Texas Football: 3 players losing starting jobs halfway through fall camp

Justice Finkley, EDGE*

Edge rusher was a big question mark again this year in fall camp. While Texas does have a solid edge rusher in junior Barryn Sorrell, there is still some uncertainty regarding who can step up opposite him at the buck position.

Earlier this offseason, sophomore edge rusher Justice Finkley was among the leading candidates to win the starting job opposite Sorrell. Finkley received the first-team reps at EDGE opposite Sorrell at the outset of spring ball. But it didn’t take long for fellow sophomore edge rusher Ethan Burke to beat out Finkley for the starting job at the buck position.

Burke held onto the starting job heading into fall camp. And it now seems like he’s solidified himself as one of the starting edge rushers heading into Week 1 on Sep. 2.

Since Burke was already on track to win the starting job at buck, Finkley has an asterisk next to his name on the list. Finkley is included on this list because it looks like he was upended on the two-deep at the buck position by true freshman edge rusher Colton Vasek in the first couple of weeks of training camp.

It now looks like Vasek will backup Burke at buck while Finkley can rotate between both that and the jack position. Finkley has taken third-team reps at buck and second-team reps at jack throughout most of fall practice.

Finkley’s versatility and run-stopping abilities make him a valuable part of the depth Texas needs at edge rusher heading into the season. He is still one of the better and more proven edge rushers with his hand on the ground, especially in short-yardage situations, thanks to his ability to set the edge in run defense.