4 standouts from Texas's first fall scrimmage today

Liona Lefau, LB

A pleasant surprise on the defensive side of the ball for the Longhorns in the first fall scrimmage today was the emergence of sophomore linebacker Liona Lefau. Multiple scrimmage reports have indicated that Lefau was one of the best Texas defenders contesting space and dropping back into pass coverage today.

Lefau reportedly had a "spectacular" day, including multiple pass breakups and a couple of run stops. It sounds like he was all over the place, making big plays from the mike linebacker position with the second-team defense against the first and second-team offenses for the Longhorns.

The specific highlighting plays for the Lefau from the scrimmage were a couple of tipped passes against redshirt junior quarterback Quinn Ewers and a nice read for a run stuff up front against the second-team offense.

Word on the street is that the entire Texas linebacker corps was really impressive in the fall scrimmage today. The depth and player development at the linebacker position in the last couple of years under Pete Kwiatkowski and now Johnny Nansen this offseason has really come leaps and bounds, with key guys like super senior David Gbenda and senior Morice Blackwell Jr. stepping up in a big way since the start of last season.

The depth is really showing up for the Longhorns at linebacker entering the 2024 season. Underclassmen at linebacker like Lefau and freshman Ty'Anthony Smith have had solid fall camps in the last couple of weeks and could be factors in the rotation in live-game action on the two-deep this season in the SEC.