'We've Got 8': Despite Texas O-Line Depth, 'Playing Time Will Be Earned'

The Texas Longhorns allowed 19 sacks as a unit last season — the fewest since 2013.

One of the Texas Longhorns' biggest strengths is their depth on the offensive line.

In addition to returning all five starters from a season ago — tackles Kelvin Banks Jr. and Christian Jones, guards Hayden Conner and Cole Hutston and center center Jake Majors — the Longhorns feel as though they have some viable options behind them.

"We've got eight guys right now that we can win major college football games with," offensive line coach Kyle Flood said. "Neto (Umeozulu) and Cam (Williams) have had excellent offseasons as well as the six who have already started games for us and helped us win games. I think right now we're at eight."

Flood said the ultimate goal is to get to 10 players he is confident in, implying that each position on the line is two deep, but he added that he hasn't been able to do that "very often" in his career.

The Longhorns' offensive line coach is entering his third season with the program, having produced top-25 scoring offenses in 2021-22. Last season, Texas' offensive line allowed less than 20 sacks for the first time since 2013.

Flood pointed to Conner Robertson, who is returning from a wrist injury, and the early-enrollee freshmen Jaydon Chatman, Payton Kirkland, Connor Stroh and Andre Cojoe as linemen that are starting to grasp the position but will need some more time in their development.

Flood said the starting positions are not a given, but will be earned.

"Playing time will be earned," Flood said. "Everybody likes to look at preseason depth charts, but I've told the players for a long time: to me, a preseason depth chart is just a starting point because in training camp, everybody gets the same amount of reps. Everybody's running the same plays, so everybody really has an opportunity to show us how high of a level can you play at."

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You can follow Casey Smith on Twitter @casey_smith2419

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