Texas Football: 3 upperclassmen standing out in summer workouts

All the movement on the recruiting trail of late for Texas football in the 2024 class in the last few weeks has distracted from a lot of the activity and progress this team has made during summer workouts. Texas is roughly halfway through the summer strength and conditioning program as the calendar turns to July.

There are some notable nuggets and updates that have come out in the last few weeks that are worth highlighting from summer workouts. Multiple underclassmen and/or summer enrollees have impressed since arriving on campus in late May/early June.

And while most of the focus during summer workouts is usually placed on the progress of the underclassmen getting their bodies right for the upcoming season (and rightly so), there are some upperclassmen that have stood out too.

Texas still has some rising juniors and seniors that are potential breakout candidates to watch heading into fall camp that are making pronounced strides in spring camp and summer workouts.

Upperclassmen making noise for Texas football this summer

With that in mind, here’s a look at three upperclassmen for the Longhorns impressing in summer workouts.

Jaylan Ford, LB

One of the senior leaders that have really stepped up this offseason is the deserved 2022 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and senior standout linebacker Jaylan Ford. Texas saw Ford breakthrough as a true leader on the field for the defense last season.

Ford has continued to grow into a bigger role, blossoming as one of the most emphatic leaders on and off the field this offseason.

The rise of Ford as a leader is being noticed in the weight room and on the practice field as well this summer. We’ve heard that Ford is setting the tone as the glue for this defense on the practice field and in 7v7 work in the last few weeks.

It’s nothing new, though, for Ford to be mentioned among the senior leaders on defense since spring ball. He served as a leader and mentor for some of the early enrollees at linebacker during spring ball such as Liona Lefau and Anthony Hill Jr.

Ford’s reward for growing into a bigger leadership role so far this offseason is that he gets to represent Texas as one of the players that will be joining Sark at Big 12 Media Days next month.