4 Texas players climbing the depth chart in spring practice

Alex January, DT

In the trenches on the defensive side of the ball, few true freshman early enrollees have impressed the coaches and their teammates as much as defensive tackle Alex January.

The former four-star recruit from Duncanville High School has easily been one of the most talked about true freshmen defenders early in spring practice. He's looked the part physically and seems to be pretty ahead of the curve with his fundamentals and pad-level.

New defensive line coach Kenny Baker and the Longhorns really need these young defensive tackles to step up this spring. Texas lost a lot of depth along the interior defensive line and at least right now they don't have the depth where it needs to be at defensive tackle entering the SEC this season.

Rising defensive tackles such as January, junior Jaray Bledsoe, and sophomore Sydir Mitchell can help change that narrative that the Longhorns are lacking consistent depth along the defensive line this year.

If January continues on the pace he's been on early this spring, he could continue to climb the depth chart along the interior defensive line entering the summer and then fall camp. Baker and the Longhorns are looking for a solidified group of about five defensive tackles they can rely on this fall in live-game action.

January probably isn't one of those top five or six defensive tackles right now for Baker. But it has been reported that he has jumped past Mitchell already in the pecking order of practice reps for the defensive line in the last week of spring ball.