Texas Football: 3 underclassmen winning position battles after first scrimmage

Ethan Burke, EDGE

Word on the street through the first two weeks of fall practice is that sophomore edge rusher Ethan Burke is nailing down the starting job opposite junior edge rusher Barryn Sorrell. Burke took hold of the starting job at buck over fellow sophomore edge rusher Justice Finkley during spring ball, and he hasn’t looked back since.

It’s worth noting that even true freshman edge rusher Colton Vasek has seemingly jumped Finkley on the two-deep depth chart at the buck position. This weekend, we mentioned on the site that Vasek is taking the second-team reps in practice and in the first fall scrimmage at the buck position behind Burke.

Horns247 reported on Aug. 13 (paid content) that Sorrell and Burke are the “top players” at the two EDGE positions after Week 2 of fall practice.

It was reported that Pete Kwiatkowski and the Longhorns still worked redshirt senior defensive lineman T’Vondre Sweat and junior defensive lineman Vernon Broughton along the defensive front in place of Burke.

Given Burke’s wirey frame and lighter build at 257 pounds, getting the proper leverage and setting the edge in run defense can be difficult. The next step for Burke to make in fall camp will be continuing to improve as a run defender. His natural gifts as a pass rusher are not questioned, given his length and wingspan at 6-foot-7.