Texas Football: 3 UT freshmen who could breakout vs. UW in CFP

J'Mond Tapp, EDGE

Texas has multiple players on the roster from Louisiana that get to return to the Boot for the Sugar Bowl semifinal game vs. Washington. True freshman safety Derek Williams Jr., redshirt freshman edge rusher J'Mond Tapp, and true freshman quarterback Arch Manning are just three of the players from Louisiana on the Longhorns roster.

Each of those three Louisiana natives for the Longhorns will potentially have sizable roles in this Playoff game. Williams would be getting starter-level reps at safety in this game if he wasn't out for the first half due to a targeting call that went against him in the Big 12 Championship Game win over the No. 18 Oklahoma State Cowboys on Dec. 2.

Arch is backing up Ewers at quarterback after redshirt freshman Maalik Murphy had to enter the transfer portal due to the tightness of college football's calendar nowadays.

Last but not least, Tapp could get some rotational reps as a backup edge rusher at the jack position behind junior Barryn Sorrell. Tapp has received rotational reps at EDGE in seven games this season. He most recently played nine defensive snaps for Texas in the regular saeson finale win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Black Friday.

Tapp is a player on the defensive side of the ball that Pete Kwiatkowski and the Longhorns have waited to breakout for the last year at least. He was a highly touted blue-chip recruit from Louisiana in the 2022 class with a ton of physical upside and potential as a disruptive pass rusher in this front seven for PK and the Longhorns.

But Tapp has yet to solidify a spot on the two-deep at the end of his second season at Texas. This game could be a huge opportunity for him to finally breakout literally at the best time he possibly could this early in his collegiate career if he gets rotational reps at EDGE against Washington.