Jake Smith Stepping Into Leadership Role for Texas Longhorns

True sophomore receiver Jake Smith is showing maturity beyond his years.

While replacing the production from NFL draftees Collin Johnson and Devin Duvernay will be crucial for the Texas Longhorns, replacing the leadership the senior duo brought to the Texas wide receiver group may be just as important. 

Johnson entered the 2019 season as a team captain and after a strong showing in the early part of the year, Duvernay was added to the captains list as well. 

It appears a younger player may be stepping into one of those roles early on. 

We're really pushing our guys to vote for our public offices and so we thought it would be a good lesson to vote for their team representatives (on the leadership council) as well," Texas Longhorns head coach Tom Herman said. "The reason I bring that up is Jake Smith got voted on that Leadership Council."

Smith played in all 13 games last year for the Longhorns, catching 25 passes for six touchdowns. He also handled much of the team's punt returning duties. 

The former Gatorade National Player of the Year is expected to take on a much bigger role in the Longhorns offense in 2020, splitting time with redshirt freshman Jordan Whittington in the slot. Together they will share the load that Duvernay carried last season when he caught 106 passes for 1,386 yards and nine touchdowns. 

In addition to an expanded role on the field it appears he'll have a bigger presence in the locker room as well. 

"The guys really look up to him," Herman added. 

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