3 newcomers standing out in fall camp for Texas football

Ethan Burke, EDGE

A true freshman that seemingly came out of nowhere for co-DC/linebackers coach Pete Kwiatkowski and the Longhorns among the edge rushers of late in fall camp is the former three-star recruit and former Michigan Wolverines commit Ethan Burke. The towering 6-foot-7 and 240-pound Burke is looking really good in camp in the last couple of weeks.

Between showing out in the open practice at DKR back on Aug. 16 and making some big moves in the two fall scrimmages in the last couple of weekends, Burke is making about as good of an impression as he possibly can on this staff. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if Burke goes from someone who likely wouldn’t have even made it on the two-deep heading into the regular season to a dark horse to watch to get starting reps ahead of Big 12 play.

And if Burke keeps showing out the way he has in the last week or two of camp for the next two weeks ahead of the regular season opener, he could be one of the starters off the edge against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks at home on Sep. 3.

Burke seems to be getting the best of blocking tight ends and running backs with ease when getting after the quarterback in practice and the two scrimmages thus far. But the fact that he’s commonly winning battles already against some of the first and second-team offensive tackles really show how effective Burke is right away for this defensive front.

It’s clear that PK and the Longhorns need a more effective pass rush this fall. And we’re going to see some new faces as PK and the defensive staff tries different routes to make that happen. Don’t discount Burke getting some key early live-game reps as a possibility, if not a certain likelihood this season.