Texas Football: 3 upperclassmen who will finally breakout under Sarkisian

Ben Davis, Edge Rusher

If he’s able to finally stay healthy throughout a full regular season slate, then the former elite five-star recruit and Alabama Crimson Tide senior graduate transfer Ben Davis is ready to shine in the spotlight for the Longhorns. Davis is familiar with a lot of the new coaches on the Texas staff this fall after coming to the Forty Acres from Tuscaloosa this offseason.

But Davis had frequent injury problems that kept him from having the ability to make a consistent impact with the Crimson Tide. Despite seeing at least one snap on defense or special teams in a double-digit number of games last fall, Davis only got 50 snaps in total in 2020.

That is a similar narrative to what happened for Davis since the 2017 campaign with the Crimson Tide.

There’s no doubting the raw talent level that Davis brings to the table for the Longhorns right away. It’s just a matter of staying healthy enough to at least get 200-300 snaps under his belt this fall.

Davis is not off to a great start, though. He reportedly (per Inside Texas, paid content) was in a boot with a lower-body injury already in the midst of summer workouts this month. But that does not appear to be something that will keep Davis out of the regular season opener for Texas on Sep. 4 against Louisiana.

Moreover, Davis makes this list since this seems like the perfect option for someone like him to resurrect a once-promising career. Davis was the top-ranked linebacker recruit in the nation for the 2016 cycle. But he only registered one sack and one tackle for loss during his time in Tuscaloosa.

Davis will be one of multiple transfer linebackers that Texas brought in this offseason. Texas also landed the likes of the former New Mexico State linebacker Devin Richardson, Notre Dame edge rusher Ovie Oghoufo, and LSU linebacker Ray Thornton, out of the transfer portal this offseason.