3 'most talented' defensive linemen for Texas entering camp

Jermayne Lole

The most recent of the three defensive tackle transfers the Longhorns brought in this offseason was the former Louisville Cardinals and Arizona State Sun Devils grad transfer senior Jermayne Lole.

There is a high likelihood that Lole joins fellow defensive tackle grad transfers Bill Norton and Tia Savea among the top five or six linemen in the interior rotation for the Longhorns this season. Lole, Norton, and Savea all bring proven experience and size up front that Texas needs to keep guys fresh and rotating in the trenches in the SEC week in and week out.

For Lole specifically, he was mentioned by Hamilton in his OTF report as one of the two "most talented" and experienced defensive tackles Texas has in the fold entering preseason camp. Lole has shown that he is an NFL-caliber defensive tackle when he remains healthy on a consistent basis, during past seasons at Arizona State and Louisville when he played double-digit games in a year.

Lole was one of the top-10 highest-graded defensive tackles in the Pac-12 in his first two years as a regular starter for Arizona State's defensive line earlier in his career. But injuries unfortunately limited Lole's fall production in his last couple of years at Arizona State and his first season at Louisville.

Keeping Lole healthy will be of great importance to the Texas defensive staff this fall. He will reportedly be on a "pitch count" early this fall while he gets up to speed in the Texas defensive scheme.

The good news for Lole regarding his injury progress is that he was pretty much fully healthy for Louisville last season. He played the most defensive snaps of any Louisville defensive tackle in ACC play in 2023.