff return, that’s a few less reps for the Michael Taaffes of the world, the Jelani McDonalds of the world, those guys that are playing reps for us on defense,” Sarkisian said. “That’s taking five, seven, ten reps off those guys per game if some of these younger guys can continue to step up.”

So far, so good for guys like Johnson-Rubell and Cunningham, who have taken pressure off the starters in recent weeks and might see more action in plays from scrimmage.