Texas Longhorns in PFF Early Top 5

The Texas Longhorns are among the few teams in contention for the Big 12 Championship in 2023.

The Texas Longhorns have high expectations for 2023 and Pro Football Focus is among those starting to take notice.

Texas ranked fifth behind Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State and Michigan in PFF's 2023 preseason ELO rankings, which determines a team's value using a combination of offense, defense and special team grades from previous games and the location of future games. 

"Outside of Ohio State, Texas has the best receiving corps in college football," PFF's Max Chadwick wrote. "Wide receiver Xavier Worthy and tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders are both top-four players at their respective positions and the Longhorns have excellent depth with Adonai Mitchell, Jordan Whittington and Isaiah Neyor all back. 

"The question is, can Quinn Ewers deliver them the ball consistently? The former top quarterback recruit in the 2021 class was up and down in his first year as a starter, earning a 72.4 grade. If he lives up to the hype as a redshirt sophomore, Texas could finally be back."

The only other Big 12 teams in the top 25 were Oklahoma (No. 13), TCU (No. 16), and Kansas State (No. 17).

Texas will have its best shot to take a bow in its final year in the conference by winning its first conference title since 2009. The Longhorns have not made a College Football Playoff appearance since its inception in 2014.

---

You can follow Casey Smith on Twitter @casey_smith2419

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Longhorns? Click Here to Subscribe to the Longhorns Country Newsletter

Want even more Texas Longhorns? Check out the SI.com team page here

Follow Longhorns Country on Twitter and Facebook.

Make sure to subscribe to the Longhorns Country Podcast today! Click here To Listen.