Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
By Chris Marler
We continue our series by spotlighting one underrated positive for each SEC team. Today, we head to Austin to focus on the Texas Longhorns heading into the 2026 season.
The bolstered run game
There’s so much to like about this year’s Texas team. The hype that was unwarranted a season ago going into Arch Manning’s first year as the starter is warranted this year. The schedule is much harder than it was in the first two years of their entrance into the SEC, but the team is significantly better than it was a season ago.
Texas is loaded. They goe into 2025 with arguably the top draft prospect at quarterback (Arch Manning), wide receiver (Cam Coleman), left tackle (Trevor Goosby), and EDGE (Colin Simmons).
2027 MOCK DRAFT
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here is Brendan’s early 2027 mock draft…
and WHY he thinks these are the picks:
READ for LOGIC & ANALYSIS: https://t.co/EB9EDI18xP pic.twitter.com/I73hQJSUz3
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) April 28, 2026
All of that has been talked about though, and this series focuses on what we aren’t talking about enough. And, that is the run game and how much better it should be this season.
Steve Sarkisian’s offense gets mislabele as being pass heavy and throw first. However, the success of his offenses is predicated on the run, and last year, that went by the wayside. In Sarkisian’s first four seasons Texas averaged 2,503.8 rushing yards per season and never had less than 2,391 in any of those four years. They also averaged over 188 rushing yards per game in three of those four years. Those numbers plummeted in 2025 down to 1,791 and 137.8 ypg.
This offseason, six Texas running backs entered the portal. Sark reloaded by addind the top running back tandem. In bringing in Raleek Brown from Arizona State and Hollywood Smothers from NC State, Sarkisian has one of the best one-two punches in the conference, if not the country.
Raleek Brown took a kickoff for a TD pic.twitter.com/Jv6Oh1E4cn
— Texas Longhorn Fan Battle Podcast (@LHFanBattle) April 18, 2026
He didn’t stop there though. The Longhorns also went out and got the third ranked offensive tackle Melvin Siani from Wake Forest. Siani will step in at right tackle immediately and combine with an offensive line that returns three starters. That may not sound like a big deal, but one of the biggest issues for Texas’s struggles a season ago was their lack of experience up front. Texas lost four starters from the 2024 team before the season started.
The experience and talent up front along with the experience and talent in the backfield should bring Texas’ offense back to where it was when it made back-to-back CFP appearances.
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