Texas Football: 5 upperclassmen that could opt out of the bowl game

Texas football and head coach Steve Sarkisian have an exciting matchup ahead in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29 against first-year head coach Kalen DeBoer and the No. 12 Washington Huskies. Sark and co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Pete Kwiatkowski will get to face their former team this postseason.

A dominant storyline leading up to the Alamo Bowl is the potential for certain draft-eligible Longhorns players to opt-out. It is common in this day and age of college football to get multiple players opting to sit out of bowl games unless that matchup is in the College Football Playoff or is a New Years Six Bowl.

And even some of the non-Playoff New Years Six Bowl games aren’t able to keep some draft-eligible players from opting out.

It looks as if the Longhorns aren’t going to be able to keep everyone around for the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29. With the plethora of draft-eligible players for the Longhorns that could be selected in the first four or five rounds in the 2023 class, I’d presume at least a handful of guys are strongly considering the idea of sitting out of the Alamo Bowl.

Bijan Robinson and the possible opt-outs of note for Texas football in the Alamo Bowl

With that in mind, here’s a look at five upperclassmen for the Longhorns that could opt out of the Alamo Bowl.

D’Shawn Jamison, CB

Texas was either without senior cornerback D’Shawn Jamison in the last few games or had him in the lineup with limited snaps.

Jamison initially missed the game against the TCU Horned Frogs on Nov. 12 due to an injury. And then, he received limited snaps in the final two games of the regular season, in the wins over the Kansas Jayhawks and Baylor Bears.

Despite Jamison missing so much time in the last three games of the regular season, the corners still held up well. Freshman cornerback Terrance Brooks performed well in place of Jamison in the last three games.

His efforts in the loss to TCU last month actually earned him some first-team reps at field corner to close out the regular season.

And with how well Brooks played to close out the season, I’d imagine he will be in place to get first-team reps in the bowl practices in the next few weeks.

For this reason, along with preparations for the upcoming NFL Draft, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Jamison opt out of the bowl game.

Texas’ secondary already looked very formidable with a starting cornerback duo of redshirt sophomore Ryan Watts on the boundary and Brooks at the field side.