Texas Football: 5 question marks amidst spring camp

5. Who steps up as the front seven leader

Top-to-bottom, the best part of the defense for the Texas football program the past two years under defensive coordinator Todd Orlando was in the trenches. Texas now is used to allowing less than four yards per carry while boasting one of the better pass rushes in the Big 12. In a conference that doesn’t usually pride itself on defensive line and linebacker play, the Horns are flipping the script.

The losses of almost every starter along the front seven will make it difficult for the Horns to start moving in the right direction with some level of consistency in the trenches this year. At least this defense does have a lot of young talent in store to work with.

Some of the obvious candidates for the Horns to find a defensive leader to steady up the line of scrimmage includes rising senior linebackers Malcolm Roach and Jeffrey McCulloch, junior defensive end Ta’Quon Graham, and redshirt freshman Joe Ossai. The Horns need at least one of those guys to step up in spring camp.

However, the leadership factor is going to be so important to finding some ability to replace the departing production for the run stopping and pass rush. Texas is also set to lose the 2018 Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year Charles Omenihu. The rushers that blew up the backfield last year will be gone and there isn’t any big name that first comes to mind that can replace them.