3 overreactions from first half of Texas's spring practice

Texas football has officially hit the halfway point of spring practice this week. On April 4, Texas held its eighth practice of spring ball, including a celebrity guest in attendance, Travis Scott.

Texas football wraps up first half of spring practice this week

Through the first few weeks of spring ball, head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns have seen plenty of young players step up and challenge their more experienced peers on the depth chart.

Texas has also seen the depth and talent shine on both sides of the ball through the first eight spring practices. The roster that Sarkisian and the Longhorns staff have recruited and developed in the last few years started to really pay dividends last year.

"I do think we've got a really talented team, got great depth on this team. It's incredible right now that we're two-spotting everything and we're four-deep at every position, which is great."

The Longhorns continue to see the fruits of their labor regarding roster and program-building have a wholesome impact on the culture instilled in this team.

Multiple highly anticipated events await the Longhorns in the second half of spring camp. That includes the first spring scrimmage (likely this coming weekend) and the Orange-White spring football game at DKR on April 20.

Here are three overreactions from the first half of spring camp for the Longhorns as we turn the page to the last few weeks of practice.

Jaydon Blue should get the RB1 job

The running back room has been a major strength for the Longhorns during the first half of spring practice. Led by sophomore CJ Baxter Jr. and junior Jaydon Blue, Texas has five or six backs who look ready for live-game action to various extents this upcoming season.

Baxter and Blue entered spring ball as the obvious two choices as the lead backs for the Longhorns heading into the 2024 campaign. There is nothing we've seen or heard about in the last couple of weeks in practice that would contradict that logic for the top two in Texas's backfield.

Where the real battle lies in the running back room is for the starting spot between Baxter and Blue and then the third spot in the backfield rotation behind those two. On Texas Football's CJ Vogel reported on April 5 that Baxter is the likely lead back for the Longhorns for the upcoming season.

But Blue isn't far behind Baxter in that pecking order of the top two for the Longhorns.

The distinguishing characteristics between Baxter and Blue's game is the difference in speed/agility and physicality. Baxter is the more elusive with his cutting ability in the open field.

Blue is the more physical and decisive back running in those tight areas between the tackles. He's also got that insane burst to find the hole on the outside and hit big runs.

I think that home run ability combined with Blue's proficiency running between the tackles actually makes him the better every-down back when compared to Baxter in run-heavy sets on offense.