Texas Football: 3 underclassmen that could win starting jobs in spring

Ethan Burke, EDGE

One of the talented and potent edge rushers that Pete Kwiatkowski and the Longhorns are hoping to see rise to the occasion this spring is the former three-star recruit and sophomore Austin native Ethan Burke.

The towering 6-foot-7 and 250-pound edge rusher is likely to compete for reps to earn a spot on the two-deep at jack behind rising junior edge rusher Barryn Sorrell in spring camp.

A practice report from the first day of spring ball on March 6 from Jeff Howe of Horns247 (paid content) mentioned that Burke took the second-team reps at the jack position behind Sorrell. Burke was in a group with the second-team defensive unit along the front seven that also included fellow second-year edge rusher J’Mond Tapp and sophomore defensive lineman Kris Ross.

I would assume that Tapp was getting the second-team reps at the buck spot opposite of Burke at jack. That would essentially mean that PK and the Longhorns are running with sophomore Justice Finkley as the starting buck opposite Sorrell, with the duo of Burke and Tapp rounding out the two-deep at the two edge rusher positions.

If Burke has a big spring, he will likely give the defensive staff something to think about in terms of some potential position movement to get him on the field more with the first team this fall. Burke still needs to add some weight to get north of 250 pounds while further refining his arsenal of pass-rush moves to shed blocks more effectively.

While that might sound like a lot for Buke to expand his arsenal of pass-rush moves while putting on more muscle mass to his frame, he already showed he can make some pretty massive strides in camp last offseason. Burke has shown more than enough in the last year or so to prove that we should have confidence in the direction of his game in the early stages of spring ball.