Golden: Five Longhorns to watch during spring football

Cedric Golden, Austin American-Statesman
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian led the Horns to a Big 12 title, a 12-2 finish and a College Football Playoff semifinal in his third season. The Horns start spring football Tuesday.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian led the Horns to a Big 12 title, a 12-2 finish and a College Football Playoff semifinal in his third season. The Horns start spring football Tuesday.

The SEC doesn't care how many players Texas lost.

The bar remains high.

The Horns begin preparation for their first season in the SEC when spring football begins Tuesday with an array of new faces in camp for Steve Sarkisian's fourth season. With the bevy of talented players who departed the program — many of whom will be taken in the NFL draft — there are more than a few Longhorns who will have to step up if they to make another final-four run.

Sarkisian will need it from all over to repeat that magic we witnessed. Here are five players who are a must watch this spring to make the Horns a player.

Quarterback Quinn Ewers received a championship belt from wrestling legend the Undertaker after leading Texas to a Big 12 title in 2023. The Horns start spring football Tuesday after a 12-2 finish and their first College Football Playoff appearance.
Quarterback Quinn Ewers received a championship belt from wrestling legend the Undertaker after leading Texas to a Big 12 title in 2023. The Horns start spring football Tuesday after a 12-2 finish and their first College Football Playoff appearance.

Quinn Ewers, senior quarterback

2023 stats: 3,479 yards passing, 22 TDs, 6 INTs

He will be among the most watched quarterbacks in the country, not only because he plays for Texas but because the Horns are leaving the Big 12 for the toughest league in the country.

Ewers showed us last season that he is capable of leading this team to special places but the biggest question will revolve around if he can stay healthy for a full season.

Ewers has missed six possible starts over the last two seasons and while Texas was able to go 5-1 in those games, it’s really important that he avoid the injury bug in a season that can make or break him when it comes to his NFL prospects.

He has added 10 pounds to his 6-foot-2 frame and is now tipping the scales at 205 pounds. The added bulk can't hurt.

The pressure is on for him to give deliver some Colt McCoy type numbers but he will have to do it with some new starters are the receiving positions. And that's why spring football has value. It's a chance to develop chemistry with new teammates months before the season opener.

I expect Ewers to be behind center for the opener but the most popular Texas backup since Major Applewhite is entering his second season. And as we all know, Arch Manning is waiting in the wings if Quinn gets hurt again. It would be great to see Ewers go wire to wire for the first but there is talent at No. 2 just in case he gets banged up.

Wideout Matthew Golden transferred to Texas after playing two seasons at Houston. He will compete for a starting job in a Texas offense that lost its top three receivers Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell and Jordan Whittington to the NFL.
Wideout Matthew Golden transferred to Texas after playing two seasons at Houston. He will compete for a starting job in a Texas offense that lost its top three receivers Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell and Jordan Whittington to the NFL.

Matthew Golden, junior wide receiver

2023 stats: 38 rec., 404 yards, 6 TDs

Texas has some returners with experience in Deandre Moore and Johntay Cook II but those guys are young. Golden arrives from Houston with plenty of game time under his belt.

Over the last two seasons, he hauled in 76 passes for 988 yards and 13 touchdowns. He will also bring some electricity to the kick return unit, having returned two kicks for touchdowns last season, one for 98 yards against TCU and another for 100 yards against West Virginia.

With Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell and Jordan Whittington going pro, Golden will make things a lot easier for Quinn if he becomes a plug-and-play producer.

Duncanville five-star edge rusher Colin Simmons will join a Texas defense seeking its first double-digit sacker since 2013. Simmons had 54 1/2 sacks in his final two high school seasons.
Duncanville five-star edge rusher Colin Simmons will join a Texas defense seeking its first double-digit sacker since 2013. Simmons had 54 1/2 sacks in his final two high school seasons.

Colin Simmons, freshman edge rusher

2023 stats (at Duncanville HS): 52 tackles (10 TFL), 10 sacks

We’re at 10 seasons and counting since the Longhorns had a double-digit sack man (Jackson Jeffcoat). To ask a freshman to reach such a number.

I watched my nephew’s team get served up to the Duncanville prep All-American and his teammates in the opening round of the UIL playoffs and it just wasn’t a fair fight. Simmons looked like a 28-year-old dad in a father-son game. He was simply unblockable with 60 1/2 sacks in his final three seasons.

With him joining a corps of solid pass rushers in Barryn Sorrell, Anthony Hill, Ethan Burke and UTSA transfer Trey Moore, Texas’ edge athlete could take a lot of pressure off the linebacker and secondary units which lost some key components in the offseason.

Texas running back CJ Baxter ran for 659 yards, mostly as a backup to Jonathon Brooks last season. He will compete with Jaydon Blue for the starting job this spring. The Horns begin spring football Tuesday.
Texas running back CJ Baxter ran for 659 yards, mostly as a backup to Jonathon Brooks last season. He will compete with Jaydon Blue for the starting job this spring. The Horns begin spring football Tuesday.

C.J. Baxter, sophomore running back

2023 stats: 659 rushing yards, 5 TDs; 24 rec., 156 yards

Baxter was named the starting running back entering last season but Jonathon Brooks quickly revealed himself as one of the best running backs in the country

Baxter is no slouch. The first Texas true freshman to start since Ricky Williams earned frosh All-America honors after averaging 4.8 yards per carry.

With Brooks prepping for the NFL draft, Baxter will battle with the speedy Jaydon Blue for reps though there should be plenty to go around.

Texas defensive tackle Alfred Collins took a step up in production last season as part of a rotation with All-Big 12 selections T'Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy II. The Horns start spring football Tuesday.
Texas defensive tackle Alfred Collins took a step up in production last season as part of a rotation with All-Big 12 selections T'Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy II. The Horns start spring football Tuesday.

Defensive tackles

If you can add them all up and get half of what their predecessors produced last season, I'm guess defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski would take it.

When a team loses a pair of defensive tackles that are being projected as first-round draft picks, the impact will be felt, and not in a good way.

T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy II were the best tandem in college football and their departure leaves a gaping hole in the middle.

Alfred Collins enters his senior year after showing some signs of being a mainstay last season as part of a rotation but we’re still waiting on him to produce a breakout year.

The Bastrop product and classmate Vernon Broughton figure to have first crack in the starting lineup but will be pushed by some hungry youngsters behind them and senior Tiaoalii Savea who transfers in from Arizona.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Five Longhorn football players who must star this spring

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