Texas Football: 3 seniors who will ‘likely’ return to UT in 2024

David Gbenda, LB

Another position group on the defensive side of the ball for the Longhorns that is expected to face heavy attrition this offseason is linebacker. Texas could lose two of its senior starting linebackers to the NFL Draft, mike Jaylan Ford and will David Gbenda.

If Texas did lose Ford and Gbenda to the NFL Draft in 2024, that would leave true freshman Anthony Hill Jr. as the most experienced returning linebacker in the Longhorns’ first year playing in the SEC.

Regarding Ford’s status for the NFL Draft heading into the offseason, it sounds like he is decided that he will take his talents to the next level next spring. That wasn’t unexpected, though, given that Ford went through the process last offseason of testing the NFL Draft waters to gauge his stock.

Ford returned to school this fall and had another stellar season to prove himself in the eyes of the NFL scouts. Thus, mission accomplished, it sounds like for him this year.

Gbenda could be a different story than Ford. While this is his fifth year at Texas in 2023, Gbenda still technically has one year of eligibility remaining. He could return for the 2024 season if he wants.

With how well Gbenda has performed as the starting will linebacker for most of the 2023 season, Pete Kwiatkowski and Jeff Choate would probably love to have him back in the fold in 2024. Inside Texas reported on Nov. 30 (paid content) that the staff could push to get Gbenda back for one more season during the exit interviews.

Texas would be in a good situation at linebacker if it returned two of the three starters (assuming Gbenda returns to school next season) and potentially picked up one impact player to fill the mike spot from the portal in 2024.