Isaac Brown’s return to Louisville forces Texas to pivot at running back

It's no secret that the Longhorns were very much in on Isaac Brown over the past few days, but his return to Louisville in 2026 forces Texas to pivot to other options. Two of those options, and ones that Steve Sarkisian and Texas are very familiar with is LSU's Caden Durham and Oklahoma's Taylor Tatum.

Durham, the No.6-ranked RB in the 2024 recruiting class, hails from Duncanville, TX. He was a highly sought after prospect by Texas and they initially offered him a scholarship in February of 2023, and the team was pretty bummed when he ultimately committed to LSU.

He's built incredibly well at 5'9", 205 lbs., with a strong and compact lower body. He undoubtedly has the ability to be a workhorse-type running back for Texas, even though he won't have to with Christian Clark, James Simon, and Derrek Cooper already in the mix for 2026.

He's totaled 1,258 rushing yards, 5.0 ypc, and 9 touchdowns on the ground while adding 44 receptions for 351 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air for the Tigers over the past two seasons.

Tatum was the No.1-ranked RB in the 2024 class, and was another heavily recruited player by Steve Sarkisian and Co. in the same cycle as Durham. Like Durham, Tatum is another Texas boy from Longview, TX.

He's an incredibly fast and shifty ball-carrier who would bring a different element to Texas' offense next season. Tatum's a bit bigger than Durham at 5'10", 212 lbs., but moves exceptionally well for being 210+ pounds. He runs with authority, and is a patient runner which allows him to see things that others usually wouldn't such as late-developing cutback lanes.

Either one of these players would be a home-run addition for the Longhorn in the transfer portal. As mentioned earlier, though they wouldn't need to be workhorses due to the young talent in Texas' current running back room, they definitely could be.