Texas Football: 3 freshmen to watch heading into fall camp

Texas football reports for the first day of fall practice in a few days, meaning the season is just around the corner. Texas fans will soon see the progress the team has made so far this offseason ahead of the opener on Sep. 2 at DKR against the Rice Owls.

One of the most intriguing parts of fall camp is the progress the underclassmen have made since spring ball. It will also be critical to see the status of the summer enrollees that only arrived on campus a couple of months ago.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns had more than a dozen early enrollees, much more than Texas is accustomed to having in the mix for spring ball the last few years. Some of those double-digit spring enrollees are bound to contribute early. The same could be said for the redshirt freshmen returning for their second year on the 40.

A lot of Texas’ second-year freshmen will need to start pushing for roles on the two-deep depth chart this fall.

Impact freshmen to watch for Texas football in fall camp

Here’s a look at three key freshmen to watch for the Longhorns heading into fall camp.

J’mond Tapp, EDGE

One of the Longhorns’ most talented edge rushers on campus is the former high-four-star recruit out of Louisiana, redshirt freshman J’mond Tapp. The 6-foot-3 and 266-pound second-year edge rusher needs to make a big jump this season, given his raw talent and the need for the Longhorns to find an impact edge rusher.

Heading into fall camp, Tapp will battle freshman edge rusher Colton Vasek for second-team reps at the buck position behind junior edge rusher Barryn Sorrell. Vasek looked good during the spring and added some muscle mass to his frame during summer workouts.

Consistency will be the name of the game for Tapp during fall camp. We know the type of physical tools and explosiveness he brings to the table as a pass rusher. The biggest question for him will be consistently holding his own in run defense while showing a high motor in the pass rush every rep in practice and during the fall scrimmages.

During individual and team drills, Sark was high on Tapp’s progress early in spring ball.

"“I think Ethan Burke has done a nice job, I think that we’ve seen flashes out of him. I think we’ve seen flashes out of J’Mond Tapp, I think there’s some position flexibility in Jaray Bledsoe, I like the prospect of Colton Vasek.”"

But the key there was that Tapp was still showing flashes. If the staff sees him regularly contribute in the pass rush and run defense in team drills and the fall scrimmages in camp, Tapp will be the favorite to win the backup job at the buck position over Vasek.