Texas Football: 4 key players winning position battles this spring

Ethan Burke, EDGE

A late riser this spring for the Longhorns on the defensive side of the ball is the former underrated three-star recruit and the lengthy 6-foot-7 and 255-pound sophomore edge rusher Ethan Burke. The Austin, TX, native has broken out in the last couple of weeks of spring practice, along with some impressive performances in the scrimmages the last two weekends.

Burke was a legitimate breakout candidate to watch this spring as Pete Kwiatkowski and the Longhorns needed someone to step up at EDGE. We saw flashes from Burke in limited live-game reps (including three quarterback pressures in just 20 pass rush snaps) and in camp last offseason.

But Burke still needed to add some weight to more effectively compete against Power Five-level offensive tackles this fall.

It sounds like Burke has not only added some size so far this offseason, but he has also shown to be more competitive against the first and second-team offensive tackles as a pass rusher this spring. Burke’s improvement has yielded some results in the last couple of weeks too.

Last week, we heard about Burke taking the first-team reps at the buck spot from fellow sophomore edge rusher Justice Finkley. Burke even got some reps with the first and second teamers in last weekend’s closed scrimmage as a three-tech along the defensive line.

A lot of the practice and scrimmage reports we’ve encountered in the last 10 days or so have consistently mentioned Burke as someone that is displaying real progress in run defense while looking more competitive against the top two teams along the offensive line in the pass rush.

I will say that Burke still has some legitimate strides he must make before locking down a starting role at one of the EDGE spots, but he is certainly on the right track. Summer workouts will be vital for Burke to continue to add some muscle mass to his lofty frame.