Texas Football: 3 standouts from the first full-pads spring practice

The first week of spring practice wrapped up for head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Texas football program with the first day of drills in full pads on March 10. Texas was able to put on the pads for spring practice after two days of drills to open up this week of camp.

There is plenty to discuss coming out of the first week of spring practice for Sark and the Longhorns. Injury updates, new faces on the Forty Acres, and players making leaps in a new year on campus all headlined this week of spring ball for the Longhorns.

It was exciting to finally get to see the likes of freshman quarterback Arch Manning, running back Cedric Baxter Jr., wide receiver Johntay Cook II, junior wide receiver AD Mitchell, freshman linebacker Anthony Hill Jr., etc. finally suit up for practice on the Forty Acres this week. There are a ton of hyped-up new additions to the program for Sark and the Longhorns this year.

Barryn Sorrell and the Texas football players that impressed in the first week of spring practice

With all of this in mind, here’s a look at three of the standouts that shined in the first week of spring practice for the Longhorns, in particular, the first full-pads practice.

Neto Umeozulu, IOL

It goes without saying that Sark, offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Kyle Flood, and the Longhorns prioritized adding offensive line depth in the past two recruiting classes.

Now that a lot of those highly touted recruits that Flood and the Longhorns landed in the last two cycles are on campus for spring ball this offseason, we’re finally starting to see the fruits of that labor on the trail. Texas is at least two or three deep at every single spot along the offensive line this year.

And one spot that Texas is going to have a lot to figure out (in a good way) is along the interior offensive line. Thanks to the rise of guys like redshirt freshman Neto Umeozulu, sophomore DJ Campbell, and redshirt freshman Malik Agbo, the interior offensive line is incredibly deep and potent.

The one name that keeps popping up a lot this week when discussing interior offensive linemen is Umeozulu. The second-year former blue-chip recruit out of Allen High School in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex has apparently looked the part in drills this week.

A practice report from CJ Vogel of TFB Texas on March 10 (donor content) mentions that Umeozulu “has been turning heads in a very positive manner” in the early stages of spring practice.

It sounds like Umeozulu is really taking advantage of the opportunity to get additional reps along the interior offensive line this spring with sophomores Conner Robertson and Cole Hutson both out due to various injury issues. Umeozulu is definitely a candidate to not only solidify a key spot on the two-deep this spring, but also be one of the top guys in the rotation in case of injuries this fall.