Texas Football: 3 third-year players set to become stars in 2024

DJ Campbell, IOL

Texas returns four out of five starters along the offensive line from last year's group. The only departure for Kyle Flood and the Longhorns along the offensive line this offseason is super senior offensive tackle Christian Jones, who exhausted his eligibility after last season.

Flood and the Longhorns return multiple potential future first-round NFL Draft picks along the offensive line entering the SEC in 2024. This was the plan that Flood put in process for Texas to develop all these "big humans" in the trenches on the offensive side of the ball for the last few years.

Led by physical and overpowering starting offensive linemen such as junior offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. and junior offensive guard DJ Campbell, the Longhorns are primed to have a great group in the trenches in the SEC in 2024.

This should be Texas's best offensive line in Flood's four years as the OL coach for the Longhorns.

One x-factor for the Longhorns to become even better along the offensive line than we think they can be this upcoming season is for Campbell to develop and take that next step. Campbell has all the tools and talent in the world to be a top guard in the SEC in the next couple of years.

But the consistency factor has to be there more for Campbell this fall than it was in the prior season or two. The 6-foot-3 and 345-pound IOL Campbell was solid in his first year as a full-time starter at right guard in 2023.

Campbell still had some ups and downs occasionally last season as he continued to learn the blocking schemes in Sarkisian's offense.

This offseason might be the most important for Campbell to really develop and gain a full understanding of the blocking schemes in this offense of his collegiate career to date. The staff appears to be really pushing Campbell to take the next step this year.

Inside Texas reported on Feb. 22 that Campbell is "trending in the right direction" with his progressions early in offseason workouts.