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Texas' 2025 offense will showcase players from all over the country

Joe Cookby: Joe Cook06/30/25josephcook89
NCAA Football: Cotton Bowl-Ohio State at Texas
Jan 10, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns wide receiver Ryan Wingo (5) runs against Ohio State Buckeyes cornerback Denzel Burke (10) during the first quarter of the College Football Playoff semifinal in the Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

As Steve Sarkisian has elevated the Texas football program and solidified his status as one of the sport’s top coaches, he’s made an effort to look beyond the borders of the Lone Star State for talent to add to his roster. Whether it’s Florida, Louisiana, or California, Sarkisian and company look to make the most of what’s considered to be a national brand. That’s paid off over the past few seasons, with top recruits hailing from those aforementioned states joining the Longhorn roster.

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And the 2025 Texas Longhorns offense will be extremely representative of those out of state recruiting efforts.

The presumed starters at quarterback, all three wide receiver spots, and tight end, plus three of the top four options at running back, all hail from out of state. The dynamic is somewhat flipped when looking at the O-line, where four of the five are likely to be native Texans.

The out of state representation at the skill positions is based on members of the 2023 and 2024 classes maturing into first-string players. The 2023 class, headlined by Arch Manning and CJ Baxter, had 40% of its members from out of state. The 2024 class looked similar, with 41% from out of state.

Manning, who comes from New Orleans (La.) Isidore Newman, will lead the offense for the Longhorns. The most well-known player in college football will suit up for the University of Texas but hails from one state over on the other side of the Sabine River.

At running back, Baxter, Jerrick Gibson, and Christian Clark all come from different parts of the U.S.A. Baxter and Gibson are from Florida while Clark is from Arizona. Quintrevion Wisner, who rushed for over 1000 yards last year and did yeoman’s work standing in for injured teammates, is so Texan he went to two different high schools with quality football programs in Waco Connally and DeSoto.

The frontline at wide receiver is national. Ryan Wingo is from St. Louis, Mo. while DeAndre Moore is from the Los Angeles area. Emmett Mosley V, a Stanford transfer, had Chicago listed as his hometown on the Stanford roster but attended Santa Margarita Catholic in the Golden State. Wide receiver does have some Texan representation as second-stringers Parker Livingstone, Kaliq Lockett, and Daylan McCutcheon are from Texas but their presence is balanced by out of state players like Aaron Butler and Jaime Ffrench.

Tight end’s top tier includes Californian Jack Endries with Houston native Jordan Washington right behind him. The rest of the tight end room also has players from all over, with Spencer Shannon, Will Randle, and Emaree Winston from out of state. Texas is represented by Washington and also Nick Townsend.

The O-line, which will feature three players from the 2022 signing class entering their fourth year on the 40 Acres, is decidedly more Texan. Left tackle Trevor Goosby hails from Melissa. Projected left guard Neto Umeozulu is from Allen. Center Cole Hutson is from Frisco, and right guard DJ Campbell is from Arlington Bowie. The out of state rep on the starting O-line at this juncture looks like it will be Brandon Baker from LA power Mater Dei, though he’ll have to fend off Mansfield Timberview product Andre Cojoe in camp.

Once those class of 2022 members phase through, Texas should still be well represented on the O-line. Texas’ only has two out of state O-linemen on the roster in Baker and Nick Brooks. The 2026 class shouldn’t upset that balance either, as Texas’ two commitments in Max Wright and Nicolas Robertson are from Melissa and Klein, respectively. The Longhorns are also after two other Texans in Felix Ojo and John Turntine with out of state options becoming less viable.

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As far as the 2025 Texas offense goes, the pieces in place will be emblematic of Sarkisian’s dogged out of state recruiting efforts over the past few years. The people protecting the quarterback and creating holes for rushers may hail from Texas, but the players on the outside and at the skill positions will represent Sarkisian’s out of state recruiting efforts over the past few cycles.

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