Texas Football: 3 players who will become household names in 2020
There is usually a defensive lineman that rises to prominence to some degree for the Longhorns. Two seasons ago, former Texas star defensive end Charles Omenihu was that lineman that rose to the occasion and became a star on the national scene. During his last season on campus, Omenihu registered 18.0 tackles for loss, and 9.5 sacks, while being the second Longhorn in a row to earn the Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year honors.
But that star defensive lineman breakthrough didn’t really happen on the Forty Acres last fall. If anyone rose to the occasion in the front seven last season, it was linebacker Joseph Ossai. Yet, this year’s breakthrough is more likely to come from the defensive line once again than it is the linebacking corps. And it could come from rising senior defensive end and former four-star recruit Ta’Quon Graham.
The sizable 6-foot-3 and 300 pound defensive end did show promise in bits and pieces of his last two seasons. For his college career thus far, Graham registered 47 total tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, one pass deflection, and one forced fumble. Most of that production came last season, when he racked up 2.5 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss.
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Graham should standout alongside the likes of defensive tackle Keondre Coburn and fellow defensive end Moro Ojomo in the trenches. Others like Marqez Bimage and T’Vondre Sweat will be important linemen to watch this coming season. But Graham might be the most productive for the fall when it’s all said and done.