Texas Football: 3 players who must step up after Whittington injury
1) Texas football WR’s to step up in Whittington’s absence: Brennan Eagles
One of the more surprising moves from Herman on the opening week depth chart for the UTEP game was former Michigan grad transfer and senior wideout Tarik Black getting the start over junior Brennan Eagles at the X-wide receiver position. It was anticipated heading into this season that Eagles was going to be called upon first to fill the shoes left by Collin Johnson and/or Devin Duvernay.
Eagles was the most productive returning wide receiver for the Longhorns this fall. He brought back 32 catches for 522 yards and six touchdowns from last season. That was the breakthrough for Eagles, as he was pretty explosive for the Longhorns whenever he got the ball in his hands, averaging more than 16.0 yards per catch.
But Eagles also led the Longhorns in drops by a good margin last season (with nine). The next highest number of drops on the team last year was three. He needs to prove that he can be a more reliable target for senior star quarterback Sam Ehlinger this fall to get more playing time as the season moves along.
Next. How Longhorns transfers played in Week 1. dark
More so in Week 2, Eagles will be counted on to make a bigger impact against Texas Tech in the wake of Whittington’s absence. He did have a nice catch for a touchdown for more than 30 yards in the win over UTEP, which gives him some level of momentum from the opener. This is a crucial year for Eagles to determine his role on the team.