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Mid season Texas Longhorn NFL Draft stock watch

by: Evan Vieth11/06/25
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Jelani McDonald (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

Every year, we see multiple college players completely shift their draft stock in a matter of months thanks to their play in their final season on campus.

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While draft nerds love to make preseason rankings and rely on summer scouting to fuel the offseason, so much of the NFL Draft truly comes down to what you do in your final year.

Last season, we saw the likes of Cam Ward and Abdul Carter make tremendous jumps from fringe first-round guys to top-three picks. On the Texas side of things, Matthew Golden wasn’t even on the NFL’s radar until late in the season. Isaiah Bond was still a first-rounder! If this article were written a year ago, it still wouldn’t have seen Golden as anywhere near a top-30 pick. His ascension was very late in the cycle.

So, as the Texas Longhorns have gone through three months and nine games’ worth of tape, we’ve gotten to watch multiple players evolve — whether that be for better or worse in the eyes of NFL Draft scouts.

Stock Up: Jelani McDonald

No Texas player has seen his stock rise more than Jelani McDonald this season. You would’ve struggled to find his name on any sort of top-100 list entering the year; he was a No. 3 safety as a true sophomore on a good defense with other names shining.

Since then, though, McDonald has completely broken out in Austin. He leads the Longhorns in tackles, and only LSU’s AJ Haulcy has more in the SEC. Yet McDonald is also flashing in the passing game — one of the spots you’d expect the large safety to struggle in. Of all SEC safeties targeted more than 20 times, he’s one of just two with 125 or fewer yards surrendered.

McDonald’s got stat-sheet-popping numbers, but it’s his athleticism that will really sell NFL teams. He may end up with a top-three RAS in the 2026 class if he does declare.

Stock Up: Ethan Burke

Despite entering his senior season on a strong defense, Burke had little to no buzz as an NFL edge. He hasn’t been a prolific pass rusher at any point in his career, and he’s usually been the No. 3 or 4 in the room.

While Texas fans expected a jump with him moving into the starting JACK role opposite Colin Simmons, these past few weeks have been unbelievable for the edge rusher.

He’s been a strong run-stuffer this season, but he’s really grown as a pass rusher recently. This is the kind of stuff that gets Burke drafted in the fourth round. He won’t be a top-10 pressure guy in this class, but a lot of NFL teams really value that 6’7″ frame with an absurd wingspan. His clutchness will also go underrated, but he’s made some key plays for the Longhorns.

Stock Down: Jack Endries

It really isn’t Endries’ fault that his stock has fallen, but it’s gone down a ton since transferring to Texas from Cal.

Preseason, he was seen as the TE3 or 4 in this class. He’s not there anymore. Of PFF’s current top 10 tight ends, Endries joins Georgia’s Lawson Luckie as far and away the least productive on a per-route basis. A lot of that, in Luckie’s case, comes from playing alongside the No. 11 tight end for PFF, Oscar Delp.

Endries just isn’t that Gunnar Helm replacement fans have been hoping for. The blocking has been a bit lackluster, and he isn’t the same type of safety blanket you’d hope for with Arch Manning. Still, Manning and the offensive line haven’t done him many favors this year. I suspect this gets much better very soon.

Stock Up: Trevor Goosby

Goosby entered this season as one of those “keep an eye out for him” guys for draft aficionados. He hadn’t started in college, but he was a tremendous athlete expected to fill in for top-10 pick Kelvin Banks well.

Even if you did think he was a first-round talent preseason, it was rare to find him in top-50 big boards because of the lack of experience he had to show for.

But Goosby has shown to be the player we thought he could be this year, and most importantly, this tackle class is shaping up poorer than we expected. A lot of these preseason-hyped tackles seem more like guards or may not be that good anyway.

Among the eight or so highest-profile left tackles in the country for the draft, Goosby is third in PFF grade and tied for first in run blocking. He’s proven to be effective in that area, though he’s given up a few too many pressures for some teams’ liking.

Given the context of this class, were he to declare, he may be a first-round talent.

Stock Down: Arch Manning

OK, this is a little cheap, but Manning was seen as one of the five or so top QB prospects heading into the year. The hype was astronomical!

Pretty quickly, though, mock draft and ranking sites began taking his name off the prospect list. He started the season terribly, and even with a good last few weeks, it’s clear he’s not going to enter the draft this season. It would be far too fast.

Final Note

Keep an eye on the following players: McDonald, Endries, Goosby, DeAndre Moore, Quintrevion Wisner, Hero Kanu.

As we’ve mentioned with the first three, they are legit NFL guys. McDonald has a chance to be SAF2 in this draft. Goosby could be a first-rounder. If Endries turns it around, he’s back to a top-five TE and a Day 2 pick.

Some players like Anthony Hill and Malik Muhammad are all but confirmed to declare, and there’s no way someone like Liona Lefau, Derek Williams, or CJ Baxter should declare at this point.

But players like Moore, Wisner, and Kanu have another year of eligibility yet might also be good enough to get drafted. Kanu was the first name that missed this stock-up list, but would he and these other leaders on the team prefer to take a paycheck to come back and play for a national championship?

That’s six really impactful players to keep an eye on as the season chugs along and the offseason begins. Texas plans to reload every season, but clearly, the push for these Longhorns is to win the big one in 2026.

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