4 Texas football upperclassmen with the most to prove in spring camp

Devin Richardson, LB

One addition for Sark and the Longhorns staff out of the transfer portal last offseason that I personally felt would make a noticeable impact right away on this defense was the former New Mexico State Aggies Freshman All-American linebacker Devin Richardson. It looked like the versatile and potent Richardson would be able to help plug a need for Texas along the defensive front last season.

That just didn’t turn out to be the case as it looked like co-defensive coordinators/linebackers coaches Pete Kwiatkowski and Jeff Choate couldn’t find the right fit for Richardson along the defensive front at any point of last season. That might change heading into the 2022 season as it looks like there is ample time for this staff to now figure out where Richardson fits best.

From Richardson’s perspective, he’s also had more time to adapt himself to fit best in this defensive scheme moving forward.

With how thin Texas is at the linebacker position, I would expect Richardson to still compete with the second team in spring ball at a minimum. This might be the final real chance that Richardson has to prove that he could eventually win a starting spot at linebacker. Spring ball will be absolutely critical for him.

In all likelihood, Richardson will be competing for reps at the Mike linebacker position with the former walk-on junior Luke Brockermeyer still recovering from a knee injury he suffered a few months back. If Richardson does well enough in camp and early in the season, getting starting reps at some point later in the 2022 campaign is not out of the question.