Texas Football: Two-deep defensive depth chart for spring

Nose tackle

Starter: Keondre Coburn

Backup: T’Vondre Sweat

Texas is pretty deep at the nose tackle spot entering spring camp. Headlined by the projected starter and returning senior Keondre Coburn, there are three or four players that could realistically challenge to make the two-deep at this position.

Coburn does look to be the set-in-stone starter at nose tackle entering spring ball. But the backup spot will be more highly contested in the weeks and months ahead.

At the moment, we’re going with the underrated rising senior T’Vondre Sweat as the backup nose tackle. But this is going to be an interesting battle on the depth chart in spring ball between Sweat and sophomore Byron Murphy to see who can win out the backup job behind Coburn.

Murphy showed flashes last fall that he could be the starter here in a couple of years. But Sweat was one of the more underrated and reliable linemen for the Longhorns in the last couple of seasons. He will put up a big challenge for the backup spot.

Defensive tackle

Starter: Moro Ojomo

Backup: Vernon Broughton

Another deep position group for the Longhorns purely in terms of talent and potency comes at the defensive tackle spot. Texas really needs to live up to the hype here this fall after looking like one of the most disappointing position groups last season.

Spearheading the Longhorns’ quest to improve at the defensive tackle position this year is returning senior Moro Ojomo. Just like Coburn at nose tackle, Ojomo should be considered the set-in-stone starter at defensive tackle entering spring camp.

In what could be the final year for Ojomo on the Forty Acres, there is a lot on the line for him in 2022.

Backing up Ojomo at defensive tackle in spring ball should either be rising sophomore Vernon Broughton or even junior Alfred Collins (depending on where he plays along the defensive front in 2022). But we’re considering Collins to be the starter at edge rusher in the spring.

That may change if Texas gets a commitment out of the portal from the two-time All-Big 12 senior defensive end/edge rusher Ochaun Mathis later this offseason. Texas currently looks to be the favorite in the race to land a commitment from Mathis out of the portal.