K.J. Lacey headlines long list of 2nd-year breakouts at Texas spring practice

The first week of spring practice is wrapping up today, and a wave of second-year Longhorns have been standing out all week long.

With Arch Manning taking it slow to start the year, redshirt freshman quarterback K.J. Lacey has been taking most of the first-team reps on offense, with guys like Dia Bell and M.J. Morris working behind him.

Lacey has been standing out all week long due to his accuracy and ability to move around the pocket and find open passing lanes when things begin to break down. The amount of zip that he has on his throws has also been blowing everyone away because that's not something that he was necessarily known for as a true freshman in 2025.

He throws an incredibly tight spiral and has been able to layer throws pretty well this week. Yes, it's mostly been against air, but that's when his accuracy stands out. Similar to the deep throw in the above clip, he's thrown some beautiful deep balls to Cam Coleman, Kaliq Lockett, and Daylan McCutcheon this week.

Lacey continues to give the coaching staff a reason to not "freak out" with Arch Manning on the mend.

Some of the other sophomores and redshirt freshmen standing out are DE Lance Jackson, OT Jordan Coleman, DT Josiah Sharma, and S Ziky Umeozulu.

Jackson has gained about 15 pounds since his freshman year, and that's definitely going to help him in year two. Not only because he'll be more stout against the run at defensive end, but it sounds like Will Muschamp is planning to use him at multiple spots in 2026, both on the interior and on the edge.

Jordan Coleman has been the "Lance Jackson" of offense this week, in terms of a player who's looking better from a body composition and versatility standpoint. He was originally recruited as an interior lineman like his brother Devin, but it seems like Jordan has officially slid outside to left tackle and has been working with the first-team unit while Trevor Goosby is out.

Josiah Sharma is still massive, but he seems to be in better overall shape right now. The coaching staff has been extremely high on him throughout the offseason, and he'll definitely be given a legitimate shot to see significant playing time at nose tackle in year two.

Last but not least, and possibly the most surprising standout has been Ziky Umeozulu at safety. He went from being a special teams-only type of player to working with the second team at strong safety this week. It's really early, but it's still surprising to him taking legitimate depth-level reps right now.