Predicting Texas football’s next portal loss after Jaden Alexis

Max Merril, IOL

Another interior offensive lineman for the Longhorns that is in a tough spot in terms of winning a spot on the two-deep at any point in the next couple of years is the 6-foot-4 and 295-pound redshirt sophomore Max Merril. The former three-star recruit that signed with the Longhorns in the 2021 class hasn’t made much progress on the depth chart in the last two years.

And it doesn’t look like the path to playing time along the interior offensive line is going to get much easier from here on out for the Strake Jesuit High School product and Houston-area native.

Merril mostly took third and fourth-team reps along the offensive line in spring camp this offseason and fall camp last year. A post-spring depth chart projection from Horns247 this week (paid content) noted that Flood and the Longhorns are looking for a solidified top group of eight offensive linemen they can feel good in live-game action this fall.

One of the names that weren’t mentioned among the candidates that could fall in that group of eight top offensive linemen for the Longhorns heading into the fall was Merril.

It’s also worth noting that Merril was not originally recruited out of high school by Sark, Flood, and the current Longhorns staff. The leading recruiters on staff for Texas with Merril during his recruitment out of high school were former OL coach Herb Hand and ex-OC Mike Yurcich.