Texas football is deep into spring practice, and one of the more under-reported topics has been how the secondary has looked so far as they're trying to replace two full-time starters in Michael Taaffe and Malik Muhammad in 2026.
Yes, it's just spring football and the team is consistently rotating guys in and out each practice, but what you need to pay attention to is the scrimmage depth charts. Those are incredibly important when it comes to what the coaching staff is currently projecting or thinking regarding the actual starting lineup.
After two scrimmages, Will Muschamp and Co. has trotted out mostly the same group of players with the first-team secondary unit:
CB: Kade Phillips
CB: Bo Mascoe
NB: Graceson Littleton
FS: Derek Williams Jr.
SS: Jelani McDonald
One of the more important notes to go along with this initial depth chart is that Warren Roberson has been playing a lot at nickel, which could give some legs to the rumor of Graceson Littleton potentially playing on the outside a bit more in 2026. Roberson played incredibly well in the bowl game against Michigan a few months ago, and it's becoming clear why Blake Gideon tried really hard to get Roberson to retract his name from the transfer portal in January.
Steve Sarkisian on his safety room, says understanding concepts and the value of communication are important. Says Xavier Filsaime and Jonah Williams “being in meetings and being in walkthroughs” helps him be a bit more confident in the depth behind Jelani McDonald and Derrek…
— Inside Texas (@InsideTexas) March 31, 2026
Once Xavier Filsaime is back and fully healthy, he might eat into Williams Jr.'s snaps at FS, but the coaching staff is incredibly high on Williams Jr. as well right now. He's another player like Roberson, who the team was able to coerce back to Austin after he entered the portal this year.
Though there's still lots of time before week one of the 2026 season gets here, it looks like the above depth chart is where things currently stand as of April 13th, 2026.