Texas Football: 3 forgotten Longhorns pushing for playing time in summer

Texas football and head coach Steve Sarkisian are now more than halfway through the summer strength and conditioning program as of July 7. More than one month ago, Texas kicked off summer workouts after welcoming more than a dozen new additions to the program among the summer enrollees.

Summer workouts gives a lot of the new enrollees and some players deeper down the depth chart another opportunity during the offseason to push for additional reps during the upcoming season and in fall camp. Texas did have some depth chart movement during spring ball, especially in the trenches on both sides of the ball.

In many ways, summer workouts will be one of the last chances for some Longhorns players deeper down the depth chart to make headway to earn more live-game reps ahead of fall camp. Since fall camp will be a time when the depth chart is starting to get solidified, now is the time to push for live-game reps in the latter stages of the summer.

Forgotten Texas football players pushing for key live-game reps in summer workouts

Here’s a look at three forgotten Longhorns players pushing for playing time this summer.

Vernon Broughton, DL

Texas has another strong group along the defensive line heading into fall camp this year. Led by upperclassmen like junior Byron Murphy II, redshirt senior T’Vondre Sweat, and redshirt senior Trill Carter, Texas’ interior defensive line could be one of the defense’s strengths again this fall.

A key for the Longhorns to hold up well consistently along the interior defensive line for the second year in a row will be the depth in the rotation. Texas needs guys like senior Alfred Collins, redshirt junior Vernon Broughton, and true freshman Sydir Mitchell to step up and ensure the defensive line remains steady even if injuries pile up this season.

Broughton is a name to watch along the defensive line this fall. He’s the upperclassman, probably the lowest in the pecking order in the interior defensive line rotation heading into fall camp.

This is a “contract year” for Broughton because if he can’t climb the depth chart in his fourth season on campus, then he will be passed up soon by some of the younger defensive linemen.

Broughton has shown in the past that he is a capable interior pass rusher with the upside to be a disruptive and quick defensive lineman out of the three-technique. Talent is not the question for Broughton, though. He needs to add muscle and show that he can maintain his gaps more consistently without getting pushed off the ball, especially in run defense.

If Broughton isn’t able to get bigger in summer workouts while working on his pad-level technique, this could be the last offseason where he is realistically competing for a spot on the two-deep along the defensive line.