After Texas football's postseason ended last weekend in a loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes, 28-14, in the College Football Playoff semifinals at the Cotton Bowl, UT players are now making their decisions for the upcoming NFL Draft this spring for 2025.
Multiple Texas football draft-eligible players on each side of the ball have declared early for the 2025 NFL Draft early this offseason
The deadline for underclassmen (who are draft eligible) to declare for the 2025 NFL Draft is roughly 24 hours away on Jan. 15.
We've already seen a handful of Longhorns players who had eligibility remaining due to the extra COVID-19 redshirt year declare early for the draft this week. Other Texas players who have exhausted their eligibility and announced for the 2025 NFL Draft include senior guard Hayden Conner, senior safety Andrew Mukuba, and senior defensive tackle Bill Norton.
As Longhorns players have continued to announce their plans to enter the 2025 NFL Draft, we've been tracking the decisions this week. Here are three Longhorns players who had at least one year of eligibility remaining who declared for the draft early this week.
Vernon Broughton, DT
On Monday (Jan. 13), senior defensive tackle Vernon Broughton announced he will enter the 2025 NFL Draft via a post on social media. Broughton foregoed his additional season of eligibility due to the COVID-19 redshirt rule.
Broughton emerged as one of Texas's top defensive tackles for the 2024 season. He and fellow senior defensive tackle Alfred Collins really boosted their 2025 NFL Draft stocks by returning to Texas for another season this year in 2024. Broughton registered a career-high 39 combined tackles, five tackles for loss, four sacks, 32 quarterback pressures, two batted balls, two forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, and 26 defensive stops.
Collins and Broughton were the last two remaining defensive linemen from Texas's 2020 recruiting class on the roster.