3 freshmen that could start Week 1 for Texas football

Devon Campbell, G

The highest-rated offensive line signee in a loaded class for this position group for the Longhorns during the 2022 recruiting cycle is the former five-star Bowie interior offensive lineman Devon Campbell. This highly-anticipated incoming freshman IOL is another one of the new enrollees from the 2022 signing class that is making a good impression on the coaching staff so far this summer.

Similar to the impression that Banks has made in the last six weeks or so, Campbell’s seamless transition to college this summer has shown that he’s successfully made the initial first step with the Longhorns this offseason. It sounds like Campbell showed up from day one this summer with his body ready to handle the competition in the trenches immediately this fall.

Campbell also showed during his time at Bowie High School in the last few seasons that he’s got the skill set and maturity in his game necessary to assume key live-game reps early in his collegiate career.

All told, it looks like Campbell is a prime candidate to make an early impact in the trenches for Flood and the Longhorns.

The only issue that Campbell is likely to run into that could limit his chances to get starting reps at one of the offensive guard spots early this fall compared with someone like Banks is the steep competition he could face in fall camp. Campbell will likely be duking it out with the likes of sophomore Hayden Conner to win the starting job opposite of Junior Angilau at offensive guard.

For Campbell to win the starting job opposite of Angilau Week 1, he would have to likely have nearly a perfect showing in fall camp. Conner is obviously the more experienced of the two guards we’re talking about here. Campbell needs to clearly prove he’s the better guard right away this fall, or Conner would have to have some type of injuries pop up, for the former Bowie IOL to get a clean grip on the starting job in Week 1.