Texas Football: 3 underrated UT players who could get more snaps in CFP

Keilan Robinson, RB

Sark and running backs coach Tashard Choice had multiple players step up in the backfield to fill the void left by redshirt sophomore standout Jonathon Brooks after he suffered a season-ending injury against TCU on Nov. 11. Redshirt senior running back Keilan Robinson, sophomore Jaydon Blue, and true freshman CJ Baxter Jr. have all stepped up with more opportunities for reps out of the backfield with Brooks out for the season due to a knee injury.

Redshirt freshman Savion Red has also done well getting more reps out of the backfield since Brooks went out over a month ago.

Baxter and Blue are the featured backs in the offense with Brooks out. Baxter is the primary back who can make defenders miss in space and hit the hole behind this big offensive line in the zone ground game.

Blue is the quicker back who can get to the outside in the blink of an eye and generate explosive plays with his tremendous acceleration and straight-line speed.

Keilan, meanwhile, has been more of a change of pace back for the Longhorns. He's received more reps since Brooks was out, but he's only getting a handful of touches down the stretch. Robinson has mainly taken late-game reps on the ground, with the occasional target in the receiving game.

He broke out in the Big 12 title game, with two touchdowns and over 70 rushing yards on just a few carries. Robinson showed off that explosiveness we've all come to expect from him on these big run plays and screen passes out of the backfield.

Robinson did get double-digit offensive snaps for the Longhorns in the Big 12 title game, which was the first time he's gotten that many live-game reps since non-conference play.

There's so much you can do with Keilan, whether he's motioned out of the backfield to add layers to the offense and confuse opposing DCs. He can also create explosive plays with his insane burst and straight-line speed.

With a month to prepare for this game, I'd expect Sark to have more wrinkles in the gameplan with some designed plays to look for Robinson out of the backfield.