It feels like the 2024 college football season just wrapped up for Texas football, but the start of spring ball is just a few weeks away in the coming month of March for head coach Steve Sarkisian and staff. Texas's roster will look vastly different next season for 2025 after experiencing attrition on both sides of the ball due to the NFL Draft this spring and exhausted eligibility among the starters on the two-deep.
Second and third-year players who can be on top for Texas football in the 2025 season
Sarkisian and the Longhorns staff will be looking to slot in at least a half dozen new starters on each side of the ball for next fall for the 2025 season. Player development and roster building have been critical components of building out the program and the culture in the locker room for the Longhorns in the past four years.
Here are four Longhorns' players among the rising underclassmen who are "up next" to be standout starters for Texas in the 2025 season.
Trevor Goosby, OT
With Texas having both starting offensive tackles headed for the NFL Draft this spring in a couple of months, to-be redshirt sophomore Trevor Goosby is primed to be the next sure-thing in pass pro for the starting O-Line next fall.
Goosby was very reliable and consistent, holding up in pass pro in the four games he played heavy offensive snaps for the Longhorns this past season due to various injury issues for the two starting offensive tackles late in the campaign and for the postseason.
Texas has two offensive tackles headed for the 2025 NFL Draft this spring who could potentially both be first-round picks. Given Goosby's fast development in camp and the S&C program in the past 15 months and Kyle Flood's track record of recruiting and developing talent at the offensive tackle position, the 2025 campaign promises to be a year of consistency and prominence for Trevor in the SEC.
Ryan Wingo, WR
Rising sophomore Ryan Wingo and junior DeAndre Moore Jr. are Texas's two most experienced returning receivers for the 2025 season. Moore is probably the natural choice to be Texas's top leader in the wide receiver room going into the 2025 season since he is the most proven and versatile receiver between his experience blocking and catching passes in conference play and the postseason for the Longhorns.
Wingo has all the tools to become one of the best wideouts in the nation. Can he take the next step next season and join the likes of Jeremiah Smith and Ryan Williams among the nation's top wideouts in the P4?
Ty'Anthony Smith, LB
Rising juniors Anthony Hill Jr. and Liona Lefua will lead the linebacker position for the Longhorns' front seven heading into 2025 for Texas's defense. More reps on the two-deep depth chart will be up for grabs next fall camp, thanks to the departures of seniors David Gbenda and Morice Blackwell Jr. at linebacker.
The two names to watch to take bigger roles in the linebacker rotation for PK and Johnny Nansen's defensive front seven next fall in the SEC are Ty'Anthony Smith and Arkansas transfer Brad Spence. Smith, Texas's only blue-chip linebacker signee in the 2024 class, showed flashes of contributing at a high level on the defensive side of the ball for the Longhorns.
Colton Vasek, EDGE
The EDGE position is one of Texas's strongest groups on the two-deep on the defensive side of the ball this offseason for 2025. Texas returns contributors with live-game experience in the EDGE room, including senior Trey Moore, sophomore Colin Simmons, senior Ethan Burke, and sophomore Colton Vasek.
Vasek is probably the biggest dark horse candidate from this group of returning edge rushers for the Longhorns for the 2025 campaign. If he can stay healthy next season for the Longhorns' defensive front, Vasek could be on the verge of a breakout campaign at the EDGE position.
It could also help that Vasek gets another year of developing in the film room and the weight room for the Longhorns this offseason for 2025.