3 biggest offensive position battles for Texas football in fall camp
By Shane Black
Left Tackle
After a very shaky 2021 offensive line group that left Texas quarterbacks running for their lives, Coach Sarkisian and Coach Flood made it a priority to upgrade the unit this offseason.
They did just that, signing seven offensive linemen in the 2022 cycle.
Among those players is Kelvin Banks Jr. who is expected to have an outside chance at landing the starting left tackle spot this fall.
Banks, who was only a June enrollee, will do battle with sophomore Hayden Conner and redshirt sophomore Andrej Karic. Karic is the only one of three with a start under his belt, mind you it is only one start.
This battle is very hard to predict for multiple reasons.
The first is that Conner may not be a true left tackle. Conner will end up starting somewhere on this offensive line in 2022, but he may not have the chops to be a full-time left tackle.
Karic was expected to be a big-time contributor in 2021 but seemingly took a step back after a strong offseason. He must have a strong showing in fall camp to gain the coaching staff’s trust back.
Next. 3 defensive players that must step up in fall camp. dark
Banks Jr has the highest ceiling of all three but will only have four weeks in pads before the Longhorns suit up for their home opener. The last thing Coach Sarkisian wants to do is throw Banks out to the wolves of Will Anderson and Dallas Turner on Sep. 10 and kill his confidence.
If I had to say now, I think Conner wins the starting left tackle job out of fall camp. With that said, I see his long-term projection as a right tackle when Banks is ready to step into the starting role.