Texas Football: 3 biggest losers from spring ball for the Longhorns

Justice Finkley, EDGE

Heading into spring ball, the starting job at the buck position was Justice Finkley’s to lose. In the first couple of weeks of spring ball, Finkley was the first-teamer at the buck end position opposite junior edge rusher Barryn Sorrell.

Senior edge rusher Ovie Oghoufo transferring to LSU a few months ago opened the door for Finkley to earn the starting job at the buck end position full-time heading into the spring. I liked the idea of what Finkley could do at the buck position with a full offseason in the defensive system under Pete Kwiatkowski and given some of the positive feedback we heard regarding Finkley’s progress in winter workouts.

It sounded like Finkley was primed to be one of the breakout players to watch among the underclassmen along the defensive front this spring for the Longhorns. Yet, Finkley showed some inconsistency in the first few weeks of spring practice. He wasn’t able to get after the quarterback in team drills and scrimmage settings as much as the coaching staff would’ve liked.

Knowing how much Texas needs an impact pass rusher to step up this fall at edge rusher, it makes sense that fellow sophomore edge rusher Ethan Burke wound up passing up Finkley getting the first-team reps at the buck position. Burke’s 6-foot-7 frame and lengthy wingspan allowed him to be a more effective and disruptive pass rusher with the first-team defense.

It also didn’t help Finkley’s case in terms of competing with Burke for the first-team reps at the buck position that the Austin, TX, native made some significant strides in setting the edge in run defense. While Finkley was even showing some inconsistencies in run defense, which is a staple of his game, Burke was able to earn the first-team spot at buck for the spring game.

I will say that just because Finkley got passed up at the buck spot this spring for the first-team reps at the position, I don’t think this competition is over. Finkley still has the talent and potential to be an impact run defender at the buck spot while at least being an above-average pass rusher for the Texas defense. He did show some flashes of making an impact on the pass rush as he registered at least three quarterback pressures as the second-team buck during the spring game last weekend.