3 Texas football players who could lose starting jobs in fall camp

Ovie Oghoufo, LB/EDGE

A potential upset to watch in terms of how the depth chart could play out coming out of fall camp lies at the buck linebacker position. Heading into the regular season, it looks as if the former Notre Dame Fighting Irish transfer and senior linebacker/edge rusher Ovie Oghoufo is the favorite t be the starter at the buck spot.

But it doesn’t look as if Oghoufo will have the longest leash as a starter along this defensive front at the outset of the regular season. Oghoufo definitely didn’t prove what he needed to last fall to clearly set himself as the starter at the buck linebacker position in 2022.

What Texas will need to see from Oghoufo to ensure that he is the set-in-stone starter throughout the upcoming season is that he can be a truly impactful pass rusher. Last season, Oghoufo posted the worst pass-rushing grade of his career and only came up with two sacks on more than 150 snaps rushing the passer.

Moreover, it was good to see Oghoufo make some necessary strides last fall defending the run. Last season, he posted the lowest missed-tackle rate of his career in snaps on run defense. And he more than tripled his previous career total in terms of run stops in his first year wearing the burnt orange.

Some of the potential challengers at the buck linebacker position in fall camp to unseat Oghoufo as the starter at some point this season is true freshman Justice Finkley, true freshman J’Mond Tapp, and even redshirt freshman D.J. Harris Jr.

All in all, it looks as if Oghoufo will be the favorite to win the starting job at buck coming out of fall camp. But if his pass-rushing productivity doesn’t pick up early in the 2022 regular season, he could see some of his starting reps going to some newer blood at the position in Finkley and Tapp.