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Texas Football: Ranking the 10 best Longhorns in 2018

By Andrew Miller

LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 16: Armanti Foreman #3 of the Texas Longhorns celebrates his touchdown with Collin Johnson #9 to take a 17-14 lead in front of Ajene Harris #27 of the USC Trojans during the fourth quarter at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 16, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 16: Armanti Foreman #3 of the Texas Longhorns celebrates his touchdown with Collin Johnson #9 to take a 17-14 lead in front of Ajene Harris #27 of the USC Trojans during the fourth quarter at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 16, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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AUSTIN, TX – NOVEMBER 24: McLane Carter #6 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders looks to avoid the tackle by Gary Johnson #33 of the Texas Longhorns in the third quarter at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on November 24, 2017 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TX – NOVEMBER 24: McLane Carter #6 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders looks to avoid the tackle by Gary Johnson #33 of the Texas Longhorns in the third quarter at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on November 24, 2017 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) /

The former transfer linebacker, senior Gary Johnson, has the most potential to be a First-Team All-Big 12 player and possibly an All-American when it’s all said and done this season. Johnson and Wheeler should be able to form quite the nice duo in the linebacking corps. Both seniors were huge for the Horns last year and should be again this time around.

Last season, Johnson did miss some action due to injury but looks ready to go for the 2018 campaign. He did still manage to rack up 57 total tackles and six tackles for loss last year. He has the versatiltiy to make an impact in both pass defense and stopping the run. Johnson really is the ideal linebacker for the Horns.

Johnson is one of the rangiest and most athletic linebackers. Keeping him healthy is going to be one of the most important tasks this year. Texas can ill afford to lose any additional linebackers following the injuries to key depth players like freshman Ayodele Adeoye and junior Jeffrey McCulloch.

However, there’s no denying that Johnson is one of the few players on this roster that has the chance at becoming a truly elite difference maker in 2018. Texas doesn’t really have anyone that can claim that status at this point. However, Johnson is one of just a handful players for the Texas defense that might be able to achieve that this season.

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