Texas Guard Cole Hutson Earning First Team Reps Ahead of Alabama

The Longhorns may turn back to Cole Hutson who started last season at right guard

To say that Texas' offensive line let them down in their season opener against Rice would be an understatement.

The unit gave up three sacks on Quinn Ewers and also allowed their quarterback to take more hits than he should have against a team they should have been physically dominating. One thing that was different about the starting offensive line unit was that DJ Campbell was starting in place of last year's starter Cole Hutson.

Steve Sarkisian says DJ Campbell practiced this week and "got better and better as the week went on."

Sarkisian also said "Cole Hutson is back healthy and yes, he'll be playing as well here on Saturday."

— Joe Cook (@josephcook89) September 7, 2023

The two were reportedly vying for the spot all throughout camp and saw Campbell get the nod for the first week of the season while Hutson was reportedly "nicked up".

There may be a changing of the guard come Week 2 when the Longhorns head to Tuscaloosa, according to reports by Inside Texas it's been Hutson who has been taking reps this week with the starters ahead of their matchup against Alabama.

When speaking to the media on Thursday, Steve Sarkisian was being slightly passive about the situation. While he didn't exactly name a starter, he did say that both Hutson and Campbell will see time against Alabama.  

Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK

According to PFF, Texas' guards and center Jake Majors,  all graded in the 50s while the two tackles Kelvin Banks and Christian Jones graded in the 70s. Of the five starting linemen, Campbell had the worst pass-blocking grade of the unit.

With a healthy Hutson in the mix, it may be smarter to start him over Campbell and work the former five-star Campbell in every once in a while to build experience. Especially when you consider it was this very game last season that sidelined Ewers for multiple weeks. 

Ewers has already been struggling with accuracy on the deep ball, the last thing he needs to worry about is a frequently collapsing pocket.