These Texas football leaders must emerge in winter workouts

The winter strength and conditioning program began for Texas football on Jan. 23. Texas and S&C coach Torre Becton kicked off the week of winter workouts with conditioning at DKR early Tuesday morning.

Winter workouts will be an important time for many Longhorns players early this offseason. Texas brought in a record number of 17 early enrollees from the high school ranks in the 2024 signing class, including multiple five-star recruits who can make an immediate impact this upcoming season.

Texas football begins the first phase of the 2024 offseason with winter S&C this week

Head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns also have seven portal additions participating in winter workouts early this offseason. Six of Texas's portal additions have already arrived on campus for the start of winter S&C this week.

Texas got an additional portal commitment who signed his LOI with the school before the deadline to enroll for the spring semester, former Arizona Wildcats junior transfer defensive lineman Tiaoalii Savea.

The only portal commitment for the Longhorns who is enrolling during the summer instead is former Oregon State Beavers redshirt junior transfer slot receiver Silas Bolden.

Last offseason was a good example of how much can change for the Longhorns during winter workouts. We saw new leaders emerge for the Longhorns in winter workouts last year, including redshirt sophomore quarterback Quinn Ewers, who cut off his mullet to show he was all business.

With some key departures the Longhorns faced this offseason, we are sure to see some new leaders start to emerge before spring ball. Here are three key Longhorns players who must emerge as leaders during winter workouts.

Derek Williams Jr., S

Texas's safety room faced significant attrition early this offseason. Multiple seniors with starting experience at safety for Texas last season, including Jerrin Thompson and Kitan Crawford, left the program via the transfer portal during the December window.

After some inconsistent play on the field in 2023 at the safety position, the Longhorns made it a priority to usher in a new era for this secondary, with a ton of young talent coming to the Forty Acres entering the SEC in 2024.

One key returning safety for the Longhorns who has high expectations in 2024 is rising sophomore Derek Williams Jr. Arguably Texas's best performing safety in the second half of last season, Williams is expected to solidify a starting spot in this secondary during spring ball.

Williams's process of establishing himself as a cornerstone starter in this secondary starts with him emerging as a vocal leader and someone who sets the tone and energy in defense workouts. He brings that SEC-level physicality to the secondary, which can set the bar high for the DBs in the weight room and in winter conditioning.

Last summer, Williams made an instant impression on the older safeties in this position group within the first few weeks of him arriving on campus as a true freshman. He soaked up information like a sponge, and that translated when he made an immediate impact in live-game action for the Longhorns last fall.

Horns247 reported that Williams is someone the staff has pinpointed as a potential emerging leader to watch on defense during winter S&C. As one of only two returning safeties, including redshirt sophomore Michael Taaffe, Williams must be a tone-setter for the position in workouts this offseason.

Alfred Collins, DL

Another key returning player for the Longhorns on defense in 2024 is fifth-year senior defensive lineman Alfred Collins. It was a big break for the Longhorns to get Collins back for a fifth season to give this defensive line a top-notch talent with multiple years of Power Five experience at Texas, including over a dozen starts in the last three seasons.

Collins' development in the last couple of offseasons is a huge factor in him being expected to emerge as the top starter along the defensive line for the Longhorns in 2024. He and fellow senior interior defensive lineman Vernon Broughton are expected to be the next in line to breakout at defensive tackle for Texas in the SEC this upcoming season.

After a few years of inconsistent results on the field and in camp from Collins, he has started to develop and get closer to reaching his immense talent ceiling here in the last couple of years. Collins really started to put it all together on the field last season when he graded out as one of the five best defensive tackles in the Big 12.

And two of those five-highest-graded defensive tackles in the Big 12 last season were Longhorns, Byron Murphy II and T'Vondre Sweat.

Something that can't be overlooked is the importance of senior leadership emerging at defensive tackle in the midst of the search to replace DL coach Bo Davis, who left to take the same role with the LSU Tigers earlier this month.

Having veteran voices in the locker room at defensive tackle while Texas is without a defensive line coach, and also added a new co-DC this offseason, is critical for the stability and development of the younger defensive tackles in the program.

Quinn Ewers, QB

Texas returns multiple veterans with starting experience on the offensive side of the ball who can provide guidance and leadership for the many new enrollees on campus during winter S&C. The Longhorns retruned four of five starters along the offensive line, Ewers at quarterback, and junior tight end Gunnar Helm.

Ewers and Helm are two Texas offensive players who must set the tone as upperclassmen leaders on this side of the ball in winter workouts. It was good to see Ewers leading some of the team's group stretches from the posts we saw on social media from Texas Football from the first day of the winter conditioning program this week.

This should be a natural process for Ewers to be a vocal leader for Texas in winter workouts. He began to show more leadership qualities last offseason when he cut the mullet and had a more business-like mentality in winter workouts and spring ball.

Now in his third year as the starting quarterback, Ewers will continue to develop in this offense while making his teammates better. He will be expected to lead this group on offense and teach the younger Texas quarterbacks, like Arch Manning and early enrollee Trey Owens, the ropes on campus and during workouts.

Among the new portal additions, prospective leaders on offense will emerge at key positions, especially at wide receiver with all the talent and experience incoming this year.

Texas added multiple immediate impact players in the receiving corps via the transfer portal this offseason, including Alabama wide receiver Isaiah Bond, Alabama tight end Amari Niblack, and Houston receiver Matthew Golden.

Winter workouts and spring ball are the first opportunities for these new portal additions in the receiving corps to start building that valuable chemistry with Ewers in the passing game.

Check out our latest Texas football articles on Hook'em Headlines