Rest in peace to "Texas can't develop," 2012-2024

Joe Cookby:Joe Cook•03/04/24•

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The Texas Longhorns football program had at least one player selected in every NFL Draft from 1938 to 2013. When no one from Texas was picked in the 2014 NFL Draft, it was an indication of how the roster had become lackluster compared to the Longhorns’ regional and conference rivals. Over the course of the seasons after the 2009 run to the national championship game, the dearth of developed talent in Austin became evident in on-field results and at the NFL Draft.

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Then, just a few years later at the 2022 draft, the Longhorns again did not have a single player drafted. Twice in the span of a decade, players from the Texas football program were passed over for others from schools like Alabama, Michigan, Clemson, Northern Illinois, Colorado State, Concordia-St. Paul, UAB, and Lenoir-Rhyne.

After five were selected out of Texas in 2023, including No. 8 overall pick Bijan Robinson, and with more projected to hear their names called during the 2024 NFL Draft on April 25-27, the negative recruiting pitches surrounding development that plagued the UT football program for over a decade are set to pass away and become memories of the past.

Eleven Longhorns went to the NFL Combine over the weekend, and Xavier Worthy grabbed headlines when he posted a record 4.21 40-yard dash. This was minutes after Adonai Mitchell, who recorded his best collegiate season as a Longhorn, ran a 4.34 with other impressive testing numbers.

Those two weren’t the only Horns with big combines. T’Vondre Sweat, Byron Murphy, Ja’Tavion Sanders, Ryan Watts, and Keilan Robinson all logged impressive times, measurements, and drill work performances.

The 11 total who ventured to the combine come from a variety of recruiting backgrounds, including three year players…

…four-year players…

  • Ryan Watts: The On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 187 overall prospect in the 2020 class
  • Jaylan Ford: The On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 1193 overall prospect in the 2020 class.

… and fifth- or sixth-year seniors…

  • Keilan Robinson: The On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 279 overall prospect in the 2019 class.
  • Jordan Whittington: The On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 38 overall prospect in the 2019 class.
  • T’Vondre Sweat: The On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 659 overall prospect in the 2019 class.
  • Christian Jones: The On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 740 overall prospect in the 2018 class.

From all three of those categories come outstanding tales of development Steve Sarkisian and company can sell. Those tales are already backed up by the hard evidence of a 12-2 season with a win at Alabama, a Big 12 Championship, and a close loss in the final iteration of the four-team College Football Playoff two years removed from a 5-7 campaign.

In a couple of months, those tales of development could include as many as 11 selections in the upcoming NFL Draft.

Take Sanders. Though ranked as a five-star prospect and On3’s top athlete, his college position was tight end. That’s something he was not once asked to do at Denton (Texas) Ryan. Sanders saw most of his high school sophomore snaps on the edge before offense started taking more and more of his attention. His senior season with the Raiders, he caught 63 passes for 1161 yards and 16 touchdowns.

But most, if not all, of those reps were at wide receiver. Sanders spent most of his 2021 at Texas on the field goal unit, learning how to become a complete tight end with both blocking and receiving skills under Jeff Banks‘ tutelage.

That development led to Sanders setting school records and should ultimately result in him being one of the first tight ends taken after Brock Bowers.

Now, look at Ford. After a quiet freshman season and start to his sophomore year, Ford became one of the top linebackers in the Big 12 and the nation. The back half of his 2021 campaign saw him work alongside DeMarvion Overshown before he became an All-American level player in 2022. Ford was denied Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors during his 2022 season, one where he posted 119 tackles with 10.0 for loss, four interceptions, two passes defended, two fumble recoveries, and three forced fumbles. He followed that in 2023 with another 100-tackle season and once again intercepted two passes.

From outside of the top-1000 to a draft pick, Ford shows that the Longhorns have the ability to make the most of both the elite recruit and the under-the-radar prospect.

Finally, look at a player like Jones. A former soccer player who arrived at Texas and shortly thereafter repped pass sets for the first time, it took a longer development timeline for Jones to become a draftable prospect. After taking lumps at left tackle, Jones returned to his natural right tackle and became a top bookend opposite Kelvin Banks under Kyle Flood. While the last of a vanishing breed of player as a sixth-year senior, Jones became a pro prospect capable in all aspects of O-line play after only knowing how to go one way when he arrived on campus.

These are the examples from the 2024 draft class. The notion of Texas’ inability to develop is on its last gasps, and the 2025 draft class may finish the job.

Quinn Ewers is returning to Austin for one more season’s worth of reps before likely declaring for the 2025 draft. A former top overall prospect who has shown steady growth since his redshirt freshman season, Ewers could be the first quarterback taken in the 2025 draft. Texas hasn’t put a quarterback into the first round since Vince Young was taken third overall in 2006.

Ewers headlines a number of players who could hear their names called in the 2025 draft including Terrance Brooks, Jahdae Barron, Jaydon Blue, David Gbenda, Morice Blackwell, Vernon Broughton, DJ Campbell, Jake Majors, Kelvin Banks, Alfred Collins, and several others who could post impressive first seasons in the SEC before declaring.

Plus, Sarkisian’s top flight recruiting is a result of this evidence of development and it should continue the surge of Longhorns entering the NFL. Arch Manning, anyone?

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Almost any place but Texas used to be a destination for development. As the upcoming draft should tell, Austin, Texas is once again a hub for producing NFL talent.

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