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

Moro Ojomo, DL

Texas has one of their more underappreciated returning defensive players in super-senior defensive lineman Moro Ojomo. As one of the more important returning defensive players for the Longhorns this year, Ojomo does still have a lot to prove coming off a rather disappointing season statistically.

There were pretty lofty expectations for Ojomo heading into the first season under Kwiatkowski. But Ojomo didn’t come up with a single sack in more than 220 snaps in the pass rush last season. He did generate just over a dozen quarterback pressures and a few quarterback hits, but he came up just shy of getting even a single sack on the season.

Texas will need more production out of a senior leader such as Ojomo to really be able to make the necessary strides along the defensive front. That is doable for Ojomo given his talent and past production, though.

If Ojomo can finally generate more production rushing the passer this fall, his efficiency should be astounding. Despite not getting a single sack last season, Ojomo was still sitting in the top 20th percentile in terms of defensive grade among Big 12 defensive linemen. He just doesn’t miss many tackles or make many mistakes reading plays off the line of scrimmage.

Ojomo is likely to face heightened competition from the likes of underclassmen that could play as a defensive tackle on Kwiatkowski’s 3-4 defensive front such as Vernon Broughton and Barryn Sorrell. There’s a ton of young talent at defensive tackle for the Longhorns. It will be up to Ojomo to both help mentor all these young and talented defensive linemen while picking up his production in 2022. That starts with a solid run in spring ball.