Texas Football: 3 underclassmen with most to prove in summer workouts

Texas football and head coach Steve Sarkisian are less than 100 days away from the start of the 2023 regular season. That means that it is time for summer workouts to get ramped up as Texas welcomes the rest of its 2023 signing class to campus for the new semester.

Sark and the Longhorns welcomed a double-digit number of summer enrollees to campus just in time for the start of the summer workout program, which kicks into high gear this week. Most of the summer enrollees for the Longhorns from the 2023 class are fresh out of high school.

There are a couple of summer enrollees, though, that the Longhorns added via the NCAA Transfer Portal. Texas added the former Stanford Cardinal senior punter Ryan Sanborn and former Minnesota Golden Gophers senior defensive lineman Trill Carter via the portal among the summer enrollees.

Moreover, summer workouts will put a spotlight not only on some of the new additions to the program this semester but also on the younger players that need to step up this fall. A lot of the underclassmen showed marked progress during spring camp, which is momentum that could carry into summer workouts.

Texas football underclassmen with the most to prove this summer

With that in mind, here’s a look at three underclassmen with the most to prove in summer workouts for the Longhorns this offseason.

DJ Campbell, IOL

A potential breakout candidate to watch for the Longhorns along the offensive line this fall is the former elite five-star recruit and sophomore interior offensive lineman DJ Campbell. The No. 1 rated interior offensive line recruit in the nation in the 2022 class is someone who should be able to push for starting reps at one of the offensive guard spots heading into fall camp.

Campbell still has some strides he needs to make, though, before he can prove to offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Kyle Flood and the Longhorns that he’s ready to assume a starting role at guard this fall. We didn’t hear about Campbell making the necessary strides to prove he was ready for a starting spot when he was taking the first-team reps at offensive guard while fellow sophomore guard Cole Hutson was out due to injury.

And unfortunately for Campbell, he wound up suffering an injury of his own later in spring practice that would hold him out of the last couple of weeks of camp and the Orange-White Game on April 15.

The good news is that it sounds like Campbell is ready to make a full return from injury for the start of the summer workout program. It sounds like he’s taking the right mindset into summer workouts this offseason in a recent offseason update from Horns247 that stated Campbell is “hungry to prove” he deserves to be a starter this fall.

I don’t necessarily think that Campbell needs to make major improvements to his body in summer workouts, granted he will need to obviously rehab the wrist injury he suffered during the spring. Where Campbell needs to show the most growth is with his understanding of the blocking schemes and chemistry with the rest of the interior offensive line on the field.

Getting down to work in the film room and then hitting the ground running in fall practice can help Campbell push for the starting reps he wants to prove he’s ready for during his sophomore campaign.