Texas Football: 3 second-year players set to become stars in 2023

Texas football and head coach Steve Sarkisian returns a lot of talent from last year’s squad in 2023. On the offensive side of the ball, Texas has a whopping 10 starters returning in 2023. And while the defense doesn’t have as many returning starters, more than half of the production from 2022 will be coming back to the Forty Acres.

Some of the biggest losses for the Longhorns on the defensive side of the ball in 2023 include senior linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, senior safety Anthony Cook, senior defensive lineman Moro Ojomo, and senior nose tackle Keondre Coburn.

Meanwhile, the most notable losses on offense include star junior running back Bijan Robinson, senior running back Roschon Johnson, and senior interior offensive lineman Junior Angilau.

While Texas does have a lot of starters returning on both sides of the ball for the 2023 season, I would still expect some younger players to step up and challenge for starting reps in camp. The past couple of recruiting classes for the Longhorns brought a lot of talent to Austin.

Second-year Texas football players ready to become stars during the 2023 season

With that in mind, here’s a look at three second-year players for the Longhorns that could become stars in 2023.

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Justice Finkley, EDGE

One of the real breakout candidates to watch for the Longhorns in 2023 will be rising sophomore edge rusher and the former blue-chip recruit Justice Finkley. The 6-foot-2 and 245-pound edge player showed some flashes for Texas along the defensive front during his true freshman campaign in 2022.

Finkley gave us some glimpses of what he could become as he got rotational defensive reps over the course of a dozen games in the season that was. He finished up the 2022 season with one sack, one tackle for loss, and around a half-dozen quarterback pressures.

But next season will be the first time where Finkley can legitimately compete for starting reps along this defensive front. Finkley is going to have every opportunity to win the starting job at buck opposite of rising junior edge rusher Barryn Sorrell in camp.

He has a lot of the tools necessary to take that next step as one of the versatile and disruptive players that can help Texas upgrade at the edge rusher position in 2023. Finkley plays with great leverage and strength at the initial point of contact with opposing blockers.

Combine that with his standout physical tools, namely his chase-down speed, and we could see Finkley become one of the more productive and disruptive edge players in the Big 12 in 2023.

I’m excited to see what the former four-star Alabama native edge rusher recruit can do in his first season as a full-time starter under Pete Kwiatkowski.