3 Texas football upperclassmen with most to prove in fall camp
Moro Ojomo, DL
Another upperclassmen that has contributed in meaningful ways in the Big 12 for multiple seasons now that could have a battle for his spot on the depth chart this fall is the super senior defensive lineman Moro Ojomo. Yet, last season didn’t see Ojomo live up to some of the expectations the Longhorns faithful had for him in the first year under Sark’s regime.
Ojomo just didn’t have much of an impact in an area where Texas needed it, in the pass rush. He posted career-lows in sacks, QB hits, and pressures during his time as a regular for this Texas defensive line. Ojomo was one of a plethora of Texas defensive players that really saw their production dip during the six-game losing streak last season.
But it wasn’t all bad for Ojomo last season as he posted a career-best defensive grade and had a career-high 20 stops and nearly a dozen run stuffs. He also posted a career-best with 3.5 tackles for loss.
If the Texas defensive staff can find a way to scheme up Ojomo to get him after the passer more effectively this fall, he should be more of a complete player that the Horns faithful expected him to be last season.
Yet, Ojomo will be facing some steep competition this fall to win a starting job for Week 1 against ULM. Depending on where Texas plans to line Ojomo up this fall along the defensive front, he could face competition from the likes of Alfred Collins, Byron Murphy II, Barryn Sorrell, and even Vernon Broughton for key reps in the trenches.
With there being some real uncertainty surrounding the plan for Pete Kwiatkowski to scheme up this defensive front this fall, it’s hard to know exactly where Ojomo will play.
Coach K could use Ojomo’s size, strength, and ability to set the edge defending the run and have him play more of a true three-technique defensive end in a 3-3-5 scheme. Or the Longhorns could have Ojomo slim down a bit this summer and utilize him as a bigger edge rusher that can also slide inside as a three-tech lineman.
There are multiple possiblities for Ojomo this fall, but he’ll need to prove he can handle this level of scheme versatility to win a starting spot coming out of camp.