Texas Football: 3 players that could lose starting roles under new staff

Denzel Okafor, RG

At the moment, the projected starter at right guard for the Longhorns and new offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Kyle Flood would have to be considered senior former three-star recruit Denzel Okafor. The sizable and experienced 6-foot-4 and 320 pound right guard is about to enter the final year of his eligibility in college in all likelihood.

Okafor remained on this Texas roster since the 2016 campaign. He is about to be a sixth-year senior technically that will be taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA to any players that competed in the 2020 college football season in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moreover, Okafor played well at times for Texas last fall. But he also remained one of Texas’ lowest graded offensive linemen in each of the last two seasons. He had three penalties called against him last season, and allowed nearly two dozen quarterback pressures, 17 hurries, two sacks, and four additional hits on former star senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger.

Sark and Flood will need the offensive line to be one of the biggest strengths on either side of the ball if they want to have an offense working at maximum efficiency, or anything close to it, this fall. And Okafor has a host of other competing offensive linemen that would love to take his starting reps, including former five-star recruit and redshirt sophomore Tyler Johnson and senior Tope Imade.